Sunday, March 10, 2013

Macaron Recipe (Italian Meringue Method) Part Two

I have been doing some experimenting in my kitchen with a few things, and also a new recipe. I still wish you can reduce the sugar in macarons, but I suppose you can't. It affects their structures too much. What a fussy little cookie. I still prefer the Italian meringue method because it is less fussy than the French one, and always produces feet with my recipe. Anyways, here is my new macaron recipe (with pictures!:o) and I wish you good luck.


Macaron Recipe (Italian Meringue Method) makes about 24 macarons, or 48 shells



Ingredients:
Mass:
-150g almond meal/flour (I use Trader Joe's Blanched Slivered Almonds and grind them in a food processor)
-150g powdered sugar
-50g egg whites (do not have to be aged)
-Gel food coloring (optional)
-2 tsp cornstarch (if weather is humid)
-pinch of salt

Italian Meringue:
-120g granulated sugar
-55g egg whites (do not have to be aged)
-40g water

Materials:
-Candy thermometer
-Kitchen/postal scale
-Piping bags/large round tip (These give the most perfect results if that's what you're going for)
-Good insulated baking sheets (I use Nordic Ware Baker's Half Sheet)
-Parchment paper or silpats (I prefer silpats but parchment is nice too)
-Stand mixer (recommended, but it is possible with a hand mixer, just takes longer)


Sift almond meal and powdered sugar together into a large bowl. Add the 50g egg whites and mix until it becomes a dough-like consistency. (This is the time to add food coloring, remember the meringue will lighten the color of the mass)


Set aside and cover with plastic wrap so it doesn't harden.

For the meringue, beat egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer until soft peaks form. DO NOT overbeat egg whites at this stage. After they have formed, turn down your mixer to "stir" or very low to keep them moving so they don't deflate.

At the same time, put the water and sugar on the stove over medium-high heat and attach your candy thermometer. When the mixture gets bubbly all around with no spots of unboiled water (or 240 degrees F) pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites and turn up the speed of your mixer to high. Let it beat until the bowl of the mixer is warm to the touch (body temperature). It should look like this:

Shiny, stiff, and smooth.

Then, add 1/3 of the meringue to the mass and fold until you cannot see any more white streaks of meringue. After you have lightened the mass, add the rest of the egg whites and fold.


The way you fold is crucial to how your macarons turn out. Here I have made a video of how to fold. It is a fold, press, turn motion.

Now you are ready to pipe them with your piping bag into 1-1.5 inch diameter circles, however big you like. I pipe them onto a parchment paper-lined or silpat-lined aluminum baking sheet. I usually fit about 20-24 circles on each pan.


Then drop your baking sheets about 2-3 times until they flatten out and the air bubbles pop. If you still see any, pop them with a toothpick. Now let them dry about 20-30 minutes or until they are dry to the touch (depends on humidity). While you're waiting, preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit  Check your oven to make sure it's the correct temperature! Sometimes the oven lies. lol

Dull and dry, ready for the oven!

Now bake them for 10-13 minutes, or even longer if they are still too moist inside. Bake only one tray at a time if your oven has inconsistent heat. Let them cool completely before you take them off the parchment/silpat.


Sandwich together with a filling (my favorite is Swiss Meringue Buttercream) and you're done! Store filled shells in an airtight container in the fridge for at least 24 hours. This helps the shell meld together with the filling, making it a bit crisp on the outside but melt-in-your-mouth on the inside. :)

Nice and fluffy on the inside :3

The beauty of this recipe is that you can split it in half or thirds! For the meringue though, you need to weigh out 55g of meringue for 1/3 batch, and 80g meringue for 1/2 batch. For example,

75g almond meal/flour
75g powdered sugar
25g egg whites

You would make the meringue as usual and then weigh out 80g of it and proceed with the rest of the recipe. With the leftover meringue, you can make Italian Meringue Buttercream :)

Hope this helps!:)



17 comments:

  1. Your macarons are perfect! Thank you so much for posting the video of how to properly fold the batter. I've never tried the Italian method, but after coming across your blog, I think I'm going to have to. Keep up the great work =)

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    1. Aww thank you so much!:) You should try it! You don't exactly need a candy thermometer, just make sure all the sugar syrup is boiled with no spots of water. I find it produces better shells and it's softer inside :) let me know how it goes!

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  2. hi natalie. ive been dying to learn how to make these. and your blog is really helpful.ill update you if i get to try making these at home. if i fail, i do hope u will be willing to help me out. thank you

    jubi

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    Replies
    1. Hello! Thank you for the input, good luck on your first try!:) Usually Italian Meringue macarons don't fail as much as French meringue macarons do, so I hope you had better results than when I started making macarons. Of course I will help you out, feel free to ask me if you have any questions!

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  3. I've tried the Italian method twice now and even though the mixture is a lot better my macarons don't seem to dry out therefore have no feet when cooked. I don't think I am over mixing as mixture is not runny , any suggestions?

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    1. Hi Sam, try using a fan if they don't dry out fast enough :) it helps. If that doesn't work, try putting a bit of cornstarch in the batter.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. Hi,
    I live in the humid part of TX, so I added the cornstarch. When I made the mass, it looked a lot wetter than yours. I measured everything to the exact amount. Any theories?

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    1. Hi Lan, sorry for really late reply!! I didnt' see this til now. Maybe your almond flour was really oily? but if the mass is wet it's fine as long as you don't overmix the macaronage

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  6. Replies
    1. 50g is about 2.5 eggs and 55g is a little more than 2.5 eggs

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  7. I can't thank you enough for your blog. I started making macarons a couple of years ago - but was not that impressed with them the first time around. I've never had a professionally made macaron, so I didn't know what they were really supposed to be like. On the hunt for a new recipe to try this year, I found your blog. I already knew that I preferred the italian method, so I tried the recipe you have here. I can say now that I am in love with macarons - I totally get the hype! When made correctly (and aged to develop flavors) - they are divine!! Your blog taught me that my macarons were not supposed to be hollow (oops) and your recipe and tips have helped me achieve macaron success. I'm still working out a few trouble spots (batter doesn't get thin enough to flatten properly after piping), but I'm confident I will figure it out! Thank you!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi there, I am so glad my recipe worked out for you :) I don't even use Italian method anymore but I really like that method as well as it produces a really pretty macaron. However I preferred it less sweet so I went with the French one. show me pictures!

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  8. Hi Natalie. I love your blog and your tips about making macarons. I use the a italian method and I want to know if it's possible to over mix the meringue? The last time I made my meringue it couldn't get to the stiff stage after 15 mins. of mixing. Did I over mix it?

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  9. Made these today in 3 different half-batch flavours (hot chocolate, candy cane, and gingerbread) and they turned out brilliant for my first time. A little wonky and some had little lumps in the middle from not settling out flat, but they are so tasty and came out very pretty :) Thanks for sharing your recipe :)

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  10. Hi Natalie,

    I tried your recipe today and it came out perfect. I live in Vietnam and it's humid here but your recipe solves every problem I've met since the beginning I bake macaron. However, my oven is small so I devided the batter into 2 parts. Part 1 was baked and came out perfect, but with part 2, the macaron shell was SUPER soft, and had a very very big hollow inside. But it still had foot.

    Would you please show me how to solve this problem? Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Natalie,

    I tried your recipe today and it came out perfect. I live in Vietnam and it's humid here but your recipe solves every problem I've met since the beginning I bake macaron. However, my oven is small so I devided the batter into 2 parts. Part 1 was baked and came out perfect, but with part 2, the macaron shell was SUPER soft, and had a very very big hollow inside. But it still had foot.

    Would you please show me how to solve this problem? Thanks a lot.

    ReplyDelete