Macarons

Macarons are dumb. But here’s the recipe I use that produces mostly okay ones (slightly adapted, though mostly taken from Bottega Tinnie).

UPDATE: 2023, I have been using 55 g almond flour and 55 g powdered sugar. Shells are slightly more stable.

1. Macaron Shells: For about 12-14 1.5 inch macarons

  • 55 g almond flour (sift, no big almond pieces)
  • 55 g powdered sugar
  • 45 g egg whites (room temp)
  • 45 g granulated sugar
  • for white shells,
    • 1 g titatanium dioxide
  1. Heads up, oven will need to be at 300F(~150C) in a bit.
  2. Measure out and pulse your almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and sift. This will really help with smooth shells. Add in titanium dioxide (note, this really doesn’t matter, I just like the shells to look a bit whiter). Whisk together and set aside.
  3. Make your meringue. Lots of recipes call for using room temp or aged egg whites. I used to do this, but it has made no difference. Nowadays I just just use egg whites from eggs straight from the fridge.
    Beat/ whisk your egg whites until frothy and then add in the granulated sugar. Some places say to add it a little at a time, but this has never been an issue for me (you just don’t want it to go flying everywhere) Beat until super stiff peaks.
  4. Macaronage. Look up on Youtube if you’re unfamiliar on how to do so.
    • Fold about half your dry ingredients into the meringue until just incorporated and then add the rest and continue folding until just incorporated.
    • If you’re adding food coloring, do this now. Now fold until you get a lava like consistency. I fold by pressing and coating the batter along the side of bowl to deflate the meringue a bit and then scraping and collecting it all together. Repeat. You should be able to pick up the spatula and have the batter fall down in a ribbon. I do the figure 8 test, meaning I can scoop up some batter, and it falls off and allows me to make a figure 8 a few times. If it doesn’t fall correctly, I do a few more folds.
    • Put the batter into a piping bag with a round tip.
  5. Pipe out your macarons. I use a silpat (would highly recommend). Hold the bag and piping tip perpendicularly about half an inch or a few cm above the tray and press bag. Batter will radiate outwards (don’t lift while piping). Rap the baking sheet against the table a few times. Pop any air bubbles with a toothpick and swirl the toothpick around a bit to have that hole close up.
  6. If you want to speed dry your shells, you can use a fan or hold and rotate your baking tray in the oven to use that heat. The oven heat will produce small feet.
  7. Lately, I’ve just let them rest on their own (~30 minutes). You want to be able to touch the shell and have it not be sticky. Make sure it doesn’t shine and you’re probably good to go.
  8. For my oven, I bake for about 20 minutes at 300F (~150C). At around 3/4 of the way, I take a look and assess rise and browning. After 20 minutes, take out. BUT, super important that you learn how your oven works. You may have to adjust temps and time :o. UPDATE: Lately I’ve been doing 10min at 300F and the drop down to 300 for another 10-13 minutes.
  9. I take off all my shells from the silpat once they have cooled and then pair them up and decorate.
    • For edge brush stroke designs, I get a small ramekin and add a drop of gel food coloring (or two shades of a particular color, side by side) + some edible silver powder + a few drops of vodka (helps it dry quickly). I use a small wide brush that has lots of bristles(think painting brush, but for the kitchen). Dip the brush into the diluted, shiny food coloring (if two colors, make sure to keep each respective color on its own side) and brush onto the shells. Start on the edge and pull towards the center of each shell.
    • For single stripe design, I use a small paint brush and just add a stroke to the center of each shell. Once again, I use a drop of gel food coloring, some edible silver powder, and a few drops of vodka.

2. Flavored White Chocolate (or Chocolate) Ganache:

  • 70 g white chocolate
  • 35 g +10ish g just in case, cream or reduced puree/ reduced flavoring
  1. First heat up the cream or reduction in a container in the microwave for about 30 seconds - 1 minute. This brings it to about sculding.
  2. If you’re using powdered flavoring or steeping tea, I would use 60 g of cream and add your tea or powder to that. Mix thoroughly.
  3. Put the white chocolate over a double boiler (bowl of a boiling pot of water, want indirect heat) and melt fully. I take the bowl off and make sure there aren’t any more pieces remaining (mix, mix, mix with a spatula) and then add in the cream or reduction.
  • For cream based ones (like matcha, Thai tea, black sesame, or hojicha), I use 37 g and it’s perfect.
  • For ones where I use the puree reduction, I start off with 30g and slowly add more until there’s a little give.
  1. Mix slowly until it is fully emulsified.The ganache will be not fully set right now, but that’s fine. I usually throw the bowl into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes (10ish).
  2. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag and if still not set, I let it cool longer in the fridge.
  3. Match up the shells and pipe the filling. I often also try piping some puree on its own in the center to enchance flavor.
  4. Assemble macarons and let the macarons rest in an airtight container in the fridge overnight for optimal chewiness!

Examples:

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