Today I thought I would try something new that I hadn’t baked before… French Macaroons. I have to be honest we went to France last year and I saw these in all the cake shops but I never actually tried one, I really wish I had. I keep seeing these on loads of different websites so I thought it was time I gave them a go. So here they are…
They were actually not as hard as I was expecting them to be to make. These are almond flavour with a vanilla butter cream inside. I think next time I might try a ganache center as the buttercream doesn’t go as hard as I would have liked. The best tip I can give any one thinking of giving these a go is one I saw on a cooking program recently. Before I started to pipe the mixture onto the baking sheets I printed out a template of 1inch circles which I laid under the parchment paper, this helped me get the circles roughly the same size each time.
I have to admit that I have eaten quite alot of these today, they are quite moreish, so I decided to package some of them up and give them to my friends and family. I have put some more images of the macaroons in their packages in the cookies gallery, so please take a look.
ANA
April 16, 2013HOW?
ANA
April 16, 2013HOW TO MACAROONS?
ANA
April 16, 2013PLZ HOW TO MACAROONS?
Lynsey
April 19, 2013Hi Ana,
This is the recipe that I use. I hope this helps…
Ingredients: 100g ground almonds , 200g icing sugar, 100-110g egg whites (at room temperature) , 4tbsp caster sugar
Method:
1. Grind the almonds in a food processor, sift to get rid of any large pieces or lumps.
2. Mix the Icing sugar together with the ground almonds in the food processor. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites with a hand or stand mixer. As the egg whites start foaming, add the sugar one table spoon at a time and continue whipping until the mixture is glossy and stiff. You should be able to hold the bowl upside down without the meringue sliding out!
3. Fold the dry mixture into the meringue using a spatula. Add food colouring if desired and fold until fully mixed (it is generally better to use powdered food
colourings or pastes that are low in liquid). The mixture should flow like a ribbon when you hold up the spatula. If you want to test the batter has good consistency, dollop some batter on a piece of parchment paper. If the dollop slowly flattens, you are good to go, if not keep folding.
4. Fill your piping bag and pipe the macaroons onto a baking sheet. Remember that the shells will flatten once they are piped so make them about 2.5 – 3cm (1 inch)
5. Let them set for 30 minutes.
6. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes in the middle of the oven at 150 degrees. Keep a close eye on them because they can easily brown. To test the macaroons are done touch the tip of the macaroon if it wobbles they are not done yet.
7. Let the shells cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet and then pipe in your filling and sandwich together.
Lynz x