Macarons.info

Macaron Recipes
- A Test Kitchen for Macaron Cookie Batters

• Classic French Macaron Recipe
• Classic Italian Hot Sugar Macaron Recipe

*Please feel free to add at the bottom of this page any of your own notes or observations that should be included in this Macaron Recipe Section.

While the home baker can certainly succeed at making a perfect macaron without ever having tasted one prior to these recipes, we highly recommend that you start by sampling a few macarons from your local patisserie, or by trying some from any of the online sources available in our Where To Find Macarons section. Having tasted a well made macaron will not only give you valuable insight as to what may go wrong in your own recipe, but it may instill a passion that just might carry you past the inevitable frustration that has defeated so many bakers before you trying to make the perfect macaron.

General Baking Notes for Perfect Macaron Cookies:

• Egg Whites will whip easier, faster and will give better volume if they are at room temperature. You can add a pinch of cream of tartar and/or salt to help the process along (although it is not necessary.)
• Egg Whites will not whip if they come into contact with even the slightest trace of egg yolk, fat or grease. It is always a good idea to wash your hands, beaters and bowl before beginning to make sure they are grease free. It is also a good idea when separating eggs to have three bowls: one for the yolks, one for the whites and another bowl to separate over. This way you won’t have to throw out a whole batch of egg whites if a yolk breaks while separating. Copper and stainless steel bowls are best for whipping eggs. Try to avoid using aluminum, glass and plastic bowls as they each can cause separate problems when trying to whip the egg whites.
• Almond Meal can be made from blanched almonds, but it must be thoroughly dried in an oven set to its lowest temperature until completely dry. As it is both time consuming and difficult to grind the almonds into a fine powder, we recommend purchasing almond flour that has been commercially ground.
• Cream of Tartar, scientifically known as potassium bitartrate, is a natural byproduct of winemaking. When purified, it becomes a white, odorless, acidic powder that is used to help stabilize the aerated egg white mixture as well as increase the egg white’s strength and heat tolerance. Cream of tartar is also used in syrups to help prevent the sugars from crystallizing.
• Salt helps to thicken the egg white’s proteins.
• Sugar Sizes - icing sugar (0.024 mm,) confectioner’s (0.060 mm,) castor (0.35 mm)
• Confectioners’ Sugar is generally mixed with cornstarch to improve its flowing ability without clumping. Pure Icing Sugar or Confectioners’ Sugar without starch added is ideal for making macarons and is available in our Macaron Supplies Store.
• Powdered Food Coloring is a slightly better choice than liquid coloring as it doesn’t add any extra moisture to the batter.
• Kitchen Scales and Macaron Recipes that are given in weight measurements ensure accuracy, which is essential to making perfect macarons consistently.
• White Chocolate containing cocoa butter, as opposed to vegetable fat, is typically preferred in macaron recipes calling for white chocolate because of its rich taste and creamy texture. White chocolate containing cocoa butter should be an ivory color, as opposed to white.
• Macaron Skins form on the batter by resting on the baking sheet prior to entering the oven. A few firm taps under the sheet should remove any bubbles in the batter and soften slight peaks. The skin is essential in rising during baking to form the classic macaron ‘foot’.
• Macaron Mistakes make wonderful additions when crumbled into ice cream, or they can be frozen and then dipped in chocolate to make chocolate-dipped Macarons.
• Celsius to Fahrenheit Calculator to aid in oven temperature conversions for Macaron Recipes.
• Grams to Ounces Calculator to aid in weight conversions for Macaron Recipes.

This page has the following sub pages.

• French Macaron Recipe
• Italian Macaron Recipe – Hot Sugar Macaron Recipe

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