French Macarons: French and Italian Meringue Methods
The formerly secret recipes of the world's top pastry chefs were compared side-by-side in an effort to find the best French macaron ever. These are the results.
Separate egg whites and place in a container covered with plastic wrap. Poke holes in the plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a week. Bring to room temperature before using.
Preheat oven to 275°F (135°C) with the convection setting on. Prepare a baking sheet by covering with parchment paper and tracing out 1-inch rounds, spaced about 1-1/2 inches apart, with a pencil. Flip the parchment paper over.
Grind together icing sugar and almond flour in a food processor or chopper for about twenty seconds. Sift into a large bowl, discarding about one or two tablespoons of almond flour that does not fit through the sieve.
In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip egg whites on medium speed until foamy (about 1 minute and 30 seconds). Add sugar slowly, two tablespoons at a time, and whip for 30-45 seconds between each addition. Beat until glossy with medium peaks (about 8 minutes and 30 seconds total).
Add food colouring and vanilla as desired and mix to combine, about 30 seconds.
With a large rubber spatula, begin folding in half of the icing sugar mixture. This is not a standard folding motion. Never flipping the spatula, rotate it in a vertical circle from the center of the bowl to the sides. Your goal is to deflate the batter, pushing it against the sides of the bowl, while combining the ingredients. Turn the bowl as you go, scraping down the sides as needed. After a good chunk of the almonds disappear into the batter, fold in the remaining almond and icing sugar mixture until smooth and glossy. The batter should just begin to flow from your spatula. Do not overfold.
Using a piping bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip, pipe batter onto prepared sheet trays. As you pipe, hold bag almost perpendicular to the baking sheet and flick the tip of the bag as you finish each cookie to minimize peaks. If you find the parchment paper slides around, you can secure it with a dab of macaron batter at each corner.
Rap sheets against the counter several times to flatten mounds and pop any large air bubbles. Rest for 30 minutes at room temperature to dry shells slightly before baking. While they rest, you can sprinkle some toppings on if you wish (e.g. roughly chopped nuts or crushed freeze-dried fruit).
Stack an identical pan directly underneath the tray with your piped macarons (this increases the thickness of the metal between the bottom heating element and the macarons). Bake, rotating pan half way through, for about 15-20 minutes. The macarons are ready when they do not wobble when you lightly push the side of the shell in the oven. Cool completely before filling.
Fill with ganache, buttercream, or jam. Sandwich similarly sized shells together. Let rest in the fridge for 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before eating (about 30 minutes).
Prepare Italian meringue-method macarons:
Separate egg whites and place in a container covered with plastic wrap. Poke holes in the plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a week. Bring to room temperature before using.
Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C) with the convection setting on. Prepare a baking sheet by covering with parchment paper and tracing out 1-inch rounds, spaced about 1-1/2 inches apart, with a pencil. Flip the parchment paper over.
Grind together icing sugar and almond flour in a food processor or chopper for about twenty seconds. Sift into a large bowl, discarding about one or two tablespoons of almond flour that does not fit through the sieve.
Stir the food colouring and vanilla into the first portion of liquefied egg whites and pour them over the mixture of icing sugar and ground almonds. Do not stir.
Bring the water and sugar to boil at 244°F (118°C). When the sugar reaches 239°F (115°C), begin whisking the second portion of liquefied egg whites at medium speed, ideally with a stand mixer. When the sugar finally does reach 244°F (118°C), pour it in a slow stream into the egg whites while continuing to whisk until the egg whites reach soft peaks. Allow the meringue to cool down to at least 122°F (50°C).
With a large rubber spatula, fold in all the icing sugar mixture. This is not a standard folding motion. Never flipping the spatula, rotate it in a vertical circle from the center of the bowl to the sides. Your goal is to deflate the batter, pushing it against the sides of the bowl, while combining the ingredients. Turn the bowl as you go, scraping down the sides as needed. Fold until smooth and glossy. The batter should just begin to flow from your spatula. Do not overfold.
Using a piping bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip, pipe batter onto prepared sheet trays. As you pipe, hold bag almost perpendicular to the baking sheet and flick the tip of the bag as you finish each cookie to minimize peaks. If you find the parchment paper slides around, you can secure it with a dab of macaron batter at each corner.
Rap sheets against the counter several times to flatten mounds and pop any large air bubbles. Rest for 30 minutes at room temperature to dry shells slightly before baking. While they rest, you can sprinkle some toppings on if you wish (e.g. roughly chopped nuts or crushed freeze-dried fruit).
Stack an identical pan directly underneath the tray with your piped macarons (this increases the thickness of the metal between the bottom heating element and the macarons). Bake for about 12 minutes, quickly opening and shutting the oven door twice during cooking. The macarons are ready when they do not wobble when you lightly push the side of the shell in the oven. Cool completely before filling.
Fill with ganache, buttercream, or jam. Sandwich similarly sized shells together. Let rest in the fridge for 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before eating (about 30 minutes).
Recipe by IronWhisk at http://www.ironwhisk.com/2017/09/macaron-mania-the-recipes-of-the-worlds-top-pastry-chefs/