i tried to make macarons again using Duncan's recipe at Syrup and Tang with a mild success. about 40% of the batch had big air pockets and therefore had cracked tops, lopsided feet or no feet - poor cracked babies!
i let the macarons rest a bit longer so the top shells can dry out a bit more and baked them at a slightly higher temperature (the recipe calls for 160 degree C which converts to 320 degree F). they came out much better with more even feet and no crack. so here's the recipe (that worked this time):
135 gr almond flour
135 gr powder sugar
135 gr sugar
100 gr egg white
32 gr water
1. mix almond and powder sugar. i ground them again in a coffee grinder which produces a much finer flour than a food processor. sift the mixture through a medium sieve.
2. divide egg into 2 equal parts - 50gr each.
3. add sugar and water to a small sauce pan, cook on high until the temperature registers 240-245 degree F on a candy thermometer - or firm ball.
4. a minute before the sugar get to the firm ball temperature, beat 50 gr egg white at medium speed to soft peak. pour in the hot sugar at a steady stream and continue beating at medium speed. once finish with the hot sugar, increase to high speed and beat until the meringue cool down, should be warm to the touch and the meringue should be at stiff peak - this beating took less than 2 minutes for me.
5. add the remaining 50 gr egg white (i gave the egg white a few whisk just to break it up a little) to the almond mixture, add the meringue all at once and fold until everything is incorporated. i used a flexible spatula for this task before but always found that it would take longer to fold and sometime the batter ended up over mixed. i used my hand this time (clean of course), and the mixture came together instantly. the whole folding process took less than 30 seconds.
6. preheat oven at 325 degree F. stack double heavy cookie trays. pipe macaron batter on parchment using 1/2" plain tip in whatever size you prefer, i piped mine at 1-1/4" rounds. tap hard under the cookie sheet to get rid of the piped peaks and to make the piped batter spread evenly. let the piped macarons rest for about 1 - 2 hrs so the top shells have time to form. i rested the macarons 2 hrs this time, when i baked them at 1 hr rest time and at 320 degree F, i ended up with cracked babies.
7. baked for about 10 minutes, rotate half way to get even baking. take the macarons on parchment off the baking tray and rest on cool surface, i rested mine on marble. some suggested placing them in freezer for a couple minutes. macarons should come off the parchment easily.
8. let them cool and sandwich them with whatever flavor you like. i used caramel fleur de sel since i made it last week using chubby hubby's recipe.
i will try the regular meringue method next week (the meringue with hot sugar is italian meringue). last week, even though i had a disaster with macarons using regular meringue, the feet on the macarons were much more robust (than this week) which is the look i prefer. i will also mix by hand next time to prevent the overmixing. stay tune!
i ordered a pear'fection, some kind of pear drink... it was so strong (a good thing!) that i couldn't remember what was in the drink. i think madame had martini and more white wine later. we ordered a mushroom pizza and italian sausage, kind of tapas size. everything was excellent as always but my favorite has to be the pear'fection and the sausage. the cocktail - even though infused with pear and had sugar in it - is still very dry which is excellent. the sausage was perfectly seasoned, grilled and served on a small bed of frissee and roasted red bell pepper.
