Macaron Mania!

My summer of macaron making!

This summer I set a goal for myself: Do something every day to improve my baking skills.

I defined “something” as any number of things. Taking a class, watching a YouTube tutorial, creating a new recipe, studying a cookbook, learning French terminology, or doing a practice bake of a recipe I’ve already learned all counted toward my daily goal.

While I did spend quite a lot of time baking bread over the past few months (and am so much better at it than I used to be!) the award for “most improved” definitely goes to my macaron technique. I’m really putting in my Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hours on this one.

As I learned in Basic Pâtisserie, macarons are really hard to make. So hard, in fact, that I deemed the batch made in my practical too terrible to even photograph. In retrospect I wish I’d taken a picture so I could compare and contrast to see how far I’ve come. I recently looked back at some of my very first costume renderings, and…wow. Hard to believe I ever got accepted to graduate school with those!!

A Multitude of Macs

I have no idea how many macaron batches I’ve baked over the past three months, but I do know it’s been a lot. Dozens, maybe even a hundred. My first few attempts were complete disasters. This was mostly because I had to work out the times and temps on a new oven, using new trays, different ingredients, etc. I didn’t even take photos of the first couple of batches because they went straight into the trash bin.

After those first few disasters, I started to read anything I could find about macarons. There are plenty of tips and tricks out there, and everyone has their own (often conflicting) advice about how to make the perfect mac.

Macaron Variables

So many variables contribute to a successful macaron. Humidity, oven temperature, tray size, tray position, baking surface (parchment or silipat?), meringue type (French or Italian?), macaronage technique, tools and ingredients. Many bakers suggest resting the macarons for at least half an hour, others say to bake straight away. Some say to tap the tray on the counter prior to baking, others say it’s not necessary. Pop the bubbles; don’t touch the shells. Use silpat; bake on parchment. And the suggested times and temperatures are all over the map, too.

In the end, what I learned is that there really is no surefire, foolproof method for making macarons. It’s all about trial and error, and finding what works for you. And even then, you’ll still sometimes get a bad batch!

What Worked?

What finally worked for me? A combination of proper macaronage technique (making sure my batter was neither under- nor over-mixed), proper oven temperature (at school we baked the macs at 140° C / 285° F, but at home I found somewhere around 315° – 325° to be a much more successful temperature), resting for half an hour prior to baking, and using triple trays in the oven (the one where the macarons are piped, an empty tray nested directly underneath, and another empty on the tray below). With that, I finally found myself with (somewhat) consistent results.

In addition to much-improved macarons, all of this practice also gave me an opportunity to improve my food photography. I documented all of the semi-successful batches, and had fun playing around with different “poses” and setups and finding variety while photographing the same food over and over again.

Below are some of my favorite shots:

Raspberry Macarons with Raspberry Buttercream

Patriotic Macs for the 4th of July

Macarons with Homemade Blackberry Jam

Mint and Chocolate Macaron

Bright Blue Buttercream

Pink Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

Lemon Macarons with Lemon Buttercream

Nancy Macaron

Chocolate-Strawberry Macarons

Banana Macs with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Blueberry Jam-Filled Macarons

Double Chocolate Macarons

Macarons with Homemade Summer Peach Jam

If you’re inspired by my macaron creations, or if you make any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!