I hope you guys are excited! It’s macaron time! And cinnamon macarons at that. My macaron journey started just before Christmas and I tried the French method first, which failed miserably for me. I was super new to the world of macarons as I just never had time to try and test a bunch of recipes in Australia, nor the patience to be completely honest. Now that I am really comfortable with the Italian method I am SO EXCITED to share this super fun recipe with you all!
Ingredients:
95g Almond flour
95g confectioners sugar
100g white sugar
2 x 40 egg whites
25g water
10g SLO food group cinnamon sticks, ground
Equipment:
Kitchen scales
Candy or infrared thermometer
Food processor
Metal sifter
Stand or hand mixer
Teflon baking sheets
Flat cookie baking trays x 2
1. Preheat your oven to 295F/145C
2. Take all of your almond flour and confectioner sugar and blend in a food processor for 30-45 seconds until ingredients are just combined. You do not want to over mix as it will release the oils from the almond flour. This mixture is called ‘tant pour tant’ or TPT which is a classic French base ingredient for many patisseries. Take your TPT and place a metal sifter over a bowl and work the TPT through with a whisk so you have a really fine mixture left in your bowl. Take your freshly ground cinnamon, I like to use a spice grinder and whisk into your TPT. If you’d like to make plain unflavoured shells, add 5g each of the almond flour & confectioners sugar so you have 100g of each.
3. Now to prepare your meringue take one lot of eggs 40g and place in a clean stand mixer bowl (using a hand mixer is fine too) and using the whisk attachment place mixer on low speed as we are looking to get a frothy mixture, not whipped just yet.
4. While you eggs are mixing on low take a saucepan over medium heat and combined all white sugar and water and bring to boil temperature of 245F/118C then remove from heat. I use an infrared thermometer or candy thermometer to get the right temperature.
5. Take sugar syrup and slowly pour down the side of your mixing bowl while your eggs are still mixing on a medium speed. It is important to keep your speed up with this step as we don’t want the hot syrup to cook the egg whites. Once all sugar syrup has been added increase speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form 3-5 mins. If you would like to add a color, using a good quality food gel (I use americolor) add this into your meringue mix a minute or so before it is done whipping. You can also add flavor oils at this step too if you’d like to flavor your shells.
6. Now that you have a nice stiff meringue mixture set that aside while you incorporate your other 40g of egg whites to your TPT mixture. I use a spatula in this step as you want your end result to be a thick but smooth paste. Divide your meringue into two parts.
7. This step is SUPER important to the end result of your macarons. This is called the ‘macaronage’ stage. There is a technique involved in getting the perfect macaron batter and I can guarantee it will take you a few goes to get it just right. Over mixing will result in cracked shells, under mixing will result in no feet. Taking your spatula and first lot of meringue gently fold it in while using your spatula to scrape around the bowl and then twice through the middle of the batter. Repeat this until your first lot of meringue is just incorporated then add your second lot and repeat again. Once batter is ready you should be able to make a figure 8 using your spatula.
8. Take a piping bag, I like to use 16” Wilton disposable bags and a Wilton 2A round tip and fill your bag with the mixture. I like to use any left over to secure my teflon baking sheets to my flat baking trays as the batter is quite thick and can lift the sheets up when you are trying to swipe away from finishing a macaron shell. I have tried many alternatives but have found flat cookie baking trays and teflon baking mats give the best results!
9. Piping your shells also takes a bit of practice so if you aren’t quite confident enough to free hand, there are many downloadable templates you can slide under your teflon mat and remove before baking! You want to apply a decent amount of pressure and once you’re happy with the size of your shell using a counter clockwise motion making a C shape, swipe away horizontally and avoid pulling the bag up. Once your shells have been piped, tap your tray gently on the counter to remove any air bubbles. This is why it’s important to not pipe your shells too close together as they spread out a little when tapping the tray.
10. Bake for 20-22 mins and remove from oven and allow shells to cool for 10-12 mins before attempting to remove them as they still need time to air dry and set. Pair up your macarons once they have cooled and I love to fill mine with fresh American buttercream or white/milk chocolate ganache! Store in the fridge for a week or freezer for a month!