Macarons - Part 2 (The Ingredients and Perils of the Journey)

In the previous post, I blogged about what equipment is needed to make macarons, what is considered a "perfect" macaron. Here is where I tell you what are the things to look out for and the common problems that can cause a failed batch after a hard day's work.

I have to tell you in advance that this post is quite dry because it's all technical stuff.

Honestly, I am no expert on this. I have only started baking macarons in October this year. If you do a search on the Internet, you will find tons of information and recipes dated as early as 2008. So, whatever I know, I learnt it from those websites.

Now, even if you have the perfect recipe (like Pierre Hermé's), you might not be able to get the same taste and quality as what his shop is selling. Simply because there are just too many variables and factors to consider. Even the ambient temperature and humidity play important roles in making this finicky pastry.

There are only 3 ingredients needed to make a macaron shell. Ground almonds, sugar, egg white. Powdered sugar and granulated sugar are used in most recipes.

Some other ingredients are used to stabilise the meringue such as cream of tartar/pinch of salt/lemon juice and to colour the shells using gel/powdered food colourings. They are not absolutely necessary. The braver bakers would try to flavour the shells with cocoa, dried fruit powders etc. The reason why I say they are brave is because there is always a risk that the macarons can come out as a failure when things are added causing the fine-balance to be toppled. So, if it is your first try, do not add anything extra to the shells, not even colourings.

That's it. Sounds easy peasy. End of story...

Ya, right!

Lets proceed to the more technical/demanding/boring part.

The ground almonds and powdered sugar form what is called the tant pour tant. They are in equal amounts by weight. Please don't use cup measurements. Some recipes do not have equal weight of ground almonds and powdered sugar and they still worked. The almonds must be grounded fine enough, and must not be too wet because moisture creates havoc in the shells. Some recipes insist on pure icing sugar, like I mentioned in the previous post, I don't think that is necessary, in fact, I find the cornstarch useful in a humid country like mine.

Regarding the egg white, some recipes suggest to "age" it first before using. The range can be from one to two days up to one week of aging! Some say leave it outside the fridge and just cover the bowl with paper towel to let evaporation take place. Some say to put the egg white in the fridge for a few days. Pierre Hermé suggested in his book to leave the egg white in the fridge for 5 days and cover the bowl with cling film, but cut a slit on the film with a knife to allow evaporation. I tried aging the egg white occasionally for 1 to 2 days, but I do not see any difference in the result. Maybe because I am using an italian meringue and fresh egg white does not cause any problems. If you are using the french meringue method, try aging your egg white. The main thing is, before using the egg white, bring it to room temperature before whisking.

The egg white and the granulated sugar are used to make a meringue which is later mixed with the dry ingredients. The meringue can be made using the french method or the italian method. French meringue is easier to make but less stable, italian meringue is more troublesome to make, but more stable. Less stable means that you can over-mixed the batter easily when you mix in the dry ingredients resulting in a very fluid batter that you cannot even pipe.

A lot of variations can happen even for the french meringue, some recipes state to whisk the egg white to stiff peaks, some say to medium stiff peaks. Some say to add in sugar the moment you start whisking, some say to add in the sugar slowly after the egg white has turned frothy, some say you dump the whole load of sugar in at one go. Some include the usage of cream of tartar/pinch of salt/lemon juice at the frothy stage to stabilise the meringue.

For the italian meringue, it is even more complicated. Possible variations I have seen include the stage of the egg white (soft peak, firm peak, stiff peak) before adding the boiling sugar, the temperature of the boiling sugar before it is added into the egg white, to what stage is the meringue whisked until (firm peak, medium stiff peak, stiff peak) and what temperature the meringue is (until cooled, body temperature, 40C to 50C) before adding to the dry ingredients. For italian meringue, it is advisable that you use a candy thermometer to measure the temperature of the boiling sugar.

As for mixing the meringue with the dry ingredients, there are also many methods. Dump all the dry ingredients in at one go, add them in 3 separate portions, add the meringue to the dry ingredients all at once or add a portion of meringue to the dry ingredients and mix, then add the balance in.

When you are mixing the meringue and the dry ingredients, remember not to over-mix. It is always better to slightly under-mix than to over-mix the batter. Macaronage is the term used for the mixing. You don't have to be extra gentle when mixing because you are not making an angel food cake. In fact, you need to deflate the batter so that there is not too much air within the shells which might cause a volcanic eruption when they are baked. I am not joking here, the shells can split open and spew out their contents. When you see that happening, it means your hard work has gone down the drain.

At what stage should you stop mixing and get ready to pipe the shells? Some say macaronage should be done until the batter "flows like lava"... What is "flows like lava"?... I have never seen lava flowing in my life. In fact, I have not seen real-life lava before! So I went to Google for help and these are the pictures of flowing lava. Really! I don't think it helps at all.

Some bakers offer better guides. They suggest lifting some of the batter up with the spatula and watch how the batter drops back into the mixing bowl. If it drops down like a thick ribbon, it is most likely to be ready. The batter will also become smooth and shiny. Another confirmation is when the batter drops back into the bowl, look for an area where the "ribbon" has fallen, start counting to 30 seconds. If the "ribbon" fuses back with the main batter, the batter is ready. If the batter flows like water or fuses with the main body within seconds, you have most likely over-mixed. If the batter flows down in clumps and retains its shape after dropping into the bowl, you can continue to mix more.

Batter is too stiff, shells still retaining the peaks. Compare with the batch below.

You can pipe the shells on silicone baking sheets (silpats) or parchment paper. The feet that develop using silpats and parchment paper look different. After piping the shells, you have to rest the shells so that the exterior of the shells form a skin which is no longer sticky when you touch it. This will prevent the shells from bursting when they are in the oven and also helps lift up the shells during baking to form the "feet". (Imagine a hot-air balloon.) Some bakers claimed that there is no need to rest the shells, I believe that is because they are in a very dry environment and the skins form pretty fast while they are piping.

Shells waiting to dry. They will lose the shiny surface once they are dried.

Because of all these variations and permutations, even if you follow one recipe every time, the batch that comes out of the oven might be different from the previous batches or the next batch. So, the best advice I can offer you is to measure your ingredients precisely, grind your almonds as finely as you can possibly do, follow the steps accurately, watch your meringue closely as you whisk it, don't rush through the steps just so that you can throw the piped batter into the oven. The macarons will show you who is boss!

Talking about ovens, the baking temperature suggested in different recipes differs too. The range can be from 125C to 180C. Different ovens perform differently. Some say to use convection ovens to distribute the heat evenly, some say to turn off the fan. The baking temperature is based on your own oven and you may need to do many test batches to see what is the optimal temperature for your oven. 

When I first started, I piped a few shells and tested one temperature, then another batch of shells on a different temperature just to find the right temperature for my oven. If the shells turn brown before they are ready, turn down the heat. If the shells do not form the "feet", it might be because the temperature is too low. If the shells split open on the top, it might be because the temperature is too high or you did not wait for the skins to form.

Also, most ovens allow you to choose which level you want to bake, you have to try and see whether the lower third, the middle or the highest rack is most suitable. Some ovens allow you to bake two trays at the same time. It also depends on whether your oven has top heat, bottom heat or back heat. For those with only top heat, you might need a baking stone at the bottom. If your macarons brown too fast, put the tray in the lower rack. If the shells burst, put it in higher rack if there is strong bottom heat from your oven. You might even have to shield your macarons with foil to prevent them from browning because macarons should not turn brown after baking.

As you can see, it is not that simple.

In summary, the followings are areas that might cause you to have a failed batch of macarons.

1. Almond - not finely grounded, too wet
2. Meringue - not whisked enough or over whisked
3. Batter - over-mixed or under-mixed
4. Shells - not rested enough to form a skin over the exterior
5. Oven temperature - too high or too low

So, watch out for the above and your macarons should be fine. *fingers crossed*

My next post on macarons will be about how I do mine and what recipe I use.

Macarons - Part 1 (The Start of a Long Journey)

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. ;)

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*).

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?

1. Smooth, slightly domed shells without cracks
2. Ruffled edge at the bottom of the shells (feet) and do not extend outwards too much
3. Slight crisp in the outer shell when you bite into it
4. Slight chewiness internally
5. Not too soggy and does not crumble in your hands
6. No hollow shells - empty space between top of the shell and the content of the shell

The first two criteria are the most important of all. Personally, I find french pastry is 50% look, 50% taste. The third and fourth criteria defer from people to people. Some prefer a melt-in-your-mouth texture, while others prefer slight chewiness. Making macarons using french meringue and italian meringue produces different texture in the macarons. The fifth criteria depends on how wet the fillings are and how fresh the macarons are.

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