Macarons

Here is my attempt at Macarons ! And here is the recipe.

Ingredients

Macarons

3 large egg whites – about 140g

85g (2/3 cup) almond meal

150g (1 ½ cups) pure icing sugar

65g (5 tab) caster sugar

Flavouring essence

Filling

2 cups icing sugar mixture

2 tab margarine

Flavouring essence

Colour

Method

1.                  Day 1 - Before you start make sure the egg whites are at room temperature:  The egg whites should be “aged”.  This means allowing the egg whites to sit in a container on the bench for 24 hours (or less if time is limited).  If this is not possible, use the most oldest eggs you’ve got in the fridge.

2.                  Day 2 – Making the Macarons
Prepare the dry ingredients:  Sift the icing sugar in one bowl and the almond meal into another.  Resift both again and then sift together into one bowl.  Set this bowl aside.

3.                  Prepare the baking trays:  Using a round plastic milk bottle lid as a guide, draw circles on baking paper (this will line the baking trays to cook the macarons).  Set this aside until ready to pipe the macaron mixture.

4.                  Whisk the egg whites and sugar:  Place the egg whites in a large bowl and using the stand mixture or a hand held electric mixture, start beating the egg whites on low to medium speed until the egg whites are foamy.  Slowly add the caster sugar a tablespoon at a time until fully incorporated.  Continue beating until smooth and shiny and the sugar has dissolved in the egg whites.  You can test this by tasting the egg white and there’s no sugar granules present.  You can also test if the egg whites are ready by tipping the bowl upside down and that ensures the eggs are stiff enough, otherwise if it’s not it would be on the floor !

5.                  Now it’s time to add the dry mix:  Add all the almond and sugar mixture and using a rubber spatula fold the mixture together, in and around and up and down until it is thoroughly mixed through.  You will know you have mixed it well enough and ready for piping when the mixture feels like “volcano magna” or it forms a ribbon when dropped from the spatula and it stays as a ribbon for 30 seconds.

6.                  Now is the time for flavour and colouring as you prefer:  If you would like to make different colours, and flavours, divide the mixture into separate bowls and add the colours and flavours, a drop at a time.  It’s best to use colour pastes or powders for this as liquid powders can make the mixture too wet.

7.                  Pipe the macarons:  Insert a small nozzle into the piping bag and fill the bag with the mixture.  Turn the baking paper unside down so the penciled circles are underneath.  Pipe right into the centre of the circle but leave a small edge around the circle.  This will allow the macaron to spread later to the desired size.  Once you have completed piping, tap the tray a couple of times on the bench to get rid of any air bubbles.

8.                  Resting the macarons.  Allow the macarons to rest on the bench until dried.  To test touch with your finger and if it’s still sticky it needs more time but if its dry it’s ready to go into the oven.  This could take anywhere between ½ hour to 2 hours.

9.                  Preheat your oven at 150oC and when it’s reached that temperature you can place your macarons in the oven.

10.              Cook your macarons for about 15 minutes or until they are dry when you touch them.

11.              Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the oven tray.  Once cooled removed from the tray and fill with the choice of your filling.

Filling - Buttercream

2 cups icing sugar mixture, sifted

2 tab margarine

Dash of milk

Flavouring and colouring

Mix all the ingredients together to form the consistency of the filling required.

Filling – Chocolate Ganache

¼ cup cream

75g dark chocolate

75g milk chocolate

Warm the cream in the microwave then add the chocolate and stir around until chocolate is coated with the cream.  Stir with the spoon until smooth.  Allow to cool until stiff.