Finally. I've finally made macarons!

Finally! I've finally made macarons that turn out how they're supposed to turn out! Hooray! After countless attempts, some I'm too embarrassed to post, I've made strawberry macarons with chocolate ganache. Decadent? Yes. Delicious? Yes. Perfect? Sadly, no. They didn't have the same texture as the ones from Japan, but they were tasty, and my closest attempt to making macarons.

After baking many batches and reading about different techniques, I've discovered a couple tips. When I first started making macarons, I had trouble removing the baked shells. Tartelette had a useful tip of using steam to remove the shells. Just put a little water on the still warm cookie sheet, slide the parchment paper over the water, and peel away!

Oh, and another tip. I've read on other sites and recipes that you should a silpat instead of parchment paper to remove the shells, but I've actually found when I used parchment paper it was easier to remove the shells. When I used silpat, the macarons initially rose, but fell flat and spread out quite thin.

Vanilla Bean Macarons -From Cannelle et Vanille
180 grams almond flour
240 grams powdered sugar
140 grams organic egg whites, aged
3 grams egg white powder
2 grams fine sea salt
80 grams sugar
10 grams freeze dried strawberry powder  (can be made by pulsing freeze dried strawberries)

(Make sure that the egg whites have been separated from the egg yolks the night before. This bit of aging really makes a difference in the macarons)

1. In a large bowl, sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar and sea salt. Set aside.

2. Whip the egg whites with the egg white powder until very fluffy, almost fully whipped. Start adding the sugar and strawberry powder slowly while whipping. Whip to stiff peaks but not too much or the meringue will dry out. We want semi soft "ripples" still in the meringue.

3. Add the meringue to the almond flour mixture and fold with a spatula until a shiny mass forms. We want to achieve a batter that makes ribbons. You might have to test it to see if it's done. Pipe a small amount on your sheetpan. If it keeps a little bit of a top when piped, then you have to mix it a bit further, if it spreads really fast, you have gone too far and your macarons will turn out flat.

4. When you have the right consistency, place the mass in a pastry bag with a number 5 tip and pipe small rounds onto sheetpans lined with parchment or silpat. Let them dry at room temperature for at least 45 minutes to an hour.

5. Have the oven preheated to 350 degrees. Place one sheetpan in the oven at a time and reduce the temperature to 300 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes and rotate sheetpan and bake for another 10 minutes. Test to see if they are done by picking one up and seing if it still sticks to the paper or not.

6. Let them cool and then fill them with chocolate ganache

 

Tips: 

-Use parchment paper instead of silpat 

-If you are having trouble removing the macaron shells, spread a little water under the paper on the warm baking sheet. The steam should help make removing the shells easier (via tartelette)

Bittersweet ganache
from Tartelette

3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup bittersweet chocolate

In a heavy saucepan set over medium heat, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the stove and add the chocolate to it. Let stand 2 minutes and then stir until fully combined. Let cool until firm enough to put in a small piping bag.