How to make Macarons Anyone?

I've been wanting to write about the Macarons I made since my sister's last visit but forgot about it, until now. Since I've been baking a lot these days and coincidentally, most times I just use egg yolks rather than the whole egg, I normally end up with plenty of egg white in the kitchen. Last Friday, as I had some time free from baking buns, and I had plenty of leftover egg whites, I decided to make some macarons once more.


After a bit of Googling and browsing for tips about macarons, I eventually managed to get it right on the hmm...I don't know, maybe the third time. In my opinion, macarons shouldn't be that easy to make but it's a bit tricky if you don't get the ingredients right first time around. Well, I'll share you the tips later but first, do enjoy pictures of my macarons with Nutella and peanut butter filling (I am just too lazy to make the proper filling from scratch).

These are the recipes:


90 grams egg white
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
110 grams ground almond
200 grams icing/powdered sugar


Whip the egg whites until foamy and add sugar until you have a glossy meringue. Don't overbeat.
Combine  ground almond and powdered sugar and don't be too gentle in folding them in the egg whites. Use a large pastry bag to pipe out the batter on the tray (with parchment paper on it) either using #807 tip or just cut the end of the bag manually. Not too small and not too big. Let them harden for a while and bake for at least 15 minutes in a preheated oven between 150 to 170 degrees. 


Let them cool down and sandwich them with any filling, ganache or spread you like.


Ok these are my tips:

• Make sure the egg whites have been at room temperature for at least 24 hours beforehand. Mine was on the counter for 3 days and maybe more. To be extra safe, make sure it's kept in an air tight container (well weather in Ireland is very cold these days).
• Don't over beat as it could turn out to be meringue (crunchy) instead of a macaron (more gooey)

First attempt at macaroon making. I think I over beat it that time.

• When folding in the powdered sugar and almond, make sure it's folded altogether with the eggs. I whipped my powdered sugar after the egg whites are foamy and glossy for 2 minutes and not so gently folded in ground almond with a spatula.
• You can used ready made ground almond or you could ground whole almonds yourself. The texture will be the same as long as you grind it properly.
• When piping out the batter, you can make your own circle template by making one (or a few) with a piece of paper and just put underneath your parchment paper,  if you're afraid that the size will be different. Otherwise don't bother just like me. Hehehe. Get it?

Pic courtesy from Chefinyou or you can download template here

• Leave them for at least an hour before baking.
• To loosen the macarons, you can run water behind the parchment paper as soon as it comes out from the oven. Not too much water of course, just enough to wet the paper a bit otherwise you macarons will get soggy. I do this because I think it's kind of hard to do it after it's cooled down and the macarons will crumble if you separate the macaroons from the sheets as soon as it's out from the oven.
• Let it dry on a wire rack to let it cool down and harden properly. 
• You can always mix the desired colour and flavour into the recipe but if possible, find the colouring or flavouring in either gel or powdered form because if the mixture is too runny, you won't get the desired texture.

Happy cooking and if you try it, you won't regret it.

It looks and tastes nice anyway!