Macarons

Well I say macarons and they kind of look like they should but they seem more like cakey meringues to me.
Isabel and I had tried to make them before using David Lebovitz's recipe, but they didn't turn out well at all. In fact they were more like thing cakey biscuits! They still tasted delicious though!


That recipe used the French Meringue technique, which is known for making beautiful macaron's but is a lot harder to control because of the instability of the merinque structure.
So I decided to try them again but with a recipe that used the Italian Meringue instead as it allows a more consistent macaron and more stability to the meringue.
This is a really useful page about macaron tips, tricks and techniques to making 'perfect' macaron's.


I was really excited when my macarons were baking because they were forming 'feet' which meant that something was going right. But I don't think my almonds were ground finely enough because you could see them in the finished product, although it could also be that I over mixed the meringue when I added the dry ingredients. Also I had some problems with the baking paper sticking to the bottom of them, and broke quite a few because they were so fragile. I think I managed to salvage them seeing as they went very quickly in my house, so they must have been good! I will definitely be trying to make them again, practice makes perfect (hopefully)!


Almond Macarons with black-currant cream
(adapted from)


Ingredients


For the Macaron
150g confectioners sugar
150g almond meal
150g granulated sugar for syrup (leave about 50g meringue)
110g egg whites
50g water



For the Black-currant cream

125ml double cream

50g icing sugar

3 tablespoons black-currant jam

Method


1. Pre-heat the oven to 150C. Mix the almonds and icing sugar in a bowl and set aside. If the mixture is not dry, spread on a baking sheet, and heat in oven at the lowest setting until dry.
2. To make the Italian meringue, place the caster sugar in a saucepan.  Add the water and make sure that the sugar is dampened.  Heat the mixture and bring this to a boil (do not stir).  Place a candy thermometer in the syrup and take the temperature of 118c.
3. While the sugar is cooking, beat the egg whites (leaving about 50g of egg whites to the side) on medium speed until the eggs become foamy. Continue beating on high until stiff peaks form.
4. Stop the syrup from cooking once it reaches 118c and take this off the heat and let the bubbling subside for a few seconds.  Pour the syrup in a thin, steady stream over the beaten egg whites while the continuing to whisk at medium speed
5. When all the syrup has been added, continue to beat until glossy and meringue has cooled to room temperature. Then add the 50g of reserved egg whites and a third of the almond sugar mix. Fold with a spatula to loosen it.
6. Then, fold in the rest of the Italian meringue.  Continue folding and stirring until the batter is glossy, and fluid. Scrape the batter into a piping bag and pipe into baking trays
7. As each tray is filled, bang the baking sheet with both hands on a counter to get rid of any trapped air bubbles.  Allow to dry for around 30 minutes until the shell is dry and skin forms ( I didn't let mine dry as supposedly the italian meringue doesn't need it, but you might get better results if you do).
8. Bake at 150c for 13 to 15 minutes


For the Cream
1. Beat the cream in a bowl on a medium speed until it reaches a thick but still slightly wobbly consistency.
2. Add the sugar and beat for a minute longer, being careful not to over mix it.
3. Add the black currant jam and mix in.
4. Pipe a small amount onto a macaron and place another on-top, pushing together till the filling comes to the edges.
5. Store in an air tight container.