Macaroons #Attempt1

Now, where to begin. I guess I should start by telling you that I have attempted to make macaroons. Word of advice, they are fuckingg hard to get right. So, I have decided I will blog each of my attempts to make macaroons until I get them perfect so I can share with you what to do and what not to do. This is my first attempt and let me tell you they are farrrrrr from perfect BUT they didn't go as bad as they could have gone so hay that aint to bad.

 Now, before I made these macaroons I did a lottttt of research into tips on making macaroons and there were a load that I picked up. The biggest tip being that you must not over mix the mixture nor under mix it as this could make or brake the macaroons. 

TIPS:

Tip 1. DO NOT under mix the mixture as this will cause the macaroons to come out of the oven cracked with no feet (feet are the little rise all good macaroons have). HOWEVER over mix and your macaroons will be flat with no feet. It is hard to say precisely how many mixes to do as it depends on how strong you are but roughly 65-75 mixes to get it just right.

Tip 2. The colour of the macaroons will fade a little in the oven so make the mixture a couple of shades darker then you intend for the macaroons to be.

Tip 3. You MUST tap the tray of macaroons at least 5 times to release the air bubbles making sure your macaroons don't crack once baked.

Tip 4. Leave the macaroons to sit out for 30 minutes before baking to ensure that they dry a little so that when baking they rise up and develop feet instead of spreading outwards.

Tip 5. (The mistake I made!) DO NOT under cook the macaroons evennnnn if they look done as they will stick to your tray and become hollow not-good!

I can't stress enough how crucial it is to follow these tips, use the exact amount of ingredients and don't mess with the recipe; at least until you get them perfect.

Macaroons:

*Disclaimer this recipe is not my own*

Ingredients:

3 Egg Whites (At room temperature)

50g Granulated Sugar

200g Icing Sugar

120g Ground Almonds

Filling of your choice (I made Chocolate Butter cream Icing)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 2.

2. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks slowly adding in the granulated sugar.

3. Then add the food coloring taking into account tip 2.

4. Sift the ground almond and icing sugar into a bowl, discarding lumps in the sieve as they are too big for the macaroon mixture, fold the flour and sugar mixture into the egg whites TAKING INTO ACCOUNT TIP 1.

5. Transfer batter into an pastry bag and pipe out 1 inch rounds onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. DO NOT line with butter or oil as this will affect the macaroons.

6. Tap the tray 5 times to release air bubbles and then leave the macaroons to rest for half an hour.

7. Bake the macaroons for 20 minutes taking into account tip 5.

8. Meanwhile make a filling of your choice. I made chocolate butter cream icing.

9. Once the macaroons are cooked reverse them on to their backs and pipe a small amount of the filling on to one macaroon of each pair. Close them together and you are done!

 This was one of the mistakes I made that could have easilyyyyyyyy been avoided. I didn't pipe the macaroons! I used a teaspoon, do not do this unless you are aiming for the dodgy shaped circle macaroon kinda look. I will definitely use a piping bag when I next attempt to bake macaroons!

This is why you should tap the macaroons before leaving to rest for 30 minutes as air bubbles are released. You should tap the macaroons until you can visibly see the popped air bubbles on  the surface of each macaroon.

I wanted to show you the inside of them as I under cooked them causing them to become hollow as parts of the macaroon stuck to the baking paper. Oppppppps

Now that I have shared my mistakes with you hopefullyyy you wont make the same ones. But don't be disheartened if they don't turn out perfect the first time around. They sure didn't for me! However I will blog each of my macaroon attempts sharing my mistakes until I get them just right.