Showing off - French Macarons

I know I don't post much here, but my most recent "challenge" in baking was the classic French macaron. I had these about 18 years ago, in Paris at Laduree and ohmygoodness, what a little "célébration dans la bouche"!

It took one horribly-gone-wrong (looked awful, tasted great) batch before this one, but I was so proud of them, I just wanted to share.

I made pistachio, raspberry and chocolate. [img]http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v368/123/43/1408382257/n1408382257_30133394_2635.jpg[/img]

tgoddess, those are beautiful (I cut and pasted the url to see the pic, you might want to try deleting the Img tags and re-doing them to see if that works)

Can you give us the recipe and/or describe the process? I'm especially interested in the failure part, since I've made plain meringues with no problem and am wondering what the difference is with these, since they are considered to be so challenging to make (obviously there's more to them than meets the eye)

Be nice to have a heads-up on where I can go wrong...

Yes, absolutely beautiful. I recently had a box from La Duree in Paris, and was blown away. I don't think I'd have the guts to try to make those at home. The fine, much-more-talented-than-I bakers at Bennison's sell French-style macarons that do not even approximate what I had in Paris.

First, this is the recipe I used to make the macarons in the photo. (Sorry about not knowing how to post the image itself earlier!) http://www.dessertsmag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=459:step-by-step-french-macaron&catid=1&Itemid=115

My first batch last week, were chocolate macarons and I used this recipe: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2 ... colat.html and were a disaster for me. I'm not sure if it was me, the recipe or a combination, but you'll see that while the ingredients for both recipes are the same, the proportions are VERY different as well as the cooking temperature and time.

To make the "good" chocolate ones in the photo batch, I simply just added 1 tablespoon of sifted dutch processed cocoa powder to 1/3 of the batter and they really tasted fine.

Some notes:

1. Too "puffy." The only time I've ever done stuff with meringue was for angel food cake, mousse and lemon meringue pie. So I have been almost naturally used to folding things into the whipped egg whites VERY GENTLY, as to not break them down or deflate them too much. If you want your macaroons to be nice and level and smooth, don't be afraid to fold them with more conviction. If you don't, they'll puff up (here's a photo of the "bad" batch as an example) and didn't end up very shiny and were full of cracks.


2. The "frilly feet." As you can see the first batch didn't get the characteristic "frilly feet," and I suspect that may have had to do with how airy they were, as well.

Things you should be certain to do:

1. Let the eggs sit out for a day before using. Some recipes I found said to separate them and leave them out, but I just left them in the shell on the counter and it seemed to work just fine.

2. DON'T use liquid food coloring (the recipe I used called for powder, however, I used paste and it didn't hurt them). It may add too much moisture to the meringue.

3. I'm a firm believer in measuring by weight when it comes to baking. It WILL make a difference in this recipe!

4. Try to keep them all about the same size. (Drawing same-sized circles on the backside of your parchment paper helps if you're art-challenged like I am!) It just makes it easier when you're matching pairs up.

5. Smack the cookie sheet against the counter to get more of the air bubbles out, to lessen the "puffiness."

6. Some recipes said to let the meringues sit for anywhere from "not at all" to "2 hours" before baking. I think letting them sit IS what helps them get the little "feet." That said, I left mine for just about 30 minutes to get the result in the photos. What this does is makes it form a bit of a crust on top, so when they raise in the oven, the meringue has to sort of "escape" from itself. It pulls the cookie up and then the frilly feet appear.

7. Because there is SOOO much sugar in these, let them cool on the parchment for a while before trying to remove them. They didn't stick to the paper, but some of them DID stick a bit to the spatula. Side note, VERY THIN FLEXIBLE SPATULA is your friend with these. If you try just something like a pancake turner, you'll rip them apart or break them. Some recipes say you can also spray a bit of water UNDER the paper onto the hot cookie sheet and the steam will help loosen them. I didn't try that, so I'm not sure how well it really works. Maybe someone more professional here would be able to comment on that. (OR, I could have just used my Silpat---DERRR!!!)

8. Some recipes I looked at called for almond flour. I'm not sure how much different the taste or texture would be with it, but at $12 for a small bag of it at SuperTarget, I decided I didn't want to find out and ended up grinding my own almonds in the food processor . Just be sure to get the ground as fine as you can and to make sure they're as dry as possible before using. Otherwise, it could end up kind of paste-y.

I think that's it. I can try to answer any other specific questions. But since this was only my second attempt at them, I certainly don't consider myself an "expert."

STOP posting! Uncontrolled salivating is no good while trying to work.

Just stunning, and the blow-by-blow is really helpful. I don't know when I'll have time to knock some of these out, but you've definitely inspired me.

My meringue cookies come out looking like your "failed" batch (they're supposed to) and I can see where it would have been very difficult for me to get them to work - everything you've posted seems counter-intuitive to working with an egg foam, but obviously was the right way to go!

It DEFINITELY felt counter-intuitive to me! I just looked at that bowl of egg whites that were almost RUNNY going, "Oh, jeebus...these are NEVER going to work!" And NONE of the recipes that I found seemed to be very explicit about the meringue itself, which I thought was odd; especially for some that claimed to be "step-by-step recipes" or "fool-proof" or even "for beginners."

I literally sat in front of the oven and watched them bake (probably not good for my back sitting on my kitchen floor for 11 minutes!) and was so overcome with glee that they WERE working, that I got up and did a goofy happy dance.

I have to say that I'm fortunate that I have some friends who generously volunteer to eat my "mistakes," but I'm always thrilled when I can make something that tastes wonderful AND looks beautiful, too.

Kennyz wrote:The fine, much-more-talented-than-I bakers at Bennison's sell French-style macarons that do not even approximate what I had in Paris.

Bennison's, in Evanston, does some things well, but their French macaroons and other almond-based items (e.g. marzipan cake slices) just don't cut it, IMHO. I like a strong almond taste to my almond pastries and confections, which you can find in (just for example) a slice of marzipan cake at Swedish Bakery or a chocolate covered marzipan from Piron Belgian Chocolatier. I don't find that same strong almond taste in the items from Bennison's. (Those making them at home can increase the almond taste by adding almond extract.)

You can find the best French macaroons in the Chicago area at Fox & Obel (now available by special order only) and at Vanille Patisserie, and sometimes they have them at Gourmet Frog in Highwood. Tag's, also in Evanston, sells almond macaroons (not the French macaroons because they aren't sandwiches with a thin layer of buttercream in the middle, just the almond cookie layers) that have a nice almond taste; theirs are very good when they are fresh, but sometimes have been around for a few days and get dry and chewy.

I'm so glad that you started this thread! Two of my winter challenges are to make macarons and croissants from scratch. Your notes are very useful.

It appears that almond flour and almond meal have the same consistency, but almond flour is made with skinless almonds and almond meal is made with almonds that still have their skin. If you're willing to sacrifice a little for appearances (dots of almond skins), you can pick up almond meal at Trade Joe's for a reasonable price.

Those are really terrific looking macarons. I've tried to make them a couple of times and they never came out like that.

Almond flour is going to be less oily and finer ground than grinding almonds in a processor.

I believe the rationale for leaving the egg whites out for a day or two (in a bowl, uncovered) is to reduce the water content in the whites through evaporation, so I think it's not quite the same as leaving the egg in the shell out, but I've never tried it.

Steaming the parchment does work, but I never had much problems with them sticking anyway. I've also tried Silpats, which work but have to be extremely clean.

Wouldn't leaving the egg whites out on the counter, outside the shell or in, be a bit un-foodsafe?

leek wrote:Wouldn't leaving the egg whites out on the counter, outside the shell or in, be a bit un-foodsafe?

Yes, I would put them in a bowl so as to prevent the eggs from rolling off the counter and creating a slip-hazard.

leek wrote:Wouldn't leaving the egg whites out on the counter, outside the shell or in, be a bit un-foodsafe?

Only if you lick your fingers before handling them.

Wouldn't leaving the egg whites out on the counter, outside the shell or in, be a bit un-foodsafe?

Regarding in the shell, there is this recent thread which would indicate that by the standards in the rest of the world, a day or two on the counter is no big deal:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=21605

Regarding outside the shell, supposedly this is a practice in French bakeries, and in my recollection from an old thread on egullet, supposedly there is something in egg whites that prevents bacterial contamination. The problem in eggs is in the yolks. I have not been willing to chance it though.

This pdf from the USDA says you're mostly right, though it's counter-intuitive because most of the protein is in the white. However, I'm guessing you could get the same results like this (maybe I'll test this when I do it) by pooling your whites and leaving them in your fridge overnight (should dehydrate them) and then putting the bowl on the counter and allowing them to come to room temperature (common practice when making meringue.)

Truthfully, most meringues are really dried rather than cooked (our family recipe is to put them in a 200 degree oven, turn the oven off and leave them overnight) so you're going against the food safety rules regardless.

rickster wrote:Those are really terrific looking macarons. I've tried to make them a couple of times and they never came out like that.

Almond flour is going to be less oily and finer ground than grinding almonds in a processor.

I believe the rationale for leaving the egg whites out for a day or two (in a bowl, uncovered) is to reduce the water content in the whites through evaporation, so I think it's not quite the same as leaving the egg in the shell out, but I've never tried it.

Steaming the parchment does work, but I never had much problems with them sticking anyway. I've also tried Silpats, which work but have to be extremely clean.

All that is good to know for next time. Thanks!

When I ground my almonds, I started with blanched ones w/o the skins. I ground them as finely as possible in the food processor and they were definitely moist/oily. So I spread them out on a cookie sheet and put them in a low oven (250 degrees) and kept an eye on them to dry them out. This had the added benefit (I think) of enhancing the almond flavor of the macarons.

I didn't have a problem at all with the macarons sticking to the parchment itself, but when I slid the spatula under them, there was some sticking to the spatula. This could have been due to my not letting them cool on the parchment long enough, however. I'll try exercise more patience next time.

Those are beautiful macarons tgoddess!

When I first started to make macarons, I would grind my own almonds and then use a sieve to get the right texture. To prevent a paste from forming, I incorporated some of the powdered sugar when grinding. I soon tired of this method and now I only start with almond flour (on a couple of occasions now, I've used hazelnut flour). It just makes the task that much easier.

I can't recall every place I've found the flours (i.e., finely ground nuts) in Chicago, but Fox & Obel always has almond flour on hand. I still have some hazelnut flour and it's from Bob's Red Mill in Oregon (sold in a 14 oz. bag). http://www.bobsredmill.com I cannot recall where in Chicago I purchased this bag . . . maybe Whole Foods or Fox & Obel.

I love to experiment with flavors . . . my most recent attempt (which came out nicely) was chocolate-hazelnut macarons with a Nutella ganache. I started with the recipe in the La Maison du Chocolat cookbook (substituting hazelnuts for almonds), which I purchased at their Paris location almost immediately after trying some of their pastries and chocolates, including one of their macarons. I then made a ganache of Nutella, bittersweet chocolate and cream.

I too haven't had too much difficulty with macarons sticking to the parchment paper. The La Maison method incorporates brushing the parchment lightly with water after removing the macarons from the oven (creating steam to assist in the removal), but I'm not certain this is always necessary.

As far as sizing, here I'm a little imperfect and a little lazy. I'm not always good at making them the same size, but I find that by spreading out the finished macaron portions, I can generally pair up two similar ones. Occasionally, a few crack and I put cracked sides on the bottom layer. If I have to put two together which are not perfectly paired, I try to put the larger half on top (I think it just looks better). But perhaps my greatest difficulty is saving enough of the damn things to serve to guests. I love eating them as I'm filling them.

BR wrote:But perhaps my greatest difficulty is saving enough of the damn things to serve to guests. I love eating them as I'm filling them.

This, or fear of it, may be my biggest obstacle to starting a project like this..

I can't recall every place I've found the flours (i.e., finely ground nuts) in Chicago, but Fox & Obel always has almond flour on hand. I still have some hazelnut flour and it's from Bob's Red Mill in Oregon (sold in a 14 oz. bag). http://www.bobsredmill.com I cannot recall where in Chicago I purchased this bag . . . maybe Whole Foods or Fox & Obel.

Bob's Red Mill makes almond flour also. I've bought it at either Whole Foods or Sunset Foods

Kennyz wrote:

leek wrote:Wouldn't leaving the egg whites out on the counter, outside the shell or in, be a bit un-foodsafe?

Yes, I would put them in a bowl so as to prevent the eggs from rolling off the counter and creating a slip-hazard.

DONT LEAVE EGGS OUT OF THE REFRIGERATOR IN THE USA FOR MORE THAN 2 HOURS. PERIOD. other countries may do it,etc.etc. but the eggs aren't the same. here factory farms where chickens are crammed together have led to much more salmonella than in the past. also, the protective layer on eggs has been washed off which made it safer to leave them out. i believe free range eggs, widely available, also known as nest eggs are less likely to have salmonella, but the official USDA and egg board policy won't confirm that. i eat cooked eggs runny, and i'll use nest eggs in caesar salad dressing, but leaving them out for 24 hours just to make french macarons is STUPID. really. nothing may happen, or you might get really sick. it's not worth it. justjoan

justjoan wrote:

Kennyz wrote:

leek wrote:Wouldn't leaving the egg whites out on the counter, outside the shell or in, be a bit un-foodsafe?

Yes, I would put them in a bowl so as to prevent the eggs from rolling off the counter and creating a slip-hazard.

DONT LEAVE EGGS OUT OF THE REFRIGERATOR IN THE USA FOR MORE THAN 2 HOURS. PERIOD. other countries may do it,etc.etc. but the eggs aren't the same. here factory farms where chickens are crammed together have led to much more salmonella than in the past. also, the protective layer on eggs has been washed off which made it safer to leave them out. i believe free range eggs, widely available, also known as nest eggs are less likely to have salmonella, but the official USDA and egg board policy won't confirm that. i eat cooked eggs runny, and i'll use nest eggs in caesar salad dressing, but leaving them out for 24 hours just to make french macarons is STUPID. really. nothing may happen, or you might get really sick. it's not worth it. justjoan

Wow, impressive passion. Nevertheless, shouting and name calling aren't likely to change my behavior. Such an absolutist take on the issue has no basis in fact. It's certainly a reasonable opinion, to which you are entitled. I get my eggs from a farmer I know, from chickens I've seen roaming free in excellent conditions. If I know I'm going to use them up soon, I rarely refrigerate them when I get them home.

[
Yes, I would put them in a bowl so as to prevent the eggs from rolling off the counter and creating a slip-hazard.[/quote]


Wow, impressive passion. Nevertheless, shouting and name calling aren't likely to change my behavior. Such an absolutist take on the issue has no basis in fact. It's certainly a reasonable opinion, to which you are entitled. I get my eggs from a farmer I know, from chickens I've seen roaming free in excellent conditions. If I know I'm going to use them up soon, I rarely refrigerate them when I get them home.[/quote]

kennyz, i'm not concerned with your personal behavior. but what i've said does have a basis in fact. it isnt an opinion that salmonella has increased greatly since factory farmed eggs have replaced local farms. if you want to joke about leaving eggs out overnight, i think you should know exactly who you are talking to and what kind of eggs they plan to use. a 3 week old supermarket egg is, factually, not as safe as one of your farm fresh eggs. what you do is not necessarily safe for others. the other factual issue is that a day out of the refrigerator is equal to a week's aging in the refrigerator. (see USDA or egg board website for these facts). since you are presumably buying farmer's market eggs so they'll be as fresh as possible, i dont know why you wouldnt want them refrigerated. it is certainly your call to leave them out, but i dont think you should assume everyone reading these posts has your knowledge. i've had a lifetime of seeing the risks people take with food. i'm sure you have, too, at picnics or parties where perishables sit out for hours. most of the time no one gets sick. but if it happens to you it will be memorably unpleasant.

i do apologize for "shouting", as you put it. i forgot on the online world that capitalizing letters indicates shouting. i was just going for large- letters-to-make-a-point. justjoan

justjoan wrote:kennyz, i'm not concerned with your personal behavior. but what i've said does have a basis in fact

'tis true. By saying that your claim had "no basis in fact," I was guilty of the same absolutist behavior of which I accused you. Sorry.

justjoan wrote:.... the other factual issue is that a day out of the refrigerator is equal to a week's aging in the refrigerator. (see USDA or egg board website for these facts)...

maybe in terms of contamination, but not in terms of flavor. Based on lots of experience, I can say a 2 day old egg that has been kept out of the fridge tastes way better than a 2 week old egg that has been refrigerated.

justjoan wrote:since you are presumably buying farmer's market eggs so they'll be as fresh as possible, i dont know why you wouldnt want them refrigerated...

For various flavor and texture reasons, I prefer cooking with room temperature eggs, and don't always have the time to let the icebox ones warm up.

justjoan wrote:i do apologize for "shouting", as you put it. i forgot on the online world that capitalizing letters indicates shouting. i was just going for large- letters-to-make-a-point.

No problem. I've been shouted out for much less

Although the incidence of salmonella in chicken MEAT is very high in the US, the incidence in eggs is still very, very low. The AEB says 1/20,000 eggs, but I've seen non-industry figures that are anywhere from 1/10,000 to 1/50,000. By comparison, about 15% of the raw chicken meat out there has salmonella, and even more has campylobacter.

But, finally, salmonella is killed by cooking, so the risk if you do get one of those 1/10,000 eggs and then make macarons with it is exceptionally low.

Wow - those look fantastic. I'm so impressed. Since the beginning of summer I've been planning on trying a macaron recipe given to me by a pastry chef but just haven't gotten to it yet. This has inspired me to make it sooner rather than later.

Also, as for the egg white debate, my recipe calls for leaving the eggs whites (out of the shell) in a bowl, uncovered in the refrigerator for one to two days to dry out. While leaving them uncovered isn't ideal for sanitation, it's far better than leaving them on the counter.

I tried the macarons at much-lauded Sarah's Patisserie, and they were an absolute travesty. Flat, chewy, and filled with some sort of out-of-place, flavorless butter cream frosting. This was my first taste of Sarah's Patisserie, and while I'm sure they do some things well, I have to wonder why they would bother making macarons when they clearly have no idea how.

Kennyz wrote:I tried the macarons at much-lauded Sarah's Patisserie

Are you referring to Sarah's Pastries and Candies, the one on Oak Street (with a smaller outlet in Marshall Fieldacy's in the Loop)?

From this thread:

spinynorman99 wrote:The late Gourmet magazine had a nice feature on macarons in late 2008 with some nice flavor combinations and straight-forward recipes:

http://www.gourmet.com/search/query?keyword=macarons

We tried our hand at the chocolate earl grey macarons last weekend.. they turned out pretty well. The earl grey added to the ganache added a nice complexity.

(Also testing out our homemade lightbox!)

Chocolate Earl Grey Macarons



EDIT:

A couple notes on these:
Recipe was followed pretty closely from the Gourmet recipe (egg whites only left sitting for 30 minutes!).

We used Trader Joe's almond meal and Earl Grey, Ghirardelli 60% chocolate, Droste cocoa powder.

A lot of them were piped too big by yours truly, I got a little overzealous... most if not all of the big ones ended up cracking, but surprisingly so did a lot of the small ones. This was probably our biggest issue. I'd love to know how to remedy it.

We made the ganache the day after the shells due to a lack of ingredients (doh!). Eating the shells sans ganache made us worry because they were very sticky. After adding the ganache the next day and letting them sit, they softened up to the perfect texture. Just a heads up for anyone making these in the future.

If your macs are cracking, you might want to leave them sit longer before baking. Depending on the humidity in your house/kitchen, this can vary, but I've let mine sit for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

Yours look beautiful and delicious, though. I love the combo of tea and chocolate.

Has anyone tried pasturized eggs? These are raw, in-the-shell, in a carton right next to the regular eggs in the supermarket cooler.

the idea of pasturized eggs intrigued me from the standpoint that it seemed to eliminate the risk of raw eggs. I had visions of ceasar salad, steak tartare, hollandaise sauce and other good things made with raw or lightly cooked eggs -- things that had been eliminated from our regular rotation when raw eggs became risky.

I have seen them at the Jewel in Evanston for example.
Jewel
1128 Chicago Avenue
Evanston, IL 60202
(847) 869-7950

--Joy