My step into the world of Macarons - part III

by TP Big Brother

Attempt number 3 to gain membership into the macaron making club.

Round 1 and Round 2 have been a great learning experience about these mysterious little french cookies, but I have yet to produce a recognisable macaron I am proud of. Yet.

After watching my favourite episodes of Heston Blumenthal's In Search of Perfection, I decided to forego this round, and take a step back in order to go a few forward. So, in the name of research, part III was dedicated to macaron experiments.

After another failed attempt, I did some research to strategize on how grow some feet on my macarons. The two most common reoccuring themes involved the egg whites and the consistency of the mix before piping. I used these as the foundation for my experiment.

A minor tip I picked up in London, was that there are two main types of baking paper, which can produce differing results. It seems like most baking paper I see in the supermarkets in Melbourne are the "silicon" based ones, which is waxy on the touch (in fact, silicon paper can handle temperatures up to 200 degrees celcius - perfect for making caramel tuiles). There is also the greaseproof paper, of tracing paper texture, which can prevent bottoms of cakes from getting soggy. Curious to see if this could spawn some feet, I used this as a third and final variable for my experiment.

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TEST CASES
So the aim of this baking round was to see what impact different factors along different stages of the process had on the final macaron product. As a simple experiment, I had 3 test factors:

1. Egg whites
a. Beating to soft to medium peaks
b. Beating to stiff peaks

2. Folding
a. Underfolding (soft fold for a short duration)
b. Overfolding (harsher fold for a longer duration)

3. Baking paper
a. Silicon paper
b. Greaseproof (tracing paper)

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RESULTS
Checkpoint 1 - Post piping
- Test case 1 (Egg whites) vs Test case 2 (Folding)
Using two equal batches of egg whites, I whisked away until I achieved soft to medium peaks in one batch and stiff peaks in the other. Then I simply added equal proportions of dry ingredients to each batch and mixed with a spatula with varying intensity and duration, with the aim of eventually ending up with four different batches of macaron mixture.
Using macaron mixture from each of the four different batches, I piped each into groups on the same baking tray. Can you spot which macaron is from which batch?
Now, time for the judges to do their job. Which do you think wins this round?

Judging based on shape, body and most likely to succeed, the stiff peak egg white with under-folded macaron mix proved to be the front runner.

Checkpoint 2 - Post-oven
- Test case 1 (Egg whites) vs Test case 2 (Folding)
Twelve minutes later, the macarons came out of the oven. Fingers crossed, I searched for feet. Unfortunately, yet again, I was left bitter at my lack of ability to grow any feet. But with the task in focus, I consoled the perfectionist in me that this was indeed an experiment, and I was aiming to extract lessons from this batch.

Time for the second round of judging. Which was the best macaron, and which method created it?
I was tempted to say "none" because they were sad little macarons, surely offensive to many, and a crime punishable by the French culinary police. With similar criteria to the previous judging round, being - body, shape and "success of passing as a macaron", the round had to be given to one batch, and in this case, it was again, the stiff peaked under-folded mix.- Test case 3 (Baking paper)
This is a no brainer, so will get straigh to the point. Greaseproof (tracing paper) alone does not work for macarons (perhaps you can try greasing it with butter or oil first). The below pictures should tell you why. Silicon paper is the way to go.
How embarrassing! I again console myself with the thought that this is an experiment. Like the saying goes "an idiot never learns from their mistakes, a smart person learns from their mistakes but a genius learns from the mistakes of others". So I hope you are paying attention!

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CONCLUSION
And the winner is ...
1. Egg whites - b. Stiff peaks
2. Folding - a. Underfolding (soft fold for a short duration)
3. Baking paper - a. Silicon paper

I'm still not an expert, but slowly, I'm getting closer to getting my macarons being platable. Watch this space...

My step into the world of Macarons - part II

by TP Big Brother

Let me begin this post by firstly introducing very quickly, Ms Claire Clark (if you don't already know her that is).


Regarded as one of the top three pastry chefs in the world, Claire was noticed by Thomas Keller and offered her a position at his three michelin starred French Laundry, ranking in at #12 in the best 50 restaurants in the world.

Claire's debut book, Indulge: 100 Perfect Desserts, is my current favourite dessert recipe book. I used her brownies as my first test when judging the book, and they were described as "the best brownies I've ever tasted" by several critics, including a brownie "specialist". The more I read the book, the more I fall in love with it.

Anyway, after my tragic first attempt at making macarons (round 1), I sought Claire's advice. The initial signs of round two, in the battle of producing something with any sort of semblence to a macaron, looked promising.

Changes from the last failed attempt at the macaron

1. Added a pinch of creme of tartar as the egg whites were foaming during the beating process, as per Claire Clark's recipe
2. Folded the dry mix into the egg whites (rather than the other way around - was suggested by the Macaron Caramel Fleur de Sel recipe I experimented with from Chubby Hubby - great post and great recipe!)
3. Beat the egg whites into a stiff peak rather than a medium peak. Again as mentioned by Claire
4. Piping not using a plastic bag!

Half time verdict
Round 1
Medium peak eggs













Round 2
Stiff peak eggs

I had a good feeling about this round. I was already visibly seeing signs of improvement, and I was very happy with the promising prospect of strong macarons with delicate feet. I could sniff success.

The final verdict
It was a long 12 minute wait

Round 1














Round 2














With much built up anticipation and expectation, I was quite disappointed. My new batch of macarons were going nowhere - while there was an improvement, unfortunately for the second time, the macarons were feetless, and look nothing like a macaron.

In my bitter disappointment, I asked myself the million dollar question - "Why don't my macarons have feet?". "What am I doing differently from Pierre Hermé, Ladurée, Veronica from kitchenmusing, or Duncan from Syrupandtang? As I pondered, I ate one macaron.

Time went by. As I finished pondering, I realised I ate the entire quantity of macarons. I quickly calculated that I ate 225g+25g sugar from the batter, and 100g from the caramel. That is 350g of sugar, or 70 teaspoons of pure sugar!! I didn't know whether to throw up and hit the gym or pat myself on the back and bask in the achievement. I was slowly sacrificing myself and getting sucked into the cause of the perfect macaron.

TP research and hypothesis - Why macarons have no feet
Apparently the secret lies in stirring the batter to the correct consistency, which the general consensus appears to follow the "flows like magma" description.

Overfolding appears to be a common error which causes little or no feet, and a cracked and tough texture.

Other say underfolding reaps feet which are too big or no feet at all, but I think next time I will be underfolding and seeing how big these feet really are.

The "perfect" texture should also be shiny and glossy. The "peak" on the top of the macaron can also be used as a test. If the peak quickly dissolves, then it is the correct texture. If it stands tall, more folding is required.

It appears the drying process also plays a part in feet development, along with oven temperature, and over beating eggwhites.

It looks like from the above, you have to get every step in the whole recipe right! Any advice/suggestions/corrections most welcome.

Hopefully third time lucky. The saga continues...

My step into the world of macarons - part I

by TP Big Brother

I think its my turn. I’m starting to develop an unhealthy obsession to the beautiful delicate macaron


After a transcendental experience of a box of Laduree macarons in Lausanne, there has always been a faint pleasant lingering of it in the back of my mouth. Like blood to a vampire.

When I left Switzerland to London, I went to Harrods on a whim, to see if there was any ounce of truth in their bold motto “Omnia, omnibus, ubique – Everything for everyone, everywhere”. After spending £10 on lemon pistachios and cheddar cashews, then £15 on small pieces of every flavour of fudge in the food halls, I realized I hadn’t even started looking for the mighty macarons. That’s when I looked up and saw the pearly white “no photos allowed” gates of Laduree macaron heaven.

“Good ole Mr Al Fayed”, I thought. “Just like France”

£20 later I was in pain, but blissfully buzzing on my sugar high.

“Such a fine delicate little thing of goodness”, I thought. “A true artist piece of work”, as I rotated the macaron into the light, between my fingers like a piece of diamond. I scanned the beautiful feet and basked in the perfectly balanced flavour and texture. It was a beautiful moment

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I have since thought back to that moment many times, and the time finally came when I manned up to pop my macaron making cherry. Last week I gathered my very own blank canvas of ingredients to create a vanilla macaron with salted caramel masterpiece.


The final verdict
The taste was a wonderful sweetness on the bite, with a salty hit that crept up in the end. Other than taste though, the French would have crucified me. What a disaster! My “macaron” barely resembled food let alone art. It was more like salted caramel sandwiched between two thin white Anzac biscuits.

Jokes and laughs aside, I assume this is probably the worst it can get. After a bit of research, and help from Claire Clark, I'm hoping round 2 should be a greatly improved win! To be continued...

Rustic macarons otherwise known as failed feetless crunchy biscuits