Macarons are a treat. Easy to enjoy, not very easy to get them right. I tried to provide detailed instructions to master the creation of macarons (Italian style).
Ingredients for macaron shells :
Almond Flour – 372 g
Powdered Sugar – 372 g
Egg Whites – 160 g
Granulated Sugar – 370 g
Water – 10 g
Egg Whites – 125 g
Ingredients for vanilla buttercream filling :
Unsalted Butter – 225 g
Powdered Sugar – 454 g
Vanilla Extract – 1 tbsp
Heavy Whipping Cream – 3 tbsp
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Macaron Shells Preparation Recipe :
In a mixing bowl add powdered sugar and almond flour and mix them well. Move the mixer into a food processor and grind it into fine powder. Sieve the fine powder into a mixing bowl and add 160 grams of egg whites and mix them until it all combines well and keep it aside.
Use a stand mixer. Add egg whites (125g) into the stand mixer bowl, attach whisk attachment and start whisking on a high speed until it gets soft peaks as shown in the video. Meanwhile in a pan add granulated sugar and water. Mix well with a spoon until the water and sugar combine well. On a medium high flame let the sugar mixer cook until it reaches 244° F. This step is very important – you need a thermometer to check the temperature that reaches exactly 244° F. Once it reaches the temperature, switch the flame off and mix it into the stand mixer (while whisking egg whites) very slowly. Please be cautious white pouring the hot syrup into the whisking egg whites. Mix on very low speed. Once all the syrup is added, change to high speed. Whisk the egg whites until the stand mixer bowl feels like room temperature. Once the meringue bowl gets to room temperature, stop whisking.
Now mix the meringue into the almond flour, powdered sugar and egg whites mixer (prepared earlier). Mix in small batches until they all combine well. Add your desired food color to the meringue. Use only edible gel colors. For macarons you need to use only gel colors. Once done move the batter into a piping bag as shown in the video.
Preheat the oven to 300°F. On a baking tray, pipe the meringue into circles using macarons stencils. Once piping is done, remove the stencils and pat the baking tray on the surface each side four times (to release all the air bubbles in the meringue). Leave the pipped macarons for 20-30 mins. Once the shells harden on top, bake them in the oven for 14 mins. Please turn the tray in the oven after 7 mins. Repeat this for each batch of macarons that you bake.
Once the macaron shells are done, take them out of the oven. Let them cool down before removing them from the parchment paper. Once they cool down, remove and pair same-sized shells. Filling is up to you. In the video I showed the basic vanilla butter cream filling which we like. You can use nutella, jams, spreads and many more. Fill with your favorite filling and enjoy!
Vanilla Buttercream Filling Recipe :
Use a stand mixer, attach a paddle attachment. Add unsalted butter and mix for a min and scrap the sides. Mix until the butter turns to pale color. Add half of the powdered sugar and mix on very low speed until they combine well. Now add the remaining powdered sugar and mix on very low speed until they combine well. Once they combine increase the speed and mix well. Add the vanilla extract and mix it well for a couple of mins. Add heavy whipped cream and mix well until it becomes stiff and easy to spread as shown in the video. Vanilla buttercream is now ready to be spread on the macarons.
Enjoy!
Please let me know how your macarons turn out.