2nd time baking the little jewels (which currently resemble deflated crusty balloons). The bottoms turned out wet, slightly stuck to paper and tops cracked. Some rose a little, most didn’t.
My steps:
1. Blended granulated sugar to finer mix
2. Used some egg whites from fridge, some freshly cracked (room temperature)
3. 1/4 tsp cream of tartar + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (added to egg whites)
4. Whipped by hand until gently soft
5. Added granulated sugar and whipped after each part (in 3 parts)
6. Finished with electric mixer until stiff peaks (bowl upside down test – peaks flop when pulled up)
7. Ground almonds blended
8. Ground almond mix + icing sugar sieved into bowl
9. Meringue added to dry ingredients
10. Folded until incorporated and figure 8 test (runny)
11. Left to rest for 50 minutes
12. Baked at 150C in convection oven
Any help is appreciated!
by SuccessfulWall9152
3 Comments
It seems like they spread quite a bit. Looks like they could be overmixed, or the almond flour could be a bit oily. Either of these can weaken the structure. Of course, temperature also seems a bit high.
They’re actually not too bad, though. Keep working at it!
ETA more context, lol.
You might have rested too long. And the top stiffened too much.
How much was the moisture in your air when you let them rest?
Overmixed and underbaked and being under zealous with ingredients.
Try these steps as a problem solver.
1. If you’re going to use granulated sugar to make powdered sugar you’re going to have to use a smaller grinder such as a spice/coffee grinder until it’s a fine powder similar to talc and then weigh it as powdered sugar not granulated sugar. Then blend the sugar along with your almond flour but pulse blend, not continuous, the almonds release oil which can damage your macarons!
2. Aging your egg whites and weighing them before aging is really going to help you a lot. Leave them at room temp a few hours prior to baking to age them and be extremely meticulous with weight.
3. When whipping your meringue, get your eggs frothy before adding sugar, add 1/3, crank it up. Add 1/3, crank it again, add 1/3 and really beat them on full pelt.
4. If the peaks flop they aren’t stiff enough, they need to stand up straight. Floppy peaks is perfect for adding flavours and colour. Try to use gel as it won’t alter the structure of the meringue.
5. Don’t add meringues to almond and sugar, add the dries to the meringue! It sounds real silly but trust me on this one. When you first add your almond flour to the meringue, smoosh it up the side of the bowl, fold 10 times and cut through the batter. Repeat folding and cutting another 2 times. (No more smooshing) the check your ribbons.
6. Slow down your folding! Fold 5 times and check, no more cutting. If you get a slow stream of batter that you can draw a figure of 8 and it reabsorbs in 10-20 seconds STOP. Fast, runny batter indicates over mixing. Err on the side of under mixing. You’ll lose more air when you’re piping.
7. I really recommend silicon mats from Amazon they’re like £10($15) for two. Or the scran line has templates. YouTube how to pipe too. As you rest your Mac’s, open the window. This’ll allow cool air and release any moisture on the air.
8. When you rest them, pre head your oven slowly for half an hour. Bake and turn the tray half way through baking. Set aside, love her, leave her to cool COMPLETELY. like a good few hours.
9. Peel and age them for 24 hours in the fridge.