Despite the delicate look and texture, baking macarons are rather violent if you ask me. I never thought "tapping" was so important to bake the perfect Macarons!
It all started with leftover egg white after spaghetti Carbonara. I thought, "What am I going to do with 4 egg whites?" Then I decided making Macarons.
Although we tend to think it's French confectionary, its origin is actually Italy. It was brought by Catherine de´Medici when she married Henry II in 1533.
The difference between French and Italian macarons are how sugar is added. Italian recipe contains hot syrup whipped into egg whites, while French recipe uses powder sugar as they are. Either way, today's Macarons are so delicate and beautiful with different colors, but what makes the difference in each flavor is the filling. Shells are the same, but used different coloring in the batter. In this recipe, I make raspberry Macarons, using red food coloring as an example, but sky is the limit!!!
The best part: you can freeze Macarons!
Ingredients: (this recipe can make about 40-50 shells = 20-25 macarons.)
4 egg whites
70 g sugar
120 g almond flour
230 g powder sugar (Melis)
A pinch of salt
Food coloring
Ingredients for raspberry butter cream:
120 g butter - soften in room temperature
ca 300g powder sugar - amount can be adjusted
Raspberry puree or jam
Direction:
1) Preheat oven 150 C degrees.
Tips: If your oven comes with fan, reduce the temperature to 130 C degrees.
2) Place egg whites and sugar in a large mixing bowl, and whip with electric mixer until it forms stiff peaks.
3) Add food coloring and continue to whip until well blended.
Tips: Color tends to fade when baked, so use a bit more color than you think you need.
4) Shift the almond flour and powder sugar twice, discarding any almond lumps that are too big to pass through the sieve.
5) Fold the almond mixture into egg white mixture, using rubber spatula. The mixture should be smooth and viscous.
Tips: While folding the mixture, its amount seem to shrink a great deal, but it's how it should be! Don't worry!
6) Pipe onto trays with baking paper.
Tips: Tap trays on the bench firmly (this prevents cracking) and leave on the counter until the surface is even and shiny (for 20 minutes or so.)
7) Bake in the oven for ca 20-25 minutes. Check if one comes off the tray fairly cleanly, if not bake for a little longer.
Tips: Bake only one batch at a time. Do not bake multiple layer of trays.
8) When cooled, make sandwich with butter cream.
For butter cream:
1) Whip the butter with electrical mixer until soft and fluffy.
2) Add raspberry jam or puree
3) Add powder sugar until desired texture .
