Macarons were said to be the next craze in the food scene a few years ago, and were predicted to overtake cupcakes in terms of popularity.
The first time I saw macarons was on TV. It was a magic show in which the magician, Liu Chien, was changing the colours of the macarons with every turn of his hands. That was fascinating. I wasn't sure how they are going to taste especially after he handled them so much. LOL. Thinking back, I think those were just props and not real macarons because they are delicate little things, I don't think they can survive the manhandling. The only impression I had of them then was that they come in so many colours.
I might have come across them a few times while having buffets in hotels previously. They are usually in the dessert section. But I am on diet, so I don't usually eat the desserts. :p
I first tasted macarons during an Europe tour end of December 2012. While in Paris, Jason, our fantastic tour manager, told us that we must try the macarons and we should at least get them from two famous brands, namely Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. Jason went to buy a box of macarons from Ladurée and gave it to the whole tour group to try. I was very impressed by his dedication. It wasn't part of his job to do so. Esther and I took one each of different flavours to try. We didn't know how popular Ladurée was then. I am very surprised that people would actually pose with the macarons from Ladurée and take photos with them (check out blogs, you will find them). To be honest, after trying out the two macarons, the only impression I had was that they were VERY sweet! Subsequently, we bought a few more from Ladurée while shopping in Paris, same conclusions. So I really don't understand the fascination with them. Flavour-wise, I cannot even remember which ones we tried. That's how deep an impression they left us.
When Ladurée set up branches in Singapore, my colleague bought a few for us to try. Same conclusion as above, not too impressed. The only regret now is that I did not bother to try out Pierre Hermé while I was in Paris. After all the research I did on macarons, I believe his version would have been better and more impressive. He worked in Ladurée previously and from what I heard, he also created the flavours there before setting up his own shop and created even more unique and exotic flavours. I am so looking forward to my Hong Kong trip in January because I can get to try it out!
Back to the present... so what made me interested in making macarons then? Well, Esther is on a kueh lapis baking spree, so much so that the fridge is over-flowing with egg whites. There is always a danger of being covered and drown by the egg whites whenever we open the fridge door. Kueh lapis uses mainly egg yolks (20 to 30 of them per cake!) and it is too wasteful to throw away the unwanted and neglected egg whites. Other than making egg white omelette to eat, what else can we make? Soufflé - checked, white cake - checked, angel food cake - checked, checked and triple checked...
So, I went to research again... What to do with egg whites?... Macarons... hmm... their smooth shiny shells with dainty little feet begin to attract my attention. I saw its relative - macaroons (double 'o'). You know what is beauty and the beast? O.o"
Then I checked out some recipes on the internet. Wow! They are little devils! So difficult to master, so finicky, so demanding, everything needs to be precisely measured and prepared, every step must be carried out with care... But they are also little angels! So smooth and shiny shells, so dainty little feet, so tasty fillings and sooooo many variations (I like that, can experiment on flavours)...
And I am hooked! Not to eating them, but to baking them.
The first time I tried making the little devils, I over-mixed the batter, resulting in a cake-like mixture and I could not even pipe it out. And so, I made a cake out of it. LOL. I was using the french meringue method which is easier to do, but more prone to failures. Of course, I didn't know that then.
I didn't give up and continue researching. Then I found the italian meringue method which involves boiling a sugar syrup to a certain temperature (>110C) and then adding that hot bubbling sugar syrup into a mixer that is whisking the egg white continuously. This highly dangerous manoeuvre (boiling sugar syrup burns like hell!) creates an italian meringue and is more stable compared to a french meringue. So, because it is more stable, it is less prone to over-mixing. I don't want to make another almond-meringue cake. In this case, I am making use of an italian meringue to make a french pastry. :)
Making the meringue is one part of the equation to baking a successful batch of macarons. The other part of the equation is to have finely grounded almonds. If the almonds are not grounded finely enough, they will be too heavy for the meringue to support and the shells will also be very rough.
The ground almonds sold in Singapore are not fine enough to be used directly. Maybe I am a perfectionist but I have to (my wife does it for me when I'm at work. :p) further process the ground almonds by grinding them together with the powdered sugar. The presence of cornstarch in the powdered sugar absorbs the oil and moisture released by the almonds preventing them from clumping together. Some recipes insist on using pure icing sugar without cornstarch in it. Well, I don't think there is any difference with or without the cornstarch. Trying to find a packet of pure icing sugar here is more difficult than baking a batch of macarons.
And just because we have to grind the almonds finer, we ended up buying 3 blenders! Actually the truth is Esther over-heated our one-and-only blender earlier on while making some curry mixture. The first machine we bought is alright, but it is a multi-purpose food processor. So, I thought maybe a nut grinder might be better, so we bought another machine. This one comes with a smaller container for nut grinding and a bigger container for processing other type of food. I found the second blender too small and we had to grind the almonds in small separate batches although the almonds are finer now... Too troublesome and tedious for Esther because she actually grinds the almonds twice!
After much researching, I settle on the brand Vitamix. It is supposedly a very powerful blender. With great power, it comes with a huge price tag... of SGD $1+k.
"hmm... Just for grinding almonds so that you can make some macarons? You must be crazy!", my wife said to me.
"No, no. You can use it to blend other things as well. We don't need any other blenders when we have the Vitamix!", was my response. I sounded like a salesman.
So... I bought it quickly before there is another objection raised. ;)
The first time I saw macarons was on TV. It was a magic show in which the magician, Liu Chien, was changing the colours of the macarons with every turn of his hands. That was fascinating. I wasn't sure how they are going to taste especially after he handled them so much. LOL. Thinking back, I think those were just props and not real macarons because they are delicate little things, I don't think they can survive the manhandling. The only impression I had of them then was that they come in so many colours.
I might have come across them a few times while having buffets in hotels previously. They are usually in the dessert section. But I am on diet, so I don't usually eat the desserts. :p
I first tasted macarons during an Europe tour end of December 2012. While in Paris, Jason, our fantastic tour manager, told us that we must try the macarons and we should at least get them from two famous brands, namely Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. Jason went to buy a box of macarons from Ladurée and gave it to the whole tour group to try. I was very impressed by his dedication. It wasn't part of his job to do so. Esther and I took one each of different flavours to try. We didn't know how popular Ladurée was then. I am very surprised that people would actually pose with the macarons from Ladurée and take photos with them (check out blogs, you will find them). To be honest, after trying out the two macarons, the only impression I had was that they were VERY sweet! Subsequently, we bought a few more from Ladurée while shopping in Paris, same conclusions. So I really don't understand the fascination with them. Flavour-wise, I cannot even remember which ones we tried. That's how deep an impression they left us.
When Ladurée set up branches in Singapore, my colleague bought a few for us to try. Same conclusion as above, not too impressed. The only regret now is that I did not bother to try out Pierre Hermé while I was in Paris. After all the research I did on macarons, I believe his version would have been better and more impressive. He worked in Ladurée previously and from what I heard, he also created the flavours there before setting up his own shop and created even more unique and exotic flavours. I am so looking forward to my Hong Kong trip in January because I can get to try it out!
Back to the present... so what made me interested in making macarons then? Well, Esther is on a kueh lapis baking spree, so much so that the fridge is over-flowing with egg whites. There is always a danger of being covered and drown by the egg whites whenever we open the fridge door. Kueh lapis uses mainly egg yolks (20 to 30 of them per cake!) and it is too wasteful to throw away the unwanted and neglected egg whites. Other than making egg white omelette to eat, what else can we make? Soufflé - checked, white cake - checked, angel food cake - checked, checked and triple checked...
So, I went to research again... What to do with egg whites?... Macarons... hmm... their smooth shiny shells with dainty little feet begin to attract my attention. I saw its relative - macaroons (double 'o'). You know what is beauty and the beast? O.o"
Then I checked out some recipes on the internet. Wow! They are little devils! So difficult to master, so finicky, so demanding, everything needs to be precisely measured and prepared, every step must be carried out with care... But they are also little angels! So smooth and shiny shells, so dainty little feet, so tasty fillings and sooooo many variations (I like that, can experiment on flavours)...
And I am hooked! Not to eating them, but to baking them.
The first time I tried making the little devils, I over-mixed the batter, resulting in a cake-like mixture and I could not even pipe it out. And so, I made a cake out of it. LOL. I was using the french meringue method which is easier to do, but more prone to failures. Of course, I didn't know that then.
I didn't give up and continue researching. Then I found the italian meringue method which involves boiling a sugar syrup to a certain temperature (>110C) and then adding that hot bubbling sugar syrup into a mixer that is whisking the egg white continuously. This highly dangerous manoeuvre (boiling sugar syrup burns like hell!) creates an italian meringue and is more stable compared to a french meringue. So, because it is more stable, it is less prone to over-mixing. I don't want to make another almond-meringue cake. In this case, I am making use of an italian meringue to make a french pastry. :)
Making the meringue is one part of the equation to baking a successful batch of macarons. The other part of the equation is to have finely grounded almonds. If the almonds are not grounded finely enough, they will be too heavy for the meringue to support and the shells will also be very rough.
The ground almonds sold in Singapore are not fine enough to be used directly. Maybe I am a perfectionist but I have to (my wife does it for me when I'm at work. :p) further process the ground almonds by grinding them together with the powdered sugar. The presence of cornstarch in the powdered sugar absorbs the oil and moisture released by the almonds preventing them from clumping together. Some recipes insist on using pure icing sugar without cornstarch in it. Well, I don't think there is any difference with or without the cornstarch. Trying to find a packet of pure icing sugar here is more difficult than baking a batch of macarons.
And just because we have to grind the almonds finer, we ended up buying 3 blenders! Actually the truth is Esther over-heated our one-and-only blender earlier on while making some curry mixture. The first machine we bought is alright, but it is a multi-purpose food processor. So, I thought maybe a nut grinder might be better, so we bought another machine. This one comes with a smaller container for nut grinding and a bigger container for processing other type of food. I found the second blender too small and we had to grind the almonds in small separate batches although the almonds are finer now... Too troublesome and tedious for Esther because she actually grinds the almonds twice!
After much researching, I settle on the brand Vitamix. It is supposedly a very powerful blender. With great power, it comes with a huge price tag... of SGD $1+k.
"hmm... Just for grinding almonds so that you can make some macarons? You must be crazy!", my wife said to me.
"No, no. You can use it to blend other things as well. We don't need any other blenders when we have the Vitamix!", was my response. I sounded like a salesman.
So... I bought it quickly before there is another objection raised. ;)
 |
| Vita-Prep 3, the ultimate blender |
 |
| My new blenders |
 |
| Bought another container to specially grind dry ingredients |
Now that I have the meringue part settled by making an italian meringue and I can finally ground almonds finely with the Vita-Prep 3, what else do I need to make macarons?
Many other things! I need food colourings, a reliable oven, a thermometer to measure the sugar temperature, a mixer, a sifter, a spatula and a kitchen scale. I also need silicone baking sheets/silpats (not need, but want. *grin*).
Many other things! I need food colourings, a reliable oven, a thermometer to measure the sugar temperature, a mixer, a sifter, a spatula and a kitchen scale. I also need silicone baking sheets/silpats (not need, but want. *grin*).
 |
| The equipment needed |
 |
| Candy thermometers |
About the food colourings... you can't use liquid colours because of the water content in them. You need either gel or powdered type of food colourings. Finicky little devils! I had to buy all that just to make some macarons. Crazy? Maybe a little... (A lot, if you asked my wife)
 |
| Gel and powdered colourings |
After getting all that equipment, what is the next step? Can you start baking now? Yes, but you must have reliable recipes... They are all over the internet. There are good ones, there are bad ones... I have included a list of blogs containing good recipes with trouble-shooting guides below.
And these are the "bestest" ones. Yes, crazy me went online to order these two books and have them shipped over to Singapore. :p
 |
| Battle of the Titans |
What is a "perfect" macaron?
- Smooth, slightly domed shells without cracks
- Ruffled edge at the bottom of the shells (feet) and do not extend outwards too much
- Slight crisp in the outer shell when you bite into it
- Slight chewiness internally
- Not too soggy and does not crumble in your hands
- No hollow shells - empty space between top of the shell and the content of the shell
The sixth criteria is a killer for a lot of bakers. I am still trying hard to find the source of the problem for myself. It happens occasionally in batches I bake, even though everything stays the same. It happens more frequently with the italian meringue method from what I read. I don't think anyone has singled out a cause for this phenomenon. It can be due to the sugar temperature, it can be due to the stiffness of the meringue, it can be due to the ground almonds, it can be due to the macaronage, it can be due to the oven temperature as well. There are simply too many variables to account for.
Oh and they say there is such a thing as macaron god who will determine if the batch you have in your oven is going to be successful or not.
Before you jump into making macarons, let me show you some of my macaWrongs. I have more failures than what are shown below. Sometimes, I am just too upset to take photos of the failed ones. :(
 |
| Porous shells, no feet |
 |
| Wavy domes, not smooth |
 |
| Wrinkle, wrinkle, weaker shell |
 |
| Batter too stiff, under-mixed. |
 |
| Cracks and wrinkles on domes |
 |
| Cracks on shells, peaks seen on high domes |
If you are still determined to make your own after this, Bravo! Another encouraging news. I heard that even the best pâtisserie will have 10% to 20% rejects per batch of macarons. So, maybe that is why macarons are so expensive.
Websites you can refer to for more information on macarons.
Not So Humble Pie's new recipe and trouble-shooting guide
Syrup and Tang
Bake It Off's Tips, Tricks and How to Macaronnage
Eat. Live. Travel. Write's video tutorials
BraveTart's Ten Commandments, Mythbusters and Macarons are for eating
Natalie's Tips and Tricks
Just for laugh, read this as well.
Don't worry, this is only part 1 of the whole story. There will be a sequel to this with nicer looking macarons.
 |
| Nicer looking macarons - Red Velvet with Cream Cheese filling |
 |
| These 8 macarons are from Ladurée and they ain't perfect |
Impressive. It's all in the details. There must be a Great Singapore Bake-off for you to enter....
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris! I don't think I am at that level yet. Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to you and your family.
Delete