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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

project macaron: take two

When my first try at macarons were so close to being a success, I figured my second go would only be an improvement on the first. I mean it only made sense that I'd improve rather than get worse, right? Wrong.

This version was a bit of a disaster. First, I couldn't find the same recipe I'd used before. Or if I did it looked really, really different. So I was off to a bad start before I even got going. Second thing I really thing I screwed up is that I overwhipped the egg whites. I was so afraid of not whipping them enough that I passed the soft peaks stage and veered right on to full on stiff peak territory and that just was a no go.

So somewhat of a disaster. What I ended up with were somewhat flat, super delicate marshmallowy cookies. Tasty still, but nowhere near a macaron.

For all that they didn't come out the way I wanted there were two things that changed that I was happy with. I found a seive deeply buried in my mother's kitchen that allowed me to try Amanda's idea of sifting the powdered sugar and ground almonds, and I was really happy with the consistent texture and size there. I also changed how I piped them out, using a cone of waxed paper instead of a freezer bag and found that I had about a million times more control that way, so I'll definitely be using that piping method in the future.

4 comments:

  1. Remember, macarons are for eating. You will master them soon enough. I am glad you found a sieve that works for you, it really does make all the difference. I read that when macarons are flat it's because you overbeat the paste during the macaronage.... meaning all the air went out. I did not try the french meringue technique yet, but that's what I am afraid of, too much beating will make them flat, too little will leave air in and make them crack...

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    1. Don't worry, I definitely ate them. To me the problem was really that I was the only person interested in eating them!

      I've read the same thing about overbeating during the macaronage making them flat, which is one of the reasons that I think I overbeat the egg whites before adding the almond meal. I wanted extra air, I guess? It was a learning experience ... and a great excuse to make some ganache.

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  2. May I recommend http://annesfood.blogspot.ca? The two time I made made macarons, I used her base recipe, and they were great. She also has an entire drop down bar of like 20 different variations. Almond Praline Buttercream Macarons, anyone?

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    1. Thank you! I will definitely take a look at her recipes, and having a good review always makes me feel more confident about trying a new baker's recipe. And that variation sounds delish.

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