How To Make French Macarons (and not have a breakdown)

Posted by Alexandra C. | Friday March 22, 2013

Macarons are notoriously temperamental when it comes to baking them. However, they're also notoriously mouth-watering. My version of baking macarons mostly involves handing over cash to someone far more talented.

I love baking though, so if there was an easier way to get all that goodness without wanting to simply quit and cry on the floor (I've been there chicks, no judgment), I'd be all over that.

Luckily there is another option. Local Toronto bakery Le Dolci invited us to a workshop to teach us how to create crisp, sweet and tasty macarons. You can trust me when I say that you can totally replicate this recipe at home. The key to these macarons is keeping an eye on your ingredients and testing to see that everything is the right consistency. The end result will only taste like you slaved away all day on them (feel free to allow everyone to assume so). Your secret is safe with me.

So, ready to try your hand at macarons?

Here's the spark notes version of the process and in the full recipe below, I'll separate it into sections as well.

(1) Make the meringue, (2) fold flour and sugar into the meringue, (3) pipe and (4) bake. (5) Create the filling - we love chocolate ganache but Nutella will also do in a pinch - and (6) sandwich them together!

Macaron Recipe

Step 1:

Meringue
65g (about 2/3 cup) Water
250g (approx 1 cup + 2 Tbsp) Sugar
90g (about 3 eggs) Egg Whites, room temperature
Food Colouring

In a sauce pan over medium heat, bring water and sugar to a boil. Allow to cook until it reaches 115C (approx 240F) on a candy thermometer.

Beating the eggs and food colouring at medium speed, slowly pour in the boiling syrup. Increase speed until moderately fast and beat until cool. The egg whites should form stiff, shining and upstanding peaks.

Flour Mixture
250g (approx 2 1/2 cups) Almond Flour
250g (approx 2 cups) Icing Sugar
90g (about 3 eggs) Egg Whites

Combine the almond flour and icing sugar in a food processor and pulse until thoroughly incorporated. Sift into bowl and set aside. When the meringue is just about ready add the egg whites.

Step 2:

Fold the meringue into the wet almond mixture. Stop folding when the mixture is evenly combined and the viscosity is similar to molasses.

Step 3:

Pipe out toonie (or silver dollar) sized circles onto parchment lined pan. The macarons should hold a small peak for a few seconds and then flatten and round out. Rest macarons for a minute.

Step 4:

Bake at 135C (275F) for 10 minutes. Let cool before transferring to cooling rack.

Step 5:

Filling

Chocolate ganache makes a great filling and is very simple to make. Here's a simple recipe. For lazy bakers like me, use the aforementioned Nutella. We tried some of our macarons with lemon cream cheese frosting!

Next, pipe your chosen filling onto the flat side of one of the macaron cookies.

Step 6: Sandwich like so!

The Finished Product:

I did that all by myself! Impressed? You should be. I slaved over it all day and it was SO difficult and time consuming.

See what I did there? *wink wink*

These macarons are the perfect colour for the upcoming Easter holiday and spring season! They're fabulous at a party too, because they look incredible and make a beautiful display. I was nice enough to gift some of these to friends and family, but I wouldn't blame you if you choose to hoard these all for yourself.

Would you make or have you made macarons?

Recipe courtesy of Le Dolci

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21 Comments

	on April 10, 2013 JustUsGirls 3,263 said: I love to bake, but these have been something I haven't even attempted to make because I don't think they would come out right. I think I may have to overcome that fear this Summer as we're having a Fashion Show birthday party for my little girl's 8th birthday and these are definitely something I want to make for the girls instead of buying.
	on March 27, 2013 anhyalo 988 said: yumm!!
	on March 27, 2013 AlexJC 50 said: @roadee I think I would try it again, I don't think it would be something I did weekly or anything but for special occasions etc. I love Nadege macarons though and it is SO easy to hand over a bill and get some instant deliciousness!
	on March 27, 2013 roadee 2,181 said: Good for you Alexandra! But would you ever make them again? :) I have friends that have tried making macaroons and they require quite a bit of technique and a number of attempts to get their crisp, delicate texture just right. For me, it's totally worth handing over the money for some good quality macaroons from a quality bakery (plus you have the luxury of trying different flavours). Fortunately, Toronto has a number of quality bakeries that produce macaroons that are just as good (Nadage and Rahier come to mind) as the famous Laduree macaroons from Paris! I've also heard that Patisserie Sebastien makes a great macaron. Thanks for the post and for slaving away all day. It's great that there are places that offer macaron classes so people can really appreciate what these fancy pastries are all about.
	on March 27, 2013 Racenhawk 2,704 said: My boss brought me some back when he went to Paris, I will have to try to make these myself. They are so good!
	on March 26, 2013 ellstar 5,069 said: Macarons are a huge guilty pleasure of mine. I'm afraid that if I make a batch I will eat them all in one sitting!
	on March 25, 2013 takoda 28,648 said: I've never made these before, but they sure look yummy.
	on March 25, 2013 teephs 2,211 said: looks fantastic...bet it tastes fantastic tooo!
	on March 22, 2013 smiley_gen 9,832 said: Oh yum!! Pinned it!!!
	on March 22, 2013 LeanneRenouf 4,337 said: These look great but still to complicated for me lol