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Adventures in Macaron Making

Adventures in Macaron Making: attemps and failours in making homemade macarons, including links to recipes, and videos and all that I’ve learned so far.
Adventures in Macaron Making: attemps and failours in making homemade macarons, including links to recipes, and videos and all that I've learned so far.

One of the things on my summer bucket list, was to try my hand at macaron making -the light, sweet, delicious French cookie that is notoriously difficult to get just right.  But in the spirit of, what have we got to lose, we gave it a try.    

Adults Only

Let me say first that my girls and I envisioned this as a mother daughter enterprise, but it’s so precise that it’s not really kid friendly.  I did do a fair bit of googling before I started.  I found this post from And Cute very helpful, and used the recipe from here too.  They also recommend this video, watch it before you attempt to make them.

Macaron making

My first attempt at making macarons was for the Flamingo party, so we went with bright pink. 

Attempt no. 2 was for the aqua party, so we went with a pretty aqua blue.  

I do really like the fact that Macarons are supposed to mature in the fridge a few days before you make them, so you can get ahead on your party prep, and not be attempting these -along with all the other party prep on the day of.  

Be Precise

The recipe calls for very precise measurements -use a scale.  I did have a little trouble getting my almonds fine enough to go through the wire sieve.  Perhaps next time, I’ll try roasting the almond meal a little before putting it in the food processor in an attempt to dry it out a little, which might help it grind a little more finely.  

Getting The Right Consistency Matters

The video I watched has great explanations about how long to mix them, and what consistency you’re going for.   Once you reach the right consistency it’s time to pipe them.  Here’s what I learned.  The first time, with the pink, I just kind of eyeballed it.

piped Macarons

After letting them dry, I put them in the oven, and let them bake.  It was all looking so, so good.  And I actually thought for a moment, could it be that I am actually making these perfectly on my first attempt?  

How Long To Bake Them

I saw the ruffled feet, and they looked amazing when I took them out of the oven.  As they cooled though, they deflated a little.  When it came time to take them off the parchment, they totally stuck.  I also noticed that they had a darker spot in the middle -meaning they were really undercooked.

under baked macarons

So…I looked back at the recipe and realized that I made them too big, and they weren’t cooked enough.  For attempt no. 2, I broke out the ruler.  Keep in mind that they spread out and get a little bigger as they settle.

Macaron piping

These guys came out much better, although even some of them were a little sticky on the bottom.

macarons that are sticky on the bottoms

You can also notice in the picture that they got a little golden on some of the edges.  I think next time I would cook them a little lower, maybe 275 instead of 300 degrees, and maybe a little longer.  These ones weren’t perfect, but they were still super yummy, and I was really quite happy with them.

filling Macarons with raspberry buttercream

Raspberry Buttercream Filling

I filled them with a little raspberry butter cream -just push some raspberries or even raspberry jam through a fine sieve to remove the seeds and add it to your buttercream.  So, so yummy.

Raspberry Macaron

What could be better with a cup of tea? Nothing.  And the great part about not perfecting these on the first or even second go is, getting to eat your all your attempts.  Let’s just say my family is really behind this process.

how to make a Macaron

It’s always good to try and learn something new.  

With macaron making, life really is a  party!

You might also like our French Inspired Picnic here.

Also check out our Almond Cake With Raspberry Jam here.

Almond Cake with Raspberry Jam -delicious home made almond cake recipe, with a sweet filling of pretty ombre pink icing and raspberry jam.

You might also enjoy our Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookie recipe here.

3 Comments

  1. Wow! These look absolutely amazing. I love macarons (way more than I should) but I would never be brave enough to attempt them. Fantastic!

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