February 25, 2012

Macaron... Heart Macaron!



After macaron gained all the fame in recent years (thanks to Ladurée and Pierre Hermé), many ambitious home cooks try baking the perfect macaron. It is very tempting to create those pretty colorful macarons in home kitchen. Good news is... although macaron is not the easiest thing to bake in your kitchen, it is not as hard as you think.

There are so many recipes out there (internet, cookbook...) for home-baked macarons. Annoying part is that the recipes have different ratios of ingredients, different baking temperature, and different baking time! I tried several of them, and some worked out pretty well while some didn't.

The following macaron recipe is the result of my trial and error in weeks. Macaron baking is very hard to explain in words, and the meringue based batter is a bit tricky to handle. Also due to the high sugar contents in macaron batter, humidity level makes big difference in your baked macaron cookies.

Since it will be much easier to watch the whole process then read the recipe, I made a small video for macaron baking.... a special "heart macaron" baking. :) (If you cannot see the video, please click here.)

How to make heart macaron



Oh! One big tip for baking macaron cookies: DO NOT BAKE MACARON COOKIES ON A RAINY DAY. I will explain the reason a little later in step#10 in macaron cookie baking.

For detailed instruction, please refer to the following recipes.

Macaron... Heart Macaron!

(Yield: 14-15 macarons / Cooking time: 1.5 hours*)
* 1.5 hours do not include 3-5 hours' resting time.

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients
+ 40g sifted almond flour
+ 65g powdered sugar
+ 1 heaping tsp food coloring powder (I used red beet powder for raspberry macaron, and unsweetened cocoa powder for chocolate macaron)

Dry ingredients for raspberry macaron


Dry ingredients for chocolate macaron



French meringue*
+ 33g room temperature egg white (from one large egg)*
+ 10g granulated sugar
+ 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar**



* There are three types of meringues; French meringue, Swiss meringue and Italian meringue. French meringue is the easiest one to make, just whipping egg white with sugar. The next one is Swiss meringue for which egg white is whipped over double boiler and then whipped with sugar. And, the hardest one to make is Italian meringue, which you whip egg whites with 235-240°F sugar syrup --- this last meringue is most complicated to make but most stable.

For beginners of macaron baking, it might be easier to make the macaron cookies with Italian meringue. Due to its high structural stability, it is easy to mix the meringue and almond flour mixture without deflating the batter too much. However, Italian meringue requires more sugar than French meringue, and will make sweeter, crunchier, and chewier macaron cookies, which is not ideal - macaron cookie should be soft inside with a bit crunchy outside. And, most of all, it is still possible to bake a good macaron cookies with French meringue although this may be your first time baking macaron! You do not have to make the Italian meringue which needs more work and attention.

** Cream of tartar is an acidic powder which is a byproduct of winemaking. It is often used as a stabilizer for egg white foam. Although you can use lemon juice or any other acid as a stabilizer, most cooks prefer cream of tartar which has no water content, no flavor and no smell. For French meringue, which is made without any heat, I would definitely recommend adding cream of tartar. If you are making Italian meringue, which is the most structurally safe meringue, I don't think you need cream of tartar.



Click here for Raspberry Filling recipe
Click here for Dark Chocolate Filling recipe


Procedures:

1. First, measure all the ingredients, and prepare all the necessary tools - Sieve, clean bowl, clean balloon whisk, rubber spatula, pastry bag (piping bag) with ~0.5" wide piping tip inserted, sheet pan, silicone mat (or parchment paper), and macaron template. (I used Ateco 804 piping tip).

For the piping bag, fold the piping bag into the tip and place the piping bag in a fitted cup to make it easy to transfer macaron batter to the piping bag.


* Tip: If you don't have a pastry bag, don't worry. Just cut a tip of a large Ziploc bag and use it as a pastry bag.


2. Sift almond flour, powdered sugar and food coloring powder all together through a fine strainer or sieve to aerate the flour and make sure there is no impurity. Set aside.


3. In a clean bowl*, with a clean balloon whisk*, whip a room temperature egg white until you can see foam. Add 1/8 tsp of cream of tartar and continue whipping.


* If there is any trace of fat on your bowl or whisk, the egg white foam will not form very well. Also, even a small amount of egg yolk will hurt your egg white foam.


4. When the egg white doubles in volume, sprinkle granulated sugar gradually in 3-4 batches while whipping the egg white. Egg white starts gaining more volume as sugar is added.


5. Whip the egg whites until it reached to stiff peaks. This is "French meringue", the shiny velvety egg white foam. If egg white starts leaking water and loses the velvety texture, you over beat the egg white. I would recommend throwing it away and starting over.


6. Add sifted almond flour mixture into the meringue in four to five batches. First, add one fourth (or fifth) of the almond flour and gently fold into the meringue. When the first almond flour mixture batch is incorporated well, add the next batch. Continue folding the rest of batches.


7. Fill a pastry piping bag with the macaron cookie mixture.


8. Pipe the mixture to a baking tray lined with a silicone mat (or parchment paper) over template. I printed out template in two sheets of letter-size paper. Please make sure to pipe the mixture somewhat flat... around 1/5" in height.

Heart shape macaron cookies


Round shape macaron cookies


9. Tap the bottom of sheet pan to the counter top or with your palm to flatten the piped batter. This step will remove any big air pockets from the batter, and will smooth out the surface of piped batter.


10. Let the piped macaron mixture seat for 30-45 minutes in flat and dry area before going into oven. This stage is very important to form the egg shell like exterior and macaron's "feet (pied in French)". While the mixture is seating, the outer part start forming a smooth, shiny, and pretty hard skin, and when the mixture is baked, as the air bubbles in the meringue are expanding the macaron cookies are going to rise, lifting the top skin. At this time, the "feet" is formed at the bottom of the macaron cookies. That's why you should not bake the macaron cookies on a rainy day (or very humid day). Sugar will absorb the water from the air during the 30-45 minutes resting process and will not form the skin properly!

Heart shape macaron cookies


Round shape macaron cookies

* I didn't take a picture but I sprinkled cocoa powder on the top of round macaron batter when the skin is almost formed.

11. Preheat your oven at 300°F while the 'skin' is formed.

12. When the macarons are dried enough, gently remove the template under the silicone mat (or parchment paper). Slide the baking tray to the preheated oven on the middle rack. Bake for 8 minutes. Lower the heat to 290°F and bake for another 10-12 minutes. The macaron cookies should have "feet" and the skin should be hard and dry.


13. Let the cookies cool down still with the silicon mat (or parchment paper) attached. When the cookies have completely cooled down, take them off from the silicon mat (or parchment paper). If the macaron cookies are under-cooked or have not cooled down enough, the cookies will not come off clean from the silicon mat (or parchment paper).


14. Pipe the fillings on a macaron cookie and make sandwich with another macaron cookie.


15. Rest the assembled macarons for about 3-5 hours so the moisture from filling can be absorbed into the dry cookie. The time can vary depending on how dry your cookies are and how wet the fillings are. The final macaron should still have crunchy skin but very moist texture.


Enjoy your home-baked sweet macarons!




* Raspberry Filling
This raspberry filling is not sweet, but rather sour and tangy. Actually, this non-sweet filling will balance the sweetness with the sweet macaron cookies. In a small pot, cook 1/2 cup raspberry (frozen raspberry is okay), 2 tsp granulated sugar, and 2 Tbsp water. When water boils, sprinkle 1 tsp agar-agar. Simmer for a few minutes until agar-agar is dissolved and activated. Agar-agar is working like pectin or gelatin in this recipe to thicken the filling. Cool the filling completely in a fridge.

* Dark Chocolate Filling
Bring to boil 70g heavy cream. Pour over 80g chopped dark chocolate (60%), and 10g butter. Whisk until smooth with a small sauce whisk. Use the chocolate filling after it cools down to room temperature.


34 comments:

  1. Hi Vera,

    I love you Heart Shape Macaron. Thank you for sharing the video.
    Do you have a video how to pipe a oval shape macaron?

    -Thank you
    Mra

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mra, Thank you for reading the recipe (and watching the video). Unfortunately, I don't have the video, but if you see the heart shape piping, I think you can get some idea for oval shape piping. Instead of making a pointy end, try to move the tip back towards where you pipe the batter... making smoothe round end for each side. Hope this will help you! -Vera

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  2. Hi Vera,

    I was wondering where I can find the heart shaped template for the heart macarons. I tried looking online, but I couldn't find one anywhere.

    Thanks!

    Gabrielle

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Gabrielle - I made my own template by using Word. If you use Word, there is a heart shape under 'Insert - Shapes - Basic Shapes'. Hope this works for you.

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    2. How far apart should the heart be if I were to make my own template by using Word?

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJuly 13, 2012

    Hi, did you use fresh or aged egg whites? thanks in advance:) -Kayla

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kayla - I didn't use aged egg whites, but room temperature egg whites as I noted in the recipe. Freshier and colder the egg whites, it is harder to foam. Traditional macaron recipe requires aged egg whites due to this reason, and also due to the less water contents in the aged egg whites. Some recipe asks to add powdered egg white to lower the water contents. However, I found just using a room temperature store bought eggs (which is not too fresh... when I say 'too fresh', it means 'right out of the cage') is perfectly fine to make a good macaron at home.

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  4. Hi Vera,

    Thank you for decomposing the macaron making process. You make it look so easy. Just out of curiosity, did you process the almond flour in a food processor before sifting it with the powdered sugar? I've seen a few recipes doing it and wondered if you too did it.

    Thanks,

    Manny

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't, but I sifted the almond flour before just to get "finer" almond flour. I used Bob's Red Mill almond flour which sometimes has some larger granules than I want, so... I sifted when I bought the almond flour to make "coarse" almond flour (whichever left in my sifter), and "finer" almond flour. Then, I used coarse one for my almond cake or financier baking..., and use only the finer almond flour for my macarons. Hope this can help you.

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    2. Thanks for the info! I tried your recipe and it turned out pretty well. The main problem I had was that the feet of the macaron were too crunchy and the top was not crispy enough. Other than that the the texture of the macaron itself was good. I will make another batch soon to make sure I get it right. Was the oven temperature you suggested for a macaron with a 1.5 inch diameter?

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    3. Good to hear that the macaron came out ok. I just measured my template, and the diameter shows about 2mm less than 1.5 inch.

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  5. Hi... the heart shape macaron is so cute.. I've tried making macarons before but I failed.. the outside is too crunchy and the inside looks like it didn't cook at all.. I want to try your recipe but I have few questions..

    can I use liquid food coloring instead of the powder one?
    and can you please convert your measurement to cups?

    I would really appreciate it if you could answer my questions.. thank you..:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tried liquid food coloring, and I couldn't get the right texture... so I didn't use liquid food coloring for macaron. And, for the measurement, it is really hard to tell the measurement in terms of volume rather than the weight. Volume can be tricky... since depending how you scoop your ingredients into your cup, the real amount can vary.

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  6. Hi vera, your macarons look really pretty! I've a question for you. My choco garnish became a little watery after taking out from the fridge and sit for awhile. During the whisking process, do i have to whisk it till it became thicker?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello - sorry for my late reply. I will check the measurement one more time and will get back to you soon!

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  7. Hi Vera!
    I love your blog! i tried your recipe for french macaroon, i was wondering do you have any tips and advice for humid environment? also i tired mine but my macaroon turned out okay.. it's just the top shell was too soft it gets crumpled during cooling the macaroon after baking... i sometimes get too chewy inside... please help.. thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. also, i ried changing the measurement cuz i thought that takes effect on my macaroon...

      40g almont
      60g powdered sugar

      15g caster sugar..

      these are the changes i made and still bad... i get so soft top shell...

      i also used kitchen aid than a balloon whisk. is that also takes affect on my macaroon? am overbeating the eggwhites?

      appreciate your response.. thank you!

      Delete
    2. I wouldn't try to bake the macron in humid environment... but if you have to, max your air conditioner to reduce the humidity. The crumpled top shell could be resulted from not enough dry time or under-baking. Also, the chewy texture could be due to under-baking or high sugar contents.
      When you make meringue... you can definitely use your kitchen aid (I guess you mean kichen aid standing mixer). However, since this recipe calls such a small amount of meringue, I'd like to do it with hand mixer where you can see and control the meringue's consistency easily.

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    3. Ho Vera! Thank you for getting time torespond back to.my message.. I have one more question, have you ever used powdered eggwhites? can you enlighten me with that?

      Does over beatin the egg whites makes your macaroon top shell crack?


      Delete
    4. Egg white powder is used in some recipe to control the water contents of the meringues. I don't think it is necessary for a home baker. Again, top shell cracking problem after baking seems from "under baking"... or you might over mix your batter when you fold the meringues and dry ingredients... or lack of drying time. I don't think over beating makes the problem... rather, under beating might result cracking shell.

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  8. What a fabulous recipe & video!
    Thank you for sharing these beauties.
    I cannot wait to give them a go. I am going to try making some for my engagement party as a thank you gift for people to take home.

    Just wondering if you know how many days in advance i can make them?
    And how is the best way to store them?

    Also what number piping tip do you use please?

    TIA, Kendy :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much visiting my blog!
      I think you can make the cookies about a day ahead, but you should fill the macaron cookies at the same day of serving, otherwise, they can be too soggy. I used Ateco 804 piping tip.

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  9. AnonymousJune 14, 2013

    Hi Vera,

    I tried your recipe and everything came out great except there was a huge space between the top shell and bottom of my macaron! What did I do wrong?

    Thank you!

    S.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Usually the air gap happens when the oven temperature was not hot enough. Try baking the macaron cookies at the higher temperature, slightly higher. Every oven works differently, and the slight changes in your oven temp might result better cookies.

      Delete
  10. Kerry AnnJuly 24, 2014

    Hi Vera,

    Could you please advice me how to make vegetarian macaroon? As the hard part is what to use as egg white replacement to make the egg white stiff? I understand to meringue based batter is a bit tricky to handle, could you please advice and really appreciate your great help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for my late reply. I actually have not answer for your question. I am not familiar with vegan cooking, and not sure what you can use as an egg white replacement. Sorry!

      Delete
  11. Hi Vera,

    What should I substitute with if I do not want to add food colouring?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. if you don't want food coloring, you can just omit the ingredient.

      Delete
  12. can you send me a link to the heart macaron template? thanks ;) your macarons are flawless! so perfect :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. sorry for my late reply, but i am not sure how to send the template to you... since your comment is anonymous.

      Delete
  13. Hi Vera! I have a few questions to ask;

    Do you use fan oven? Or just heat oven?

    And

    Can I used paste colouring instead?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One more question, is the diameter of the template for the circle macaron 2cm?

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    2. hello! 1) I didn't fan my oven, 2) You could use paste coloring, however it might result runny dough due to the moist from the paste. 3) Yes, it is about 2cm.
      Hope this helps you!

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