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...

8 hours in a kitchen

By TP Big Brother

Yesterday I spent 8 hours in the kitchen. On a weeknight.

Nothing surprising to those who work in hospitality. I know. But I don't work in hospitality. I am a desk jockey spending the good part of my week working the corporate spanner.

After the day job, I banged out 4 dishes last night for no one in particular. A needy white stock, a vegetarian lentil dish to hit my one a week vegetarian quota, poor feetless macarons and a version of Mary Berry's thai beetroot soup.

I do wonder how I spent that long in a kitchen, but thats me really. Food just takes me on a timeless journey down a path of another world. I have worked the hobs in the London battlefields, where I have been the one shouting "push geezer", but at home, I am within the confines of my very own food hut sanctuary. I guess I'm just suffering from the come down from holidays, which I opted to spend a month at culinary school and work kitchens, as opposed to cruising the Galapogas Islands on a 5 star Catamaran. Food just continues to invade my personal space, and I am beginning to stop resisting.

Yet, I am just another average joe who loves his food, blindly throwing money into the pleasures of all things culinary, then wanting to re-live it with a few taps on the keyboard. But, I hope this blog isn't just another food blog. I don't have the commendable structured-goal-format of cooking every recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook. And my photos certainly are not on par with the likes of the myfoodtrail blog. It's just going to be about simple me and my expanding food world (along with the other Twin Palate galaxy). Fortunately or unfortunately, I have developed a disease which causes me to want to serve, eat, buy and learn about good food. I hope this blog encaptulates that. Enjoy!