one day i shall learn (perhaps)
I promised 11clovers a recipe for macaroons over a week ago. (Actually, make that two. Maybe.) I have this very excuse handy about discovering that my recipe for the actual cake and my recipe for the filling are not the same and one recipe - ergo, the proportions were all wrong and I had to right it - plus the French and English measures aren’t the same at all, which made it even more confusing.
But mostly? This is just me, being absent-minded. I apologize, darlin’.
Note: Those will not end up looking like Ladurée macaroons, which are bright-coloured with a few millimetres of air between the crust and the filling. They will be brown with whiteish filling, which you can then flavour however you want - I prefer the ‘plain’ version best myself. You can also choose not to add any filling at all, since it is the most difficult part of the recipe; the ‘shells’ of the macaroon are fairly delicious all on their own.
Note the second: On the matter of proportions, I will indicate the measures in grams and ounces; feel free to recalculate them accordingly.
Ingredients:
For the shells:
• 250g / 8oz brown or white sugar, indifferently
• 250g / 8oz powdered almonds
• 3 egg whites
For the filling:
• 250g / 8oz white sugar
• 3 egg whites
I. the shells
• mix the egg whites (withOUT whisking them beforehand) and the powdered almonds in one large bowl.
• add in the sugar, very carefully, so that all three mix evenly.
• knead the dough until it is thick, with a visibly grainy texture.
• feel free to add in sugar or powdered almond until the dough tastes equally of the one and of the other (i.e.: forget the proportions in favour of taste, since some brands of sugar are sweeter than others, etc.)
(Note: At this point, you might want to let the dough cool in the fridge for half an hour. It’s not necessary, but it packs it up, and I personally think it tastes better once cooked.)
• make little pellets with the dough and flatten them a little on the downside so that they take the form of shell halves.
• place them on parchment paper (for baking - of course, not, y'know, parchment), preferably buttered beforehand, and bake in oven (thermos. 3) for about 15 minutes. They must be crunchy on the outside but munchy on the inside (thanks, Watterson).
II. the filling
• heat the sugar in a pan full of water (there must be just a little more water than there is sugar). Meanwhile, whisk up the egg whites until stiff.
• when the sugar is still white but thick enough to be made into small pellets between your thumb and forefinger (note: don’t make small pellets with all the sugar, this is merely in order to define the right time at which you may take the pan away from the fire), pour it carefully onto the egg whites, while still whisking energetically. Stop when it has become a meringue, slick and smooth.
III. the finish
• when the shells have finished baking, pair them up together with a layer of filling between each (up to you to choose how thick the layer is; I usually use half an inch or thereabouts).
• let rest for anytime between half an hour and an hour until they have cooled, or else they’ll be too hot to taste the full flavour.
Bon appétit∼!