Today, I made macarons for the first time. (You may remember that this was on my list of goals for 2013.) I had my mom bring over her food scale, I left egg whites out on the counter over night, I processed almond flour and powdered sugar together. It made two trays worth. Here they are.
(Again, not a food blogger. And I don't really know how to use the Nikon, and the batteries on the Canon are dead. Sorry!)
As you can see ... the two trays turned out VERY differently. I have resisted the urge to taste the good ones, but in case you can't see it, they have "feet"! Success! As for the other ones ... I think those are generally referred to as "macawrongs." Ha.
I have my theories. First, that tray was on the bottom, and the oven was too hot (due to a really stupid mistake on my part--luckily I checked them early), so they bored the brunt of the heat while protecting the upper tray. Second, I think I understirred the batter. Since I piped the crappy tray first, the batter was worked a bit more for the second tray.
All things considered, it wasn't nearly as scary a process as the internet would lead you to believe, and aside from the "macaronage" (stirring the almond flour and powdered sugar into the meringue)--which is when you have to get the consistency just right--it was pretty easy and much quicker than I expected.
I have some limoncello in the freezer, and I think I'll pick up some mascarpone to make the filling this evening.
Yay. :)
That second batch looks so authentic! I am super impressed!
ReplyDeleteI kinda thought this macaron trend was just an American thing, but the French are equally obsessed. Our (pretty tiny) town in France had a bakery that only made macarons. Oh, I miss that place!