I've been wanting to try my hand at macarons for quite some time now. Pretty much ever since the I first saw them, really! It's just that there's so much pastry lore and French tradition surrounding these little puffs that I've felt completely and utterly intimidated. But this past weekend, I finally rolled up my sleeves and gave it a go. The result? Well, check it out!
Ironically, the thing that finally tipped my long-held desire to make macarons over into actually making them was a post on Bakerella's site. I say "ironically" because her cake pops and other various confections are usually so exactingly perfect that you'd think a post on macarons would intimidate me even further. Somehow it had the opposite effect:
• Macaron Tutorial from Bakerella - the full recipe is at the bottom of the page
For my step-by-step process, click through the photo slide show above. Here are some lessons I learned in my first attempt:
• Ignore any ingrained fears of leaving eggs at room temperature. (And try to ignore the odd smell.)
One thing you definitely have to get over when making macarons is a fear of leaving eggs at room temperature. The instructions call for leaving the egg whites out at least 24 hours. This is to let some of the moisture evaporate from the whites, giving you the benefit of their protein structure without the unnecessary liquid.
I'm not going to lie - my egg whites definitely had an odd odor. They didn't smell spoiled or rotten, but they definitely didn't smell...fresh. Since this was my first time making macarons, I don't know if this smell is normal or not (does anyone know?!). I made the macarons anyway and admit to eating several within the first few hours with no ill effects.
• The whole process of making macarons takes about an hour, which is totally doable on a weekend or even a weeknight.
The actual process of making the macarons was way easier than I'd built it up to be in my mind. I ground whole almonds in the food processor to make the almond flour and then sifted them with the powdered sugar in order to remove any overly-large chunks. I can see how using professionally milled almond flour would give you a finer cookie, but I thought the ground almonds worked just fine for my less-fancy purposes.
• Do the knife test to tell when the batter is ready.
After you whip the aged egg whites and fold them into the almond flour-powdered sugar mixture, it can be a little hard to know when the batter is actually ready. If the batter is too stiff, you'll get little peaks on your cookies. If it's too loose, the macarons will spread too much. One of the best pieces of advice Bakerella gives is to run a knife through the batter every few minutes; when the line the knife makes disappears after 10 seconds, the batter is ready. Perfect.
• Pipe smaller cookies than you think as they spread a bit - pipe about one inch before lifting the bag and moving on.
My own bit of advice when it comes to piping the cookies is to go smaller than you think. Even with the knife trick, my cookies still spread about a half inch. I got the hang of how much to pipe and when to stop after the first few - practice makes perfect!
• Don't try to fix any of the cookies once they've been piped. Embrace the funky blob shapes.
Trying to nudge the piped batter into neater rounds is just begging for trouble. I definitely got better at making circles instead of blobs the more I piped. Also, blobby cookies taste just as good as round cookies.
• Except, do pop any bubbles in the piped cookies right away before the outside shell sets.
Probably due to my inexperience, I had some little bubbles rise to the top of my piped cookies. I'm not sure any real pastry chef would recommend this, but I popped the bubbles with a toothpick. A shell starts to form as you let the cookies rest, so I recommend popping earlier rather than later or you get a glossy little crater in the top of some of your cookies (ahem).
• Believe in the macaron
Watching the macarons rise in the oven and form those little "feet" felt like magic. I could hardly believe how perfect they looked coming out of the oven - just like real macarons! I couldn't be more pleased. And I can't wait to make them again.
There's always room to grow, of course! Have you made macarons? What advice do you have?
Related: What's the Difference? Macaroons vs. Macarons
(Images: Emma Christensen)
10 Low-Budget Pantry Items Everyone Should Have
Recipe: Spring Fruit and Nut Tabouli
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Monterey Pitcher fr...
The Ultimate Used Furniture Cleaning Kit
Ana Creates a Community at Home
Not So Humble Pie has an extensive tutorial on macarons, too. I kinda wish I didn't hate them; they're exactly the sort of fiddly-impressive baking project I love. I just happen to think they're vile. Sadness.
I love macarons and admit I love to make them but honestly, it's pretty split between macaron-ers if you need to do the old egg whites bit. Sometimes I do sometimes I don't and you know what? I've never noticed a difference. Most others I've talked to don't either. I do notice they get nicer feet if you leave the shells to harden a bit before you bake them. Most recipes say to do this.
David Lebovitz recently did a great write up about macarons, as a guy living in France. Saying how he found it silly that Americans are treating them like the new cupcake when in actuality, its not something made outside a professional bakery in France.
I have tried and failed many times at making macarons, my blog attests to this fact. I've found that the Italian method might be the easiest/most successful. Although I think your blog post here is using the French method.
I like the challenge of a nearly-impossible-to-make macaron. lol.
I've attempted to make macarons a few times now with no success at getting the feet to form due to various reasons (first batter was over beaten, second time a skin did not form due to humidity, third time the meringue was not stabilized). They are definitely a lot harder than just mixing together a batter if you don't pay attention to the process of mixing.
I spent a day trying to make macarons not too long ago, I tried three different recipes, including those from D Lebovitz and Tartlette. No luck. I was totally frustrated (this is why I am sooooo not a baker). So this is quite timely, perhaps I should give it another go. Yours appear to have turned out beautifully!
I've had macarons all over France, and there have been only 2 that I have loved -- Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. All the others I have found too sweet or just off in some way... I have eaten many macarons that looked beautiful but were awful; actually, I have eaten many more bad ones than good ones. Tiamat, I get what you are saying -- but try the macarons and Ladurée or Hermé, and you will taste heaven.
Those macarons look absolutely gorgeous, but do they taste anything like a Ladurée or Hermé?
@mschatelaine I've only ever had them in San Francisco from a place people swear is just like the best in France. I think it's the texture, though. Something about the almond meal in the meringue takes it from Om nom nom! to DO NOT WANT.
I have been making macarons for years (but with not much frequency) and it's very difficult to get right. In fact, there's always some little thing that goes wrong and even when it looks all good, you realize that the texture isn't correct or it didn't form "feet." I am very impressed with your first try!
I totally get what jmorri26 says Lebovitz says about American-macaron-making-fervor, but this is America--can-do spirit abounds! There's that and the fact that one can't just pick up macarons (or good macarons) at the corner bakery (and that, even if you could, they are quite expensive).
I had macarons from Laduree and Le Notre when I was able to go to Paris. (I really wanted to eat the Herme macarons, too, but my husband and I could only go during all of Europe's big holiday--which is just to say that Herme was closed.) We enjoyed Le Notre, but Laduree was definitely remarkable.
Only once have I made macarons--caramel au buerre sale (with pink salt). The taste was amazing--a really great texture, rich and tangy and salty caramel--however, as far as macarons go, they were pretty ugly. I do want to make more of them--although I do not conceive of them as cupcakes.
And even if they were the "new" cupcake--I have some cookbooks filled with very complicated cupcake recipes! Macarons are simpler by comparison.
So fun to hear all your stories! I'm totally stoked to try making these again. Maybe my first time was a fluke?!
Oh, and there's definite room for improvement. These turned out tasty, but a bit dry and crunchy. After doing some research, I think the culprit was over-whipped egg whites. You can tell in my picture that they were juuuust on the edge of almost becoming grainy. That's what I get for trying to take pictures while the mixer is running...
@Tiamat -- The place in San Francisco which claims that their macarons are as good as the best place in Paris is not.
Even in France, even in Paris, there are only 2 places that have achieved that level of transcendental perfection -- Ladurée and Hermé. How did Hermé achieve it? He trained and worked at Ladurée before striking out on his own, that's how. So the Hermé macaron is essentially the Ladurée macaron with more unusual and exotic "parfums".
What tells me that your San Francisco macarons are not even close approximations of the Ladurée macarons is that in a Ladurée macaron you are never aware of there being any texture to the almond meal. With a Ladurée macaron, you bite into the light brittle exterior -- like a more delicate version of cracking through the sugar crust topping a crème brûlée -- it should be so crisp that it still cracks and explodes a bit in your mouth. And then, your mouth is so suffused with and seduced by the parfum of the macaron; there is simply no texture to be aware of... the macaron just melts in your mouth... it is, quite simply, the food of heaven. My favourite Ladurée parfums are Thé Yunnan, Reglise, Muguet, Caramel au Fleur de Sel...
Now, with other macarons, you *are* aware of texture... It can feel dry in your mouth, in which case, you notice the almond meal; or slightly gummy and heavy, or too sweet...
The French are perfectionists, and take macaron-making very seriously, and not even they can achieve Ladurée-like results outside of Ladurée... So, while I greatly admire the can-do spirit, I think it is hubris to claim that a macaron made elsewhere is anything more than an approximation of a macaron Ladurée...
in Pasadena, at the Europane bakery/sandwhich shop, they have fantastic macrons! My favorite in the LA area in fact. The best one for me is the "salted caramel" which is not as sweet as the brightly colored ones and is puurrrfect for dipping in coffee.
Mschatelaine, it was a coworker who told me they were as good as the ones in Paris. Not too sweet, light and crispy, yay. Me? I go there for the fabulous cupcakes. Macarons aren't worth my time.
Well done! A very impressive first attempt.
I like macarons and yes, I hear the ones at Laudurée and Pierre Hermé are great, but guess what? I don't live in France! My options are to make my own or buy them at a relatively expensive price. I bake so I go for the former. Are they Pierre Hermé good? No, but I think they're tasty and that is enough.
I'm surprised that macarons are all the rage these days.
i just made them for the first time this week!
my tips: rap the baking sheet against the counter after you pipe to release air bubbles
bake w two pans layered, so the bottoms don't overcook
I've actually never left my egg whites at room temp and they've always been fine--I leave them in the fridge for at least 48 hours. As for getting the little feet and nice-looking tops, it's always best to leave the uncooked tops in a dry place for at least an hour. This is called "crouter" and really helps out the baking process!
And as for the debate concerning the best macaron places in Paris, I live near Laduree and actually much prefer Gerard Mulot on rue de Seine--his chocolate macarons are robust and really unforgettable!
I had the BEST macaron from my local cafe the other day it was salted caramel flavour! So so good. They are made by a Japanese guy who used to work in the kitchen of Universal, the Christine Manfield restaurant in Sydney. These are morsels of macaron perfection! How could anyone not love them?
I am going to make them very soon.
Ah, mschatelaine! Thank you for putting so beautifully what I was thinking. Nothing can compare to a Laduree macaron. I would argue, however, that the Rose are the superior flavor.
I think the recent American discovery of macarons is due to the blogging of David Leibowitz (sp?) and his lovely blog, and to the the second-gen Martha domesticity that's had folks vying for who could do the fanciest most unusual cupcake. Macarons just brought that to a whole new level.
I've got to make a note someplace about bilingualbutter's mention of Gerard Mulot. Alas, I don't see myself in Paris in the near future.
I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and say this:
1. small disclaimer: no expert, just a foodie
2. I love macarons but haven't had them enough places to actually entertain the argument of who makes em best
3. my better half is constantly in awe at my obsession with them
4. I have tried making them once and although I know they weren't exactly pretty or what I was trying for, they tasted pretty decent...
Your first attempt looks marvelous though!!
ps - I would also entertain any offerings of macarons that anyone wants to send me. In the name of research of course ;)
My additional cents:
- second wee's advice to bang the cookie sheet against the counter a few times to push out those air bubbles
- I've always used room temp egg whites; remember that eggs are easier to separate out of the fridge, though, so just leaving out eggs to warm is less helpful
- I love David Lebovitz, but his macaron recipe didn't work for me. I had better luck with the I <3 Macaron book, and the best luck of all taking I <3 Macaron's basic recipe and randomly added more almond flour (I found her base recipe too sweet for my taste). Didn't measure precisely but still got feet!
If you can't go to Paris, then you can always get them at Fauchon or Payard in NYC. I've been to two places in San Francisco and found that the NYC ones trump the SF ones.
We had macarons from Jean-Paul Hévin in Paris and they were miraculous! It was a very hot day and they'd been warmed slightly before we settled under a tree in the Tuileries. We opened the little box and le parfum!</I> And the taste ... exquisite. Especially the Grot'in!
The next week we were back in London and got some from the little Ladurée shop in Harrods. Sorry but not impressed at all - they were tough and chewy. Could it be the Harrods shop isn't up to Paris standards?
I have to say, though, don't be deceived - macarons are simply too rich to enjoy beyond one or two in a sitting.
I found a funky, Black sesame macaron that ended up being delicious here: http://mcswiggendesserts.blogspot.com/2010/01/classic.html
I've never let the egg whites sit out. My batches turn out fine every time. I think oven temperature and letting the shells sit to dry out a bit before baking is more important.
Here's my tutorial. http://jenainthekitchen.tumblr.com/post/495955566/french-macarons