My 1st attempt was in Glasgow 2 years ago and it turned out badly. The meringue browned, cracked and no feet developed. After renovating the kitchen, macarons were on my to bake list.
But baking in Malaysia poses a problem: humidity. I experienced it when I baked meringue cookies. I baked it on a sunny day, switch on air conditioning and left the fan on.
I used the recipe from preppy kitchen and splitted it into 2 batches. I watched preppy’s kitchen video and tasty’s video.
Baking Macaron
1. Measure ingredients & prep equipment
a) Egg white
3 egg whites are 110g.
Separate the egg white from the egg yolk when it is cold.
I left the egg white was out for 1 ½ hours at room temperature and ½ hour air conditioning.
b) Almond flour & sugar
Sift icing sugar and almond.
c) Cream of tartar
1 egg white needs 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar. It is acidic and helps to stabilize egg white.
d) Oil free equipment
Ensure equipments to make meringue are oil free.
2. Make meringue
a) Foam stage→ add cream of tartar
b) Soft peak→ add sugar slowly
c) Stiff peak→ add gel colouring
3. Macaronage
Fold macaron with icing sugar and almond flour.
Some recipes call for a specific number of folds. My first batch took 50 folds and second batch took 20 folds. I checked using ‘figure 8’ test.
4. Piping
Switch on air conditioning on ‘drying mode’. Use parchment paper to line the tray. Pipe it using a circle tip. Tap the tray to remove air bubbles. Rest it for 1 hour and check that it forms a ‘skin’ on the surface.
5. Baking
140C 14 mins. The first batch of macaron feet extended out slightly and surface browned.
130C 14 mins. Moved macaron tray to the middle oven shelf and reduced temperature by 10C. The second batch of macaron feet was fine but surface browned slightly at some spots.
Cool it and then pair it up to freeze. Pipe the filling another day.
Painting Macaron Shell
A few hours before painting the macaron shells, I shifted the it from the freezer to the fridge.
I used some water to dilute the gel colours on the palette and painted it watercolour style. The kitchen towel is used to dry up the brush after rinsing it with water.
Macaron Filling
I used a buttercream filling from here.
