Umami Mart Registry
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By Yamahomo
Originally posted on April 21, 2008

PREFACE

Macaron Battles Part 1 & 2
The Battle Continues


I must master this. I think I came pretty close to what macaron should be on trial 3, but I mixed the batter too much, hence it was too thin. Over the weekend, I made it three times.

Here is how it went.

Note: I found Laduree's recipe, and followed the measurement below.

4 egg whites
1/4 cup of sugar (used for meringue)
275 gram powdered sugar
140 gram almond flour
20 gram cocoa powder (or green tea powder)


Trial #4 (Saturday morning)
I had a fried chicken party planned for the evening, and thought I would make macarons to contrast the very Americano dinner. I measured everything Friday night quite intoxicated, yet sober enough to be able to see numbers on the kitchen scale. I woke up not too late Saturday morning, and started making the batter. I might have been still drunk, but I tried to remember the process, not to mix too much, yet mix it enough. I thought I did it just the way I should, but something was off. While the macarons were resting after I piped them out onto a cookie sheet, a horrifying thing happened. Every one was connecting to each other! Did I mix too much? What the fuck is this ugly surface? I did rest this for 45 minutes so that the skin can form on top, but somehow, somewhere, I fucked it up.

Lesson learned: Make the entire process of macaron making SOBER.


Trial #5 (Saturday afternoon)
Show must go on. Despite my utter failure in the morning, I had to have dessert for the evening's gathering, and I was determined to make another batch successfully. So I measured everything again, waited till the egg whites were room temp (some recipe says to leave egg whites in room temp over night, but I didn't have the time. Also American eggs are not that fresh, so it is fine to wait until it gets room temp), then started all over again. This time, I used cocoa powder to make chocolate macarons. My determination won the battle. It wasn't runny, it was thick enough to hold the shape of cookie, HUGE leg action happening as well. Some sticking to each other, but it's ok...



I haven't gotten into the cream making part yet, so I, again, made raspberry jam with whipped cream mixture, and sandwiched it. When making macarons, always rest it for 24 hours (or over night). It really changes the texture. When it's assembled, it's still chewy, but after resting a while, the whole thing becomes a 'macaron', not 'macaroon'. I served this after fried chicken dinner, and everyone was amazed. One of my friends, Tonny used to live in Paris, and he said it was one of the best! Yamahomo finally achieved the Laduree level.


Trial # 6 (Sunday)
We ate them all Saturday night, and I had to prove that I can make successful macarons every time from this time on, so that I can get into the cream making business. In order to perfect everything, I went to kitchen supply store, and bought 1cm piping tips, sifter, then went to Williams-Sonoma and bought a $27 cookie sheet. Real macaron businesses starts from buying all the necessary equipments no matter how expensive it might be...

I am getting to the point where I can pipe out almost identical rounds, too! This one has matcha powder. Using round piping tip is definitely a good idea. I was just cutting a whole in zip-loc bag before, but this makes real rounds.



The legs are just so perfect, and I cried a little. 6 trials, and I came to perfect macaron making. Now I can move onto different flavors and different creams. Where can I buy these fancy boxes that Laduree's macarons come in?





By the way, I have 12 egg yokes in the fridge. I need to come up with a recipe that requires many egg yolks.
Column: Best of Umamimart
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7 comments

  • It’s funny how I look at my own old posts all the time for recipes. I made macaron the other day, and looked at this post. I must say, it was the BEST macaron I’ve ever made. The difference is, as many recipes say (on the contrary to my previous method), leave egg whites on kitchen counter for 3 days. It may sounds scary, but that makes the most stable meringue, which holds the batter so well, and the leg actions are AMAZINGLY crazy. Also when you have multiple trays of batter, be sure to cook one sheet at a time. Now I should get into different flavors, passion fruit, lavender, tiramisu, etc.

    Yamahomo on

  • Funny, the other day I decided to learn to make these babies soon as I believe it’s compulasary for every gay man to be able to make macarons. It’s such an un-hetero cake dessert – sweet, French-ish and with a high emphasis on looks – especially if you get a luxury box of all colours.

    Having this recipe ready and the warm egg tip is great – thanks YH!

    Anders on

  • I should include this into Faglicious.

    yamahomo on

  • Here comes the Gay Mafia.

    kayoko on

  • “When making macarons, always rest it for 24 hours (or over night).”

    Does this mean after baking the rounds, let it rest for 24 hours? Covered? or uncovered?

    esther on

  • esther, seems like you are ready to tackle this monster! The reason for resting the finished product is so that the cream filling can moist the shell to create a typical macaron texture. When you assemble macarons, they are very chewy, just like how macaroon is, but by resting them for 24 hours in the fridge, put in airtight container, it becomes very macaron like. Crisp outside, but very moist inside. Having said that, I usually make my macaron in the morning, and serve them for dinner.

    Yamahomo on

  • Thanks!! I’m gonna do this!!!!!!!! =D

    esther on

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