I’ve talked about my struggle to make macarons so many times ?
They were my mission impossible until few weeks ago, when my babies decided to raise on their own feet, nice & cute.
When I shared my struggles on Instagram and asked for help, my inbox went crazy and my heart was full of gratitude and love. You gave me great advice, and your trusted recipes and I’m so thankful and so touched.
When it came to choosing a recipe I decided to try the Frenchie in Queens recipe, a super talented French Pastry Chef, that I’ve met on Instagram.
I couldn’t thank her enough for her patience and time on answering all my questions, and for giving me permission to publish her recipe. Make sure to follow @frechieinqueens, she’s sweet, talented, open and humble ❤️ I’ve learned so much from her.
This recipe uses the French merengue method, which is the easiest and quickest. Italian and Swiss meringue are also on my list, but they need a kitchen thermometer and I still haven’t gotten one.
Macarons
Ingredients
Macaron shells
- 130 g ground almonds
- 100 g egg whites (room temperature)
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 180 g powder sugar
- Few drops of fresh lemon juice (1/2 tsp or less)
- Optional: Dry rose petals or cocoa powder
Filling
Option 1
- 250 g cream cheese
- 2 tbsp powder sugar
- 1-2 tsp rose water
Option 2
- Chocolate tahini
Directions
- Mix the powder sugar with almond flour and process in a food processor for few seconds.
- Sieve the mixture of almond flour and powder sugar in a big bowl. Discard any remainings in the sieve.
- Get another bowl and clean it using a paper towel and some vinegar. Do the same with the whisks of the electric mixer. This way you’ll remove any potential grease, which prevents the egg whites to whip properly.
- Measure 100 g of egg whites and pour them into the bowl. Don’t forget the egg whites should be at room temperature.
- Add few drops of fresh lemon juice and start mixing in medium speed.
- When the peaks start to form slowly add the granulated sugar and keep beating.
- Increase the speed as the mixture thickens and firm peaks form.
- Be very careful not to overbeat your ogg whites. They should be shiny & smooth.
- Add the mixture of powder sugar & almond flour and fold it into the whipped egg whites.
- The mixture is ready when it reaches lava consistency. It should fall in a thick ribbon from the spatula. This is the most tricky step, so be well prepared. Watch lots of videos to make sure you get it right. The life of your macarons depends on this step.
- Pour the mixture into a piping bag and pipe the macarons. The easiest way to do this, is to previously (before starting to make macarons) use a round shape and mark the baking paper, so your macarons will be equal.
- Once you’ve piped all the macarons, tap the tin on the counter a few times to remove the air bubbles.
- At this stage I topped some of the macarons with a small dry rose petals, and I sprinkles a little bit of cocoa powder at some others. This step is optional, they’re perfect even plain.
- Then, just let them sit in the counter to dry until they’re no longer sticky to the touch. This time may vary from 30 min to 1 h & 30 min. This step is also crucial, since it helps the macarons to develop the so called macaron legs.
- Heat the oven at 140-150 C (use conventional setting if available).
- Bake macarons until they’re cooked. They’re ready when they come of the sheet easily.
- Let them cool completely before filling.
Cream cheese and rose filling
- To make the cream cheese and rose filling, just mix everything together, until the mixture becomes homogeneous.
- If it’s too soft, put it on the fridge for 15 minutes before filling the macarons.
Assemble the macarons
- Pipe some of the filling into a macaron shell and top with the other.
- Macarons keep well in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
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