How To: Make French Macarons

So I have been away for a while... to be more specific, that was 2 weeks. I know. Apparently my school work keeps on pilling up and I simply didn't have the time to bake. But now I am back (unfortunately for a short while) with a little how-to on making French macarons! I won't go into all of the details on how to make a perfect batch of macarons but I will show you how to make them step by step. Since these delicate treats can be pretty tricky to make, I suggest you go to this website by Food Nouveau which I refer to when my macarons are cracked, have not developed feet or are just not looking like macarons should.

Let's get started on some macaron-making!

You'll need the following ingredients:

From the cookbook, Macarons: Chic and Delicious French Treats
Makes about 20 filled macarons

200 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) icing/confectioners'/powdered sugar
100 grams (2/3 cup) ground almonds
3 large egg whites (put the egg whites in a microwave for 10 seconds to speed up the aging process)
a pinch of salt
3 tablespoons of sugar

Start by sifting the icing sugar and ground almonds together.

And mix them together well. Alternatively, you could do this in a food processor.

Then whisk the egg whites together with the salt using an electric mixer in a clean mixing bowl.

Keep whisking until it just holds a stiff peak. Try not to overwhisk or this can affect the outcome of the macarons.

Slowly add the sugar to the egg whites, a teaspoonful at a time until incorporated and becomes thick, white and glossy. Try turning the bowl upside down on top of your head to see if it stays in the bowl. If it doesn't and is still runny, continue whisking until it forms stiff peaks.

Then add any food colouring paste to the meringue mixture. I added a combination of two colours, Americolor super red and Americolor deep pink to create a kind of girly look. Mix thorougly to ensure that the colour is evenly blended.

Using a rubber spatula, fold the icing sugar and ground almonds mixture into the egg whites a little at a time until combined.

Now your mixture should look smooth and drop from the spatula like molten mass.

  

Fill the piping bag with the macaron mixture using a 1 cm wide tip (I just used a plain coupler). Pipe evenly sized rounds on 2 baking trays lined with baking/parchment paper about 5 cm/2 inches across. Also make sure to leave some space in between the macarons otherwise they will stick together after piping. If you want to be sure that every macaron shell is the same size, you could use a round cookie cutter as a guide by drawing circles on the baking paper and flipping it over to pipe on the other side. I piped the macarons myself without a guide but instead tried counting 2-3 seconds for each one. It didn't always work but at least all the macaron shells looked similar in size....

Tap the bottom of the baking trays once on a work surface to remove any large air bubbles. Do this sharply but don't be too harsh. You don't want the macarons to end up losing their shape. Smooth any peaks on the tops of the macarons with a wet finger. Let the macarons set and form a dry shell for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour, until they are not sticky or wet when tested with your finger.

When they are ready, bake the trays in a preheated oven of 170 degrees C (325 degrees F) for about 10 minutes. The tops of the macaron shells should be crisp and the bottoms dry. They should also peel off the baking paper easily but if they stick, put them in the oven again for another 5 minutes. Leave them to cool completely before filling and serving.

Here are my baked macarons and yes, there are some problems with it. Firstly, I overbaked them a little which gave them a tanned colour so make sure the oven is not too hot and don't let them bake in the oven for too long. Secondly, the tops of some macaron shells were cracked. Probably because they have not set long enough to form a dry shell unlike the other ones. Thirdly, there were some shells that stuck together because I piped the shells too close to each other. As I have said before, leave some space in between the shells when piping as they do expand a bit. Try not to make the mistakes I did!

They didn't come out as perfect macarons but they did form feet/crown and were delicious when filled with a home-made vanilla custard. Practice is the key to success! They may be a little tricky to perfect, but when made these treats are certainly rewarding. They are also so versatile and can be matched or combined with different flavours, fillings and colours to suit your theme or preference. Scattering the macarons with sprinkles, other edible decorations or liquid food colouring can add a touch of sparkle to your macarons and turn them into special little treats.

I'll be back soon with another post featuring these macarons I made from this tutorial!
Click here to see the post featuring these macarons from this tutorial.

How To: Make Perfect Buttercream Frosting

This is the most incredible frosting out of all buttercreams, even the meringue-based ones. I don't say this often but this frosting deserves every kind of praise! I am usually on the search to find the BEST frosting for my cakes and along the way I have found some to be too sweet, too grainy, too buttery or just plain ugly. This one is just perfect, a perfect amount of everything. It’s so good that I could eat it straight from the bowl. Although I have found the one, I'm still always keeping an eye out for new recipes and trying out other buttercreams. For now, let's talk about this magical frosting.

The secret ingredient to this is flour and cornflour. When I first found this recipe on Mel's Kitchen Cafe, I doubt that it would work to turn into an amazing buttercream. But after hearing from others how delicious this frosting is, I had to try it! And boy was I wrong. I was surprised how silky smooth it was when I first tasted it and declared it my go-to frosting straight away. You seriously can't go wrong with this. Well, that is if you follow the instructions properly and resist the temptation of taking shortcuts.

The process of making this does take a little time and a few steps. But trust me it is worth every minute and effort and you won't be sorry for trying it out. It is also very versatile, so you can add melted chocolate or cocoa to it, tint it with food gel colouring to your desired shade, or pipe it into delicate swirls or roses. You can keep the frosting in the fridge but it is best if you use it fresh made.

Recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Makes about 4 cups of frosting, enough for a 2 or 3 layer 8 inch cake.

You will need the following ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups of sugar (not powdered sugar)

1 and 1/2 cups of milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or paste

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 cup of plain or all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons of cornflour or cornstarch

226 grams or 2 sticks of butter, at room temperature and cut into pieces

*226 grams or 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened

*Note that adding use cream cheese to this frosting is optional, and is just as delicious without it.

Method:

1. In a bowl, combine flour, cornflour, sugar and salt (also add 1/4 cup of cocoa to it if you want a chocolate version).

Whisk in milk slowly until incorporated and smooth.

2. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium saucepan. Cook it over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, whisking continuously until it boils and becomes very, very thick, like this...

And this...

The colour of the mixture depends on the type of sugar you use. I used brown sugar so it is slightly brown in colour.

3. Remove from heat, then transfer the mixture to another bowl and leave it to cool to room temperature. You can also put the bowl over an ice bath or put it in the fridge to cool quickly. Just make sure to warm it up to room temperature so that it is not either cold or warm.

4. Beat the mixture with a stand mixer along with vanilla on a low speed for about 30 seconds. 

Slowly add pieces of butter, one at a time and tablespoons of the cream cheese (if using) until it is combined and smooth for about 2 minutes.

Keep whipping on a medium-high speed for 5 minutes and it will turn into a smooth and delicate frosting. (Mix in 113 grams of cooled, melted chocolate at this stage if you want to make the chocolate version).

After a few minutes of whipping, it should look light and fluffy like this...

5. Put the frosting in the fridge to firm it up a bit or leave it on the bench for about 1 hour. Use this frosting straight away.

Then slather the icing on top of your favourite cake, cupcake or anything else and be prepared to taste the pure awesomeness of this frosting!