First macaron attempt

On Sunday, we attempted our first few batches of macarons.

We had bought a book in Sydney called I [heart] Macarons, it is by Hisako Ogita. It lays out the c. 30 step process very simply, each step with a photograph, and also has a handy trouble shooting section outlining various imperfections to look out for and what you will have done to cause them.

We made three batches, but kept them all very simple - the first two were just her most basic recipe, flavoured with a little almond essence, the last with raspberry and a little pink colouring. They came out ok - we were certainly delighted to achieve the pied 'feet' from our first batch.

Unfortunately, none of the things that did go wrong were in the trouble-shooting section of the book - no oily spots, no cracked tops, no un-glossy tops and no pied-less biscuits (huzzah!). This meant that we were left with a bit of guess work as to how to fix the problems we had though. Main things we learned:

-Shape: The perfect macaron is a nigh perfect circle with a pleated pied, and then a smooth dome. Our piping produced significantly less than perfect circles, and ended up as more of a pointed swirl than a flat smooth dome. After some practice with the second batch, we were getting more regular circle shapes, but they were still swirly. Cutting a larger hole from the zip lock bag helped a bit with this latter problem, but we think we really need a proper piping bag that will hopefully allow us to pipe in single dollops without swirling action at all. Possibly an ever so slightly less stiff mixture might also help.

-Cooking: The first batch were over cooked; a little too crispy right through, and more browned than you want. We decided to take them out a little sooner next batch, but these were a little too gooey inside and some wouldn't come off the tray properly as the crispy top just broke away from the softer centre, even after being left to cool completely. Our conclusion was that the recipe may not be intended for a fan forced oven, or Jenna's oven might just be too efficient. For the last batch we decreased the temperature and cooked for the regular amount of time (190C seems too hot for what is essentially a meringue anyway). Again they were a little too soft in the centre, though. Possibly we need to continue at the decreased temperature, but leave them in for longer, if anyone has any thoughts they would be much appreciated.

The other complicating factor is that they get softer a few hours after being filled - the too-crispy ones ended up pretty much perfect the next day, though still too brown and overcooked-looking on top.

- Filling: The first filling we made was a raspberry butter cream to go in the almond ones. We followed Ogita's recipe, which was a very complicated process involving whisking eggs and heating syrup and various other things not usually involved in the production of butter cream. Also, it ended up not really coming together properly, and seemed to have no advantages over regular butter cream. It may have been that somewhere along her process we started doing it wrong, but we're pretty sure it;s just a not very good recipe, so next time we are going to stick with the classic butter / icing sugar / essence model.

We also made chocolate gnash, which is simply chocolate melted into hot cream. We used a Whitakers dark Ghana with coffee in it, so it had a mocha flavour.

Over all, the first macaron experiment was much more successful than we expected, but left clear areas for improvement. The process seems to be a complex science of trade-offs - if they are cooked for too long, they become too brown and crispy. If not cooked long enough, they are too soft and break apart. If the mixture is beaten to stiff peaks, it is impossible to form a flat dome. If it is not beaten properly, no pieds will form. etc etc etc. The goldilocks zone must be attainable, but will require more work. If anyone has any experience in the above areas and would like to share their suggestions we would be most grateful.

First batch just out of the oven. Browned and poor shape.

Looking a little more like macarons with raspberry and chocolate filling.

Second batch - better colour and improved shape, but still some swirl / point issues.