Macarons - Part 5 - Eureka!

Yet another trial in my quest for a perfect macaron. If you have been following, this is trial number 5.

• Part 1 Here
• Part 2 Here
• Part 3 Here
• Part 4 Here

Building on my progress in part 4 I decided to try the Italian meringue again. This time I would use a mixing bowl and my hand blender rather than my mixer. The bowl on my mixer was too big for one batch of macarons and left at least 1/4 of the syrup on the side of the bowl.

I am using the book "i ♥ macarons" by Hisako Ogita.

Macarons Part 5

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
5 ml of Vanilla

Macarons Part 5 - The Ingredients

Following the recipe I use my food processor to grind the almond meal and icing sugar together and then double sifted the mixture.

Macarons Part 5 - Double Sifted Almond Mixture

In a medium bowl, using my hand mixer, I started whipping the egg whites until slightly frothy.

Macarons Part 5 - Slightly Whipped Egg Whites

Over on the stove, in a small pot, I combined the water and sugar and heated the mixture.

Macarons Part 5 - Water & Sugar

I boiled the syrup until it reached 235˚ F.

Macarons Part 5 - Bringing the Syrup to Temp

Once the sugar was at temperature I slowly drizzled the syrup into the egg whites while beating them on high. 

Macarons Part 5 - Finishing the Egg Whites

After about 10 minutes of beating the meringue was cool enough to add the vanilla.

Macarons Part 5 - Adding the Vanilla

When the vanilla was mixed in I switched to a large spatula and folded in 1/2 of the almond mixture.

Macarons Part 5 - The first 1/2 of the Almond Mixture

Then I added the second half of the almonds and gently folded them in.

Macarons Part 5 - The second 1/2 of the Almond Mixture

Then it was time for macaronage - the final 10 folds.

Macarons Part 5 - Macaronage

And it was off to the pastry bag.

Macarons Part 5 - Filled Pastry Bag

Macarons Part 5 - Ready to Pipe

I piped a round of macaron batter in each of the marked circles, then gave the pan a hard rap on the counter to disperse any air bubbles.

While the oven heated to 400˚F,  I let the macarons rest on the counter to form a slight skin. Then it was off to the oven for 11 minutes.

This time everything came together.  No excessive spreading and perfect feet!

Macarons Part 5 - Perfect Pied

I filled this batch with Meyer Lemon Curd. For a more traditional macaron use a filling like Swiss Buttercream.

Macarons Part 5 - Eureka!!