Adventures in Macaron Making, Part III: Fin

Welcome to the third and final installment of Adventures in Macaron Making, where yours truly finally perfects the art of making the French macaron, while remaining graceful and composed. You can read part one of the series here and part two here.

I did it! After two previously unsuccessful attempts, I finally made macarons this past weekend. 

After my last attempt at macarons back in March, Alyssa over at The Glossy Life so kindly sent me an email with a tutorial from Pastry Pal that she had successfully used to make macarons. (This, my friends, is what I love blogging: the community.) Even though she sent me the email months ago, I pored over the tutorial packet on occasion, just to make sure that when I did give them a try again, I had the steps down in my head. Despite my prep, when I set out to make them, I was actually nervous! I really just wanted to finally get them right.

But it would all pay off because in a few hours, I had my macarons. Compared to the other recipes I've tried, this one was not just the most direct, but the least complicated. No folding the batter 49 times or aging off egg whites for 36+ hours. There were a few differences in this recipe like the way the flour and egg whites are incorporated and letting the macarons sit out to form a shell, but I think these steps, especially the latter, were what made these macarons a success. 

If you have ever thought of making macarons or thought they were too hard, you NEED to download the tutorial from Pastry Pal. It really couldn't be easier. I'm already planning to make more macs in a few weeks. Naturally, I am thinking something with Nutella...

kinda broke this one. oops.

Adventures in Macaron Making: Part II

Welcome to the now ongoing series, Adventures in Macaron Making, where yours truly attempts to perfect the art of making the French macaron, while remaining graceful and composed. You can read part one of the new series here. 

I can't believe it's been over a year since I first attempted macarons! I decided last weekend that there was no better time than the (then) present to try again. 

It's not that I was defeated by that first try, but making foolproof things like madeleines or going to Laduree (even Trader Joe's) for a macaron fix was just easier. Yet, the perfectionist in me remains determined. I've started this thing and I will  get it right. 

Eventually.

Adventures in Macaron Making

PART I

challenge chal·lenge something that by its nature or character serves as a call to battle, contest, special effort, etc.: Space exploration offers a challenge to humankind.


Macarons are a challenge. Which is why I was so determined to give them a try. 

For the last two weeks, I have read recipes, watched YouTube videos, and done everything I possibly could short of flying to France to learn about the technique of making macarons.  Last weekend I felt I was ready and decided it was time to attempt the elusive treat.

As I set out to print the recipe I would follow, I came across a new recipe that was so different from all the other recipes I had read. This new recipe skipped most of the "classical" steps seen in the other recipes such as no aging of the egg whites, no drying out of the batter before baking and not adding the sugar in batches to the egg whites. Since it seemed to have so much success (IE it had such pretty pictures...) I decided to abandon everything else I had read before and follow this new recipe. 

It all seemed to be going well. I made sure to measure out all of my ingredients and tried to pay attention to the batter and "macronage." But I think even before the folding of the dry ingredients with the meringue, I don't think my meringue was stiff enough.  The batter consistency didn't fit the profile of over mixed or under mixed so I continued on. As I filled the piping bag and started piping them out (for which I also used the wrong tip) the batter wasn't runny, but it wasn't holding either. But pipe away I did. I even made sure to whack the life out of the baking pan (to remove air bubbles) and as a result, none of the cookies broke. Plus one for me!

I baked the cookies in about three batches. The first came out resembling macarons the most with little "feet." Batch #2 and #3 well, there are no words for them except HUH?

So on the macaron front, they are an epic FAIL! But on the delicate almond cookie front they are absolutely WINNING because they are delicious! I will surely be attempting macarons again, and this time I will surely be sticking to classical wisdom...