MACARON GERBET

For about 40 pcs. macarons.

INGREDIENTS

150 g almond flour
150 g icing sugar
55 g egg whites
150 g caster sugar
50 g water
55 g egg whites

PREPARATION

Sift the icing sugar and almond flour into a bowl and add the first 55 g egg whites. Food colour is eventually added now. Stir well into the mixture with a wooden spoon until the mass is uniform and solid colour. It is important to get right down to the bottom of the bowl.

Take about 25 g of the caster sugar in a cup and pour the rest of the sugar and the water into a saucepan. The syrup must boil - you have to use a sugar thermometer to check the temperature. Do not stir too much, then the sugar will go on the edge of the saucepan and caramelize. It can be avoided by brushing the edge of the saucepan with water. When the syrup reaches a temperature of 110°C, then start whipping the other 55 g of egg whites. The stand mixer bowl must be perfectly clean. For small portions whip a bit manually at first, then whip for about 1 minute at full speed with the stand mixer, add the 25 g of the caster sugar and whip for 1 more minute at full speed. Then turn down the speed and continue to whip until the egg whites are stiff.

When the syrup reaches a temperature of 118°C, remove the saucepan from the stove. Should the caster sugar get warmer, you can pour a little water into it and make the temperature drop a bit. Then warm up to 118°C again. Pour the syrup into the whipped egg whites. It is important to pour along the edge of the bowl so that the whisk does not spread the syrup on the entire bowl. All the syrup should go into the egg whites. Whip the egg whites at low speed until cooled.

Mix the meringue with the icing sugar and almond mixture with a wooden spoon. It is added by 2 times. First time you stir until the mass is solid colour, check the bottom of the bowl. Stir vigorously but not too violently. The second time the rest of the mass is gently added and mixed with a rubber spatula. The mass must be solid colour, but do not stir too much, then the meringue will fall and the mass becomes liquid.

Pipe the macaron mass on a baking sheet with baking paper. Use a 10 mm round tip to pipe them.

Bake them in a 160-150°C preheated convection oven for approximately 4-5 minutes. Open the oven door so the steam can get out. Turn down to 140-130°C and bake them until finished for approximately 10-12 minutes.

EXPLANATIONS AND GOOD ADVICE

The fine small French macarons can be just as tricky, as they are delicate. Here is a guide for macarons, so hopefully you will succeed.

The ingredients are weighed accurately. It is important with small portions like this.

MACARON CONSISTENCY

The mixture of icing sugar, egg whites and almond flour in the first step should have a thick consistency. If it just sticks together like a hard ball, add a bit more egg white. There can be a difference in the moisture of the almond flour and how fine it is, so even if you follow the recipe, it is good to know the right consistency. If the mass is too liquid, it cannot be saved, so keep an eye on it and always stir by hand, so you have the best feeling with the consistency. Food colour must always be added to this mass. Mix it well so you only see one solid colour.

MERINGUE

You can make macarons with both French and Italian meringue. French meringue looks easier because it can be made without boiling the caster sugar. But it is a lot more fragile to work with. In an Italian meringue the egg whites are heated by the sugar, and it gives a much more stable mass, which is much easier to work with. French meringue must be used immediately, whereas Italian meringue can stay stable for several hours. So my advice is to make the Italian meringue.

Check that there is no egg yolk in the egg whites. And check that the bowl and whisk are completely clean. Egg whites do not tolerate fat, it completely destroys the meringue. Do not sir in the syrup, while it is boiling. And make sure to pour the syrup slowly into the egg white mass, while whipping at low speed. A good old pastry tip is to pour the syrup along the edge of the bowl, avoiding it hitting the whisk and being spread on the sides of the bowl. It is small portions, so all the syrup should go into the egg whites. Then make sure that the meringue cools down sufficiently while it is whipped. It must go below 40 degrees and preferably down to 30 degrees, otherwise the heat may cause the oil from the almond flour to come out into the macaron mass, and it cannot tolerate it.

MIXTURE OF MACARON MASS AND MERINGUE

Mix the first half of the meringue in the macaron mass. If you mix all the meringue at the same time, you will stir it too much before it becomes homogeneous, and there is a big risk that it becomes too thin and impossible to save. In the first round, you can stir with a wooden spoon without being too careful. Make sure to get everything mixed well and get in all areas of the bowl. If there is food colour in it, then stir until you can see only one solid colour. Stop as soon as it is all mixed and homogeneous.

Now the consistency is softer, and the rest of the meringue must be gently added and mixed in the mass - now with a rubber spatula. If there are lumps, they can be crushed on the edge of the bowl with the rubber spatula. Remember to clean the edges and the bottom of the bowl at all time, so that the mass is mixed properly and becomes completely solid colour.

The finished macaron mass has the right consistency, when it reaches the ribbon stage, which means that it makes fine wide ribbons down from the rubber spatula, when held up, and that these will slowly disappear, after they land in the bowl again. If the consistency is too thick, you do not get a completely smooth surface of the macarons. Test by piping and see if the small top from the piping bag disappears after a few minutes. If not, then stir the mass a bit more, and try again. A too thick consistency can also result in round macarons, that are hollow underneath. And a too thin consistency may cause that the macaron mass flows out, and the cakes are not nicely round. It is a fine balance to get the right consistency.

PIPING

It is important that you have control of the piping bag and practice to handle it. When the mass is filled in the piping bag, start by putting the tip in the bag. It can be an advantage to place the bag in a cup and fold the sides of the bag over the edge. Only fill about half of the mass in the bag at a time and turn the top of the bag a few times, so that the mass will stay in the bag. You can either pipe using the machine technique, which is to keep the bag completely vertical and then pipe. It is the easiest way, if you try for the first time and want to make round macarons. Otherwise, you can use an angled piping technique, like most pastry chefs do. It is faster and better for the back, if you are used to it. Press on the bag from the top and do not warm it too much with your hands.

It is a good idea to draw a bunch of uniform circles on a piece of paper, that you put underneath the baking paper and use as a template. It helps to get the macarons equally large and round. Also, be sure to cut the baking paper to fit perfectly to the size of your baking sheet. It must lie perfectly flat on the baking sheet, otherwise the macarons will be crooked.

When the mass is piped on the whole baking sheet, you can experience this:

The macaron mass is a little too thick, and the macarons are therefore a little too high or have the small top from the tip. There are air bubbles on the top of the macarons.

You can then knock a bit under the baking sheet, or knock it down the table, so you get the macarons to flow a little more and be more smooth in the surface, and remove the air bubbles. But be careful, so that they do not become crooked. If the macaron mass is mixed too much and is therefore too thin, the macarons will flow out and become egg-shaped, even though they are piped correctly.

The question is often whether the macarons must rest before being baked. They do not need to, when using the Italian meringue. It can be fine to leave them 5 minutes on the table, in order to ensure that the mass is floated completely out, and the air bubbles are blown. And they can rest for half an hour, but they generally become more matte in the surface, the longer they rest.

BAKING

If you bake 2 baking sheets in the same oven, be sure to put something trapped in the oven door when the heat is turned down. There will be more steam with 2 baking sheets, and it is important that the steam can get out. Otherwise, the macarons can crack. So try a few times with 1 baking sheet, and once you have mastered it, you can try with 2 baking sheets.

FEET

Macarons must have feet and they must neither be too big nor too small. The feet are formed during the first 4-5 minutes. Ovens heat differently, so the first time you use an oven, you must keep an extra eye on how the feet develop.

If the temperature is too high at the beginning, the macarons form a lot of steam and therefore the feet come quickly and become high. The problem is that after a while the feet will fall and they get a bit out of the macarons. If the temperature is too low at the beginning, the feet become small and they have difficulty to grow.

An easy way to check if the oven is too hot or too cold, is simply to stay next to the oven and look at the macarons. If all the feet are formed after 3 minutes, it is a sign that the oven is a little too hot. Then you can open the oven door slightly so that the steam can get out and the temperature drops. And then turn down the heat.

If all feet are not formed after 4 minutes, do not open the oven door. Then wait for all the feet to come out and then open the oven door. And then turn down the heat.

If macarons get crooked feet, it is often because they rise more in one side than in the other, and it is typically due to poor distribution of the heat in the oven, or that the baking sheet is not even.

BAKING

When you want to check whether they are baked enough, you can feel it by pushing a bit to one of the macarons, while they are still in the oven. It must be able to move a bit, but you must have the feeling that the top sticks firmly onto the bottom. If you push before they are finished, you will feel that the bottom and the top do not stick together. Successful macarons must be completely round and preferably as uniform as possible. They must be baked perfectly well, so they are crispy on the outside and chewy inside. And then they must have a bit of gloss in the surface.

BAKING PAPER AND SILICONE MATS

When taking the macarons off the baking paper, do not just pull them off. If they are a little under baked, the bottom will stick to the paper and you get hollow macarons. Turn the paper up side down so the macarons are on the table and then gently pull off the paper. It can be done with baking paper but not with silicone mats. The only advantage of using silicone mats is that they do not bend but lie completely flat. Professionals use baking paper in sheets that are silicone-treated on both sides. Check on the box if they are silicone-treated.

CRACKING AND OTHER ERRORS

It is normal that the macarons placed in the corners of the baking sheet are uneven or cracked, as they can be right where the heat blows over the baking sheet. Or they can crack, if the meringue is too soft and therefore damaged, if you stirred too much in the mass. Alternatively, there may be too much steam in the oven, for example if you bake two baking sheets at a time.

Do not work with open windows, the macarons dry faster and form skin on the surface and are not fine and smooth. They can also get more dry in one side and rise crooked.

If they are round on the top and hollow under the shell, it is likely that the macaron mass is not mixed enough or that they are not baked enough.

Macarons can only rise to a certain point, then they fall again, even though they rise nicely in the beginning. This can happen if the temperature in the oven is too high. Keep an eye on the oven.

If they become discoloured, then the oven temperature is too high. At the last baking phase, turn down to 130°C or 135°C instead of 140°C. When you turn down the temperature, you get nicer colours. But it takes a little more time before they are finished.

If they stick to the baking paper, they are not baked enough, or it is a poor quality baking paper without silicone. Or if you have stirred too much while mixing the meringue and therefore destroyed the meringue, you get some macarons that crack or get dark spots. These failed macarons will always stick to the paper.

The 3 crucial points for success are: The mixture of the final macaron mass that must have the right consistency, then it is the piping and then the baking. So big concentration and read the recipe carefully.

STORAGE IN REFRIGERATOR AND FREEZER

Macarons with ganache filling can last longer than if they have other creams inside, since the ganache is based on chocolate. It is recommended to let them cool for 1 day in the refrigerator, so the filling and shells can settle. If they are in a plastic container, do not put the lid on. Preferably use a cookie tin box or a cardboard box to let them breathe. They can stay in the refrigerator for maximum 7 days. However, they will gradually get softer.

If you want to freeze them, do it when they are completely finished. First, put them on a dish and freeze them like that. When they are frozen, put them in a plastic container with tightly fitting lid and back in the freezer again. They are good for approximately 1 month in the freezer. When you want to take them out of the freezer, then take them out of the container, or take off the lid, and then directly into the refrigerator. In the refrigerator they will thaw slowly - preferably overnight. In this way, they will not be moist and thus soft. Macarons put together with curd or other creams do not tolerate freezing. You can make the macaron shells 2-3 days in advance and store them in the refrigerator on a baking sheet, without removing them from the baking paper. You can also remove them from the baking paper and put them in a cookie tin box. Another solution is to freeze them. They are good for more than 1 month in a plastic box. When you take them out of the freezer, then put them in the refrigerator and take off the lid of the plastic container.

ALMOND FLOUR OR OTHER NUT FLOUR

You can replace the almond flour with another flour. Hazelnut works in the same way as almonds. But pay close attention to the fact that many other nuts may be more fat than almonds. So if you want to use pistachio, peanuts or walnuts, it is recommended to use 2/3 of almonds and 1/3 of the other nuts. In this case, you need a good food processor for chopping the nuts - and a flour sieve. You should maximum run the nuts for 1-2 minutes in the food processor to avoid that the nuts get too hot and the oil from the nuts thus comes out.

If you need 150 g nut flour from other nuts, you should then chop approximately 450 g of those nuts for 1-2 minutes and then sieve them. You might well only get 200 g of nut flour in the end. The part of the nuts, that does not go through the sieve is stored in a container and used another time or for another cake. If the nut flour is too fat, it can not be used for macarons. Preferably, use already chopped almond flour and sieve it.

BONUS INFO

In France, there are different macarons, and each region has its own speciality. They all got in common that they contain nuts, sugar and egg whites. But they vary in appearance and can be the fine version of the two combined smooth macarons with the filling in the middle - or cracked versions, that are similar to the Danish macarons. The fine macarons known today were invented by Ladurée, who at the beginning of the 1900s put two macarons together with the ganache as filling. Reportedly, they have not changed the recipe ever since.