The Ten Commandments. Recently, I’ve gotten to know fellow Kentuckian Victor Sizemore.
While his photography business has him in Los Angeles most weekends, Monday through Friday he’s a Lexingtonian and (convenient to my purposes) a consummate foodie. He bought my desserts-for-photos pyramid scheme hook, line and sinker. When I sent him a text along the lines of, “hey, if you want to turn a box of pastries into photography, let me know!” I thought maybe we’d get together the next week or something. But he wrote back, “on my way.” I had Victor Sizemore, of Mad Men in Vegas fame, en route to Table 310 to do free photography and nothing but laminated dough, a vat of caramel, and unbaked profiteroles on hand. Victor arrived at the restaurant just as I finished boxing these rhubarb St-Germain macarons, altogether about fifteen minutes after my first text. Which got me thinking about how I reached the point where I can say, “macarons save the day” when so many people experience the exact opposite. Macarons. A lot of people get the wrong impression about macarons and avoid making them because they’re supposedly the most difficult thing in the world to make.
Truly, they’re not difficult at all. What is difficult is mastering them. For some reason people mistakenly think if something can’t be mastered on the first try, it’s too hard to fool with. But there’s no reason to master macarons on the first try. Unless you just burn the crap out of them, they’re going to taste phenomenal regardless of their flaws. 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. If this is your first time making macarons, read through these posts to familiarize yourself with some common problems and mistakes. I get a lot of macaron emails each week and most of them are about a question already answered in one of those posts. Otherwise, get a pot of tea or coffee going and enjoy your macarons!
Approximately 10 ounces (290g) Swiss buttercream. Macaron Mythbusters. As I wrote in my first macaron post, I make macarons every day at work, learning something new with each batch.
The most important thing I’ve learned is this: Macarons don’t have magical properties and shouldn’t require quasi-spiritual rituals as part of their mise en place. You wouldn’t learn that from reading up on macaron-themed blog posts, though. Instead you’ll find bakers fervently insisting on an assortment of essential steps to prevent failure, while simultaneously conceding failure as both inevitable and incomprehensible. Everyone harps upon their fickle nature, making half-joking references to spiteful macaron gods. A tone of fatalism prevails, “In the end, it’s out of my hands. Um, guys? Yet uncertainty makes up a common thread among macaron blog posts. Did you age the egg whites long enough? Such tricks place the importance on ritual and obscure the role of technique, either good or bad. For example: I listened to Huey Lewis and the News every time I made macarons.
Making French Macarons: Instructions & Recipes. It seems like there’s a wave of macaron questions that are sweeping my way.
Unlike les brownies or le gâteau weekend (poundcake), successful macarons are more the result of the technique, rather than following a mere recipe. There’s lots of tips and tricks around the web that will help you out with these little devils, including some interesting recipes, too. You can find my chocolate macaron recipe on the site, but here are a few links and places for further reading that I think are particularly helpful and insightful. Websites and Blogs *Not So Humble Pie offers extensive Macaron Troubleshooting and a Recipe. * Duncan at Syrup & Tang presents Macaronicité, and goes into detail with side-by-side photos of common errors. * Bravetart explodes some Macaron Myths. * Follow the online tutorial on making macarons by Helen of TartletteDesserts Magazine. * Béatrice at La Tartine Gourmand has helpful step-by-step photos, accompanied by her nontraditional recipe for Cardamom and Wattle Seed Macarons.
French Macaron Recipe for Your First Time Making Them (pictures included) If you’re new here, welcome!
I’m AmberLee, and Giverslog is my place to share simple DIYs for gift giving, happy mail ideas, simple recipes, and more. I also just opened an online chocolate shop, The Ticket Kitchen. Stop by if you get a moment. I hope my notes here about making French macarons for the first time help you out. I’d love to hear how it turns out. I’ve had a hankering to make macarons for some time. I found the process of making macarons to be every bit as delicate as I expected, but doable.
And once you have macarons down, you will be a whiz at turning out a beautiful souffle. Do you like the tag? Parisian Macarons. Macaron (French Macaroon) Recipe.