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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

My Very First Macarons

It's been so long since I wanted to give a try on macarons making
Something that many dreaded of, heard many unsuccesful attempts, made me thinking twice, thrice and been procrastinating since, beating my curiousity

This month Aspiring Baker's event coincidentally is macarons
It's like a wake up call for me to at least give it a shot, and not to fear failure

I found Tartlette via Bakerella and Peng's site, did some readings on how to and the tips, too, and here it is, my first macarons, and I chose chocolate this time, cos I know, whether it's a success or not, something chocolate will end in Abby's little tummy :)



Have I succeeded? I don't think so. Have I failed? I can't say that
I was glad I saw feet coming out, but it doesn't look nice enough to me. The feet should look nicer

I managed to pipe 24 circles on 2 separate pans, 12 each. 1 pan were all cracked on top, while the other pan were all smooth. 
You see in the picture above, the first picture, second macaron from the top, you see the crack at the bottom part? Yes, that's one of the cracked shell :(

Those cracked were put at the bottom rack while baked
Why? I shall find out. One thing I can think of is the adjusting of the oven temperature. I have to play with it a little the next time I give my second try, I guess. Anybody can help me?

The part which many dreaded of, the beating of the egg whites, not really an issue to me, honestly. What I found not so easy was the piping of the runny batter and to obtain uniform round shape. I think mine was a little too big wew...

There's something I'm also not too sure.. Some said to age the egg whites in loosely covered container in room temperature, some said in the fridge. Anybody can advise me on this? Does it make any difference actually?

For this batch, I was so sure that it would turn disastrous that I didn't even bother to prepare the buttercream filling, so in the end I only used nutella spread

Personally, I don't really fancy eating macarons, it's way too sweet to my liking
Abby loves them to the bits 
True enough, mostly were now in Abby's tummy LOL
I asked her to take the cracked ones first since I didn't need them for photo taking hehe...

Recipe is from Tarlette, but I used Peng's measurement

What I need:

90g icing sugar
50g ground almond
25g granulated sugar
50g egg whites
5g cocoa powder
  1. Grind almond and icing sugar until fine, sift together with cocoa powder
  2. Beat egg whites on high speed til foamy. Add granulated sugar gradually and beat til glossy and stiff peak form. Do not overbeat, it'll be too dry
  3. Fold in almond mixture in batches til well blended (fold in vigorously for the first 30seconds, and the nslow down, not more than 50 times of folding in)
  4. Transfer batter into piping bag and pipe on baking sheet lined with non stick parchment paper, let rest for 1 hour to dry the shells (it should be dry to the touch, best to put in aircon room)
  5. Bake in preheated oven of 160degC for 15-20minutes
  6. Remove from oven, cool down for 5minutes, peel cookies from paper and cool completely on wire rack
  7. Pipe a dollop of filling on one side of the macaron, top with another shell, press down slightly. Chill before serving (overnight will be best)
Now, I shall see in my next attempt, hope I will get better result :)

23 comments:

  1. You did a great job! Believe or not I don't know how macaroons taste like. Yours look perfect to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thks Vivian :) honestly, the taste is way too sweet for me
      not to say that it doesn't taste nice, though...

      Delete
  2. Your macarons look good! Smooth and shiny surface and I prefer nutella spread than butter cream.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi Ann, thks :)
      oh I saw your first trial and I was like, my gosh, this looks professional!
      mine is nothing compared to you :)

      Delete
  3. Your macarons looks really glossy! I have yet to try at making them, though now it seems to go round in bloggerland! My daughter has been asking me to make macarons for ages, got to try soon! Have a nice day, Alice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi Joyce, thks!
      go ahead and try, your daughter will love it :)

      Delete
  4. Your macs look pretty for the first attempt! I've always failed when it comes to Choc macs but never fail when it comes to colored shell macs x((( anyways, you age egg whites for a day when is at room temp. You can fridge it to age for 3 days or freeze it to age longer (: for the cracks, maybe is temp or maybe is not completely dried. also, maybe the heat from the top is higher. Pssst ... you try baking it again (is addictive) and send me some pls! (: the macs are so tempting!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi Jasmine, thks :)
      oh thks also for your advice :)

      Delete
  5. For those who stay in temperate countries where it's dry, leaving them outside will be fine. For us, the fridge is drier than outside, so, it's better in the fridge.
    The lesser moisture the egg white has, the better it will be

    ReplyDelete
  6. wow so glad you tried making macarons because yours look very good for the first attempt! i struggle with getting so glossy shells even after trying them a few times!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi Janine, thks :)
      mine need some improvement too :)

      Delete
  7. Aq belom pernah loh makan yg namanya macaroon,banyak yang bilang manis banget rasanya, di bakery sini ada yg jual tapi harganya juga mahal yah. lain kali mau coba ahh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ya Mel, coba deh, disini jg mahal, 1biji bisa $2.50 wew...
      manis banget, aku gak terlalu bisa mkn bnyk, tp Abby doyan bgt hihihi...

      Delete
  8. Yeayyy, ini mah berhasil MBak Alice! selamat ya MBak...sukses banget tuk percobaan pertama.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi Hes.... makasih ya, tp blm perfect nih hehehe... aku liat km pny mah jauuuhh lbh ok :) lain kali pake resep rekomendasi mu ah :)

      Delete
  9. For a first timer, your macarons look successful, they have feet!:D Very nice try.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thks Jeannie :)
      hope my next try will be prettier :P

      Delete
  10. at least you have a successful try, i'm sure many bloggers who made macarons will have their fair share of good and bad experinces!! cant advise you much cos i'm also learning to know more!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi Lena, thks :) still need to improve more :)

      Delete
  11. You get this result on your first attempt? That's awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hi Quay Po, i really belive it's the luck factor this time LOL
      but perhaps it helped a bit that i did some readings on some tips before i baked this
      anyway, those in the pics were the successful batch
      isnt it weird to get successul and failed batch and they were baked in the same oven at the same time? LOL
      really need to learn and practise more :)

      Delete
  12. I tend not to leave many responses, however i did a few searching and
    wound up here "My Very First Macarons". And I actually do have 2 questions for
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    ReplyDelete

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