Macaron

Macaron (/mɑːkɑːrɔːn/ mah-kah-rōn;[1] French pronunciation: ​[makaˈʁɔ̃][2]) is a sweet meringue-based confection made with eggs, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food colouring. (from wikipedia)

macarons

 

Ladurée Macaron, one of the best known makers of macarons in the world. And ladurée is known to be the inventor of the double decker macaron.Many people said, the macarons made by Ladurée are like “girls’ breasts”. Ladurée is a classic and popular choice when comes to macarons.

Ladurée was built in 1862 by Louis Ernest Ladurée in Paris, France. Nowadays,  Ladurée store are now present in USA, Monaco, Switzerland, Japan, Italy, Lebanon, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, Kuwait, Ireland, China…….

There was a very impressive selection of macarons, over seventeen flavors. Ladurée macarons use different color represent different taste. Pink is the cranberry, green is green apple, dark brown is dark chocolate.

You could easily see long queue formed in front of Ladurée, especially during holidays, each waiting to bring home a box of happiness in the form of mini cookies cake.

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Laduree-Paris-Rose-macaron

 

laduree-flyer-macarons1

 

 

According to the immaculate French service staff at the counter, the four most popular flavours are Salted Caramel, Pistachio, Vanilla and Rose Petal.

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But how to make a macaron in your home? Many people said that it is really hard to make a real and delicious macarons by ourselves. But I think there is a reliable receipt.

First, preheat the oven to 350˚ F and place a rack in the middle of the oven.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, combine the almond meal and confectioners’ sugar.  Whisk together to blend and break up any clumps.

Next you’ll weigh out a portion of egg whites to fold into the dry ingredients.  One large egg white weighs approximately 30 grams – just a useful little kitchen tip that comes in handy from time to time.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg whites.

Blend the egg whites into the dry ingredients until evenly mixed.  The mixture will be thick and paste-like.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar and water for the syrup in a small saucepan over medium-high heat with a candy thermometer clipped to the side.  When the temperature is around 200˚ F, begin whipping the egg whites.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, begin whipping the second portion of egg whites on medium-low speed.  Add a pinch of sugar to the bowl.

Continue whipping the whites on medium speed until they form soft peaks.  If soft peaks are achieved before the syrup reaches the target temperature, reduce the speed to low to keep the whites moving.

 

 

Once the syrup reaches 248˚ F, immediately remove it from the heat.  Increase the mixer speed to medium and pour the syrup down the side of the bowl in a slow drizzle until fully incorporated.

Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and whip the meringue until stiff, glossy peaks form.  If you are going to add color to the macaron shells, this is the time to do so.  Gel or powdered food colors should be used.

Add one third of the meringue mixture to the bowl with the almond mixture.  Fold in gently until the mixture is smooth.  A bit at a time, gently fold in the remaining meringue until the batter is smooth and runs in thick ribbons off of the spatula.  You may not need all of the meringue, so add it gradually.

Add the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip with about a ½-inch opening.  Hold the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet about ½-inch above the surface of the pan.  Steadily pipe rounds about 1¼- to 1½-inches in diameter.

The batter may create small peaks immediately after piping, but if it is the correct texture these will smooth themselves away after a minute or two.  If the batter is too stiff, the peaks will remain and the tops of the shells may not be totally smooth.  If the batter is too thin, the rounds will spread further.

Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 325˚ F.  Bake for 9-12 minutes, until the tops are smooth and set and “feet” have formed around the bottom.

Let the shells cool just briefly on the baking sheet, maybe 5 minutes or so, and then peel away from the parchment.  They should come away easily and fully intact.  Transfer to a cooling rack.  Repeat as needed with the remaining batter, replacing the parchment paper with each batch.

Once the shells are baked and cooled, match them up in pairs by size and sandwich with the filling of your choice.  Ganache or Swiss meringue buttercream are my favorite options.  For the most part, the filling of the macaron is where the majority of the flavor play comes in because the shells should not be altered too much or they may not turn out quite right.

Then you can get really nice macarons by yourselves!

images perfect-macaron

Comments

  1. Have you made these pastries before?
    I just don’t understand the whole folding process. In addition the coloration puzzles me. How do they do that? Is it natural die or fool dye on the egg whites? I don’t do much baking so please excuse me if I sound ignorant.

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