French Macaron Recipe | Best Tips and Tricks (FOOLPROOF!)

[Music] french macarons one of the world's most delicious and beloved desserts originating over 200 years ago and made popular in the beautiful city of lights these little cookies are equally delicious as they are intimidating to try and create field attempts at making macarons often leaves people frustrated and ready to give up but good news after many years of experimenting and hundreds of batches made i've found the best recipe tips and tricks to getting that perfect macaron and i'm here to share it with you so let's get started to start macarons should always have a crisp and smooth outer shell well-formed feet a chewy inside and some type of filling typically ganache buttercream or jam so first things first one hour before you begin place the oven thermometer in the middle of your oven and preheat to 350 degrees fahrenheit after 45 minutes have passed check the thermometer if the correct temperature is displayed you're in the clear if a temperature higher or lower than 350 appears simply adjust your oven temperature accordingly even brand new ovens can run cooler or hotter than they say so an oven thermometer will ensure you're off to a great start next prepare the eggs by separating the whites from the yolks once separated let your bowl of egg white sit on the counter for 30 minutes to reach room temperature you always want to avoid using cold eggs as it makes it much harder to get those stiff peaks which i'll show you in the next step so here's a trick if you're in a hurry or forget to bring your egg whites to room temperature no worries at all simply place your eggs in two cups of warm water warm not hot for five minutes dry off any moisture and continue separating the whites from the yolks now moving on to the dry ingredients in a large bowl add the almond flour and powdered sugar stir until the two are really well mixed you can use either measuring cups or a digital scale when making macarons it's completely up to you so using a sifter sift the almond flour and powdered sugar into a second bowl discard any clumps remaining in the sifter there should only be about a teaspoon or less if you have more than a teaspoon continue to sift or use a spatula to push the mixture through the sifter once finished set the bowl aside as we move on to the wet ingredients also a quick note people often think they can't make macarons unless they have a stand mixer such as a kitchenaid but rest assured you can successfully make french macarons with a stand mixer an electric hand mixer or even by whisking your egg whites by hand which is how macarons were originally made but we usually opt out of this method as it literally takes forever so depending on your mixer of choice simply follow the steps outlined and feel free to fast forward to the directions of the mixer you will be using [Music] if using a stand mixer pour the room temperature egg whites and granulated sugar into the mixing bowl insert the whisk attachment and whisk on medium-low speed for two minutes increase to medium speed for two more minutes and then medium high speed for two minutes turn the mixer off and add your food gel coloring about four to five drops [Music] lastly whisk the egg whites at the highest speed for 30 seconds total mixing time should be six and a half minutes the egg white mixture should hold stiff peaks in which the tip of the peak stands straight as you slowly pull the whisk attachment out of the bowl if you look closely the stiff peaks will look like little pointy mountains within the bowl you'll also know you've reached the right consistency when a ball of meringue forms within the whisk attachment this ball of meringue may also stay inside the bowl when you pull the whisk attachment out which is okay too if you think your egg white mixture is still not stiff enough simply add 10 more seconds on the highest speed and check again continue this until your peaks are where you want them nice and stiff now if using a hand mixer add the room temperature egg whites and sugar in a large bowl because hand mixers vary in speed settings take note of how many settings your mixer has and determine the medium medium high and highest speed for example my hand mixer has six settings so my medium will be setting three medium high will be setting four or five which i'll actually use both intermittently and the highest speed is setting six so once you figure that out begin beating the eggs and sugar on medium speed for 4 minutes next increase the speed to medium high for 4 additional minutes turn the mixer off and add your food gel coloring about 4 to 5 drops lastly increase the speed to the highest setting for four final minutes total beating time should be about 12 minutes the egg white mixture should hold stiff peaks in which the tip of the peaks on the beaters stand straight as you slowly pull them out of the bowl the egg whites in your bowl will also display firm tracks or impressions from the movement of the beaters once super stiff if you think your egg white mixture is still not stiff enough simply add 30 more seconds on the highest speed and check again continue this until your peaks are where you want them nice and stiff don't worry too much about over mixing as this is pretty hard to do with the hand mixer now moving on to the folding but before you begin this step watch the next two minutes to get a close look at how to properly fold in our method of counting strokes then you can proceed on your own with confidence so here we go once the egg whites reach a stiff consistency dump the dry ingredients into the meringue using a rubber spatula slowly fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites folding is often where people get really nervous but have no fear we have some tricks for you to prevent over-mixing or under-mixing your batter our recipe calls to count each fold as one stroke so if using a stand mixer such as a kitchenaid count about 63 to 65 strokes if using a hand mixer count about 48 to 50 strokes now it's also important to note that the goal of folding is to combine ingredients without deflating the egg whites which is why you fold instead of simply stir the motion of folding consists of swiping completely around the bowl and then cutting through the center with the flat side of the spatula once repeated many times the two mixtures will incorporate one swipe around the bowl and cut through the center is one stroke i'll slow it down for you so you can see this a little bit closer [Music] once folding is complete test the mixture by lifting the spatula and very slowly drawing a figure eight without the ribbon and batter breaking if the ribbon of batter does break before the figure 8 is complete the mixture is too thick add a few additional folds and continue to conduct the figure 8 test until you find that right consistency now here's a tip your stroke count may be a little higher or a little lower than the number of strokes we use but once you find that perfect number based on batter consistency always stick to that count as corny as it sounds the number will be your macaron north star guiding you through the tricky process that is folding now that our batter is ready we'll move on to piping begin by cutting the end point of a piping bag about one inch from the tip and rest the bag inside a tall drinking glass this will help free up your hands as you transfer the batter insert the metal tip and pull through the opening ensure the tip is tightly fitted now fold the top of the bag over the rim of the glass and pour the macaron batter into the piping bag [Music] secure the top with a small rubber band to prevent any spillage and set aside next place one sheet of parchment paper on your baking sheet if needed trim the paper to fit your pan to prevent the parchment paper from moving pipe a small dot of batter in each corner of the pan and lay parchment paper on top now you can absolutely use a silicone mat here as they are very popular and have some definite perps but we prefer to use parchment paper as silicone mats tend to cause hollow macarons we have found that silicone can act as a barrier not allowing the oven heat to meet the bottom of the macaron thus not allowing the insides to rise to their full potential next we're moving on to piping hold the bag vertically gently squeeze from the top and pipe a one and a half inch circle to finish stop squeezing swing the tip in a circular motion and slowly pull away the tails of the macarons will eventually sink into themselves if the batter is the right consistency pipe each circle about one inch apart [Music] once every macaron is piped firmly tap the baking sheet against the counter three to four times this will release any unwanted air bubbles if air bubbles remain use a toothpick to pop and remove lastly let the macarons sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before placing them in the oven this will allow a thin film to develop on top so the shells don't crack from the oven's heat now here's a helpful tip practice makes perfect when piping macarons but using a template can be a great way to get that perfect size simply print out our template place the parchment paper on top of the template and trace each circle or shape with a pencil place the parchment paper tray side down on the pan to avoid pencil marks from transferring onto your macarons next we move to baking the macarons insert the pan into the oven on the middle or upper middle rack bake for 13 to 14 minutes rotating at the seven minute mark to ensure even cooking remove the macarons from the oven and cool for 20 minutes once cooled to the touch carefully detach each shell dispose of the used parchment paper and place a new sheet of parchment paper on your baking sheet continue to pipe the remaining batter until the piping bag is empty as you bake the remaining batches and shells continue to cool prepare the macaron filling now the sky is the limit when it comes to fillings buttercream jam ganache the options are endless but for today we're going to use one of our classic favorites strawberry jam so once all of the shells have reached room temperature place your desired filling into a pastry bag and cut off the end point pipe the filling on the flat side of a shell and top with a second shell creating a sandwich continue this process until all the shells are sandwiched refrigerate the macarons in an airtight container for at least 24 hours before serving as tempting as it might be to eat them right away macarons require refrigeration to get that wonderful moist and chewy texture your macarons will be on the very crunchy side if you skip this step now i have some good news macarons can actually be stored in a refrigerator for up to seven days as well as in a freezer for up to one month just remember to keep your cookies well wrapped in plastic film or a tightly sealed food container if you're going to and my very last note i promise always let your macaron sit at the room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving this will ensure they are the perfect texture alright friends i hope you enjoy making your macarons from my kitchen to yours happy baking [Music] you

Channel: Tricia Rae Baking Co

Views: 160,537

Keywords: French macaron recipe, macaron recipe, basic macaron recipe, macarons, macaron, how to make macarons, French macarons, French macaron, vanilla macaron recipe, strawberry macaron recipe, macaron recipe for beginners, diy French macarons, French macaroon recipe, foolproof French macarons, hand mixer

Id: QHUjaTDHoBE

Length: 12min 56sec (776 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 06 2020