Macaron Tips

Ok, I'm on a roll for blogging, 

with this being my 2nd post today.

Apologies that I'm unable to share my recipe for macarons,

but I'm happy to share tips for those who are trying out. :)

My advice is: stick to a recipe you're using till you get em right.

I've baked Hello Kitty macs for a colleague's niece last year,

so I'll use the tips I've given then. 

A few photos of the preparation phase,

to help those who are still grappling with getting the right consistency.

 The above photo shows properly beaten egg whites.

Egg whites play one of the most critical roles in determining the success or failure of baking macarons.

First, you need to "age" the egg whites, preferably for 24 hours - 36 hours.

Crack them carefully in a bowl, and leave it to stand in the fridge with a cling wrap over it.

Make sure that there is no oil in the bowl, and that non of the egg yolk got inside the whites.

Oil will prevent the egg whites from being whipped up properly.

Second,  when beating the egg whites, use a handmixer.

Using your own arm strength to beat takes a long time, and the results might not turn out as well.

Beat the egg whites to form stiff peaks (shown above).

The egg whites should look shiny. 

But be careful not to over-beat your eggs.

Once the stiff peaks and shiny sheen appear, stop beating.

You don't want to get meringue instead. 

 With macarons, you need to work fast.

Once the egg whites are done with the beating,

Add half of your dry ingredients, and mix with spatula.

With they are 80% incorporated, add the other half of the dry ingredients.

Press the mixture against side of the bowl to push out excess air.

When mixing, be careful not to overmix or undermix.

Keep pulling up the mixture on your spatula and let it fall.

See the consistency.

It shouldn't fall down in clumps (undermixed), and

it shouldn't flow quickly in a liquid-like manner (overmixed).

It should fall like drapes of ribbons.

They call it a texture that is "lava-like"

  

 As I've more or less gotten the steps of macaron-baking..

I decided to experiment. haha.

I made 3 different batches of macarons.

Earl-Grey macarons and chocolate macarons (for kids).

Couldn't figure out if I should do the sugar ribbons after piping or after baking.

So for one batch, I put the ribbons first.

 ta-dah!

Alas, the ear seemed to "eat" into the ribbons.

Not too pretty.

 These are the two batches I did without the ribbons first.

Beautifully formed ears. 

Close-up of the kitty.

The ink is from Wilton's.

Yes, I drew them one by one after baking. lol.

 Chocolate macarons for a colleague's nieces

Earl Grey Macarons for the adults!

Earl grey is a difficult taste to bring out.

I had tried baking earl grey cupcakes before, and the taste didn't come out.

Reading online doesnt help too.

Many people are complaining that the earl grey is too faint.

So what I did was to steep 3 packets of earl grey tea in cream overnight,

before using it for the chocolate-earl grey ganache.

It worked like a miracle.

The earl grey taste was strong.

In addition, I added one packet of the leaves when baking the shells.

The taste wasn't strong, but you could taste bits of the leaves (:

Hope this helps to all who're aspiring to bake macarons!