Before today, I last made macarons about nine months ago. I had this sudden urge to try and make macarons again suddenly as I chanced upon other people’s successful macarons: smooth shells, beautiful feet and all. The thing is they all used the same recipe and boasted that it is foolproof and easy-to-follow! Thus I mustered my courage and bought a small packet of almond meal (250g instead of the 1kg I used to buy. Read more about my relationship with macarons here). Without further ado, let’s take a look at the recipe:
Recipe with Pictures
Makes about 20 pieces of macarons
Ingredient list:
- 60g of almond meal
- 80g of icing sugar
- *Optional choice of flavour and/or colour: 1 tsp of matcha powder and green colour
For the Meringue:
- 55g of egg whites
- 50g of caster sugar
For the Matcha Buttercream (Filling):
- 60g of butter
- 30g of icing sugar
- 3 tsp of milk
- ½ tsp of vanilla essence
- 1 tsp of matcha powder
My Oven Settings:
140°C; top and bottom heat; about 19 minutes then reduce to 120°C for 5 minutes
(Settings would differ from oven to oven. Please experiment with yours!)
Steps:
For the Macarons:
1. Prepare all the equipment you need before hand. For example, place the piping bag in a large jar for easier filling of macaronage later, line your tray with baking paper. (I feel that this is an important step because you do not want to leave your macaronage sitting while you scramble to prepare these things last minute).
2. Blend or sift almond meal, icing sugar and choice of flavour and leave it aside.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they foam and add in sugar slowly. Continue beating the egg whites till soft peak. Add your choice of colouring to the meringue and beat till stiff peaks. If you do not want to add colouring, beat the meringue till stiff peaks straight.
4. Pour the almond/icing sugar mixture to the meringue in three parts and start folding it in.
5. Fold till the macaronage falls off your spatula in a “V” shape when you scoop it up AND when the macaronage “closes” together in a few seconds when you draw a line across it.
6. Fill the piping bag and pipe out the macaronage.
7. Tap the piped out macaronage on the counter top for a few times to burst the bigger bubbles and use a toothpick to burst the small bubbles.
8. Leave it to rest until it is tacky to touch ie. no macaronage sticks on your finger when you lightly touch it. It should become matt and dull when dried.
9. Bake it in a preheated oven at the settings mentioned above.
10. Cool the macarons in the baking tray for about 5 minutes then try to remove it from the baking paper. If it is cooked, it would be removed easily and leave a clean mark on the baking paper. If not, pop them back into the oven for a few more minutes.
11. Cool the macarons fully before piping fillings onto them.
For the Matcha Buttercream:
1. Whisk all ingredients together till soft-stiff peak.
2. Refrigerate till firm before piping onto the macarons.
Recipe Only
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Makes about 20 pieces of macarons
Ingredient list:
- 60g of almond meal
- 80g of icing sugar
- *Optional choice of flavour and/or colour: 1 tsp of matcha powder and green colour
For the Meringue:
- 55g of egg whites
- 50g of caster sugar
For the Filling (Matcha Buttercream):
- 60g of butter
- 30g of icing sugar
- 3 tsp of milk
- ½ tsp of vanilla essence
- 1 tsp of matcha powder
My Oven Settings:
140°C; top and bottom heat; about 19 minutes then reduce to 120°C for 5 minutes
(Settings would differ from oven to oven. Please experiment with yours!)
Steps:
- Prepare all the equipment you need before hand. For example, place the piping bag in a large jar for easier filling of macaronage later, line your tray with baking paper. (I feel that this is an important step because you do not want to leave your macaronage sitting while you scramble to prepare these things last minute).
- Blend or sift almond meal, icing sugar and choice of flavour and leave it aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they foam and add in sugar slowly. Continue beating the egg whites till soft peak. Add your choice of colouring to the meringue and beat till stiff peaks. If you do not want to add colouring, beat the meringue till stiff peaks straight.
- Pour the almond/icing sugar mixture to the meringue in three parts and start folding it in.
- Fold till the macaronage falls off your spatula in a “V” shape when you scoop it up AND when the macaronage “closes” together in a few seconds when you draw a line across it.
- Fill the piping bag and pipe out the macaronage.
- Tap the piped out macaronage on the counter top for a few times to burst the bigger bubbles and use a toothpick to burst the small bubbles.
- Leave it to rest until it is tacky to touch ie. no macaronage sticks on your finger when you lightly touch it. It should become matt and dull when dried.
- Bake it in a preheated oven at the settings mentioned above.
- Cool the macarons in the baking tray for about 5 minutes then try to remove it from the baking paper. If it is cooked, it would be removed easily. If not, pop them back into the oven for a few more minutes.
- Cool the macarons fully before piping fillings onto them.
For the Matcha Buttercream:
- Whisk all ingredients together till soft-stiff peak.
- Refrigerate till firm before piping onto the macarons.
Comments:
I was very pleased with myself as my mindset before baking this was I would not be surprised even if this batch of macarons fail. I did not expect success. However, on hindsight, I felt that this macaronage was more stable (?) and thus, the macarons were successfully baked. In my previous bakes using other recipes, I feel that you really need to fold the macaronage exactly till the correct consistency. One fold less and you will get stiff macarons which most probably would also crack. If you fold too much, you will get flat macarons.
As this is a matcha macaron, the taste is not too sweet but is refreshing with a tinge of green tea fragrance. Everyone in my family agrees that it is the best macarons I have baked so far, both in terms of its looks and taste! Yummy!
Recipe Source: Adapted from a certain Mr Daniel Leong from a FB baking group (Macarons)
My Mind Patch (Matcha Buttercream)