Macarons - Part 4 - i ♥ macarons

Still working towards an elusive perfect macaron I decided to put my 3 previous unsuccessful experiences (found here, here, and here) behind me an start again.

By the time I got to this point I had watched the Great British Bake Off Season 1 and had seen success with the Italian meringue method of macarons.

Using my book "i ♥ macarons" by Hsiako Ogita, I used the section on the Italian meringue method.

Macarons Part 4 - i ♥ macarons

For this recipe I used:
30 ml of Water
65 Grams of Sugar
85 Grams of Almond Meal
150 Grams of Icing Sugar
3 Large Egg Whites - at room temperature
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

 I gathered all of the ingredients together.

Macarons Part 4 - i ♥ macarons - The Ingredients

I used the marked parchment paper I used on the last batch of macarons for the new batch.

Macarons Part 4 - i ♥ macarons - Marking the Parchment

I once again ground the almond meal and the icing sugar together in my food processor

Macarons Part 4 - i ♥ macarons - Processing the Almonds and Icing Sugar

Next I double sifted the almond mixture twice to ensure the finest possible flour consistency.

Macarons Part 4 - i ♥ macarons - Double Sifted Almond Mixture

Next I placed the water and sugar in a saucepan with a candy thermometer and heated it until 235˚F - hardball stage.

Macarons Part 4 - i ♥ macarons - Bringing the Syrup to Temperature

Macarons Part 4 - i ♥ macarons - Just about there

While the syrup came to temperature on the stove, I placed the egg whites in the bowl of my mixer and whipped them for a minute or so until foamy. As soon as the syrup was at 235˚F I turned the mixer on medium high and added the syrup in a thin stream into the egg whites. I continued to beat on medium high until thick glossy peaks had formed.

Sadly my attention was on the mixing of the hot sugar and not on documenting the next bit.

As in my Macaron's Part 3 post I added 1/2 of the almond mixture, then the vanilla, then the second 1/2 of the almond mixture. Folding after each addition.

Then it was time for the 10 folds with a big spatula called Macaronage.

I then transferred the macaron mixture to a pastry bag and piped the batter onto the circles on the lined baking sheets. I then gave the baking sheets a firm rap on the counter to release any air bubbles. I let the pans set for 15 minutes while the oven heated to 400˚F.

Macarons Part 4 - i ♥ macarons - Piped Macaron Batter

This version of macarons produced a batter that stood up! A great  start. Then I noticed that there was a lot of hard ball sugar syrup residue in the bottom of the mixer bowl.

Macarons Part 4 - i ♥ macarons - Syrup Residue in the Mixer Bowl

I baked the macarons for 11 minutes until they were showing a little bit of colour. As you can see the macarons held their shape, mostly. You can also see that the macarons cracked. The best part was... they had a foot. This was the best version of macarons so far. 

Macarons Part 4 - i ♥ macarons - Baked

 I was close but I needed to master this cookie!

Baker's notes:

• I used a mixing bowl that was much too big for this recipe causing a bunch of the sugar syrup not to be incorporated in to the macaron batter