For the first time, I’m going to share a macaron recipe.
It’s been about 2 years since I’ve been able to create good macarons but it hasn’t always been that way.
I rarely use this recipe as I prefer french meringue macarons.
To explain quickly, french meringue macarons are made with egg white whisked with a small amount of sugar to obtain a light but stiff base to then incorporate some icing sugar and ground almonds.
The italian meringue macarons are made by mixing half of the egg white (non whisked) with icing sugar and ground almonds and whisking the other half of the egg whites with hot sugar syrup to make a very stiff, heavy meringue which is then mixed with the almond paste.
Both recipes contain roughly the same amount of ingredients, only the actual method is different.
They also look and taste slightly different: The italian one looks matt and very rounded, with a small “foot” and is fragile and cakey.
The french one looks shiny, with a large foot. They have a slight crunch on the outside and should be chewy inside.
If you’re not a macaron crazy like I am, you may not tell the difference between the two but to me, this is important business.
Here is the recipe and some tips to creating the italian version to perfection.
For about 50 macarons, you’ll need:
– 200g of icing sugar
– 200g of ground almonds
– 2 x 80g of egg whites (4 large egg whites)
– 200g of sugar
– 80ml of water
– food colouring
First, you’ll need to grind the icing sugar and ground almonds together until you get a very thin powder, this will ensure your shells are smooth.
You can do it in a food processor but the almonds will certainly not be fine enough. I use a coffee grinder and it’s perfect. Sieve the powder that you get from doing this.
Heat the sugar and water together and let it reach 110°C.
For this step, it’s highly recommended to use a candy thermometer. If you don’t have one, count 4 minutes from boiling and you should get it right.
Just before your sugar reaches 110°C, start whisking half of your egg whites. Don’t whisk the egg whites until they’re firm otherwise the hot syrup will break them.
Add the sugar syrup, still whisking. Keep going until the meringue is cool.
I recommend using a kitchen robot because it will take a while to cool down.
Meanwhile, add the other half of the egg whites to your powders (almonds & icing sugar) and mix until you get a thick paste. You can colour the mix right now with the colour of your choice.
Always go darker than the shade you want as the meringure will lighten it up a lot.
I recommend using powder colours as they are much stronger than paste or liquid colours. The alternative is to add your colour to the meringue instead.
Fold a bit of the meringue into the almond paste to loosen it up a bit and then fold in the rest of the meringue.
This stage is the trickiest one: when to stop folding. You may have to fold the mixture for a while before getting the perfect consistency. You don’t want an under-mixed batter as it will form peaks and look rough and you don’t want an over-mixed batter as it will be impossible to pipe and never hold it’s shape as a circle.
After I’ve piped the mixture is it suppose to spread slightly ? This is my second attempt at making macaroni with not much success.
Hi.. Love your detailed description on how to make these tricky little things..
Any advice on how to make these in a gas oven??
I followed your recipe the other day and all went well until I put them in the oven, gas mark 3 which I believe is about 150degrees celcius on middle rack, but they came out with feet but all hollow inside!
Help!
Hi Sabina,
My only attempts (about 20 of them!) in a gas oven were not great.
About your “hollow inside” problem, I don’t think it’s a problem with the temperature of your oven, they would have cracked on the top. I would think it’s because the heat comes from underneath and cooks the base before the top. You should try to put 3 empty trays one on the top of the other, the heat gets distributed better. In my own oven, I always move my trays around when the macarons are baking like that I avoid this problem.
I hope this helps you for next time, and that you achieve macaron perfection!
Mylene
Hi Myleene
seems as though I have solved my hollow problem and I have been baking perfect macarons for the past few months until last week!!! my last few batches are all cracking within the first few minutes of going in the oven. I haven’t even changed the oven temp! please please help
thanks
Hi Sabina,
Before you put the piped macaron batter in the oven make sure that the mixture is dry to the touch.
Mylene
I’ve tried making italian meringue macarons with your recipe but it didn’t came out the way I expected it to be.
My macaron had cracks and no feet.
They were also lumpy and porous.
What did I do wrong? Would you mind explaining?
Thanks for the comment.
In answer to your problems try the following…
The cracking & feet – 2 possible reasons. Oven was too hot or you didn’t leave the mixture to dry long enough.
Sometimes to get a good foot some people use three trays, one on top of the other to distribute the heat better. It never worked for me but it might for you.
Lumpy & porous – Maybe the batter wasn’t mixed enough or the mix of the almond and icing sugar wasn’t fine enough.
What kind of oven do you use?
Gas ovens tend to be hotter than the temperature they show.
Electric ovens are more precise.
Practice with oven temperatures is the key.
It took me at least 25 times to get it right.
Mylène
Hi
Can I use meringue cookies and sandwich them together and use them as macaroons because no matter what I do I just can’t get the macaroon shells to come out right. Pls reply ASAP Thank you! P.s I love your recipes. : D
Hi,
you can use meringue cookies instead of macaron shells but you won’t have the same texture. But don’t stop trying to make them!!! It took me years and about 10 different recipes to finally find the one that works for me so there’s still hope!
Mylene
Thankx for the inspirational words! I am 13 yrsold and I love baking so I’ve got a whole lifetime ahead of me to get it ryt!