Macarons!

Macarons are one of those things that I have wanted to try and make, but after 2 tries have been unsuccessful! Seriously, how hard is it to make cookies??!! VERY HARD... apparently!

I have googled and google so many different kinds of tips and techniques, and I combined all those ideas into 1 batch to hopefully see if they work. Even as I have started typing, the batch I am writing about, hasn't been cooked yet, so I am still too see whether they are good or not!!

First up, the difference between a macarOn and a macarOOn. There is a difference! Not just some people saying it wrong! The best description is found here, but basically a macarOn is the one you sandwich together, in different colours etc, the ones you would probably see most. A macarOOn, is more like a bickie that you add coconut too, dip in chocolate etc. If I have just confused you (sorry!) click on the link and go read for yourself!

Some of the crazy tips I picked up that I used I will list here, you can pick and choose for yourself which ones you want to use as well...

• use old eggs - pretty much crack your eggs, seperate the yolk and white, and let the white sit on the bench (in a cup and covered of course!) from 1 hr to 1 day before using.
• I've also seen in some recipes, use OLD eggs for the ones you beat for the meringue, and NEW eggs for the ones you make the paste with
• let them sit on the bench before baking for 30min-1hour to let them get a skin on top - this will help prevent cracking when baking. You know they are done when you touch them and your finger doesn't stick to it.
• Make sure you sift the flour and almond meal.
• Macaron's don't like humidity! So if it's raining, probably not a great idea to try and make them!

So here is the recipe I used (it is actually from My Kitchen Rules) so we'll see how we go!

Ingredients:
200g caster sugar
75ml water
4 egg whites
200g almond meal, sifted
200g (1 1/4 cups) icing sugar, sifted
Food colour (if you so desire - I chose PINK!)

To start off sift your almond meal and icing sugar together into a bowl, and then mix in 2 of the egg whites, and form a paste. It will be a stiff paste. If you want to add colour, add it in now into the paste.

Then you need to combine the water and caster sugar in a sauce pan to make a sugar syrup. It needs to reach 118 degrees celcius. If you don't have a Candy Thermometre, you can use this as a guide. When it is done it will look like this:

 

When you have started the sugar syrup, you need to whisk your 2 remaining egg whites. Whisk until they form stiff peak. 

When you have done that, and the sugar syrup is done, start slowly pouring the sugar syrup into the egg whites - make sure you continually mix it. 

One of the other tips I picked up was, once you have integrated all the sugar syrup, keep mixing it until the mix has cooled down. The sugar syrup will heat it up, so beat it until it cools down again. It will look like this when it's done:

Now you need to add the meringue mix into the paste mix, and start slowly folding and incorporating together. About 50 folds is usual for this, but if it is still peaking and not settling (meaning if it does not come flat on top of the mix) give it a few more folds and it should do it. It will look like this when it's done:

Fill a piping bag with the mix. The easiest way to do this is putting the piping bag into a glass:

*You can get piping bags in the cake section at Woolies, by Multix. Or you can just use a big zip lock bag.

Pipe them onto a tray, about 20c-50c size pieces. Make sure they are far enough apart not to touch when they bake.

Make sure that they develop a "skin" on the top, leave them for 30mins-1hr. When they are dry to touch, they are ready. I let them sit for over an hour (because it clashed with picking the kids up from school!), but they were perfectly ready to go.

When you have piped them, and they are sitting, turn the oven on now - at 200 degrees celcius. When the macarons are ready to go into the oven, turn it down to 140-150 - depending on your oven.

Bake them for 15minutes, and when they are done they will look like this:

I am SO happy with them! they turned out so well! They have a "foot" on them (the ring around the base is the "foot") and none of them cracked! Put them on a rack to cool.

To stick the together I made a basic white chocolate ganache:

150g white chocolate

1/3 cup cream

Heat the cream in the microwave until hot, and then pour over the white chocolate. Stir smoothly and slowly until it is all combined. (if it still has some white choc chunks in it, microwave in 10 sec intervals, stirring in between, until they are all gone. Let it set (you can speed up the process by putting it in the fridge - but dont let it set too hard or you wont be able to spread it!)

Match macarons to similar sizes, and when the ganache is of a thicker consistency, sandwich them together. 

They are so gooey and delicious! I am very excited about the next step, which will be flavouring them!

Thanks for reading - and questions or comments feel free!!

Happy Baking,

Rach