Small, Pretty, Delicate, Colorful and So Sweet… Macarons

Ha! You have no idea how proud of myself I am. After reading how hard macarons are to make and how precise you have to be, I was scared to death. But I took on the challenge and I think I managed to rise to it. Still, I didn't believe it would work until the very end. Do you know how delicious they are? Crisp on the outside, slightly chewy in the middle. I had never eaten them before, but now I know what I was missing. And they're so pretty and colorful… Okay, maybe they're not perfect, but who cares…

I started by searching for a recipe. All the ones I found seemed complicated to me, or the fillings were not what I wanted, or the instructions weren't detailed enough. Finally I came across the blog waskochen.ch. That was it! And with detailed step-by-step photos, too. There are also instructional videos showing how to make these little beauties. True, I don't understand a word of French, but I watched them anyway and picked up a thing or two. If you decide to make macarons, I recommend them too.

macarons

I got started late in the evening, when the kids were already asleep. I didn't want anyone or anything distracting me. Everything was ready, but the filling… well, it just wasn't right for me. So I found another macaron recipe, with a choice of all kinds of fillings. I went with lemon. I love lemon baked goods. I looked over the recipes once more, prepared everything carefully and got to work.

The first problem for me was the almonds. Many instructions, including the ones on that site, tell you to grind them yourself. After I ground mine, it turned out I had pulled a compacted lump of almond out of my coffee grinder. How was I supposed to sift that now? Impossible. So I decided to take a risk and reached for ground almonds with the skins. Luckily they were very finely ground and I managed to sift them. I prepared the meringue as the recipe says and started piping. The batter was quite thick and didn't spread, which let me shape the macarons quite nicely. I suspect that's because of the skins in the almonds. At that point I was even less sure of the outcome of this challenge. I put them in the oven, sat down in front of it and watched. I didn't leave for a second, because I was waiting for the famous little feet. And what joy when the feet started to appear! It worked! The rest was a piece of cake. Well, almost. Remember to let the macarons cool completely before taking them off the baking sheet. The filling practically made itself and I could calmly sandwich those delicious little rounds together. I don't even know how much my husband snacked on while I was filling them. I had to taste one right away myself, too. They're delicious both fresh and the next day.

After such a long introduction, it's time for the recipe. (You'll find the original recipe, in English, HERE. I'm quoting the macaron recipe from Letizia. The lemon filling recipe comes from essen und trinken).

It's worth remembering what is (supposedly) very important: the egg whites should be left out at room temperature a day ahead. Letizia writes, however, that she also made them with cold egg whites and they turned out fine. I preferred not to risk it.

And one more thing: you'll need 3 baking sheets. I used my neighbors' oven. The batter can't wait, so if you don't have 3 baking sheets, divide the ingredients into the right number of batches and prepare them separately.

For the step-by-step photos, head over to waskochen.ch, because I don't think it can be shown any more precisely.

macarons

Instructions:

I'm writing this in numbered steps, because I think each step is easier to follow that way:

1. Grind the ground almonds in a blender or coffee grinder as finely as you can and sift them (mine, unfortunately, clumped together in the coffee grinder).

2. Sift the powdered sugar, add the whole packet of food coloring to it and mix with the almond flour.

3. Add the salt to the egg whites and whip them, but not quite to stiff peaks. Gradually add the white sugar and keep whipping. The sugar should dissolve completely, and the meringue should be so thick that a knife cut through it leaves a mark.

4. Very slowly, spoonful by spoonful, fold the egg whites into the almond flour. Do it gently. The batter should be shiny and have the consistency of thick lava. It should flow slowly off the spatula.

5. Prepare 3 baking sheets. Letizia recommends turning the sheets upside down, because then it's easier to slide the macarons off. For me that was impossible (turning them over). On each sheet, put a few dabs of batter and lay parchment paper on top (it will stick to the batter and won't lift up in the oven). You can also weigh the paper down with knives. If you want to bake on a silicone mat, make sure it doesn't wrinkle during baking (mine does).

6. Put the batter in a piping bag with a plain round tip and pipe out dollops about 3 cm wide. Don't pipe onto wrinkles in the paper, because the macarons will come out crooked.

7. Set the baking sheets aside for 45 minutes so the macarons can dry out a little (avoid drafts).

8. Preheat the oven to 140°C (285°F), convection setting.

9. Put all 3 baking sheets in at once and bake for exactly 15 minutes.

10. Take the baking sheets out and…

a. Letizia's method: slide the macarons together with the paper off the baking sheets, lightly dampen the sheets, and put the macarons on their paper back on the sheets. The macarons will absorb a bit of moisture and come off the sheets easily.

b. My method: without taking the macarons off the baking sheet, pour a little water under the paper on each side (spraying is best).

11. When the macarons have cooled, gently peel them off the paper and put them in a lidded container.

12. Set them aside in the refrigerator or a cool place for 48 hours (this way the macarons will be crisp on the outside and soft inside). I didn't wait and filled them right after making the filling, but I have nothing to compare with, so I don't know what the difference in taste is.

13. Prepare the filling:

14. Finely grate the lemon zest and squeeze out the juice. Cream the butter, powdered sugar and lemon zest until smooth, then add 4-5 tbsp of lemon juice and mix.

15. Put the filling in a piping bag with a small tip. Pipe a fairly thick layer of filling onto the flat side of half of the macarons. Place a second macaron, flat side down, on each macaron with filling and press lightly. Serve right away or set aside in a cool place.

Enjoy!

Additional information:

Filled macarons keep for up to 2 days. You can also freeze them, layered between sheets of parchment paper. Unfilled macarons can be stored in a cool place, in a metal tin and wrapped in parchment paper, for up to 2 weeks.

For those who know German, I recommend the instructions on waskochen.ch. You can also download a printable PDF there with a lovely little box for 3 macarons.