Three months in to my macaron journey…

I started my macaron journey in October and genuinely was ready to give up after 15-20 failed trays. The amount of trial and error I had to go through to finally get a tray with no cracked shells was…BRUTAL.

However, I finally got there and I can’t help but be proud! I often stalked this thread when I was in the throes of my failures, so I wanted to share my progress!

The Monster Macarons were the only successful shells I had from several batches. A month later, after adjusting my timing and heat, I was able to successfully pull together a platter of pumpkin and gourd shaped macarons. Finally, this last week I did a full Christmas set!

I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn, but I’m so glad I didn’t give up! If you are where I was and are ready to give up, here were a few things that CHANGED the game for me!

1. USE A FAN TO DRY YOUR SHELLS – I live in a humid climate, so even when I would FEEL like my shells were ready to go into the oven, they would crack. Ever since I started using a fan for 30-35 minutes, I have not had a single crack on any of my sheets.

2. IF YOU HAVE HOTSPOTS IN YOUR OVEN, USE UPSIDE DOWN COOKIE SHEETS ON THE TOP AND BOTTOM RACKS – This helps evenly distribute the heat. Since I started doing this, I have not had any cracks. I remove the bottom one at minute 8 and the top one at minute 10 to ensure they bake all the way through, but are still protected from that initial burst of heat.

3. VENT THE FIRST TWO/THREE MINUTES – My oven is finicky, so I started to vent during those initial few minutes, so the shells weren’t overwhelmed from the get go. This has helped with the initial cracking I use to experience.

4. LET THEM SIT IN THE OVEN AFTER THEY BAKE – I keep my macarons in the oven after it’s been turned off for 5 minutes, and vent with a wooden spoon. I’ve found this has helped with ensuring the bottoms bake. Since the tops set a little quicker, I usually cover them in parchment paper at minute 14 and allow them to bake 2-3 more minutes after before turning the oven off and venting.

I’m no expert, but maybe someone is looking for one or two things to try while they are struggling through those initial phases, and these things have literally changed my entire bake and given me the confidence to continue my journey!

These truly are such a hard pastry to make, but I can honestly say that once I caught my stride, this has become so much fun! I’M SO GLAD I DIDN’T GIVE UP and I can’t wait to see how my bakes continue to develop!