France
Basic French Macarons
A France recipe for Basic French Macarons, presented with clear ingredients and concise step-by-step instructions.
Macarons look Parisian but the technique is built on Italian meringue, and the collapse-to-shell squeeze that gives them their smooth feet is the step people most often get wrong. Egg whites, sugar and almond flour are the entire formula, so the ratios matter more than the clock. Filling and resting the shells until they form a skin are what separate a crackled cookie from a proper macaron.
Ingredients
- icing sugar125 g
- almond flour125 g
- white superfine sugar125 g
- (3 ea.) egg whites90 g
- Food coloring (concentrated variety)As needed
- Filling as desired (see notes)As needed
Directions
- 1
Combine the almond flour and icing sugar. Sift to remove lumps, and set aside.
- 2
Add the superfine sugar to the egg whites, and whip them to stiff peaks.
- 3
Add the food coloring to the egg whites and continue beating until incorporated.
- 4
Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to fold the almond flour mixture into the meringue in 3 batches. Mix until you get a lava-like batter (see notes).
- 5
Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with an 8 mm round nozzle. Pipe 3 cm rounds on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
- 6
Tap the sheet lightly on your work surface to even and flatten the mixture. Leave to air-dry for 30 minutes until a film forms on the surface of the cookies.
- 7
Bake for 12 minutes at 150°C with convection.
- 8
Remove from the oven and let cool completely. It's a good idea to move the parchment onto a cooling rack to avoid carryover cooking.
- 9
Peel the shells from the parchment, and sort them into pairs of equally sized shells.
- 10
Sandwich the cookies together with your desired filling.
Source: Wikibooks Cookbook (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0; English normalized and Chinese translation added by WorldBite.