December 23, 2011

Making Macarons

Macarons (2)

With the help of Bakerella and Tartlette I can finally cross something else off my 30x30 list! I made French Marcarons. I have always wanted to make these super delicate and simple cookies, but they always seemed super hard and complicated. Now I know.. 4 ingredients and a little bit of patience and you have some very delicious treats.

90g aged egg whites200g powdered sugar110g of almonds

You need 90g of aged egg whites, either 24 hours out loosely covered at room temperature or 3-5 days in the fridge.  Whip these until they are foamy and gradually add in 25g of granulated sugar until you have a glossy  meringue. Then in another bowl add 110g of ground almonds and 200 g powdered sugar and  fold in your meringue.  Fill a pastry bag with your batter and pipe small circles on a baking sheet ( you will need 2) lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Then let them sit out for 1 hour to harden your shells. I put a 1.5 inch circle out to help me make all the shells the same size.

shells waiting to bake

Once your shells have rested for an hour they go into the oven at 300 for 18-20 mins.

baked shells

Make sure to watch them towards the end I made some smaller shells the next day and they only needed 16-17 minutes. Hopefully once you pull them out you will find delicate crispy shells with beautiful feet and soft pillow like insides.

macarons (3)

I whipped up a quick ganache and filled them.. then set to getting some egg whites aging for the next day to use up my last Meyer lemon for some mini macarons!

Meyer Lemon Macarons

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