I loooove a good French macaron! Unfortunately, the only nearby place I've found them is in DC proper, so macarons have become a rare treat for me. I've been meaning to try making them at home but had been turned off by all the complaining that they're tricky, difficult, and finicky to make well. Well, I finally took it upon myself to learn the art of macaronage and give them a try!
I spent a week or two scouring the internet for recipes, fillings, tips, tricks, and troubleshooting guides. This post is a simplified, distilled version of what I learned. Good luck!
Let's gather our ingredients for the shells: almond meal (I got mine from Trader Joe's), superfine sugar, confectioner's sugar, egg whites, and gel food coloring (I used Wilton coloring purchased from Michael's).
The day before, you will want to crack your eggs and separate out your whites. Cover the whites with plastic wrap and leave out to age at room temperature. This is safe as long as the yolks are taken out.
When you're ready to start cooking, line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Don't preheat the oven yet.
Mix the almond meal and confectioner's sugar together. I used a food processor since I had a few clumps I wanted to get out. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, pop your egg whites in and mix with a hand mixer until the whites start to foam. Slowly add the superfine sugar and food coloring, and keep mixing medium-stiff peaks form. When you can tip the bowl upside down without anything falling out, you're done.
Add half of your almond meal mixture to the eggs and give it a quick mix using the hand mixer. You just want to integrate everything slightly. Add the remaining almond meal mixture and gently fold it into the eggs. You want to go slowly and gently, using a sweeping motion under and over until the mix is thick.
The easiest way to make lovely round circles is to use a piping bag. You can buy bags and icing tips at just about any craft store. I used Wilton tip #10 for this. Pipe out your mix into small circles a little smaller than a half-dollar. The circles will expand slightly, but you can pack them pretty tightly.
Once you're done piping, go sit down. You need to wait at least 15 minutes for the mix to settle and crust over. The circles should not feel tacky when they're ready. I had to wait about 35 minutes, but you should budget an hour for this part. You don't want to rush because this is the key to the frilly macaron feet that we know and love! This is also a good time to preheat your oven to 300F.
When the macarons are ready, pop them in the oven for 18 minutes.
Ta da! These shells rose beautifully!
Look at those frilly feet!
Let the macarons cool before transferring to a wire rack for filling. Pair them up by size as you go. I had some monsters and I had some itty-bitty ones. They all came out great!
My apologies that I don't have pictures of the filling-making process. I tried two types of fillings: a vanilla buttercream and a raspberry fruit filling. This was my first macaron adventure, so I'm sorry to say that the buttercream filling didn't quite do it for me. But the raspberry filling...it was fabulous!
To make the raspberry filling, you'll need an 8oz bag of frozen raspberries that have been thawed, the superfine sugar from the shells recipe, cornstarch, and lemon juice.
Drain the liquid from the bag of raspberries into a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Mash up the berries as you're draining to get more juice - and save the berries, as we'll use them later. When you can drain no more, fill the rest of your cup with water and add this + 2 T. water to a small saucepan. Add 3 T. sugar, 1 1/2 T. cornstarch, and 1/2 tsp. lemon juice. Mix this together and let the sauce come to a boil and thickens. Remove the sauce from heat and allow it to cool completely. I highly recommend transferring it to a separate dish and refrigerating until chilled. This makes it much easier to fill the macarons without raspberry filling spilling everywhere.
Once the filling is chilled, you can again use a piping bag and tip to fill the shells. I used Wilton tip#7. You don't want to overfill the shells or the macarons tend to get messy in storage.
Voila! An amazing first try at macarons!
Now, you'll want to store and refrigerate these puppies for a while. The shells will absorb a bit of the filling to give them that lusty crunchy-gives-way-to-yummy texture. Most recipes say these will store for a week, but I don't know how anyone makes them last that long. Consolidated recipes below. Enjoy!
French Macarons
115g almond meal
200g confectioner's sugar
100g egg whites (about 3)
20g superfine sugar
A touch of gel food coloring
1. The night before, break eggs and separate whites. Cover white and age at room temperature.
2. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
3. Mix almond meal and confectioner's sugar to remove clumps and integrate well.
4. In a large bowl, whisk egg whites with a hand mixer until foamy.
5. Add superfine sugar and food coloring and beat until mixture stays put when bowl is tipped upside-down.
6. Add half of the almond meal mixture to the eggs. Pulse briefly with hand mixer to integrate. Add remaining almond meal mix and gently fold in by hand. Continue until just mixed. Batter will be thick.
7. Add the batter to a piping bag and pipe half-dollar sized circles onto cookie sheets.
8. Allow the circles to form a crust. This takes 15 minutes to an hour. Preheat your oven at this time to 300F.
9. Bake circles for 18 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing to wire rack and pairing up by size.
10. When completely cool, pipe filling onto the inside of one shell and top with the matching shell.
11. Allow macarons to refrigerate for about a day for best taste and texture.
Raspberry Filling
8oz bag frozen raspberries, thawed
3 T. superfine sugar
1 1/2 T. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1. Drain the liquid from the bag of raspberries into a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Mash up the berries as you're draining to get more juice - and save the berries, as we'll use them later.
2. When you can drain no more, fill the rest of your cup with water and add this + 2 T. water to a small saucepan.
3. Add the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Mix this together and let the sauce come to a boil and thickens. Remove the sauce from heat and allow it to cool completely.
4. Transfer to a separate dish and refrigerating until chilled.
