Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Macaron Recipe



Piped Macarons
I think the key to successful macarons is to prep everything ahead of time.  I usually have a mental check off list and it goes a little something like this:


Preheat the over to 310 degrees.  Measure out all my ingredients:
3/4 cup almond meal
2 large egg whites, aged
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup fine sugar


Prepare my piping bag.  Line my 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Have my food gel ready at hand.  Make sure that all my bowls and mixer are free of any oil residue, trust me this is necessary ( boil your beaters in water if you have to).  Separate my egg whites the night before.


Directions. 
1. Sift almond meal and powdered sugar.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff while gradually adding fine sugar.
3. Gently fold the mixture into the egg whites 1/3 at a time.  Add any color food gel at this point.  I usually use Americolor or Wilton.  
*Do not mix, beat, stir or whatever else that does not mean fold because they will not have feet.
4. Fill the piping bags with the mixture, it'll seem a little thick but it's okay.
5. Try to pipe dollar coin size circles as identical as possible.
6. Bake for 16 minutes give or take a minute or two.
(I usually don't wait for a "skin" to form and it still turns out good.)


Once the shells are done, you should be able to slide it right off the parchment paper easily.  Allow the shells to cool then it's time to pair them up add a filling of your choice.  Fill it with pretty much anything you want.  Caramel, preserves, nutella, ganache, cream cheese, custard, buttercream, anything I tell you.  So get creative!  Oh yeah store them in an air tight container for 2 days in the fridge before you eat them or give them away because then you'll get the right texture.  Crunchy and chewy all in one bite...If it doesn't turn out the way you want it to please don't give up because once you get it right, it'll all seem so easy, easy I tell you.  Let me know how it goes!  Good Luck ^_^

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