I look back at when I was making these and think, wow, why did I put myself through this experience?
You remember how I said that I dislike making crepes? Well, macarons take that dislike and turn it into hate because, man, are these things the bane of my existence to make! The reason I did this was similar to why I made the crepes, and that's because there's a severe lack of stores near me that sell macarons. I also did it as a way to test myself, but I wish I hadn't. They look okay, but the ganache ended up breaking which basically means that it just didn't taste good at all. I've actually tried making macarons in the past, but they've always alluded me. No wonder they're so expensive whenever you try to buy them, they've very time consuming and finicky.
Anyway, the reason I made chocolate macarons is because I watched a whole bunch of videos and came to the conclusion that chocolate macarons would be the simplest to make out of any other kind and I already had most of the ingredients at home. Minus the almond flour.
Oh, almond flour. You're so expensive.
A word to the wise, when you're making macarons, firstly, don't make macarons, just buy them because it will save you a world of trouble. Secondly, make sure that you buy the extra fine almond flour or else no matter how many times you sift the damn flour, your cookies will still end up with lumps.
The recipe, and you're going to have to bust out the kitchen scale for this one:
50g Almond flour (make sure you sift it)
114g powdered sugar
7g cocoa powder
57g egg whites (that's like, two egg whites btw)
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
Macarons have this process called the macaronage and if you actually want to learn what it is then google it. Basically, you're going to want to do that when you mix it, and if it sounds like a pain in the butt, that's because it is.
then for the filling, a chocolate simple ganache:
2 parts semi-sweet bakers chocolate to 1 parts heavy cream. chop up the chocolate so it'll melt better and add it to some simmering heavy cream. Don't mix it right away or your ganache will break and it'll just taste gross.
The worst part about macarons is that it's one of those desserts that you can't eat right away after you've finished assembling it. You have to wait at least a day so that the macarons actually have the right consistency and have settled properly, otherwise, it just won't taste like how a macaron should.
Well, there you have it. Macarons are a pain in the butt, but if you make them correctly, then not only does it boost your self confidence as a baker, they also taste pretty good if you're willing to put in the time!
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