It's all about that COOKIE!

Learn the Magic Behind creating the perfect Macaron Cookies!

This simple little confection takes the Artists a long time from start to beginning to create.

Beginning with the aging of the eggs whites, a process that can take up to five days in just this step alone, Confectioners often age their egg whites in attempts to reduce moisture content from the egg whites as much as possible, with the idea behind it being that it will increase the egg whites elasticity which is much better for whipping. While the eggs “age” they lose some of their moisture. French Macarons are notorious for moisture sensitivity, and Artists will often even opt out of using liquid food coloring and substitute with a powdered food coloring to further help control the moisture content within the batter. Just one reason these tasty little treats cost ends up on the high end.

After the egg whites have been aged a Macaron Artist will often refine their dry ingredients several times before grounding the sugar and almond meal further and then pass it through a sieve, also known as a strainer, by doing this the Artist ensures the smoothest and softest shells possible. But can also be a time consuming step to make to ensure their products are made just right.

The next, also time consuming, step is the piping marathon that follows after the Artist has created the perfect batter. This step is extremely important to the visual appeal of the final product. Something as simple as a miss piped circle, with an almost unnoticeable slant of the Artists piping bag, can cause the final product to be inconsistent and the potential for mismatched halves becomes a real possibility.

The wait doesn’t end there. After the marathon of piping the Artist must then spend some more time waiting, the piped circles now need to sit for a resting period before entering the oven. An accurate resting period allows the air bubbles to break down and allows a film to develop over the top of the macaron, the film helps prevent expanding air from escaping during the baking process, as a result the Macarons do not end up with cracked shells. Some Artists will use a dehydrator on a low setting to speed up this step. The resting period also helps form the signature “foot” around the inner circle of the macaron cookie that creates the ruffled ridge, although the baking process also plays a big part of the creation of the “foot” as well. Depending of the Artist and recipe this step can take anywhere to 15 to 30 minutes after the piping is completed.

No standing around while Baking these cookies..

And as if that wasn’t enough to get right, the baking process creates a whole other time consuming, learning experience. The baking process is often where a lot of the trial and errors comes into play. So many factors can throw off the final result. Even if your timing is perfect, the baking process is where all the mistakes that you may have made in the mixing process show their faces. Over mixing your meringue can result in the shells deflating and becoming hollow, macarons require a good and stiff meringue, there for the timing of beating your meringue is crucial, stopping directly after the stiff peaks are formed will help avoid hollow shells. On the other side of mixing, an undermixed batter can mean too much air left behind within the batter that will cause the meringue to dry out possibly causing cracks in the shell.

Other factors that can make a hollow and weak shell could a batter that is too thin, a huge reason why Artists choose powdered food coloring and too age their egg whites. Or it could be the oven temperature. Not only can an oven temperature that is too hot , cause the “feet” of the macaron to spread out sideways caused by the batter expanding too quickly, and exploding outwards, it can also create hollow shells, cracked tops and browned shells. Turning down the temperature slightly after the “feet” start to form can help prevent the sideways spread in a non convection oven or the Artist will have to keep a close eye on the macarons as they bake, possibly even opening the oven at regular intervals to keep the temperature from climbing too high. Browned shells can also be prevented by placing the macarons on the lower rack until the “feet” have formed, allowing the center of the cookie to fully cook before the tops start to brown due to the boiler’s heat source at the top of a non convection fan oven. All this is just the little steps that make the baking process of a macaron a timing consuming process. Finally after perfecting their recipe and baking process of the macaron cookies, they then move on to the filling.

It all starts with the two cookies that hold it all together ...

We can't forget about that creamy filling...

The middle of the two macaron cookies, originally called the “Gerbet” or the “Paris Macaron” can be made of many different things. Most common kinds of filling used depend on the flavor and texture the Artist is looking to achieve. The top three are Buttercream, ganache and jam fillings.

Keep an eye out for future posts on what makes buttercream and ganache a great macaron filling as we break down both in future posts