Authentic French Macaron Recipe
French macarons
Sometimes folks will pretend like things are harder than they are.
My friend Hank, for example, used to blow these really pretty pieces of glass. I’d ask him how he did it and he’d get all cagey and aloof. And when he did talk about it he’d always use obscure hobbyist terminology, and grin a little like the cat who ate the canary.
The world of french cooking and pastry is kind of secretive like that, too.
Pastry cream is just fancy, pain-in-the-ass-to-make pudding. Sous vide is a lot like the rice you used to boil in the bag. Most of the french Mother Sauces are just fancy gravy. On so on, and so forth.
French macarons are that way, too. Really, they’re fancy Oreos. Uppity Moon Pies.
Here’s what you need to know to make them:
Charlie’s French Macaron Recipe
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until just foamy, then add the cream of tartar. Put the coal to your mixer until medium stiff peaks form. Slowly add the superfine sugar. Beat on high until stiff peaks form.
This is the part where you add the color. Whatever you want.
Add the almond flour and 10x mixture (all at once) to the egg whites and incorporate slowly but with purpose until the mixture is smooth, shiny, and runs like lava. (They call this the lava stage. Clever.)
Place this mixture into a piping bag, and using a 1…2…3 count, make small disks. It’s okay if there are peaks remaining as you’re piping – they’ll totally go away if you mixed properly. If not, bake ‘em off anyway and try again.
Place in the oven and immediately crank the temp down to 325F. Bake for 8 minutes. Try not to let the edges take color.
Let finished cookies stand for at least an hour before filling.
*
You’re not going to hit these out of the park the first time. It’s cool. They’ll still taste plenty good and you can try again.
Hell, you know how to get to Carnegie Hall, dontcha? Practice.
French macarons
Sometimes folks will pretend like things are harder than they are.
My friend Hank, for example, used to blow these really pretty pieces of glass. I’d ask him how he did it and he’d get all cagey and aloof. And when he did talk about it he’d always use obscure hobbyist terminology, and grin a little like the cat who ate the canary.
The world of french cooking and pastry is kind of secretive like that, too.
Pastry cream is just fancy, pain-in-the-ass-to-make pudding. Sous vide is a lot like the rice you used to boil in the bag. Most of the french Mother Sauces are just fancy gravy. On so on, and so forth.
French macarons are that way, too. Really, they’re fancy Oreos. Uppity Moon Pies.
Here’s what you need to know to make them:
Charlie’s French Macaron Recipe
- 3/4c – almond flour
- 1/4c – superfine sugar
- 2 egg whites
- Pinch – cream of tartar
- 1c – 10x (confectioner’s) sugar
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until just foamy, then add the cream of tartar. Put the coal to your mixer until medium stiff peaks form. Slowly add the superfine sugar. Beat on high until stiff peaks form.
This is the part where you add the color. Whatever you want.
Add the almond flour and 10x mixture (all at once) to the egg whites and incorporate slowly but with purpose until the mixture is smooth, shiny, and runs like lava. (They call this the lava stage. Clever.)
Place this mixture into a piping bag, and using a 1…2…3 count, make small disks. It’s okay if there are peaks remaining as you’re piping – they’ll totally go away if you mixed properly. If not, bake ‘em off anyway and try again.
Place in the oven and immediately crank the temp down to 325F. Bake for 8 minutes. Try not to let the edges take color.
Let finished cookies stand for at least an hour before filling.
*
You’re not going to hit these out of the park the first time. It’s cool. They’ll still taste plenty good and you can try again.
Hell, you know how to get to Carnegie Hall, dontcha? Practice.
French macarons