French Macarons 法式马卡龙

Easy-【French Macarons】
by MaomaoMom

At Paris international airport, there is a shop just selling Macarons. They looked so delicious and beautiful. It’s amazing that macarons are made with only a few basic ingredients: finely ground almonds, icing sugar, sugar and egg whites. Yet this thin crust cookie breaks so easily when you bite into it while inside is wonderfully soft and moist.

I have tried a few recipes and finally I am happy with this modified recipe. Without resting the batter, the cookie still has a beautiful “collar” (called a “foot”) on the bottom with smooth top. However, I do suggest to use a digital kitchen balance to weigh your ingredients in order to have perfect macarons. In addition, you need to use very finely ground almonds, I suggest you use Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour for your convenience.

Prepare Time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 18 minutes
Level: low
Serves: 12 servings

Ingredients:

1) 1 extra large egg white, ¼ tsp white vinegar or cream of tartar, 3 tbsp fine sugar (42g);
2) 1/3 cup icing sugar (50g), ½ cup finely ground almonds;
3) 1-2 drops red color;
Egg custard filling:
4) 1 extra large egg yolk, 3 tbsp milk (44g), 2 tbsp sugar (28g);
5) 1 tbsp instant milk powder (6g), 2 tsp all-purpose flour (8g);
6) 1 tbsp butter (15g).

Directions:

1: Separate egg and place egg white in a dry and clean mixing bowl (Picture 1). Add white vinegar or cream of tartar to egg white and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until form soft peaks (Picture 2), then add 3 tbsp fine sugar in three times and beat until stiff (Picture 3).

2: Sift the ground almond and icing sugar to mix well (Picture 4) and then pour over the beaten egg white (Picture 5). Add 1-2 drop red color, fold to completely mix and don’t forget scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl (Picture 6).

3: Once the almond mixture is completely folded into the meringue, fill it to a plastic bag (Picture 7). Preheat oven at 400F/200C. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. On the back of the paper draw 4 cm circles with 3-4 cm apart. Cut off one bottom corner of the plastic bag to make a 5 mm hole, pipe batter onto the circles on the parchment paper (Picture 8). Make about 24 macarons.
4: Gently tap the baking sheet on the counter to break any air bubbles. Once the oven reaches 400F/200C, turn it off and place the baking sheet in the oven for 5 minutes. Turn on the oven and set 300F/150C bake for 6 minutes, now you should see beautiful “foot” on each macaron (Picture 9).

5: Reduce heat to 200F/100C continue bake for 6-8 minutes and remove macarons from oven and let them cool.
6: Egg custard filling: Place egg yolk in a medium size microwave safe bowl, add milk and whisk well with a fork. Add milk powder and flour and then whisk well. Add butter (Picture 10) and then place the bowl in the microwave, heat on high for 30 seconds. Stir the content and then heat for 25 seconds, reheat with 20 second intervals until fully cooked. Let it cool and place on food wrap then knead a few times (Picture 11).
7: To assemble the Macarons, take two cookies and sandwich them together with 1 tsp egg custard filling (Picture 12) before serving.

Tips:
1：Make sure mixing bowl and mixer for the egg white is clean and dry.
2：I recommend to use digital kitchen balance to weigh your ingredients in order to have perfect macarons.
3: You can purchase ground almonds at local grocery stores and make sure it is finely ground almonds, I suggest to use Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour for your convenience.
4：Oven temperature can vary with different ovens, if your bake is with bottom heating; make sure to place your baking sheet above one layer higher above the center.

You might also like: