Macarons Ahoy!
Well, you can't ever learn anything without trying to do it, so today I decided to try and make Macarons. Some of the "authentic" recipes are ridiculously complicated, and there was no way I was spending half a day on the Macaronnage and Maccaroner steps, so I used Violet LeBeaux's recipe.
Let me just say how frustrating it is trying to figure out how to compare measurements in England to measurements in America. If I had scales, it wouldn't have mattered, but I don't ... so I had to transfer everything into cups. Also, I whipped too much egg white (Four eggs), so I doubled the dry ingredients. Hopefully it will turn out fine.
Things I learned:
More (and pictures!) to come, I'm sure, after I've baked them, because I'm seriously doubting I'm going to get the crinkly feet the shells are supposed to have. I didn't know how much to beat the egg whites! SOFT PEAKS OR HARD PEAKS AUUGH I DON'T KNOW.
Edit: Yeah, so those didn't harden AT ALL. This is going to be interesting. :(
Edit 2: OH GOD THEY'RE GUMMY. They're baking, and they have this disgusting gummy texture, and I've already cooked them for over 10 minutes longer than the recipe suggests and THEY'RE STILL LIKE THAT.
Edit 3: I'm not even going to show you the fail that came out of the oven. Suffice it to say that there was no pied, and they're basically just crunchy sugary wafers at this point. :( :( :(
I'm trying not to be too hard on myself. Macarons are notoriously fickle and hard to make, I just ... wanted to at least be almost right?
I have need of some Supernatural in my life ... STAT.
That's what they looked like before they went into the oven. You can see what I mean about the vanilla ones, but the chocolate ones looked okay. The only thing they did in the oven was get crispy. :(
Let me just say how frustrating it is trying to figure out how to compare measurements in England to measurements in America. If I had scales, it wouldn't have mattered, but I don't ... so I had to transfer everything into cups. Also, I whipped too much egg white (Four eggs), so I doubled the dry ingredients. Hopefully it will turn out fine.
Things I learned:
- Don't snip the corner off your piping bag while holding the bag vertical. All the filling will wooooosh out and ruin your life! I have some mondo-sized macarons now because of this.
- Don't attempt to sub brewed green tea for matcha powder. The extra addition of moisture throws the ratio of dry to wet off balance, and then you have to figure out how to counter balance it ... I don't know why I didn't realize this. It's, like, Baking 101.
- ... Or just forget saving it and throw it away because it tastes BAD.
- One small squeeze per macaroon of the piping bag is all you need. In that hour while they harden, they settle outwards a tad. So now those large macarons? ARE FUCKING HUGE.
More (and pictures!) to come, I'm sure, after I've baked them, because I'm seriously doubting I'm going to get the crinkly feet the shells are supposed to have. I didn't know how much to beat the egg whites! SOFT PEAKS OR HARD PEAKS AUUGH I DON'T KNOW.
Edit: Yeah, so those didn't harden AT ALL. This is going to be interesting. :(
Edit 2: OH GOD THEY'RE GUMMY. They're baking, and they have this disgusting gummy texture, and I've already cooked them for over 10 minutes longer than the recipe suggests and THEY'RE STILL LIKE THAT.
Edit 3: I'm not even going to show you the fail that came out of the oven. Suffice it to say that there was no pied, and they're basically just crunchy sugary wafers at this point. :( :( :(
I'm trying not to be too hard on myself. Macarons are notoriously fickle and hard to make, I just ... wanted to at least be almost right?
I have need of some Supernatural in my life ... STAT.
That's what they looked like before they went into the oven. You can see what I mean about the vanilla ones, but the chocolate ones looked okay. The only thing they did in the oven was get crispy. :(