Holy Pillows of Air, Batman!

Parisian Macarons.

Oh, how I loathe... and love these airy, pillowy, and sugary delights.

I've attempted to make these sweet sensations in the past and was met with more than frustrating results.  For those of you who are familiar with my blog will recall not one, but two failed attempts.

 

For this week's challenge...

Challenge #4: Picture Perfect
Sure, you can take a pretty picture. But your task here is to go above and beyond and use photography to create a step-by-step, instructional photo tutorial."

(thank you all so much for voting!!! I'm truly shocked and honored to have made it this far!)  

...I thought I'd challenge myself a bit considering I often show a "step-by-step" & "how-to" through photography on a semi-regular basis.

First, a bit of clarification on the primary ingredient: Almond Flour/Meal. 

After the first few trips to the grocery store and every other grocery-selling store out there I quickly found out who carried and didn't carry Almond Meal/Flour.

(Yes, they're the same thing)

One of those places I went to was Trader Joe's.  I had called them to see if they had almond flour before I hassled myself in a pointless trip.  

Me: "Hi, do you guys carry almond flour?"

TJ Employee: "Let me check... We have almond meal."

Me: "They're the same thing!" (Or so I thought)

I went across the street to discover that their "almond meal" looks like this:

The difference is clear right?  One word was missing from the label on the bag and that magical word is BLANCHED.

Almond Meal/Flour that is typically used in producing French Macarons are made with Blanched Almonds or Slivered Almonds.

 

Blanching is a process in which they remove the outer skin.  This process will cost you somewhere around $6 or $7 more than the almond meal with the skin on.

I've actually made them before with the skin-on almond meal and it does make a difference.  Stick with the blanched stuff.  That's what the pros use and my goal is try to stick with the most authentic method as much as monetarily possible.

On to the recipe.

In the other attempts at the macaron I used the same recipe which I got from an LA Times article in this past Easter.  It was written by my favorite bakebook author, Dorie Greenspan. 

(Taken from Dorie's Facebook Page)

Her books are fabulous.  She lives between two of her homes, one in New York and one in Paris.  And... she's good friends with Pierre Hermé.  If you don't know who he is, let's just say that he's a pastry god whose flour-coated shoes I am unfit to wipe.  Actually, he's so good, I bet he doesn't even get flour on his shoes!  Either way, I am unworthy.

In the recipe she states that the recipe is based from his book, "Macaron."  The link is correct... IT'S IN FRENCH PEOPLE.  That's why this article is such a gem!  Through Dorie we are able to take a sneak peak into the secrets of the macaron as done by the French.

Before I break everything down, I'd like to state that this was INCREDIBLY hard to make.  It took me SIX attempts.  YES.  SIX.

Each batch yielded 3-half sheet trays.  That's a lot of friggin macarons.

I could go on and on about what I did and what probably caused the cracks and blah blah blah but I'll spare you the extra text.

I'll just say that there were a lot of scraps.

(This is about HALF)

BASIC PARISIAN MACARONS

by Dorie Greenspan/Pierre Hermé

1/2 Cup (3-4 large) Egg Whites (Room Temp, Divided in Half)
Food Coloring (Optional)
1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 Cups Blanched Almond Meal/Flour (5.3 oz)
1 1/3 Cups Powdered Sugar (5.3 oz)

3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
3 Tablespoons Water

After about 3 attempts this recipe wasn't quite working so I turned to the net for further guidance.  I came upon David Lebovitz's site (an extremely talented baker as well as a good friend of Dorie's! I wonder if gifted pastry geniuses all hang out together...).  He listed some resources and this "Almost Foolproof Macarons" was one of them.


The recipe looked almost exactly the same as Dorie's but with a slight exception: 

4 more tablespoons of granulated sugar. 

Here's the breakdown (the method was slightly adapted to make it work for me and diverges somewhat from Dorie's):

0.

Stencil out 1 1/2" circles on parchment paper (3).

1.

Divide the Egg Whites.  Add Vanilla (to the cup on the side).

 

Sift the Almond Meal and Powdered Sugar together.  Set aside.

2.

In a standing mixer whip half the Egg Whites until foamy 

then rain in the Sugar.

Whip until it holds soft peaks.

Put the mixer on low while you wait for the Sugar to boil.

AT THE SAME TIME...

Bring Water and Sugar to a boil.  

Brush the sides with a brush and water.

Once the Sugar mixture comes to 230 degrees, 

slowly pour into the beating Egg Whites.

Beat until stiff peaks.

3. 

Mix the Almonds, Powdered Sugar, Egg Whites, Vanilla, and Meringue.

4.

 

Prepare a pastry bag with a round tip.

5.

Fill bag and pipe.

6.

Let dry until you can touch the batter with it not sticking to your hands.

Put a fan on it to make it dry faster.

Preheat oven to 320 degrees, NOW.

7.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown.

8.

Completely cool.  Match similar sizes and fill with desired filling.  

I used a Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

And added raspberry preserves to some of the buttercream.

9.

Sandwich together, place in an airtight container, 

and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.

Depending on where you live, weather, oven, and a host of other variables my method might not work for you.  That's why this simple recipe of only 6 ingredients will cost you an arm and a leg at places like Bouchon.

 

But when it works, it's beautiful!

 

Good Luck!!!