# – Hello, we are macarons. Butt-ugly macarons that ironically, look like nipples.
I got rather serious following my first macaron attempt that failed.
I aged the egg whites, which essentially means I left them in room temperature for a total of 48 hours as I read somewhere that aged egg whites can have more air beaten into them. No, I didn’t get food poisoning and yes, I did read somewhere that egg whites have antiseptic properties (please don’t go and slap it on open wounds now).
# – 2 egg whites, aged for 48 hours.
I also switched on two aircons on full blast (thanks to my gorgeous bb lainey for the advice) to reduce the room’s humidity.
Of course, I used my silicon baking mat this time instead of the damned paper. I was adamant that no macarons would get stuck this time. I did however, have to use the paper later when I had extra macaron mix but I made sure I greased the mofo properly.
/serious face
By the way, I must credit the website that eased me into attempting the scary realms of making macarons, thanks Amanda from Here Comes the Sun.
The ingredients:
- 110 grams of icing sugar
- 150 grams of finely ground almonds
- 2 egg whites
- 50 grams of caster sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint essence
- 1 teaspoon of green colouring
For the chocolate filling:
- 100 grams of dark chocolates, melted at Medium Low for 2 minutes and cooled down
- 100 ml of whipping cream, whipped till fluffy
# – First, mix the ground almond and icing sugar together. You should then pulse the mixture till powder fine, and then sieve them. Twice. Set aside.
Additional note: However, I did not pulse the mixture because I haven’t gotten a food processor. Sieving them without the prior blitzing was also next to impossible due to the rough texture of store-bought ground almonds. I believe the lack of this step was the main cause of my macaron’s ugliness. So yeah, if you’ve got the privilege of a food processor…use it, gawdamit!
# – Now in a mixing bowl, beat the aged egg whites till fluffy.
# – Then add in the caster sugar slowly while still beating.
# – When the egg whites have turned glossy, put a 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint essence. I reduced the amount of peppermint essence from 1 teaspoon to 1/4 teaspoon which yielded a nice mild minty taste instead of “Is this super strong breath mints that I’m chewing?”.
# – Followed by a teaspoon of green colouring.
# – Beat the mixture again until colour is even.
# – Now pour in the almond + icing sugar mixture into the green gloop.
# – Fold gently until combined like this.
# – Pipe disc shaped onto the baking mat. Leave to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes for the exterior to harden. To be safe, I left it for one hour.
# – After that, stick it in a pre-heated oven at 160 degrees celcius for 20 minutes.
# – Peppermint macarons, DONE!
You see, the lack of attractiveness of the macarons was not my only problem. 80% of the macarons stuck to the baking mats. However, unlike the first attempt, it was far more manageable. I didn’t have to throw them away or turn them into something else. In fact, in my head I was secretly pleased because I could pipe more filling in :P
# – Slightly hollowed macarons as bottom bits stuck to the mat. Let the macarons cool down completely.
# – Mix the whipped cream and cooled melted chocolate together till combined. Then pipe it into one macaron and sandwich the filling with another.
# – After Eight inspired macarons, DONE!
Thankfully, this second attempt was actually decent. The macarons were ugly as [insert expletive] but taste-wise…it was spot-on. The exterior was crispy, the middle was nice and chewy and it so totally reminded me of After Eights :)
# – YUMS!
Next attempt will see me try to make these babies without the bottom sticking and achieving a smooth egg-shell like exterior. Which means…I have to start shopping for a good food processor. Any suggestion please???
haha so long as tastes good la ok d.
Hi
I have tried the macarons twice and got ok result.
I aged my egg whites from 3-7days and sieved the almonds meals 3x instead of using a processor. And lastly I think the eggwhite are supposed to be ‘beaten’ or ‘Bend and press ‘ into the almond meals instead of folding it in. I think I saw a youtube video about this somewhere before about the beat/bend/press method.
My attempts here :
https://ee-myjunkhobby.blogspot.com/search/label/Baking%20-%20Macaron
Good tips her :
https://tastedbytwo.com/2009/11/18/recipe-white-chocolate-and-rosewater-macarons/
Good luck!
:)
I better try the dark chocolate peppermint thing first before attempting on macaroons. Hehe!
Good luck babe! U can do it! How did the orange yogurt cake go?
bravo! well at least these ones got the feet, even if not prominent enough..halfway there already..3rd time lucky, i believe!
Yeah got some feet haha. Thanks babe!
Wishing you success in the coming attempt. Just get stuck in with it. Luck has got nothing to do with it. :p
Thank you very much :D
I’ve heard people say they’re the easiest things to make. Yet others say it’s the most difficult thing they’ve attempted. I have never made my own, but I’ll keep in mind your suggestions if I decide to make them someday. I think they look pretty :)
Thanks ben! I guess anything is easy if you know what to do haha. I was quite surprised by the simplicity of the process too but I imagine that some macarons are even harder to make as they have to make italian meringue first which involves pouring hot sugar syrup into the egg whites while beating..
not a bad try, in fact thats some really nice result! Looking forward to seeing your perfectly shaped macarons.
Forgive my ignorance, but what is a food processor?
Thanks isaac! Food processor is the machine with blades use for chopping food into a fine texture, kinda like blender but with bigger capacity one. Cheers!
Hey Kim,
Thought I’d drop a line as I have always enjoyed ur cooking posts and looks like the macarons are pretty stubborn to get right. Anyways, the exterior looks kinda lumpy, could it be the the almond powder tht u used is not fine enough? Or perhaps the flour or icing sugar? You gotta sift it finely. We have made it a couple of times at home and it always turned out smooth and its pretty much the same methods are you (except a food colouring, I dun like chemicals in my food).
Yeah, I do suspect it’s the texture of the storebought almonds…I tried to sift but granules too big they just got stuck on the net -_- looking for a good food processor now so I could process my own almonds for a finer texture. Thanks for the tips :)
Hey Kim, beware when grinding your own almonds, the texture can be very creamy coz when u grind em’ the oil will be released and will turn to a paste instead. Good luck! :)
thanks for the tip! appreciate it!!!
They don’t look so bad….I thought they’re kinda cute ;) Yayy to Kimberly!
Haha thanks for the encouragement tien! Appreciate it /sniffs
For the macarons sticking to the mat, maybe you could try getting non-stick baking paper. It must be BAKING PAPER and not greaseproof paper. And it must state NON STICK.
You can get those at Tesco (Tesco brand) or Giant (First Choice brand). Hope this helps.
I have a silicon mat but they still stuck…I suspect I have to adjust the baking time/temperature. Thanks for the tips, I will check it out :)
These look great!! I’m living in France for the year and have fallen in love with the French macarons. I’ll have to use your tips to try making my own when I move back home :)
Thank you! You’re too kind :)
hahahaaha they remind me of oscar the grouch from sesame street! but yay you’re reaching the level of perfect macarons~ dont forget to bake them at ur house warming ;P
Actually they do look like oscar the grouch! Hahah. I will bake em at my house warming!
Hi kimberly,
nice try on the macaron. when i bake macaron in school, the babies never stick onto the silicon paper. is it because it’s still slightly underbaked? maybe you can try to bake it 3 mins longer and try to take out 1 to see if it’s still stick? and another thing is, to get a smooth top you can keep folding the batter until the right consistency before piping, then you won’t get the “nipples”. you can tap the tray on your counter right after piping to flatten the batter a little to further get rid of the tips that are sticking out. hope this helps!
yeah, i suspect they might be underbaked or the oven’s temperature is uneven. Thanks for the tips to get ride of the “nipples”! lol
hi kimberly
i’m not expert on macarons, but have succeeded a coupe of times. first of all, try sieving the ground almond twice or thrice to remove all lumps. my macarons are also a little ‘wet’ when they were baked, but i used silpats so they were rather easy to remove. and last but not the least, it does appear that your batter is not the right consistency hence the prominent bump but it may help if you flatten it after it’s been out to dry a little (before baking) with a damp finger.
i dream of silpats! now i’m just using ordinary silicon baking mat. i tried sieving but due to the almond texture it’s almost impossible, i’ll have to purchase a good food processor to grind them to a finer texture first. Thanks for the tips btw!! :)
Kim, Indeed look like wrinkly with lots of pimples nipple. Can you make pink ones?
of course, all u need is replace the green colouring with pink one!