Our Macaron Madness

When most people hear the word macaroon, they think of a chewy mound of shredded coconut, lightly sweetened and held together by egg whites.

Who could've predicted that the omission of one "o" could cause so many problems? Pronounce "macaron" like a French person to a non-French person and you'll have to repeat yourself, probably more than once. And then the French really complicated things by voting in a President named Macron! We are talking about macarons here today.

After making batches of macarons day in and day out for many days on end for Cravings Etc, Bree has become convinced that all the myths and paranoias about making macarons are, quite frankly, completely ridiculous.

Is it really necessary to age the egg whites? Nah.

Dry the macarons before baking? Don’t bother.

Only make macarons on days when the sun is shining and Mars is in the Seventh House? Please.

So relax. Tell yourself it’s okay if they don’t have feet, it’s okay if they crack, it’s okay if they’re hollow.

Each time one of those things happen, you have a chance to learn about what went wrong with your technique if you want to learn.

Bree's Tips;

Start with very clean and dry, grease free bowls and utensils.

Dry the Thermomix bowl; 4 minutes at 37°C with the butterfly in place will ensure the bowl is fully dry before you begin the meringue!

Follow. The. Recipe.

Milling and sieving the pure icing sugar and almond meal is a must for a consistently smooth batter. (macronage).

Egg whites are measured in grams (not per egg).

Cream of Tartar isn't necessary, but it helps stabilise the egg whites.

The trickiest part is getting the hang of folding the meringue into the almond mix. If you have a fail, this is most likely where things went wrong. You want the texture to be lava like. Over folding will make the batter too runny causing your macarons to spread out.

While disposable bags are handy, quality piping bags and nozzles make piping much easier.

Tapping the tray helps release any large air bubbles. I also like to pop any little bubbles with a knife.

Temperatures differ from oven to oven. The sweet spot in our oven is 19 minutes at 120. But the oven does run hot. If your macarons brown (even in the slightest) the oven is too hot.

Don't be tempted to open the oven door during the first 12 minutes of baking.

Leave macarons on the tray to cool for at least 10 minutes.

Once filled, refrigerate in an airtight container. Macarons are best eaten 2 days (and beyond) after baking. But, we've never not eaten at least 1 or 2 straight away!! I mean, that's kind of rule.