YumSugar Macarons

 

I recently moved from Chicago to South Bend, IN and started commuting 3 times a week to work (that’s right people, 2 hours each way). When i’m not spending time on a train, i’m usually spending time cooking dinner, cleaning up the house, or watching marathons of “the walking dead” (i’m a sucker for zombies)

but it’s about time for another blog post – i can’t believe it’s been nearly 2 weeks.

   

This time i tried a recipe from yumsugar.com. Again I used eggs straight out of the fridge. Again because i was too lazy to take them out beforehand.

When mixing the almond meal and confectioner’s sugar I sifted them together this time instead of just dumping them in a bowl.

I think the main difference this time was that I didn’t overmix the egg whites and sugar. I first whipped the egg whites until foamy and then added in the granulated sugar. I whipped them on high (8 in a kitchen aid) for around 2-3 minutes. Then i whipped them by hand with a whisk the rest of the way. Which gave my arms a good workout for the week.

 

After mixing the dry ingredients with the wet, I piped them out (correctly this time!) onto a baking sheet and let them sit for 15-20 minutes. After poking a few, I figured they were ready for the oven. Batter didn’t come off on my finger so they’d developed a pretty good film. Before putting them in, i picked up the baking sheet and dropped it on the counter 2 times. I’ve heard this helps in developing the “feet” on the macaron.

 

So after putting them into the oven, this recipe calls for opening the oven door a few times to let out the humidity (not wide open like Martha’s disaster recipe). I’m not really sure if that made a huge difference or not. i’d say reducing the oven temp had the biggest impact on this batch.

 

I baked each sheet for 17 minutes. The recipe made ~80 halves (or 40 cookies). I filled them with this buttercream, which was less than stellar for me. Whenever I add milk to my buttercream it gets all weird, separates, and takes on this tapioca pudding kind of texture (yuck). Any tricks to keeping it nice and smooth?

the end result? too much air between the cookie and the shell, a little chewy for my taste, and WAYYY too sugary. There weren’t any real signs of “feet,” but there were cracks on the tops that resembled the “feet” so that must be progress, right?!

Basic French Macaron Recipe
adapted from yumsugar.com

2/3 cup almond meal
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 large egg whites
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 280 degrees and position a rack in the middle of the oven. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Sift together almond meal and powdered sugar. Throw out clumps (which should be less than 1 tablespoon)

3. Place egg whites in bowl of standing mixer and whip on medium until foamy (around 4 or 6). Add granulated sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Whip on high (8 on a kitchenaid) for 2 minutes. Whip the rest of the way by hand with a whisk until glossy and stiff peaks form.

4. Fold almond, sugar mixture into egg white mixture and beat down so it’s not as airy. I gave it a good mix for about 5 minutes

5. Pipe out into 1 inch circles (pretty big ones – blobs in fact). Let sit for 15-20 minutes on the counter. After which, pick the entire baking sheet up and drop it on the counter a couple of times.

6. Bake for 15-17 minutes. Around 5 minutes in, open the oven door for roughly 3 seconds to “let out the humidity.” Let cool, then gently peel off of parchment paper. Pipe filling in between two cookies and let sit for a while before eating. I put mine in the fridge after piping and ate roughly 8 hours later.

Some things i will change for next time:
1. balance the almond meal to confectioner’s sugar ratio so they more nutty, less sugar-coma-inducing
2. try letting the egg whites sit out before whipping
Does anyone have an idea why there is so much air between the cookie and the shell? I’m guessing it has something to do with the egg white whipping..?

Next time, I’m planning to grind up some pistachios and use a mixture of pistachio “flour” and almond meal. Who can resist a pistachio macaron? NO ONE, that’s who.

Lindsay