First off: these are NOT my macarons, though I wish they were!
(“What, you mean you don’t label your desserts that are on display in your bakery case in the kitchen?”)
They are the first macarons I’ve ever had and were at La Boîte Cafe, which is a food truck reused shipping container in Austin. This was back in September, and I wasn’t even aware of the existence of macarons until a little over a year ago, thanks to the food blogging world. You don’t really see macarons ’round here* is basically what I’m getting at, so when I found out about them, I was instantly intrigued.
* Okay, that’s not true. I had a really terrible one here in SA at a certain place, but maybe they were just really old. Their croissants are good at least.
So pretty, yummy, and what’s that – tricky to make? Well, I must!
On Saturday I’m going to Florida and have promised my macaron-loving friend Katie that I’d be armed with some. That’s a pretty ballsy commitment for someone who has never made any, but I finally gave them a go today!
Before getting started, I read Demystifying Macarons by Helene of Tartelette multiple times, which made me feel quite a bit more comfortable about the whole process. Highly recommended if you’re feeling the urge to bust out a batch of these finicky babies. She is the Master!
So…how did it go?
Good news: My macarons got feet!!
Bad news: They didn’t want to leave the parchment/silpat! (I used one of each)
I was trying to figure out what the deal was with this. Helene suggests adding few drops of water under the parchment and also baking them for a little longer, but no luck with either. While trying to figure this out, I read in one place that it means they’re underbaked and in another that they’re overbaked. Also, the ones on the parchment developed more pronounced feet, but it was harder to remove them than it was with the ones on the Silpat.
Overall, I’m pretty pleased with how they turned out, especially since I really wasn’t sure if I had combined the almond mixture with the egg whites enough or too much. Probably the fact that I didn’t put any pressure on myself for these helped! I just made the plain recipe for shells in Helene’s guide and filled them with ganache, which I didn’t make until I knew for sure I’d use it.
I haven’t had one yet with the ganache (I ate all the crumbled shells and they were fantastic!) because they’re “maturing” in the refrigerator. Lordy, these are fancy oreos.
Those who have made macarons, have you experienced the sticking issue? I’ll do some more research tomorrow (well, technically today :P), but right now I am POOPED!
Update: okay, macarons are my new favorite thing. *drooooool*
bake me away! 
They look like a beautiful first attempt to me!
Very nice job for a first batch. And I love the ganache filling because…right…
I’ve had the sticking issue; usually it’s because I try to peel them too early. Try this:
-Once you pull them out of the oven, pull the parchment paper over onto a cooling rack. Let sit until cool to the touch, but not longer.
-Carefully remove the shells on the edges of the parchment paper first.
-Remove each shell by gently rocking away from the parchment paper from the edges first, and finally reaching the center.
Thank you for the tips, Victoria! I should defintely try taking the parchment/silpat off of the sheets immediately because I didn’t do that. Might have actually let them cool for too long. Will keep this all in mind for next time!
These look SO good – the feet look perfect, and they are not cracked (that’s my issue). Mmm want to lick the screen.
Actually, one of mine did crack while baking! Will have to check yours out. :)
Your macarons are mature now. They’re all grown up.
This sounds stupid, but the last few times I’ve seen someone type “macaron”, I totally thought it was a typo for “macaroon”. Wikipedia fixed my misconception.
So…what exactly do these taste like? I’m a little weirded out by the ones colored bright green and red; I prefer my sweets to look like actual food. ^_^ They sound like an interesting challenge, though! Also, what is the “maturing” supposed to do exactly?
I think everyone thinks that at first! I know I did.
They taste like amazingness (that helps, right?). You should try for yourself…I just looked up macarons in Atlanta on yelp and there are tons of places with them! Maturing lets the shells soften up a bit by absorbing moisture from the filling…at least that’s what I’ve gathered.
I also like that the last word in this post is poop(ed).
They grow up so fast! :'(
haha, I thought you would.
They’re beautiful! :’)
Great first attempt! I won’t try these until I can do meringue, and I just can’t yet. Very impressed!
Have you made whipped cream? I feel like it’s the same process for meringue. Just let your mixer gooo!
I love macaroons, but have always been a little scared to make them myself without supervision. Yours look amazing!
They were definitely a leap of faith. I think you should go for it!
Question- did you use almond flour or did you grind your own almonds?
I ground whole almonds with the powdered sugar in my food processor. The cornstarch in the sugar prevents the almonds from turning into almond butter!
As usual, I’m super-impressed with your adventurous baking nature! I’ve never made a macaron before, much less even seen one (I, too, initially thought it was just a type for macaroon! As Mary also mentioned, Wikipedia educated me on the topic). I absolutely love the colored ones from the bakery that you picture, too :)
You should seek them out sometime…I think you’d love them! If they don’t have them in your town, look for them the next time you’re on a foodie adventure. :) I’m going to try some colored ones soon, just played it safe for the first try!
I don’t know what it is but macaron making is always surrounded by all kinds of mysteries! I’m getting more and more encouraged to start trying to make them, as I love a challenge! Your first ones are great! They look delish!
hi, i found you on foodbuzz… congrats on the “feet”! =) these are a great first attempt – now there are endless possibilities! =) from my experience, the sticking issue indicates an underbaked macaron… this blog has a great troubleshooting guide to macarons: http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.com/2010/08/macaron-troubleshooting-new-recipe.html
This kinda reminds me of my epic failure first attempt in baking. Not to mention yours was beautifully done and mine was a so-so. Those were the days.
Renata – I know! I feel like mine stuck because I underbaked, overbaked, cooled too long, didn’t cool long enough… Guess you live and learn! Hope you do give them a try!
lil – Thanks for the link! I think that’s actually where I read about the underbaking possibility while I was googling. Will go through the whole post before my next attempt. :)
Does the term “beautiful mess” ever ring more true??? Luv the thought of you eating the ones that stuck to the pan!!! That is exactly what I do… (There was a certain buche de noel that never made it to the blog and that I ate the remains of whilst standing over the ahem, trash can…) Kudos to you for sticking it out and making it work!!! The finished ones look fantastic!!!Someday maybe…
I made a few attempts at these and posted on my blog. They are challenging to make. I love how pretty these look, and the taste is to die for. Thanks for sharing.
My smiley face will be even more smiley when I get to try these!
Only 4 days! (?)
(:
Awww, Jessica you did great! Awesome first attempt (much more impressive than mine). Did you find you needed to use a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients? I think that may have been my only problem.
UrMomCooks – haha, disasters always have an upside with baking (well, if they’re edible at least)! Definitely didn’t mind eating the shells… Hope you try the buche de noel next Christmas! I’ve never made one.
bbkd – I’ll have to check yours out! They really are worth the effort…so yummy!
(: – 3 days now! eeeeee!
Georgia – I definitely used a kitchen scale (just got one with these in mind) and so I think that helped a lot! Now I always want to do it because I end up dirtying less dishes and it makes reducing recipes so much easier.
your first attempt to make macaroons was a success. you should have seem mine :))) were not even worth mentioning them :)))
have a wonderful rest of the week Jessica
Wow, they look great! I am seriously impressed with your first attempt. You’re on your way to your own bakery over there!
I love the buttercream and I love how they are a vehicle for so many flavors rose-lychee-raspberry salted caramel hazelnut brown butter I could go on and on. Although some like the black sesame passion fruit and raspberry are more punchy than the others they never taste artificial.
When I started baking these, they failed in an epic way… so I went to my true and trusted mother for her advice, and they came out, but then, as the years went on, I got better, and learned more, there’s so much advice out there on baking, and no two are the same… which is sooooo confusing sometimes.
The Silpat, and the parchment will yield different results for sure. Well done you…. nom nom nom!
yyuummm I’ve been seeing macaroon everywhere lately and though I’m reluctant to let go of the cupcake craze (die-hard fan) I think this might have to be my new obsession :) thanks for the epic tips!!
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