I have this habit of saying yes to things even if I have no idea how to do them! Macarons was no exception.
However I completely underestimated just how hard they would be, you have no idea just how many times I failed before I got these little beauties right for an order. They are finicky and frustrating at times but once you nail them the possibilities are endless.
Allow yourself time to practice and don’t be disheartened by the fails, the fails are a learning curve.
One of the first things I realised was just how important air drying was, I read a recipe that suggested I can skip this step and I know now I absolutely should not have done, leaving your freshly piped macarons on a grease proof paper lined baking tray for about an hour and a half, maybe longer will be the best thing you can do, this I believe helps with removing your macarons from the greaseproof paper after baking.
Don‘t forget to tap your macaron filled baking tray on the surface 5-10 times to remove any air bubbles, this will help with the lovely smooth surface on top of your macaron.
Absolutely do not use oil based food colour when colouring your macarons mixture, this will make the stunning fluffy and beautifully air filled meringue you just made, completely go flop and you will have no choice but to start again! The best food colour to use is gel. You will need to experiment a bit with colour to get it right. But baking is all about patience and trial and error, don’t forget the end result will be worth it.
Another great tip is to leave your freshly out the oven macarons on the baking tray for at least half hour to cool before transferring to a wire rack. Be patient when removing them from the paper, they can be awfully tricky, they will mainly just peel straight off the sheet if done right, but let’s be honest, it’s not always going to happen that way.
Remember that everyone’s oven is different so if you read a recipe that suggests 15mins at a certain temperature, then be aware that for your oven this may need to be adjusted, I would suggest waiting patiently by your oven when you first start practising these, you will not get those first few batches right, wait for that lovely famous foot to rise and don’t leave them in too long as you will want those lovely colours to remain without any signs of brown from overcooking, low heat and not too long is key.
Once you’ve mastered the shell, I’ve realised the possibilities are endless, as the creamy mixture for the centres is the easy part and the flavours can just be altered to suit your needs, if you fancy Nutella macarons, make your shells brown and add a few dollops of Nutella to your vanilla mix, maybe a bit of extra icing sugar to keep it all together for piping, then construct, easy peasy!
Be careful though these mini round wonders are addictive! I took them into work and my boss was hooked! If you’re on a diet refrain from making them.
I will shortly be adding a macaron recipe and method to my blog, enjoy!
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