I’m back on a bit of a macaron-making kick! My last batch turned out well but left me wanting more. Then two things happened. First, my friend at work brought in the latest issue of Fine Cooking which had a big feature on making macarons (check it out here). And then Mardi over at Eat. Live. Travel. Write. RT’ed a post on Twitter by that dispelled some of the common superstitions about making macarons. The great post can be found right here. Among some of the ideas that she throws out the window include the need to age your eggs, using ground almonds with or without skins etc. She basically says to chill out and just make the cookies!
So for my next batch I decided to make a variation on the Fine Cooking recipe using the cinnamon macaron recipe and a chocolate ganache filling (with a hint of cinnamon) but use some of the techniques learned from Brave Tart. For starters, I didn’t age my egg whites. I just cracked them in the afternoon and let them come to room temperature and used them the same day. Normally I age my egg whites for about 3 days or used ones that I had frozen previously. This time around I didn’t use pre-ground blanched almonds. Instead I ground my own natural almonds WITH the skins on. Crazy town! I also didn’t worry to much about babying my macarons, I just went for it.
Interestingly enough these were some of my best macarons ever! The tops were smooth, there were feet, and not a macaron was deformed. Success! I also liked the look of the almond skins in the macarons.
As for flavours these macarons reminded me of hot chocolate. The shells had a hint of cinnamon and the filling was chocolatey with just a touch of cinnamon to add some depth. Perfection, if I do say so myself.
Here are the recipes that I used:
Macaron shells
Chocolate Ganache filling
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Way to keep trying! I totally give up on recipes if they don’t work out the first time because I can never figure out what to do to make it right. Except for my Tater Tot Casserole – I worked that out to perfection!
HA! You and your tater tot casserole.
Fantastic! Just goes to show that confidence also has a huge part to play, too! Your macarons look fabulous and love the flavour.
Thank you! I think one of the biggest rules in macaron-making should be CHILL OUT!
You said it! Congrats on Top9 today. Now that rocks!
They look beautiful and actually sound good too. I”m had my run with them and got discouraged…not just with the look but the taste just wasn’t worth the effort; maybe these would change my mind!
I tend to gravitate towards making macarons with stronger flavours vs. more subtle so hazelnut, salted caramel etc. Maybe try macarons from a few bakeries and find flavours that you find appealing and then make them at home.
Way to go!
ever since I fell for macarons, I’ve had a hard, hard time taking my mind of them! yours look fabulous!
Your macarons turned out so beautiful! =) Perfect feet! That is a great issue of Fine Cooking…I’m thinking to finally subscribe to it as it’s such a good magazine.
Congrats on the Top 9 today for these lovely macs.
Congrats on your top 9!
Nice read!
This is my first time reading your blog… I’ve been making macarons for ages (and totally perfected the pistachio ones). Thanks a bunch!
Check out my carpet cleaning website if you want… in case you spill the almond meal on the floor? ROFL.
Thanks again.