Pastry (Macarons) of Knowledge

Macaron shell recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Vanilla frosting recipe was from high school.

Disclaimer: I cannot guarantee that your macarons will be good with this recipe. It took me five attempts (three attempts from meringue to oven) before I successfully made a batch that didn’t crack or were hollow.

Ingredients

Shell

  • 100g fresh room temperature egg whites (about 3-4 eggs)
  • 90g granulated sugar
  • 125g almond flour
  • 125g confectioner’s sugar
  • 3-4 drops of deep red gel food colouring
  • Creme of tartar (optional)

Frosting

  • 65g / 125 mL icing sugar
  • 19g / 20 mL butter
  • 7 mL milk
  • 2.5 mL vanilla

Steps

Prep

  1. Sift the almond flour and confectioner’s sugar into a bowl. Set aside.
  2. Separate the egg whites from the yolk.
  3. Wipe down a large metal or glass bowl with vinegar or lemon juice (why?).
  4. Add in the egg whites.

Shell

  1. If using creme of tartar, whip the egg whites until they look foamy before adding them in.
  2. Whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add in the sugar (one tablespoon at a time) while you keep mixing. Keep whipping until it resembles stiff peaks.
  3. Fold the food colouring into the meringue.
  4. Gradually fold the almond flour mixture into the meringue. Keep folding until the consistency is like honey.
  5. Pipe the macarons on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
  6. Drop the baking sheet from 3 inches to pop any air bubbles. Use a toothpick to pop any extra air bubbles you see afterwards.
  7. Let the macarons dry for 60 minutes.
  8. 45 minutes into drying, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  9. Bake each tray of macarons for 13 minutes.
  10. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Icing

  1. Mix icing sugar and butter together.
  2. Gradually add milk until it is the consistency you want.
  3. Add vanilla extract.
  4. Spread icing on macarons

Notes

  • I used a hand mixer, a kitchen scale, and sandwich bags with a hole. I did not use an oven thermo here.
  • I did not age my egg whites.
  • You cannot use a water-based food colouring when making macarons; it will change the batter’s consistency. Get a 40-50% coupon off Michaels and use it towards their Wilton food colouring.
  • I would not recommend making this while raining.