Macarons, Take One
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m about to show you my first attempt at macarons.
I want you to see the whole learning process. Good, bad and ugly.
Let’s start with the ugly.
So macarons are known as one of the most difficult cookies to make. The ingredients must be precise, your mixing technique must be perfect, your sheet pans level, your oven at the right temperature. There are a lot of things to think about. For my first try, I decided to go with a simple vanilla bean macaron. The resource I found most helpful was Not So Humble Pie– she has great macaron tutorials and troubleshooting guides.
Things I think I did right:
I aged my egg whites.
I weighed my ingredients.
I had a well-mixed meringue.
I let them rest before baking.
I popped any air bubbles.
Things I think I did wrong:
I over/under mixed the batter (still not sure).
I piped them too large.
I baked half of them on an older, possibly crooked baking sheet.
I overbaked a little.
Exhibit A: uneven, blob-like shapes. I think this is due to the possibly crooked baking sheet and the incorrect mixing technique.
Exhibit B: Side view of my cookies. This give me hope! They have feet (the bottom part of the cookie), which is a good sign.
Exhibit C: The inside of the cookie. This is hopeful too, since there aren’t a lot of air pockets.. but that could always be because they are too flat.
I am planning another attempt soon. Hopefully it will go a little better. I’m going to pipe them a little smaller, make sure I mix correctly, and try not to screw it up!
Has anyone made macarons before? How did it go for you? Any tips?
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Yes! Have tried (and failed) once. Ours looked a bit like yours. They were SO incredibly fragile (difficult to get them off the sheets) and the tops deflated and crinkled. They looked terrible. Hope you try again soon, my friend and I plan to try again sometime this spring.
i haven’t made them myself but, heather mills has a great tutorial that made me want to try!
http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/02/cayenne-pepper-macarons.html
she has a bunch of great recipes for macarons, i don’t think i’d make the cayenne ones myself but, they look so lovely! hope that helps!!
-meg
@ http://www.clutzycooking.blogspot.com
@ http://www.myscribblednotebook.blogspot.com
Hey! I had a similar problem the first time… Once I got this book out of the library (http://www.amazon.com/I-Love-Macarons-Hisako-Ogita/dp/0811868710/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297567656&sr=8-1), I finally made much better ones. Good luck! Practice makes perfect!
I’ve also just started making macarons! I was happy with my first attempt, but I know they are not quite perfect yet! It’s a fun challenge though