Strawberries and Cream Macarons
So, just recently my neighbor had a milestone birthday (Happy Birthday Mrs. M!) and in celebration I decided to make her some macarons. I absolutely love macarons, they are one of my favorite kind of cookie. For those who don't know, they are an almond meringue cookie unlike any other that is usually filled (although broken shells are fair game by themselves.) Every time I've made them, they've been fairly popular, especially when they come out just right. And a bonus is that they don't have any regular flours in them, so they're gluten free! Or at least, they should be.
They also happen to be the most difficult cookie I've ever made. Hang in there, though-- they are not impossible. Far from it. It just takes a little bit of practice.
Start with preparing your sheet pans. I use Silpats on baking sheets. Keep in mind that dark baking sheets will speed up the cooking time by a minute or two. Weigh out all your ingredients, egg whites first. I used syrupandtang.com's ratio (you can find their article here) for an Italian meringue style macaron. It's really the more reliable, and better for beginners in my opinion. It makes the meringue sturdy and harder to kill, but we'll get to that.
Once you weigh your egg whites, separate them equally (by weight) into two bowls: your mixer's bowl and a small bowl off to the side. Put your mixer bowl on the mixer and let it wait there. Side note: this really is miles easier with a stand mixer, but it can be done with a hand mixer. You'll just get a really good arm work out.
Next you want to sift together your almond meal and your icing sugar in a medium to large bowl. I cheated and used a whisk, but for perfect macarons, the dry ingredients should really be sifted.
After that you only have two more items to weigh: put your water and white sugar into a small saucepan with a thermometer clipped to the side. Now you're ready to making your Italian meringue!
Put your saucepan on low heat and look for the sugar to reach 118 degrees Celsius. At about 100 degrees or a little before, start beating your egg whites until they reach stiff peaks. Try to have your egg whites ready by the time your sugar is up to temperature.
Now comes the slightly dangerous part: pour the hot sugar into your egg whites (with your mixer running) in a slow but steady stream. Be very careful as the sugar will be very hot and solidify very quickly. Try not to spill any on the counter like I did. It's a bit of a pain to get off.
Whip your egg whites until they reach room temperature. This is the part that will make your arm fall off if you're using a hand mixer because it could take as much as 5 minutes or more for the egg whites to cool. Once they are, though, you have a very stiff, completely safe-to-eat meringue. Pay attention, because you're going to do that again to make the marshmallow cream for the filling.
While your egg whites are whipping or after they're done, mix the remaining, un-whipped egg whites with the dry ingredients to form a paste. This is the time which I chose to add my food coloring.
The next step is considered the most important in making these cookies and even has its own name: macaronage. Fold the egg whites into the almond paste mixture until the mixture is thick but flows slowly off the spatula when you lift it. You don't have to be too careful here since the meringue is very stiff and cooked.
Fill a piping bag fitted with a quarter inch nozzle with your macaron batter (I just used a coupler without a nozzle). Pipe 3 to 4 centimeter rounds on your baking sheets. It's easiest to put a template underneath your Silpat or parchment paper. They can be found online to be printed.
Dry your macarons until they are completely dry to the touch. This will enable the steam to be released only from the bottom of the cookie, giving the macarons their signature feet.
Next, bake until firm. They shouldn't change color very much at all so just touch them gently to see if they are firm enough. Take them out and let rest for a minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
While they cool, create your filling. And here it is: an Italian Meringue and thinly sliced strawberries. Repeat the steps for your Italian meringue and you're good.
Once cool, fill them and enjoy!
They also happen to be the most difficult cookie I've ever made. Hang in there, though-- they are not impossible. Far from it. It just takes a little bit of practice.
Start with preparing your sheet pans. I use Silpats on baking sheets. Keep in mind that dark baking sheets will speed up the cooking time by a minute or two. Weigh out all your ingredients, egg whites first. I used syrupandtang.com's ratio (you can find their article here) for an Italian meringue style macaron. It's really the more reliable, and better for beginners in my opinion. It makes the meringue sturdy and harder to kill, but we'll get to that.
Once you weigh your egg whites, separate them equally (by weight) into two bowls: your mixer's bowl and a small bowl off to the side. Put your mixer bowl on the mixer and let it wait there. Side note: this really is miles easier with a stand mixer, but it can be done with a hand mixer. You'll just get a really good arm work out.
Next you want to sift together your almond meal and your icing sugar in a medium to large bowl. I cheated and used a whisk, but for perfect macarons, the dry ingredients should really be sifted.
After that you only have two more items to weigh: put your water and white sugar into a small saucepan with a thermometer clipped to the side. Now you're ready to making your Italian meringue!
Put your saucepan on low heat and look for the sugar to reach 118 degrees Celsius. At about 100 degrees or a little before, start beating your egg whites until they reach stiff peaks. Try to have your egg whites ready by the time your sugar is up to temperature.
Now comes the slightly dangerous part: pour the hot sugar into your egg whites (with your mixer running) in a slow but steady stream. Be very careful as the sugar will be very hot and solidify very quickly. Try not to spill any on the counter like I did. It's a bit of a pain to get off.
Whip your egg whites until they reach room temperature. This is the part that will make your arm fall off if you're using a hand mixer because it could take as much as 5 minutes or more for the egg whites to cool. Once they are, though, you have a very stiff, completely safe-to-eat meringue. Pay attention, because you're going to do that again to make the marshmallow cream for the filling.
While your egg whites are whipping or after they're done, mix the remaining, un-whipped egg whites with the dry ingredients to form a paste. This is the time which I chose to add my food coloring.
The next step is considered the most important in making these cookies and even has its own name: macaronage. Fold the egg whites into the almond paste mixture until the mixture is thick but flows slowly off the spatula when you lift it. You don't have to be too careful here since the meringue is very stiff and cooked.
Fill a piping bag fitted with a quarter inch nozzle with your macaron batter (I just used a coupler without a nozzle). Pipe 3 to 4 centimeter rounds on your baking sheets. It's easiest to put a template underneath your Silpat or parchment paper. They can be found online to be printed.
Dry your macarons until they are completely dry to the touch. This will enable the steam to be released only from the bottom of the cookie, giving the macarons their signature feet.
Next, bake until firm. They shouldn't change color very much at all so just touch them gently to see if they are firm enough. Take them out and let rest for a minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
While they cool, create your filling. And here it is: an Italian Meringue and thinly sliced strawberries. Repeat the steps for your Italian meringue and you're good.
Once cool, fill them and enjoy!
(my Mom was helping me fill them and I got her with the marshmallow cream a few times so she asked me to take a picture of her with her battle wounds)
Strawberry and Cream Macarons
Ingredients
My amounts (listed under the ratio) got me about 32 filled macaronsMacarons:
Egg whites (in grams) divided in half
Almond meal 1.35 x egg whites
Icing sugar 1.35 x egg whites
White sugar 1.35 x egg whites
Water 0.33 x egg whites
My amounts were:
131g egg whites
177g icing sugar
177g white sugar
43g water
Filling:
Egg whites
White sugar 1.35 x (2 x egg whites)
Water 0.33 x (2 x egg whites)
My amounts were:
65g egg whites
177g white sugar
43g water
Directions
Macaron Shells
Prepare baking trays with silicon mats or parchment paper.
Weigh egg whites and divide evenly between stand mixer bowl and small bowl.
Place white sugar and water in saucepan.
Whisk or sift together almond meal and icing sugar in large bowl.
Place saucepan on low heat. Stir to dissolve sugar then do not stir again. Heat to 118 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, whip egg whites in mixer bowl to stiff peaks.
When sugar is heated and egg whites are whisked, pour sugar in a slow and steady stream into the egg whites. The mixer should be on a medium setting.
When all sugar is added, increase speed and beat until egg whites are room temperature.
Mix remaining egg whites with almond mixture, adding color if desired.
Fold egg whites into almond paste. Mixture should be thick but flow easily off spatula.
Pipe into rounds using template. Tap on counter three or four times to flatten peaks and release air.
Leave macarons at room temperature until the tops are completely dry.
Bake at 300 degrees for 16-18 minutes. Baking temperature and times may vary from oven to oven.
Filling
Place sugar and water in saucepan and heat to 118 degrees as before. Whisk egg whites to stiff peaks while sugar is heating.
When both sugar and egg whites are ready, pour sugar in a slow and steady stream into egg whites. Beat mixture on high until egg whites are cooled.
Slice strawberries thinly.
Assemble
Pipe a small amount of meringue onto the back of one cookie. Place strawberry slice on top. Pipe a small amount of meringue on top and sandwich with another cookie.
Serve immediately. Cookies will keep in the fridge for about 3 days.
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