Macarons Shells in 2 different colors

R E C I P E

Approximately 70-80 cookies depending on size

1 macaron = 2 cookies, approximately 35-40 macarons total

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I N G R E D I E N T S

Macaron Shells:

Meringue (swiss method):

Egg Whites 100g (egg whites from 3 large eggs)

Granulated Sugar 80g

Egg White Powder 3g

Cream of tartar 1.3 g

Dry ingredients:

Almond flour 120g

Powdered Sugar 120g

Salt 1g

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S T E P S

Macaron Shells : Preparation:

1. Preheat oven so internal oven temperature is 320-350 degrees Fahrenheit

2. Get ALL ingredients and supplies out. This makes things easier so you're not wasting time grabbing things and accidentally letting meringue over-whip or dry out

3. Clean anything that is going to touch the meringue with vinegar. I put the vinegar in a spray bottle and spray the bowls, whisks, silicone mat, etc. and wipe them with a paper towel

Macaron Shells : Meringue (swiss method):

1. Put 1" water in a pot and bring to boil

2. Combine all meringue ingredients (egg whites, granulated sugar, egg white powder, and cream of tartar) in heat proof bowl

3. Place bowl over pot with boiling hot water and beat for approximately 2 minutes

4. Transfer to Standing Mixer. Beat on lower setting (I use 4) for 2 minutes, then increase to medium high setting (I use 6) for another 6-9 minutes until stiff peak forms

Macaron Shells : Macronage (batter folding):

1. Since I am splitting the meringue into 2 bowls to make 2 different colors, I am going to put split the dry ingredients in half and put them in 2 different bowls.

2. In this case I put 60 grams each of almond flour and powdered sugar and 0.5g of salt in each bowl.

3. Sift all dry ingredients together (almond flour, powdered sugar, salt)

4. Split meringue into 2 different bowls. I usually weigh the meringue and split in half.

5. Pour dry ingredients and desired color gel into meringue

6. Gently fold until dry ingredients are all incorporated

7. "Macronage" until batter is desired consistency (soft enough to where if you drop batter onto itself, it melts into itself within 15-20 seconds)

8. Make sure you are periodically mixing each batter so it doesn't start forming a skin on top

9. Pour into piping bag

Macaron Shells : Piping, drying, and baking:

1. Pipe desired cookie shape onto silicone mat

2. Get small air bubbles out of cookies by either tapping the bottom of the tray with your hand or banging the tray onto your counter.

3. Let dry for about 1-2 minutes

4. Place on the top rack of the oven for about 1 to 1½ minutes to speed up drying the top of the cookies. I usually only have to do this with the first tray. The other trays are usually out for enough time to naturally form a skin on top.

5. I place the tray under a ceiling fan or in front of a fan to help the top of the cookies dry faster

6. Once you can run your finger along the top of the cookies without any sticking, place in the oven. My oven seems to bake the macarons best in the second rack from the bottom.

7. I check the temperature inside the oven every 3-4 minutes to ensure it's not getting too cold or hot and adjust manually accordingly

8. Rotate the tray after the first 4-6 minutes if your oven has hot spots (mine does) to ensure even baking

9. Gently touch the cookies and if it is wobbly / jiggling at all bake longer

10. I usually end up baking my macarons for a total of 16-19 minutes

11. Cool completely before removing from silicone mats

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Why I use the "swiss" meringue method:

I have tried all 3 methods of making the meringue - French, Italian, and Swiss.

I find the French method (simply slowly adding sugar into the egg whites as it whips) the easiest but the meringue is the most unstable. I saw my macarons would turn out very different depending on how much I macronage or how humid / hot my house is. It was difficult to have consistently nice looking macarons.

I found the Italian method (slowly adding melted sugar into the egg whites as it whips) the most difficult. I couldn't get the timing right of when to start melting the sugar in water and when to start whipping the egg whites. I also didn't like the stream of hardened sugar it left on the side of my mixing bowl.

The swiss method (dissolving the sugar in the egg whites over a double boiler first before whipping) is supposed to be in the middle in terms of stability of the meringue but for me it is the easiest and has the most consistent results.

My Macaron Shell Recipe:

My base recipe ratio is always as follows (subject to change):

Meringue (swiss method):

Egg Whites 100g

Granulated Sugar 80g

Egg White Powder 3g

Cream of tartar 1.3g

Dry ingredients:

Almond flour 120g

Powdered Sugar 120g

Salt 1g

I always weigh the amount of egg whites I get after I separate eggs and adjust the rest of the ingredients according to the amount of egg whites. I'm a bit nerdy so I made an excel sheet that calculates this for me.

My oven:

My oven is NOT a convection oven. There are heat spots all over so things tend to bake at a higher temperature towards the back and sides of the oven. The temperature I set the oven to is also NOT the actual temperature inside the oven.

An oven thermometer has been THE BEST purchase. I have learned that I have to set my oven to about 255-275 degrees Fahrenheit in order for the inside of my oven to be in the 320-350 range which seems to be ideal for macaron baking.

I set my phone's timer to go off every 3 minutes to remind myself to peak at the oven thermometer to adjust the setting accordingly. Otherwise my oven goes rogue and gets too hot or cold.

I am still figuring out the best timing to rotate my tray & how many times I should rotate the tray.

Things that were successful:

I realized that the left and right outer edge macarons were becoming too crispy so I only piped macarons closer to the center of the silicone mat and that got rid of the overbaked macarons on the outer edge.

Things that needs improvement:

Some of my macarons ended up lopsided again! I did rotate the tray earlier than my last video but this is still one of my biggest challenges. I also slightly underbaked the batch and it ended up sticking to the silicone mat a little bit.

I did encounter some cracked macarons, which hasn't happened in a while. I think I didn't let it rest long enough and it didn't form a solid skin on top before I put it in the oven. The oven could have also been at a slightly higher temperature than desired.