My Macaron Mishap

One of the adventures I had during my spring break was trying for the first time ever to make macarons. Yep, the elusive dessert that refuses to be mastered. It wasn't perfect (hence the blog entry title), but I did it! And they were delicious. Follow the recipe below (adopted from Popsugar) to have your own macaron mishap! And don't worry if it doesn't turn out perfect!

Alrighty, so you've decided to make macarons. Hang on tight and enjoy the ride!
Here are the ingredients you need:

For the cookie/wafer part:

2/3 cup almond meal/flour (It said meal/flour on the bag.)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 large egg whites at room temperature
5 tablespoons ultrafine sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup ultrafine sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

First step: Put the almond meal/flour through a mesh sieve to remove clumps. Do the same with the powdered sugar. Mix them together. 

Then, in a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on medium high until they are frothy, then add the ultrafine sugar one tablespoon at a time. (Save two of the egg yolks for the filling later!). Continue to beat the mixture until stiff peaks form. This took me at least six minutes with a hand-held beater. You know you have stiff peaks when you pull out the beater and the peaks on the beaters stick straight out. Now, gently mix in the vanilla extract.

The next step is to add the almond meal/flour and powdered sugar mixture into the meringue. Fold it in, don't mix it. You want the meringue to still be as airy and fluffy as possible. Preheat the oven to 280° and move the racks to the bottom levels of the oven. Then, spoon this mixture into a pastry bag and pipe out little one-inch circles on parchment paper.

Let them sit for 15-20 minutes (so they don't spread in the oven), then pop them in the oven for 15-18 minutes, opening the oven to check on them every so often. You will know when they are done when the insides aren't mushy and the tops are hardened, but not browned. Let them cool while you make the filling.

As you can see, many of mine cracked on the top. But some, like the one in front, turned out perfect! It's a mystery. A macaron mystery.

So, to make the filling, mash up the softened butter until it looks like mayonnaise. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then add the sugar. It turns an off-white color. Add the milk and, if you'd like, food coloring. My filling only needed one drop. Pour this (still without the butter) into a saucepan on medium heat, stirring frequently until it thickens.

 

Once it's done, pour it into a bowl and add the butter. Finally, use a knife to spread ithe filling onto a macaron half, then place another one on top like a sandwich and you're done! Not too bad!

 

All ready for after-dinner dessert!