To bake these delicious sweets, we only need three basic ingredients and when I finally got them right (after almost quitting on them), they were perfect for meeting friends or a present in this case.
The macaron is a traditional french cookie, unveiled during the sixteenth century, emerging from the oven´s bakery of the French court. First as flat cookies with a round base; was during the nineteenth century that they began to put them together in pairs with a filling in the middle.
I was very happy with the first macarons that I baked, they were more than ok (get ready Ladurée, I´m here!!)
The second time, almost feeling like a professional and full of confidence…..disaster!. Third time—my poor macarons came out from the oven feeling tired and not looking good at all; frustration mode ‘on’ and sugar overdose (just what I needed :))
The third ones:
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| The third ones, they look like they jumped from the second floor |
Ok, last try, with extra patience, exact measures and here we go!!
Ingredients:
110gr ground almonds
220gr powder sugar
110 gr egg whites
30gr fine sugar
Colorantes (opcional)/ gel food colouring
Primero tamizamos la almendra molida junto con el azúcar en polvo (repetimos 2 ó 3 veces esta operación).
Segundo, comenzamos a trabajar con las claras de huevo, es importante pesarlas para llegar a la medida exacta (110gr) dependerá del tamaño de los huevos que estemos utilizando.
First we sieve the powder sugar together with the almonds (one or two times).
Egg whites:(it is better to measure them before, to get the exact 110gr, it depends on the size of the eggs). In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, add the fine sugar in two times and continue to whisk until the whites are thick and glossy (you should be able to hold the whites upside down without them falling out).
The macaronage (this is a delicate step): gently stir in half of the powder sugar and almond mix and then the other half. The mixture will lose some air and become quite loose, this is ok.
Now we can divide the mixture in two and add the colouring food gel that we like. (I like them without colour but in this case I also used blue and pink)
We can now put the mixture in the piping bag , place the paper template onto a baking sheet (we put a little bit of the mixture under every corner of the baking sheet to stick it to the tray) and form small blobs on the sheet, press softly with the piping bag during 4 seconds.
Before putting the macarons in the oven, we have to let them dry during 30-45 minutes, we can touch one softly to check if it is not wet or sticky anymore.
Once the surface is completely dry, we place the macarons in the oven 150º during 13 minutes. After that, we should let them cool down, otherwise they could break easily.
Rising!
Et voilà! we have our delicious macarons!! in this case the filling is nutella and also strawberry jam, but there are many possibilities: ganache, cream, merengue, buttercream…
I hope you try to make them at home. See you soon!!!