Adventures in Macarons

One of my favorite desserts of all time is French macarons and just thinking about them makes me one.. immediately.  I don't know what it is about them but with their cookie like crust with their chewy inside but French macaroons are my all time favorite sweet treat.

I saw a recipe online and I thought to myself - "How could something so amazing be made with so few ingredients. They can't be so hard to make can they?"  To make them depending on the recipe their are only 5 or 6 ingredients and there are a ton of different ways to make them.  I tried making them about a half a dozen times before they came out perfectly.  The secret to creating a French macaroon is getting what they call the feet on the cookie which is the little bubbles on the crust.

I tried a couple of different recipes but this is the one that worked for me- and what I liked about this recipe is that the egg whites you used for the cookies and there is a recipe for egg yolks for the filling.  I think if I had to give anyone advice trying to make macaroons I have three tips.

1,  Do not over whisk your egg whites.  One of the main components in making macaroons is making the meringue.  To be honest I didn't even know what a meringue was or how to even make one.  Basically when you are whisking the eggs while adding the sugar- the eggs turn frothy and then turn shiny creating a a peak.  My big mistake was over whisking the eggs going past the point of when they become just stiff enough to form a peak. If you over whisk the eggs- the eggs go flat and you don't get the fancy feet.  The biggest tip is to take your time and slowly increase the speed of the beater to get the eggs just right.

2.  The next part is mixing the ingredients.  You have to fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients while being careful not to flatten the meringue. Hard right? and you have to be careful not to over or under mix because you can create cracking in the shell.  The trick with the batter is to fold about 30 times but starting to check for the perfect consistency.  The perfect consistency is a lava like texture that when it drips.. drips like ribbons.

3.  The last tip is after your macaroons are piped on the cookie sheet.  You bang the tray on the counter causing the air to rise out of the cookie and then give them about a 30 minutes rest on the counter before going into the oven.

So if you ever try to make these fickle but extremely delicious cookies, I hope these tips help. :)


Annie said...

omg YUM!!! And so pretty!

Erin said...

Erika, it's like you know the key to my heart! Now I know why you liked that Instagram I posted the other night ;) These are gorgeous. Macarons are my weakness, but I've never even attempted making them at home! Something about almond flour and egg whites and a piping bag....I'd rather buy them (but that's because I'm lazy ;)

Kudos to you for making them!! I bet they were delicious. How can they not be?? xo

Outcast said...

These look amazing, like Erin says I think it's awesome that you made them, they're so pretty!