Top 10 best macaron tips
I truly can’t tell you how many times in my training I failed at making macarons. There’s so many different intricate sections to it that if one of them fails, they won’t work. Then going back to see what went wrong is sometimes difficult. BUT don’t let this deter you, it’s so satisfying when they actually work, it’s worth it I promise!
So hopefully this will prevent you from making the many mistakes I did! The recipe I tend to use is this one: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/macarons
Okay let’s get into the tips!
Meringue practice! Firstly the recipe I use uses an Italian meringue (where you heat up the sugar to make the meringue before folding it into the almond/icing sugar mixture), it’s so important that you get your meringue right to start with. If it’s wrong you’ll just waste the almond mix, which is the expensive part of the recipe. So there’s no harm in re-doing the meringue.
If your meringue is too loose, you’re either using old eggs or you didn’t heat the sugar up to the right temperature, or didn’t whisk the eggs enough before adding the sugar - the macarons will spread once piped and you won’t get a good shape.
If your meringue is lumpy, you’ve either heated the sugar too high or have whisked the eggs too much before adding in the sugar, this means your macarons won’t be smooth.
Creating a smooth top - After cleverly thinking that a touch water would flatten the piping tip of the macaron, I quickly learnt that instead of creating a smooth top, the added water creates a crack in the top of the macaron. Opposed to finishing with water, whilst piping quickly whip around the piping bag in a circular motion to avoid finishing with a tip.
Piping - Along with whipping the piping bag around, it’s important to pipe straight. The piping bag should be held in a straight line directly above where you want to macaron to be and piped with an even force - this takes practice but you’ll get there. I tend to squeeze with one hand from the top and guide the bag with my other hand. A round nozzle also helps create even meringues.
Hollow - At the beginning most of my macarons were hollow, I was very confused. But it was simply just because I. was far too impatient (story of my life). To ensure that the macarons are not hollow in the middle and have a base, allow them to be fully baked and cooled before removing from the tray. Undercooking is the main culprit for hollow macarons.
Feet (ruffle) - Everyone loves pretty feet, that sounded weird… this is not that kind of website. Everyone loves the ruffle on the bottom of the macaron, called feet. But it doesn’t have to be a nightmare to achieve. You leave the macarons out once pipe to set slightly, HOWEVER what I learnt is that if you leave them for too long they will crack and not have any feet and if you don’t leave them long enough you won’t get any feet.
This is just a learning process. It really depends on how humid your room is and the temperature. It should take about 30 mins, but to test tap your figure gently on top of them, if no mixture stick and it feels tacky but not overly dry then they’re good to go! I wouldn’t leave them for more than 45 mins (unless you’re in a super humid climate).
Pairing up - I’ve found no matter how evenly you’ve pipe the macarons some are always slightly different sizes so before you fill the shells pair them up size wise. This will also speed up the filling process.
Silicon mat - During training I always baked macarons on a Silpat mat as I found it was a foolproof method to prevent them from sicking and also ecologically saved using baking paper.
Colouring - Any liquid added to the mix will change the consistency of the macarons so I’ve always used paste/gel colouring - it also gives them a brighter shade.
Food processor - In the UK it’s difficult to get hold of really fine ground almonds like they have in France. So to combat this I tend to pulse the almonds and icing sugar together a few time in a food processor before double sieving them to remove any large bits. Then weigh this again to make sure you’ve got the right amount.
If you don’t have a food processor you can also sieve the almonds 2 or 3 times, but making sure you don’t push them through the sieve, simply just tap the side. You can use the larger excess in another recipe.
Fridge - I’ve always found that in most restaurants I’ve worked in the macarons have been kept in the fridge in an airtight container. This improves the texture overall, making it softer.