Let discuss the numerous Macaron attempts... Trust me you need a moment to breathe between attempts and/or to save up for the ground almond meal, which is bloody expensive! Attempt No.1: Too sweet, 4 trays and 10 successful macarons. Actually they were all crap now that I have Attempt Number 5 to compare them to... Attempt No. 2: New recipe, new book and perfect taste, 4 trays and 8 successful macarons! Attempt No.3: New recipe, worked out okay 2/4 trays, but what was that brown ring (not burnt?) maybe it was to do with the blueberry?! Attempt No. 4: By this stage I'd given up on the books and resorted to google for research. I found a few useful tips which resulted in 3/4 trays a success. The first batch came out of the oven too quickly - "this nervous baker saw those feet and panicked out of fear that something may happen to them..." As for the filling, sadly the idea of using melted caramel as a filler was great in theory but too hard when chewing! But at last, success. All my macarons got their beautiful 'feet'... " You could say I had a Cinderella moment!" | Use these books with caution: Scrumptious filling recipes but as for the actual macaron mixture, the best advise I can give you is to ignore the cup measurements and weigh everything (refer to precise chart below). |
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Attempt No.5: Nine months of testing and experimenting down. To finally give birth to the perfect macaron was a moment to be proud of. You may think I'm mad, bored or a just a desperate housewife with too much time on her hands and in need of a job (and also a visa let's not forget)...But I did it. The below baby photo is the third successful batch using this method by Syrup and Tang...
Recipe is adapted from Macarons - Chic and Delicious French Treats by Annie Riggs
Click here for more information
The French Macaron Sugar and spice 195g: Almond meal 240g: Icing Sugar 120g: Castor Sugar 150g: Egg Whites Spices: Fresh grated nutmeg, cinammon, and a pinch of cloves | The Filling A buttercream icing or 150g of Mascarpone 1 big tablespoon of dulce de leche 2 teaspoons of ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon Place icing or mascarpone into a bowl and stir in spices and dulce de leche... |
Preparation: Line 3 trays with parchment paper and using a circle cutter trace circles onto the paper about 2 cm apart. Then turn the paper upside down as you don't want the outline of circle imprinting onto your macarons (yes, that happened in attempted Number 1)!
- Using room temp egg whites ( that have been left out overnight), beat at a medium speed until white and stiff. Slowly add sugar and continue to mixture until a peak forms.
- Then fold in the sifted icing sugar, spices and almond meal (sift together, to ensure that it is super fine).
- Using a piping bag with a large round nozzle, scoop in the mixture. Place the noszzle in the centre of the circle and squeeze until the circle is filled with mixture. Then repeat...
- Tap the tray 3 times on the kitchen counter to release the air bubbles.
- Then leave your macarons to sit for 30 minutes to an hour. (Test: they should not be sticky to touch).
- While they are standing, make filling and preheat oven to 325F.
- Drop to 300 when your ready to bake your macarons
- Bake them one tray at a time- place the macaron tray onto another tray (this is Referred to as double tray baking)...
- Bake for 5 minutes. Then using a wooden spoon, slightly wedge your oven open and bake for another 7- 10 minutes. Repeat for each batch. Remember before placing the next tray into the oven return the heat to 325F and then drop the oven to 300F
- Let your macarons cool completely before removing from the tray.
- Sandwich your macarons together using the above ginger filling and let them sit for a moment or two xo
Serve with tea, coffee or a glass of champagne xo
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