How to Make Simple French Macarons

Macarons might seem extremely challenging because of their trickiness in achieving a certain defined texture. They are certainly not! This is a simple recipe from our local baker but once its mastered can have all sorts of combinations of flavours and colours to create whatever you want. It demands practice too.

Preparation time: up to 90 minutes

Produces 2 dozen macarons

Equipment:

• 1 piping bag with a 1 cm or 1/2 inch nozzle or tip
• 2 solid baking sheets lined with non-stick baking parchment
• a very clean mixing bowl – needs to be as clean as possible
• electric handheld whisk
• rubber spatula
• 1 large metal tablespoon

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups/200g icing/powdered/confectioner’s sugar
• 2/3 cup/100g of ground almonds
• 3 egg whites kept at room temperature (that amounts to 125g or 1/2 cup)
•  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• a tiny pinch of salt
• 4-5 tablespoons caster sugar

Preparation:

1. Weigh all the ingredients carefully and have them at room temperature.
2. Put all the icing sugar and ground almond into a food processor or a bowl. Blend all together for about 1/2 minute until all is thoroughly mixed in. Keep aside.
3. To a dry clean mixing bowl, add the egg whites and salt and whisk (beat) with an electric handheld whisk until a stiff peak is formed.
4. Keep whisking at a slower speed to allow the caster sugar to be added in teaspoon amounts. Mix well between each addition. Please do not add all the sugar in one go – the magic doesn’t work. The beaten egg whites should take on a thick, glossy white appearance.
5. At this point add any flavourings and colour. This basic recipe is using vanilla extract. To get any addition added properly, use a spatula – rubber is best to slowly incorporate the flavour or colour. Keep working in to get an even blend.
6. With a large metal spoon, fold in the almond- sugar mix from (2) into the egg white mixture.
7. Keep adding by degrees to create a well incorporated and smooth mixture. It takes up to 2 minutes. The mixture is ready when it drops from the spoon in a smooth creamy mess.
8. Fill a piping bag with the mixture and pipe even sized rounds of about 2 inches/5 cm across on baking sheets in a metal baking tray.
9. Tap the  tray on the work surface to remove any large air bubbles.
10. Add any decorations to the macrons at this point.
11. Leave for 15 minutes at least. It could take an hour for them to set and form a dry crust. Check one of them to see if the surface is still sticky or tacky with a fingertip.
12. Preheat the oven to 325F/170C/Gas Mark 3 
13. Bake the macarons on the middle shelf of a preheated oven with just one sheet at a time for 10 minutes. The tops should be slightly crispier than the bottoms which should be dry. Turn the trays round in the oven half way through to account for any heating variations.
14. Cool on the baking sheet.