Just took a macaron class in Paris. First of all I was shocked to learn all the professional macarons in Paris use the Italian method. I assumed France used French method. Our teacher was a professional pastry chef. We made our sugar syrup and when it reached 110C we turned on the mixer to high then slowly poured the syrup in when it reached 118c. Then we just let it whip until the meringue was cooled down to room temp. He even told us that you couldn’t really overwhip Italian meringue. So we sifted our almond flour and powdered sugar while that just whipped up.
Another thing I learned was that it’s much better to use powdered food coloring specifically for macarons. I think it’s called Colorant Alimentaire. Not gel. It only took a few dashes to give very bright colors.
The rest of the recipe was straight forward. The batter was a tiny bit looser than I was used to but after piping they did not need to be banged on the counter since no real big air bubbles were formed. And he put them into the oven with no resting although several pans sat resting while some were in the oven and they came out just as good.
I can’t wait to try all these tips at home. The chef made it seem so easy without all this timing and waiting and precise execution. I will be trying Italian method more now.
by No-Football5595
2 Comments
yum! ❤️ how did the insides of the shells look? what did they say about ‘maturing’ or can these be eaten right away?
Those look amazing. I was also surprised to learn most professionals use the Italian method because it’s such a pain lol. But apparently it’s the most consistent/reliable for large batches, and the super-hot sugar syrup delivers those perfect shiny, glossy tops—you can’t get the same shine with French or even Swiss.
Question—when you mentioned sifting the almond flour and powdered sugar, did you then add some egg whites in to make a paste? Or was it just meringue + sifted dry ingredients?