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Macarons are french dessert made from almond flour and meringue. It consists of two halves of cookies with a layer of cream.

The history of macarons began in Italy during the Renaissance. Later, these cookies were brought to France, where the recipe and type of cake were slightly changed: various spices, liqueurs and confitures were added, and the domes of the cookies were combined with cream. Macarons acquired their usual appearance towards the end of the 19th century: they became neat, painted in pastel colors, and various creams, ganaches and confitures were used as fillings. Macarons are experiencing another boom and a kind of rebirth in our century. Modern confectioners never tire of surprising with new shapes (for example, in the form of hearts, animal faces, flowers, etc.), flavor combinations and colors (by the way, the latest trend is painting on the top lid of the cake).

Macarons are difficult to prepare and intimidate many pastry chefs. It is believed that proper macarons should have a flat surface, the so-called “skirt”, the cookie halves should fit each other perfectly in size, the dough should be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and the filling should not protrude beyond the edges of the halves. In addition, the color of the cookies should be uniform, without grains.

To bake those perfect macarons, you need to know some nuances in their preparation. In our profile @ellecraftstore on Instagram we received many questions from you about preparing this dessert, and together with our regular author @tatyanz prepared answers to them.

Since there are many pitfalls in making macarons, the answers to the questions “what went wrong” represent the most likely cause. But it may also be that, in a particular case, mistakes were made elsewhere. It is assumed that all ingredients are weighed exactly according to the recipe.

1. Why do macarons crack when baking?

Baking cracks can occur when large air bubbles are present in the macaronage. They could have formed due to inaccurate kneading or uneven beating of the meringue. It is better not to beat too quickly, at a constant speed, continuously.

2. Why are there voids inside?

The reason may be incorrectly prepared meringue. The meringue should be dense, smooth and shiny. When the corolla is lifted, the meringue curves into a so-called “bird’s beak.” If you turn the bowl upside down, the meringue will not fall out and will not even go anywhere. It is also worth paying attention to sufficient kneading of the dough (there should be no uncombined masses).

3. Why is there no skirt?

Most likely you kneaded the pasta too much and removed all the air.

4. Light color fades. Which dyes are best?

It is better to use concentrated powder dyes. In addition to the dye itself, you can pay attention to the baking temperature/mode and the level at which the baking sheet is placed - in case the lids turn slightly yellow.

5. How thick should the meringue be?

6. The skirt grows, but when you take it out of the oven, it falls off.

The moisture in the pasta is too high. Most likely the syrup was prepared incorrectly. For reliability, the temperature must be at least 118°C (up to 120°C is acceptable). You can check with another thermometer.

7. When baking in convection mode, the first batch turns out perfect, but the second - at the same temperature and mode - cracks.

Try an oven without convection: you need to find a suitable mode for each oven. Perhaps by the second batch the oven is heating up more than necessary. Maybe the lids that were placed last picked up more bubbles even at the stage of transferring the dough into the bag.

8. No crumb.

There can be mistakes at any stage here: from wholemeal flour to overmixed macaronage. Or, if the question is about voids, then see point 2.

Anyone who has ever tried to make their own Macaron cake has had at least one example of a sad cooking experience that left them demoralized on the spot. Even if you are a master of cakes and creams, your first 20 attempts to get at least something presentable in most cases are doomed to failure. Most people either give up completely or simply come to the conclusion that they can at least bake something edible, even if technically and aesthetically inferior compared to the great Parisian pastry chefs. But there is a tiny secret that I will share with you... even the World Champions confectionery art in Paris they bake and sell spoiled products every day. In fact, there are few pastry chefs who focus on making Macarons perfect.

According to Adama Wayda, he should always buy 5 or 6 Macarons at a time, hoping that at least 2 will look good enough to be photographed. I'm not playing around. And since the price of these little cakes is on average €1.95/each, he is forced to spend at least $15 in order to have even the slightest chance of filming anything worthwhile. Some of the photos are so bad that he never shows them anywhere, despite wasting hundreds of dollars and countless hours on nothing.

What does this mean? Yes, about the fact that if your Macarons are not perfect, you are not alone! J.

HOLLOW HALVES: There are several shops in Paris that usually sell hollow macarons. On the one hand, this may not affect the taste, but it is definitely not the best structure for the cake. Also, if you purchase Macarons as a gift and pack them in a box, they will be broken due to their hollow structure when transported to the recipient.

"SWOLL" HALVES: Even though it's technical best performance than the first macs, they are still too bloated. They may be reminiscent of severe obesity. The cake halves are not dense enough, but rather too soggy, looking like something between biscuits and meringue. These Macarons are edible, their only major drawback is that they are not cute and would not be the subject of a tasteful gift.

EXCESSIVE FILLING: Such cakes look at least inharmonious, at most vulgar. Although we must pay tribute to the fact that the structure of the halves is more uniform and the skirts are more even than in previous cases.

NOT ENOUGH FILLING This is the second of three reasons why the cake should not go on sale! You don't buy a half-frozen sponge cake, so why should you pay €1.95 for a half-filled Macaron? Macaron cake is one of the most profitable confectionery products, and such blatant savings on this dessert are absolutely unacceptable!

QUICK: There are some truly talented patisseries in Paris that come up with fun and unusual flavor combinations. But there are also those who create absurd combinations for the sake of being mentioned in the media. The pastry chef often declares that a wonderful poppy seed consists of “carrots, orange and cinnamon.” But it's not just the cinnamon and the other listed ingredients that are unnoticeable - the carrots... at least until you get to the center and find a tiny, chewy particle. These macaroons are like haute couture dresses that are impossible to wear but fun to look at.

DRY HALVES: This is the third reason, which is a blatant violation of storage technology. If you leave the store and find a dry Mac, return and ask for a replacement. If the pastry chef doesn't make it, call the police J. Stale Macarons are punishable by death - or at least a long, disapproving stare.

GRANULATED ALMOND FLOUR: You can imagine 2 examples of using heterogeneous almond flour. The most interesting thing is that this can also play into the hands of the pastry chef, creating a more interesting cake structure

In the case of the red-green Mac, the granulated almond flour (which you can see in the rough surface of the half) actually enhances the flavor, gently tickling your tongue to awaken your tactile system, bringing out the pistachio and cherry tones of the Mac.

In the second example (Chuao chocolate), too many very roughly processed almonds are mixed into the fine chocolate. It’s not clear why these macarons are made in such a chunky style L

BROKENBARRELS: This is the most common mistake home confectioners make. But! When you receive such Macs while baking at home, you get upset and, of course, do not sell them (you don’t sell them J), unlike unscrupulous commercial confectionery shops. Although it is worth saying that even the most famous pastry chefs have such skirts, which is confirmed by this photo with purchased!, and not home-cooked pasta.

SKIRT DETACHMENT: It's more a matter of aesthetics. The skirt should not ride up and show you everything that is behind it J

NON-INDEPENDENT SURFACE: This is, of course, nitpicking. But when the surface of a cake is dull and dull, it doesn't invite you to buy it. L There are patisseries in Paris that have found a way to disguise this problem and cover their macarons with glitter (glitter). Although such pasta can taste incredibly delicious, which I often encountered in practice J

ALMOND FLOUR ONLY: This is not a technical failure, it is a lack of imagination.

In certain parts of Asia, where cookies are an even bigger fetish than in Paris, pastry chefs often use a variety of nuts for their Macarons.

Start with hazelnuts. They are in France as peanuts are in America; they are used everywhere.

I promised this post for a long time. I’m not going to discover America, I’ll just briefly tell you about some of the details of baking les macarons (they are not macaroons at all, and I can’t even call them macarons in Russian, so I’ll write in French :))).

What's happened macaron? This is a small French pastry made from egg whites. powdered sugar, sugar, almond flour and, in most cases, food coloring. The halves of the cake are baked separately and then glued together into a “sandwich” using cream or ganache.
Characteristic differences for macarons are a smooth, shiny, even surface and a characteristic “skirt”. The Macaron should not be cracked, tilted to the side, and the skirt should be the same diameter as the top. There should be just enough cream so that it slightly “peeks out” from the cake, but does not leak out.

Difficult? At first glance, very...

In fact, if you follow the instructions strictly, you can achieve almost perfect macarons.

I tried many recipes and made a lot of mistakes before I started getting it right.

There are two options for preparing macarons - with French meringue and Italian. The first option is simpler, you don’t need to stand with a thermometer and measure +/- 1 degree the temperature of the syrup, but... macaroons with Italian meringue They turn out much more tender and airy.

I usually make macarons using the recipe posted last year. belonika , but some key points apply to any recipe you like.

250 g powdered sugar
250 g almond flour
180 g egg whites
225 g sugar
75 g water

It is recommended to use whites for macarons “aged” - for this they need to be kept at room temperature for 24 hours. This will allow excess liquid to evaporate from them. After this, you can safely put them in the refrigerator and use them after 2-3 days, removing them from the refrigerator in advance so that they are room temperature.

It is better to prepare the baking sheets in advance by covering them with baking paper. No silicone mats (I'll explain why later). This batch makes 4 trays of halved macarons. If you are not sure of the “steadiness of your hand,” you can draw circles about 3 cm in diameter on the back of the baking paper - this will make it easier to make them even. In fact, after the first baking sheet, this is a completely pointless activity. Your hands get used to it and clearly know when to stop so that all the “cookies” are the same size.

Key point number 1.

Mix powdered sugar and almond flour And Necessarily sift through a sieve, better 2 times. This will give the mixture the necessary airiness.

Divide the whites into equal parts (90+90g). Add one part of the whites to the almond-sugar mixture and knead thoroughly, using a spatula in a circular motion, until a homogeneous mass is obtained. Approximately 3-5 minutes.

From this state

it should come to this:

Beat the second half of the whites into a strong foam:

Key point number 2.

At the same time (if you only work with a hand mixer, the situation becomes more complicated) you need to boil the syrup from water and sugar to 120C. (Careful with water - an extra drop of water can ruin the result). I beat the whites with a stand mixer and at the same time keep an eye on the syrup, and the whites are whipped a little before the syrup is ready. The syrup cannot be overcooked; at temperatures below 120C, the meringue will not whip up as it should, and at temperatures above 122C, there is a danger that the sugar will caramelize. Overbeating the whites is also bad. In any case, if you do not know how long your mixer will need to beat the whites, it is better to start whipping when the syrup warms up to 70-80C, and if the whites are ready before the syrup, the mixer will need to be stopped so as not to overbeat the whites.

Pour the syrup into the whipped whites in a very thin stream, without turning off the mixer (the mass will increase greatly in volume), increase the speed and continue beating until the mixture cools to 35-40 degrees.

If you make macarons of only one color, then the dye is added to almond mixture before adding the meringue and stirring thoroughly. I usually divide this portion into two colors, so I divide the ready-made mixture into two halves.

Key point number 3.

The dye must be either dry or gel. Extra drops of liquid can ruin the macarons.

Key point number 4.

Gently fold the finished meringue into the almond mixture in sections using circular movements of your hand. Rub it properly with a spatula. This stage is very important: the better the macaronage is done (that’s what this action is called), the better the macarons will turn out. The mass should not be liquid, smooth, but at the same time airy.

Place the resulting mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a 1 cm round tip or in a plastic bag.

I use disposable pastry bags without any attachments - I just cut off a corner of the size I need.

Using a pastry bag, place circles with a diameter of 2.5-3 cm onto a baking sheet, leaving a distance of at least 3 cm between them. Hold the bag vertically, 90 degrees.

You can leave it like that and bake smooth “cookies”, or you can sprinkle with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coconut flakes, pistachios, pralines, just brown sugar... Here I sprinkled them with matcha tea.

Key point number 5.

Leave the macarons to dry on the baking sheet for a MINIMUM of 20 minutes. More is better. The “hat” of the macaroons should no longer be sticky and a thin, barely noticeable crust will form on the surface. What happens if you don’t do this or wait less time? Here's what:

Macarons Crack in the oven already after 5-6 minutes of baking. The same thing happens... remember the silicone mat? ... if you bake macarons on a silicone mat instead of baking paper. They are too delicate to withstand this temperature shock - the silicone gets too hot.

Key point number 6.

Confectioners advise either baking macarons by placing a structure of two more baking sheets under a baking sheet with them and turning the baking sheet at 180C for 6-7 minutes of baking, or - after the skirt appears (it appears around 5-6 minutes) opening the oven door twice. I follow the second option, open the oven door at 6 and 9 minutes of baking. Necessarily - after the appearance of a pronounced skirt. If we don't wait for this, we will end up with something like this:

There is a skirt, but... it’s kind of thin, not pronounced.

If you don't open the door... The skirt may grow too large and the macaron will end up tilting to the side or falling apart.

Here is the ideal option:

Bake macarons for approximately 12 minutes at 180C. But! It is imperative to keep an eye on them - depending on your oven, the time can vary from 11 to 14 minutes. The finished pasta is easily separated from the paper and does not stick.

In order not to damage the ready-made macarons, it is best to remove the baking sheet from the oven, remove the baking paper along with the macarons, let it cool in this form, and then remove it from the paper.

This is what they should look like:

And these are ready-made, with filling.

End of part 1 :) In the next part we’ll talk about possible fillings.

Macarons - small, fragrant French pastries have fascinated all the world's sweet tooths for a long time, and the ability to prepare them correctly determines the experience and skill of the pastry chef.
I haven't decided to bake them for a long time. There was no time, no almond flour, no mood... Maybe she was just looking for excuses, fearing failure, because... all bloggers write that before they get the right macarons, several batches will “go in the trash”...
But today there is no reason not to cook them! The mood is decisive and even the finely ground almond flour is already on the table. I’m ready that something might not work out and work on mistakes will follow. But these are minor things.
I would like to thank those who did a great job, posting a lot of detailed information on the Internet about the stages of preparation, possible mistakes and valuable tips for beginners. Special thanks to Maria Selyanina and Nina Tarasova - I dream of studying at their schools in St. Petersburg and Barcelona. Also Alena Kogotkova and... - these are the ones you should look up to! Be sure to read about macarons, and there are a lot of photos and detailed descriptions on their pages.

It's actually not that complicated. Even if things don’t work out, by evening tea you will have delicious almond cookies, albeit of an indeterminate shape and slightly dry)))))
I would like to note a few points that will help you as much as they did me:
- when you prepare macaronage (almond dough), do not overdo it with mixing - stop when the almond flour combines with the meringue into a single airy mass
- the skirt should be uniform along the entire edge, should not fall apart, be wider than the cap and bubble
- a properly baked pasta should have a soft center, it should not be like a cracker (I overbaked the first baking sheet!)
- macaroons should not be hollow inside - emptiness inside indicates incorrect temperature conditions and baking time. These parameters need to be adjusted for the next batch.
- after baking, the pasta should not change color, should not brown - this indicates that it is overbaked.
Bake the first batch, try, analyze and work on mistakes.
From my own experience I can say that not everything is as difficult and scary as it seemed. I think that the first experience was quite successful! Conclusions have been drawn, reviews from tasters have been analyzed, and debriefing has been carried out. It’s a pity that all the prototypes for the photo report on the sections were eaten, for which a special “thank you” to my beloved husband))))))))))))))
I plan to repeat it soon.

Ingredients for macarons:
140 g almond flour
150 g powdered sugar
55 g protein at room temperature (1)
150 g sugar
30 ml water
55 g protein (2)

Cream:
120 ml milk
1 incomplete tbsp. Sahara
3 yolks
½ tsp. vanilla essence
60 g chopped chocolate (min. 70% cocoa)

I recommend initially preparing all the tools, equipment and ingredients - this will simplify the progress of the work. Namely:
- Silicone baking mat, or parchment with markings (diameter of circles 3 cm).
- Pastry bag with nozzle, hole diameter 1 cm.
- Mix and sift powdered sugar and flour into a bowl twice, add 1 whites, mix until smooth. You will get a plastic almond mass.

Place 2 egg whites in a mixing bowl
- Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan, put on fire and bring to a boil. Cook the syrup over medium heat until 107C. Start beating the whites with a mixer until soft peaks form. By this time the syrup will reach 116C - remove from heat and pour in a thin stream into the whipping whites along the edge of the bowl. Do not pour on the whisk, otherwise the caramel will fly in all directions and instantly harden on it.
- Beat the meringue until fluffy and soft peaks form.
- Add a spoonful of meringue to the almond mass, stir, add another spoonful and mix again. This will facilitate the introduction of proteins and make the mass the desired consistency. Gently fold in the remaining whites and mix with a spatula until smooth. Do not overmix, otherwise the mixture will become liquid. The pasta should slowly flow off the spatula in a wide ribbon.
- Transfer the dough into a pastry bag.

Pipe circles with a diameter of 2 cm (according to my markings, this is the inner circle), the mass will spread a little to the desired diameter. Keep the distance between the cakes for even baking.
- Lightly shake the pan by tapping it on the counter so that no bubbles or tails remain on the surface of the pasta. Leave to dry at room temperature without drafts for 40 - 50 minutes. If you touch the surface and your finger doesn’t stick, it’s time to go into the oven.
- At this time, preheat the oven to 160C.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes. It took me 12 minutes. For you, it all depends on the oven. At 4-5 minutes the skirt will appear; at the 9th minute I turn the baking sheet for even baking.
- Remove the mat from the baking sheet and cool the cookies. After this, they will peel off from the mat on their own.

Preparing the filling:
- Cook the cream: combine all ingredients, except chocolate, in a saucepan, mix, put on medium heat and, stirring, bring to a boil. Once the cream thickens, remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- Add chopped chocolate and stir until completely dissolved. Rub the cream through a sieve and leave to cool in the refrigerator, covered with film.

Assembly:
- Transfer the cream into a piping bag, cut off a corner and fill the macarons, molding them in pairs. Put the finished macarons in the refrigerator to ripen - they taste much better on the second day.

Bon appetit!

For me, macarons are the perfection of form and content, the quintessence of the dessert concept in the form of two small meringue-based cookies connected by a rich filling.

I like almost all versions of this dessert - with cracks and without filling, without a “skirt” and with funny “tails”, and even American ones - coconut ones, which are not at all like real French macarons.

Pierre Hermé is perhaps one of the most famous pastry chefs of our time, who became truly famous thanks to macarons, or rather, bringing to near perfection what is now called “classic” macarons - vanilla, chocolate, caramel, pistachio, coffee, lemon and several more others.

Hermé “invented” new flavors and combinations - for example, macaroons with olive oil, lime with basil, with Earl Gray tea.

For true lovers of this dessert, there are macaroons with avocado, carrots and orange, pink pepper and even ketchup!

Unusual? But that's not all! Macarons with balsamic vinegar, white and black truffles, foie gras and sturgeon caviar, macaroons with wasabi.

Despite this variety of tastes and their combinations, Erme, in his book, which is called “Macarons,” begins with the most basic truths, knowing which, you can relatively successfully repeat the recipes of the famous pastry chef or create new combinations of flavors based on them.

The filling is what largely determines the taste of the macarons; this is not an obvious detail for everyone, but Ermé fills the macarons with the filling without skimping (this is confirmed by the macarons sold at the Lafayette Gallery)

Erme prepares his own almond flour from an almond variety that he also chose himself (Valencia Spanish) The quality of almonds and almond flour largely determine the taste and texture of future macarons

Chicken protein is “aged” (from several days to a week, what happens to the protein during this time, I will write separately)

Once filled, the macarons should not be served or eaten immediately; they are still too dry - they need to be kept in the refrigerator for 24 hours at constant humidity so that the taste and consistency become as they should be

The macarons are served in advance, allowing them to “warm up” at room temperature; to do this, they need to be taken out of the refrigerator two hours before consumption.

32 steps to perfect macarons:

Weigh the required amount of protein and divide into 2 parts
Cover the container with the egg white cling film and use a sharp knife to cut a hole in it
On the day of baking the macarons, make 2 piping bags (Erme thinks plastic disposable bags are the best). Cut off the end of the bag
Insert the bag into the nozzle
Make sure that the bag is well inserted into the nozzle, twist it - otherwise the macaron mixture may leak out
Prepare a baking tray, on which place a stencil with the contours of the macarons and baking paper on top. You will need 2 or 3 baking sheets
Separately weigh the powdered sugar and almond flour
Mix both ingredients and sift through a medium-sized sieve.
If dye is used, add it to the first container of whites.
Add the colored (or not) whites to the almond flour and powder mixture, do not overmix
Weigh separately the required amount of water and fine sugar.
Pour water into a small saucepan and add sugar. Cook over medium heat and as soon as the mixture reaches 115 degrees, simultaneously begin beating the egg whites. Place a pastry brush in cold water and use it to “wash off” the remaining sugar from the walls of the saucepan when the liquid begins to boil
When the sugar reaches 118 degrees, remove from heat and, continuing to beat the egg whites, add sugar and beat at high speed for another minute.
Reduce beating speed and continue for another 2 minutes. The result is Italian meringue
Wait for the whites to cool to 50 degrees (about 5 minutes)
Using a spatula, transfer the Italian meringue onto the almond and powdered sugar mixture, mixing them using the “folding” method from the center outwards, rotating the bowl
When the mixture begins to become shiny, stop stirring. The dough should resemble a sticky pie dough
Fill a piping bag with half the mixture using a spatula
Squeeze the bag from above. This is important because there should be no air bubbles left in the macaron dough.
Twist the end of the piping bag
Place the dough on a baking sheet; each macaron should be smaller in diameter than on the stencil, as it needs room to spread out.
Continue to place macarons, leaving 2 cm between them and staggering them. This is why the stencil is so important
If you run out of macaron dough, fill the bag again and continue transferring the dough onto other baking sheets.
To straighten the “tails” of the macarons, lift the baking sheet and lightly hit it on the surface of the table, covered with a kitchen towel.
Remove the stencil from under the planted macaroons
Make sure that the baking paper is secured to the baking tray (this can be done using small quantity dough that will “stick” the baking sheet and baking paper together)
Leave the baking sheet with macarons at room temperature for 30 minutes, so that a crust forms on their surface, the dough should not be sticky if you touch it with your finger
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, but in general the baking temperature for macarons is from 165 to 190 degrees Celsius and it depends on the type of oven
Depending on the size of the oven, you can bake 2-3 trays at a time, otherwise bake in several batches. Open the oven door slightly at the eighth (the skirt is already formed) and 10th minutes
Once the macarons are ready, remove them (with the paper) from the baking sheet, otherwise the macarons will continue to cook due to the heat from the baking sheet. Let the macarons cool on baking paper
Carefully remove the macarons and turn them over, one by one. They are ready to be filled with filling. At this point you can store them in the refrigerator for 48 hours or freeze them.

9 steps to the perfect chocolate ganache:

Using a serrated knife, cut the chocolate into small pieces. Place the cutting board on a kitchen towel and then on the table to make the work surface more stable. When cutting chocolate, hold the knife blade with one hand (on its blunt side), applying pressure and with varying intensity
Place the chocolate in a heatproof container. Fill a smaller pan with water; the container with chocolate should not touch the bottom of the pan. Place the container with chocolate on a saucepan over low heat.
Do not allow the water to boil rapidly; when the chocolate begins to melt, stir it with a spatula
In a small saucepan, heat the cream to a boil, using a whisk, making sure that the cream does not burn to the bottom of the saucepan.
Pour a third of the hot cream into the center of the container with chocolate and begin whisking. It's okay if the cream separates.
Add the second third of the hot cream to the center of the chocolate mixture, stir with a whisk in a circular motion until the chocolate begins to thicken.
Add the last third of the cream
Fill a container with low sides with the resulting ganache (for example, for a gratin)
Cover with cling film so that the film touches the chocolate. Make sure the ganache has cooled completely before placing it in the refrigerator.

8 steps to filling macarons:

Fill the second piping bag with ganache using a spatula.
Twist the tip until the ganache fills the bag tightly.
Unscrew the bag around the nozzle
Hold the piping bag vertically and very gently press down on the bag. Fill the macaroons, leaving about 3 mm from the edge
Place the other half of the macaron on top of the ganache and press down lightly
If you plan to place a piece of jelly inside the filling, squeeze out less filling than usual.
Squeeze a drop of ganache onto the jelly, cover with the other half and press lightly
Place the filled macarons on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Refrigerate for 24 hours and serve, removing from refrigerator 2 hours before serving.

Kitchen tools needed for cooking:

Culinary bags with nozzles 11-12 mm

Caramel thermometer and precision scale

Medium sieve and several baking trays

Fine zest grater for making fruit jelly

Pastry brush, serrated knife (for thick chocolate bars) and a regular knife

Shallow ceramic baking dish, cling film

Questions:

What to do with overcooked or dry macarons?

Spray them with a little water

What should I do if the ganache hardens too much when cooling?

Place in a pan of gently simmering water or melt in the microwave

What do you need to know when making ganache, jelly or cream for macarons?

Cover the container where the cream or jelly is cooling with cling film. Do not make the jelly higher than 4 mm, otherwise the pieces will be too high. Place the jelly in freezer for an hour, remove, cut into cubes, and place back in the freezer until the macarons are ready to be filled. The jelly will defrost into macarons when they are kept in the refrigerator for 24 hours and this will provide the necessary moisture

Why is titanium oxide added to some macarons?

To give them white. Beige macaron dough without additives. Titanium oxide powder is odorless and tasteless, so it does not affect the taste of macaroons.

I tried 4 types of macarons, which Herme calls “classic” in his book. He makes all his macarons with Italian meringue and the recipe always comes out with more filling, even if you follow Erme’s advice about “as much filling as possible.” In addition, I did not use dyes in preparation for several reasons - firstly, they are not sold where I live. But for those who want to prepare macarons with a more saturated color, I indicate in the recipe their quantity and moment of addition.

Macarons with dark chocolate

For a richer taste, you need to take chocolate with the highest percentage of cocoa beans. To do this, you can find 100% cocoa paste in professional stores, or 99% chocolate. It is produced in large quantities by Lindt, and in Moscow I saw such chocolate from the company “Loyalty to Quality”.

Ingredients

Preparation time: about an hour

Cooking time: 25 minutes

For macarons:

120 g cocoa bean paste or chocolate

300 g ground almonds

300 g powdered sugar

110 g aged proteins

4.5 red dye (carmine or cochineal)

110 g aged proteins

For the dark chocolate ganache:

400 g 35% cream

360 g chocolate couverture (Herme uses Valrhona Guana) - can be replaced with dark chocolate

40 g cocoa bean paste or 99% chocolate

140 g butter room temperature (Hermé uses sweet cream butter from the Charente region)

Sprinkle:

Cocoa powder (a couple of tablespoons)

Sift together the powdered sugar and ground almonds - almond flour (I'll write about how to make almond flour soon). Chop the paste or chocolate and melt it in a water bath at 50 degrees Celsius, in a fireproof bowl over slightly simmering water. Add coloring to half the protein (110 grams) and add to the powdered sugar and almond flour mixture, but do not mix.

Add the beaten egg whites to the mixture of unbeaten egg whites, almond flour and powdered sugar. Mix with a spatula in a folding motion, then add the melted chocolate and stir some more (see note).

Add the dough to a pastry bag with a tip (Erme uses tips with a diameter of 10-12 mm)

Place macarons with a diameter of 3.5 cm on baking paper, leaving 2 cm between them. Using a strainer, sprinkle the placed macarons with cocoa.

Leave for 30 minutes to allow the surface of the macarons to dry a little.

Chocolate ganache:

Cut the butter into pieces. Using a knife, chop the chocolate. Heat the cream to a boil. Add hot cream to the chocolate in three batches (one-third of the amount of cream at a time, stirring thoroughly with a whisk each time; if the cream begins to separate, it’s not a problem, you just need to continue stirring). When the mixture reaches 50 degrees, add oil and stir. Pour the ganache into a low-sided bowl and place in the refrigerator, where the ganache will thicken within a few hours.

Place the ganache in a pastry bag, pipe the macarons onto one mat and cover with the other.

Pietra macarons (with hazelnut)

Ingredients(makes 72 macaroons or 144 halves)

Preparation time: about an hour

Cooking time: 35 minutes

Prep time for baking: 30 minutes

Refrigerator time: 24 hours

For macarons:

150 g ground almonds

150 g ground hazelnuts

300 g powdered sugar

110 g aged proteins

300 g fine crystalline sugar

75 g mineral (still) water

110 g aged proteins

For the praline:

250 g whole hazelnuts in shells

Half a vanilla pod

250 g butter at room temperature

100 g aged proteins

160 g fine crystalline sugar

40 g mineral (still) water

For sprinkling:

60 g whole hazelnuts

Prepare caramelized hazelnuts. To do this, preheat the oven to 170 degrees.

Spread 250 g + 60 g hazelnuts on a baking sheet and dry for 15 minutes. Place the nuts in a colander and stir the nuts until the dry skin separates from the kernel. Place 60 g of nuts in a bag and use a rolling pin to crush them into small pieces. Return the remaining portion of nuts to the baking sheet and leave in the switched off oven.

Bring 40 g of water to a boil with 150 g of sugar, as well as cut in half vanilla pod, from which remove the seeds with the sharp tip of a knife, add them to the sugar. When the syrup reaches 121 degrees, add the warm nuts. Remove from heat and stir until the sugar turns white and crystallizes, then return to the heat. The crystals will begin to melt again, acquiring a deep caramel color. Place the nuts on baking paper, remove the vanilla pod and leave until completely cool. Then break into small pieces, pour into a coffee grinder and grind to a powder.

Macarons: Sift together the caster sugar, ground hazelnuts and almond flour. Add 110 g of aged egg whites without stirring.

Bring water and sugar to a boil without stirring and heat to 115 degrees, start beating the second portion of the whites, when the syrup reaches 118 degrees, add to the whites in a thin stream, without stopping beating. Beat at high speed for a few more minutes, and then leave to cool to 50 degrees.

Add the beaten egg whites to the mixture of unbeaten egg whites, almond flour and powdered sugar. Mix with a spatula using folding movements.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (see note).

Bake for 12 minutes, quickly opening and closing the oven door twice while baking.

Remove the pan of macarons from the oven and remove the baking paper from the hot pan. When they have cooled a little, remove from the paper and leave to cool further upside down.

For the praline filling:

Beat the whites to soft peaks, at the same time heat 160 g of sugar and 40 g of water to 121 degrees. Pour into the egg whites in a thin stream, whisking until they are no longer hot.

Beat softened butter until creamy, add ground praline. Using a spatula, fold in the egg whites.

Fill a pastry bag with cream. Fill macarons.

Refrigerate in a covered container for 24 hours, remove from refrigerator 2 hours before serving.

Macarons with black currants

I couldn't find any currants so I used raspberries combined with blueberries which gave a lovely color to the filling.

Ingredients(makes 72 macaroons or 144 halves)

Preparation time: the day before cooking 10 minutes, an hour on the day of cooking

Preparation time: a few minutes the day before cooking, 20 minutes on the day of cooking

Prep time for baking: 30 minutes

Refrigerator time: 4 hours + 24 hours

For macarons:

300 g ground almonds

300 g powdered sugar

110 g aged proteins

15 g titanium dioxide diluted in 10 g warm water

3 drops blue dye

10 g red dye (carmine)

300 g fine crystalline sugar

75 g mineral (still) water

110 g aged proteins

For the blackcurrant ganache:

400 g white chocolate

400 g fresh or frozen blackcurrants

130 g red currants (or raspberries)

For the filling:

200 g fresh or frozen currants

200 g water 100 g sugar

The day before making the macarons, make the ganache and filling. If using frozen currants, pour 400 g into a colander and defrost.

Still the day before preparing the macarons, bring 200 g of water and sugar to a boil. Add 200 g of thawed currants to the syrup. Bring to a boil again and leave in syrup until the next day.

The next day, for the macarons, sift together the ground almonds and powdered sugar. Dissolve titanium dioxide in water and add to dyes (here it is used to achieve a lighter color, alternatively you can take less dye, they do not use it at all). Mix the coloring with the unbeaten egg white and add to the almond flour and powdered sugar, do not mix.

Add the dough to a piping bag fitted with a tip. Place macarons with a diameter of 3.5 cm on baking paper, leaving 2 cm between them.

Sprinkle the hazelnuts over the macarons and let sit for 30 minutes to dry the surface of the macarons a little (see note).

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (see note).

Bake for 12 minutes, quickly opening and closing the oven door twice while baking.

Remove the pan of macarons from the oven and remove the baking paper from the hot pan. When they have cooled a little, remove from the paper and leave to cool further upside down.

For the currant ganache: Grind 400 g of fresh or defrosted berries into puree using a blender, rub them through a medium sieve, bring the resulting liquid to a boil. White chocolate melt in a water bath. Stir in hot currant juice, a third at a time. Transfer the ganache to a shallow container (to allow the ganache to cool faster), cover with cling film and place in the refrigerator.

Dry the currants placed in the syrup with a paper towel an hour before filling the macarons.

Add the ganache to a pastry bag, squeeze the macarons into halves, place 2-3 currants in it and cover with the other half.

Lemon macaroons

Ingredients(makes 72 macaroons or 144 halves)

Preparation time: the day before cooking 15 minutes, an hour on the day of cooking

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Prep time for baking: 30 minutes

Refrigerator time: 2 hours + 24 hours

For macarons:

300 g ground almonds

300 g powdered sugar

110 g aged proteins

1/2 g gold coloring (half a coffee spoon)

3 drops blue dye

10 g yellow dye

300 g fine crystalline sugar

75 g mineral (still) water

110 g aged proteins

For the lemon cream:

225 g eggs (only yolks can be used)

240 g sugar

8 g finely grated lemon zest (you need about one and a half large lemons, as long as they are not pre-processed)

160 g lemon juice

350 g sweet butter, room temperature

100 g ground almonds

Prepare the macarons the day before lemon cream. Rinse, dry with a towel and zest the lemons. Rub the zest and sugar with your fingers until smooth.

In a heatproof bowl, mix the eggs, lemon juice and zest and sugar. Place the dishes on water bath(a saucepan with slightly boiling water). Whisk the mixture until the mixture thickens slightly and reaches a temperature of 83-84 degrees. Cool to 60 degrees and add butter in portions. Whisk until creamy, then blend using a hand blender for 10 minutes.

Transfer the cream to a bowl with low sides, cover with cling film (so that the film touches the surface of the cream) and put in the refrigerator until the next day.

The next day, for the macarons, sift together the ground almonds and powdered sugar. Add 110 grams of protein, do not stir.

Add the beaten egg whites to the mixture of unwhipped egg whites, almond flour and powdered sugar. Mix with a spatula using folding movements.

Add the dough to a piping bag fitted with a tip. Place macarons with a diameter of 3.5 cm on baking paper, leaving 2 cm between them.

Leave for 30 minutes to allow the surface of the macarons to dry slightly (see note).

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (see note).

Bake for 12 minutes, quickly opening and closing the oven door twice during baking (this is necessary so that if the oven has slightly higher humidity, opening the oven door just for a second will help remove steam, see step 33 in steps to perfect macarons).

Remove the pan of macarons from the oven and remove the baking paper from the hot pan. When they have cooled a little, remove from the paper and leave to cool further upside down.

Mix the cream with ground almonds and transfer to a pastry bag.

Fill the macaron halves with cream and cover with the other half.

Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours, remove from the refrigerator 2 hours before serving.

Notes:

Dough for macarons, especially with Italian meringue, you don’t need to be afraid to stir vigorously. The consistency of the dough should be similar to thick pie dough.

Macarons with hazelnuts occupy much longer time to form a dry film on the surface. I dried them for about an hour, despite this, they still cracked a little when baking.

But chocolate macarons dry quickly, rise perfectly and form a “skirt”.

Time preparation for baking - the fact that on the surface of the macarons before baking is strikingly different. Even if the macarons do not dry out before baking for an hour or an hour and a half, they should not be put in the oven - they will crack.

Titanium oxide“whitens” macarons, which when baked take on the color of baked milk or creme brulee, depending on the temperature of the oven.

By the way, about temperature- Erme indicated 180 degrees, this temperature is too high for my oven for macarons. I bake the macarons for 12 minutes at 160 degrees with convection, otherwise the macarons begin to brown too much before they are fully cooked.

Powdered sugar It’s better to buy without added anti-caking components and starch, or make it yourself using a coffee grinder from sugar.

These four recipes are classic macarons from Pierre Hermé's book and the simplest ingredients. I'm also going to try the all-chocolate one (which uses dark chocolate pieces with salt), the all-vanilla one (with three types of vanilla), and a macaroon with salted caramel and apple called Frivolite. I must say that basic recipe The macarons are the same, only the filling (and coloring) changes.

One of the most mysterious questions is why to age protein - how does it affect macarons, and the most practical one is how to prepare almond flour - I will try to talk about this next time.

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