Proper Macarons!

I did it!  I did it!

I finally made a batch of Macarons that actually look like real French Macarons!  See – look below!  I’ve been trying for months to master the macaron and thought I’d have to take a class or have someone show me how it’s done, but I finally did it!  I made them last night while watching the Super Bowl and literally, was jumping for joy when they came out perfectly with their little feet!

I am still hardly an expert, heck, I’m barely a novice! So, I’m not going to give you a recipe, just send you to this one from Tartelette, the queen of macarons.  Here are the pieces of advice I found incredibly helpful from Helen’s recipe…

• USE THE SCALE!  This is the single most important tip (in my humble opinion)!  I am always amazed when I weigh something and then measure it, out of curiosity, and see how the measurement is almost always so inaccurate in comparison.
• Helen talked about holding the bowl of egg whites upside down to determine when they’re ready to have the almond/flour mixture added to them.  I found this was the perfect way to make sure they weren’t under whipped.
• When grinding the almonds in the powdered sugar, grind and then grind again.  Just when you think they’re fine enough, give them one more minute in the food processor.
• Give them a rest!  After piping onto the baking sheet, let them rest undisturbed for an hour to form a little bit of a cap.  This seemed to really help them develop a beautiful top and little feet.
• And finally, I was super surprised to find that when I baked one batch on parchment and the other on a silpat, the macarons on the parchment stuck LESS than those on the silpat.  I’m not sure why, but I can’t wait to make another batch to see if I have the same results.

Happy Baking!!!

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