i’ve been baking macarons for a year now but i realise it’s always been hit or miss. im not able to identify what i did wrong. i baked 2 weeks ago and they turned out fine but i’ve been failing the next 3 times in a row. i’ve just been using muscle memory and hope for the best 🙁 i dont know how to combine photos and videos but i have a video of the macaron batter on my profile
by WattleSalad
11 Comments
So I’m no expert, but I checked your video and your macronage doesn’t look correct. I believe you need to continue folding the batter until it flows more smoothly like a ribbon off your spatula and you can draw a figure 8 with it and it slowly dissolves back into itself.
Also, did you let the macarons rest before sticking them in the oven?
I’m sure the more knowledgeable people will be answering you soon but this is at least my take.
After you piped them, do you notice how the macarons have little tips on them? This just means that you undermixed the batter when you were combining the meringue and dry ingredients. Very easy fix, but it’ll take some practice.
When mixing, check every so often by picking up the batter with your spatula and see if it’ll fall off in one long ribbon without breaks. You can also try making figure 8s, also making sure the batter doesn’t break.
Keep watching videos before you bake them to help you remember what everything should look like at each step. Do this until you’ve made several successful batches.
I had to do this for a while because I would usually go a month or longer between making a batch and would forget how to do things.
Looks like the macaronage was cut short! The tell is the peaks at the top of your piped out shells. I would try folding just a bit longer.
Also, the cracks after baking and lack of feet look like the shells did not rest for long enough after being piped out. Hope you find some solutions that work!! Good luck
I agree they’re undermixed, definitely need a few more turns. possibly need the whites a bit stiffer. When you took out the whisk was there a stiff peak on the whisk?
Not an expert but I would guess that you didn’t mix enough during the macronage process. You should have a few visual queues, one being that the mix will ribbon off of the spatula like a slow flow of lava (without breaking), and while doing so the flowing batter will form a V shape coming off of the spatula.
The second queue is that you can shape a figure 8 in the batter when you lift out the spatula without it breaking. The 8 should sit on top for a second or two and then start to lose form.
Egg whites are under whipped.
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How long did you rest them and what’s the average humidity around where you live? I’m in NW PA and we are around 60% humidity, so I usually rest them 2 hours, or 3 hours on a rainy day. One person in Florida said they sometimes had to rest them 4 hours!
All these lucky people who live in dry climates, resting their macarons for 15 minutes, I’m jealous. 😂
Edit: I ended up [getting one of these things](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BYF6CTRK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and I put one sensor outside the kitchen window, one out in the backyard on the porch, and one in my dining room where I let my macarons rest. Then, when making them, I take the average of the three humidities and rest them according to that: 0%-30% 1.5 hours, 31%-65% 2 hours, 66% – 100% 3 hours or better yet, don’t make them that day.
What does your recipe look like? I’m wondering if your dry to wet ratio is off at all and that could be contributing!
I wouldn’t obsess over resting. I think it’s really mainly macaronage. When there’s so much air still left in the meringue, it’ll expand and cause cracking. Resting can help, but I think that in particular is impacted by cook temp and time.
I will add some egg white powder to the dry mix. It looks like too moist or not dry enough so the feet or moisture escaped thru the top then cracked in the middle. Hope my explanation makes sense.