French Macarons
French Macarons
These are probably my most requested bake since starting this blog and my Youtube channel so here it is! A lot of people think these are hard to make and they definitely can be but once you perfect your technique, there'll be no stopping ya!
There are two different techniques for these; a French and Italian method. Italian involves the addition of hot syrup to the egg whites whilst whisking whereas the French method is just the addition of either granulated or caster sugar.
Ingredients
- 100g ground almond
- 100g icing sugar
- 70g egg white
- 1/4tsp cream of tartar
- 50g caster sugar
- Food colouring (dependant on which flavour you're making)
- Filling of your choice (I used lemon curd in my yellow ones and strawberry jam in my pink ones)
Method
- Place the icing sugar and the ground almonds into a food processor and blitz until a finer crumb is formed. Sieve this mixture into a medium bowl to get rid of any larger pieces of almond. Place to the side for now.
- In a large bowl, place the egg whites and then whisk using either a hand held or electric whisk until soft peaks begin to form. Add the cream of tartar and then whisk again so it is fully incorporated. Continue whisking and slowly add the caster sugar a bit of a time until the mixture begins to turn glossy and form strong peaks.
- Now add a small amount of colouring to the top of the mixture but DO NOT whisk again.
- Sieve the almond and icing sugar mixture into the bowl containing the egg whites and again, throw away any pieces of almond that are too big.
- Using a spatula, cut the mixture down the middle and then fold in a half circle clockwise motion. At first the mixture will look very dry but eventually it will start to loosen in texture. To test the mixture is ready, attempt to draw a figure of eight. If it remains visible in the mixture, it's ready. DO NOT MIX AGAIN.
- Transfer the mixture to a piping bag and put to the side. Line a baking tray with non-stick paper and then draw round a circular biscuit cutter until the tray is full of circles ensuring they're an inch apart! This allows the macaron mixture to spread whilst resting!
- Pipe the macarons onto the baking tray, tap multiple times on the counter to burst bubbles in the mixture as this can prevent them from rising properly. Leave the macarons to rest for approximately half an hour until you can touch them on the top without getting any mixture on your finger.
- Once they have rested, place them in an oven set to 150C for 20-25 minutes. To check they are done, remove one from the tray; if it doesn't stick, they're done!
- Leave to cool for 15 minutes before touching them. While they're cooling, make/prepare you're filling. I used just jam or lemon curd in mine but buttercream goes VERY well too!
- I find it easy to now pair two halves of macaron that are similar in shape as this makes it easier when putting the filling in. Put your chosen filling into another piping bag and gently pipe a little bit onto one half. Gently place the other half on top and squeeze slightly to ensure they're stuck together!
- Make a cuppa, kick your legs up and enjoy this little moment of joy.
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