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The Pretty Macaron
My favorite pastry of all is the macaron. Not only are they the best cookie EVER, they are so darn pretty, too. A macaron is an almond cookie , traditionally made with almond flour, egg whites and sugar.
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Macarons
I don't discriminate. I love the ugly ones as much as the pretty ones.
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“Be inspired to create masterpieces from
your own kitchen”. |
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Although almond four is standard, you can substitute it with hazelnut flour, or pistachio flour. Almost any nut flour can be used. You may just have to put them through the drying process for a few days first. Once baked, these gluten free nut cookies have an egg shell thin crust with moist, chewy insides. 
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Although, always associated with being French, macarons were actually brought to France by way of Italian pastry chefs. However, it was in France that the different variations were created. |
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In Italy, macarons started out simply as an almond paste first, then becoming mixed with the egg whites and sugar.
This made for a more dense macaron, with a nice and chewy perfect bite to it. It was in France where the addition of the French and Italian meringues began to lighten up the pastry. |
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Macarons became affectionately known as, "petite patisserie ronde aux amandes", which means a small and round almond pastry. I bet that meringue based macarons were birthed out of the extra egg whites hanging around. Nothing goes wasted in the bake shop.
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There are a few macaron methods out there. You have the French meringue method. The extremely easy, but expensive almond paste method. And the more complicated, cooked sugar method, also called the Italian meringue method.
Filled with chocolate ganache.
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Now, this is an interesting fact, French meringue and Italian meringue are very related. The French meringue has to be prepared first, before the addition of the cooked sugar required in making the Italian meringue.
It is the addition of the cooked sugar that transforms the French meringue into Italian meringue. |
A Heads Up,Please"I need to prepare you. This is a long post. There's a lot of detailed instructions, here, I think is important to know."
"It is my hope to offer you detailed instructions on the complete process of macaron making, for your success. Take a moment to scroll through. " |
Your Mise' En Place'
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Starts in the prep work here.
Your mise en' place' will include a large sized pastry bag, using a 1/2" round tip. I generally use a No. 6, about 1/2", as the size tip will determine not only how big your cookies will be , but how fast you can pipe out a dozen 1 1/2" sized cookies. |
Tips for Preparation
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Prepare your sheet pan with either parchment paper or a silicone mat. I use parchment paper if I'm making several batches, this speeds up production. With tons of parchment sheets, you can pipe all the batter at once
onto the parchment sheets. When the cookies are done, all you'll have to do is slide the parchment off the sheet pan, set the cookies aside to cool off, then slide on the next batch. However, my Silpat silicone mat serves me well, too.
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Double Panning
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To double pan or not. In the professional bakeshop, using two sheet pans to bake the macaron is sometimes standard.
The purpose is simply to prevent the bottom of the cookie from cooking faster than the middle. Unlike the big walk-in oven, sometimes the commercial range ovens can present uneven baking issues, just like the ovens at home.
The big walk-in ovens balances the heat and help to manage heat loss, by allowing you to bake up to 40 sheet pans at a time. It wasn't uncommon to bake up to 60 cakes at once in one of those. The heat coming from that double rack walk-in was brutal, but we had cake and cookie production done in one day. My left arm still have the battle scars from these ovens.
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Single Rack Walk-In
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Fill the sheet racks, then roll them on in. The commercial range, allowing only two full sized sheet pans at a time doesn't always seem to handle all of that in & out and opening & closing that baking requires. |
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Under those circumstances, that 350°F oven temperature will fluctuate, and uneven baking can be an issue, at times, making adjustments a necessity.
Then there are the hot spots. Know your oven's hot spots, and rotate the pans, as necessary. Double pan if you believe it is necessary. |
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The Labor"It's fun when you understand the language of macaron making, such as Tant Pour Tant, and Macaronage. These techniques hold as much importance as knowing your Mise En Place. " Tip Drying Out Your Ingredients The dryer your nut flour the better. Nut flour should be stored in the freezer. Take your nut flour out the day before and allow to dry on a cookie sheet before using. |
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The Tant Pour Tant
Tant Pour Tant and meringue.
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The concept is all about bakery production, efficiency and convenience. This is an expense that a larger operation, like a 5 star hotel or country club, might pay if it leads to less labor. In the pastry shop, almond flour and powdered sugar ( or icing sugar), are used together in a variety of pastry formulas. |
Almond flour and powdered sugar.
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Considering the time it takes to do the very necessary process of having to scale and process the two into one, the idea of having your tant pour tant already done for you is extremely tempting, but expensive enough to tempt me back to making my own.
It will keep well in a covered container. Longer, if refrigerated to keep it fresh. 
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If using pre-made almond meal/flour, pulsate it with the powdered sugar in a food processor before sifting together with the powdered sugar. If you're milling your own, grind the almond meal/flour together with the powdered sugar in a food processor,prior to sifting together. The purpose of using the food processor first is to help create an even finer powder with the almond flour and powdered sugar. A fine tant pour tant will blend a lot easier into the meringue during the macaronage step. This is the base and it is the first step.
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Adding Color |
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Before we get into macaronage, let's talk about getting those pretty colors into our macarons. First, use gel paste food coloring instead of the liquid coloring. Unlike liquid food coloring, the gel will not alter your batter. And liquid coloring fades during baking. The color of the macaron always reflect the flavor of the filling. Pink for strawberry. Green for pistachio. |
There are two ways you can add coloring. One is, you either add it to the egg whites prior to making your paste with the almond flour and confectioner's sugar mixture.
Or you can add the food coloring to either meringue you decide to make. To make multiple colors, divide the Italian meringue, or the egg whites equally by weight. |
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Then add your desired color, per the suggestions above. Something to consider, choose only two colors maximum for the batch amounts when making the French Macaron and the Macaron Sucre Cuit.
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If you're making the Almond paste macaron, divide the egg whites then add the color to them before mixing them into the almond paste. Most of the time, I prefer to add the food coloring to the egg whites. The gel blends very well with the egg whites, and I don't have to concern myself with deflating the meringue.
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Let's Get to the Business of What it Takes to Make the Perfect Macaron
Methods to Making Macarons
MACARONAGE
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What is macaronage, you want to know?
Macaronage is a French term created just to describe one of the steps in the macaron making process. Those pastry chefs of old were talented geniuses, having the audacity to create a new word. But the macaronage is serious business. |
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Macaronge is the process of incorporating the almond paste, or the tant pour tant into the meringue, while maintaining the airy volume created in the meringue. Done by the ever so gently folding of the ingredients together. The challenge with this process is knowing when the batter's consistency is perfected, without over folding.
If you over fold, you risk deflating the meringue, thus deflating the body of the finished baked cookie. Your batter will run.
But under folding will also produce undesirable results, because the ingredients are not fully incorporated, resulting in a too airy cookie, with cracks, once baked. This introduces you to the next challenge of balancing between over folding & under folding, to achieve a thick, flowing, ribbony consistency, with a glossy finish.
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Add one third of the dry ingredients into the meringue, using your spatula fold it in to incorporate. It's incorporated when you no longer see evidence of the flour mixture.
To do this: Scrape from the bottom of the bowl and fold it over the top. Pressing the batter against the bowl with the spatula, smoothing out the bumps of flour meringue mixture on the sides of the bowl. Fold that into the center of the batter Once incorporated, add the remaining almond flour and confectioner's sugar mixture at once. Continue to fold the ingredients until it began. |
Runny batter due to over folding.
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It's a Little Different with Italian MeringueHere you see the addition of the Italian Meringue. With this method, you have to first make a paste with the almond flour and egg whites. Then you add the Italian meringue in thirds, working out your macaronage. |
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Don't worry, as you fold, you will begin to see the blending of these two different textures coming together. All on their own. You can test if the consistency is right by making figure 8's in the bowl with the batter. It should run in thick ribbons off the spatula. Once the batter becomes smooth & glossy, it should have the desired consistency. This may take some practice to master, so be patient with it all. |
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And that is the goal of macaronage, to create a batter, not a dough, with the consistency to allow piping through a pastry bag, yet retaining its shape once piped. |
Piping the Batter
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Your pastry bag is filled, now you're ready to pipe. Hold your piping bag perpendicular to the lined sheet pan, but don't allow the tip to touch the pan. The batter will naturally fall right into place. Once piped, the batter will create small peaks, but will smooth on their own, an indication that you have a good batter. |
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Piping the batter is when you'll find out how well your macaronage went. If the batter easily flows with a slight press, you're good. It should not be runny. Don't pipe too close together, because the batter will spread slightly. Some people like to have circles drawn on their parchment. That's fine if it's helpful . You can even find silicone mats already molded for macaron making.
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They can make a decent guide for you, helping you to have uniformed cookies. Some even come in fun shapes , like Hello Kitty, and Mickey Mouse, but watch out for these. I've had hit and misses with these 'cute' macaron mats. |
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You'll know the batter is too stiff when the peaks remain, and the tops of the shells may not be totally smooth. If too thin, the batter will spread. The peaks should fall on their own.
Before Baking
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A tip before baking
Instead of piping your batter one batch at a time, you can have a few sheets of parchment paper laid out & ready and pipe the batter out all at once. |
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When ready, just slide the parchment onto the cookie sheet. Sometimes the parchment paper will lift when piping, just put a small dab of batter under the parchment, under each of the four corners to keep the paper down.
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Drying Time
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Tap your cookie sheet, lightly, on the counter, releasing any air. Before baking, allow the cookie batter to sit on the counter, at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to an hour, at the minimum. I've seen various debates online, whether to bake the macarons immediately, or wait. |
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An important truth to make light is this...time is not as much a factor here as it is the macarons forming that skin. To know if the macaron is ready for baking, the intial shine will be gone, and the raw macaron will have a matte look to them. You will also have to be careful to not over dry them. Now, if you're more in a hurry to get them baked, do your thing. You can't hurt, or kill the little macaron.
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These cookies are so good, you really can't go wrong, so don't stress out about the 'perfect' macaron. You're not trying to sell them. Bake them anyway and then count how many you have left over the next day. Okay?!? |
The Baking
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High heat. Low heat. There are some instructions that will tell you to bake between 400°F to 410°F, or as low as 300°F.
During baking, the goal is a little rise and the drying of your macaron. You don't need high heat to do that. Plus, with your oven that high, you'll have to babysit during baking due to over baking concerns. Well, you too may find that 325°F is perfect macaron baking temperature. |
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Be aware that you may have hot spots in your oven. Hot spots are areas of the oven that is hotter than another area, causing premature browning. Know your oven. Keep an eye on your baked goods to determine where the hot spots are.
Rotate your baking pans if your oven does contain hot spots, for even cooking. Bake, one sheet at a time, on the middle rack. Bake for 10 minutes, and remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely. They can cool right on the cookie sheet.
Be aware that you may have hot spots in your oven. Hot spots are areas of the oven that is hotter than another area, causing premature browning. Know your oven. Keep an eye on your baked goods to determine where the hot spots are.
Rotate your baking pans if your oven does contain hot spots, for even cooking. Bake, one sheet at a time, on the middle rack. Bake for 10 minutes, and remove from the oven. Allow to cool completely. They can cool right on the cookie sheet.
The 3 Methods of Macarons Preparation...
All unique, all result in the same delectable pastry
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I'm sharing all three methods with you, then you can choose which one works best for you. After that, you can go out there and experiment with fillings and flavors.
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What's even more creative is that you can make them any color you want, from pastels to primary. My favorites are pastels.
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After baking
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After baking, you'll be removing the macarons from the baking sheet. Slide the parchment, or silicone mat off of the baking sheet. Allow the cookies to cool off completely before removal. Don't lift the cookies off of the sheet, because you could break them. They're just a little delicate. To remove the macarons, flip the parchment paper over, and just peel the paper off the macarons. If you used a silicon mat, peel the mat off the same way. |
Peel the paper away from the macarons.
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Macarons are Sandwiches
Having a little fun with the macaron!
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They're very special when sandwiched with buttercream, ganache, or jams. That's how we generally see macarons, as sandwiched cookies. But you don't always have to go that way. Macarons are so wonderfully delicious simply as they are, all on their own. They can even be used to garnish a cake, become a cake, or another dessert entirely. |
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Even though the macaron cookie is delicious all on its own, filling the macaron is very popular, and the most recognizable character trait of a macaron. With ganach being the most popular filling in a macaron, fillings can also range from jams to buttercream. |
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When you add buttercream, you can come up with a number of flavors with the addition of the many fruit purees and nut paste available. This is where the additional flavor comes from. Flavorings are never added to the macaron batter It's the addition of the flavored filling that makes the macaron an example of a profile in flavor. The color of the macaron and filling represents the color of your flavor.
