Hi Everyone,

I am a new member and I go head over heal for Macaroons. I recently went to Payards located in New York City and I am trying to copy their MACAROON. Does any one have the recipe or something close to it. How do you get that small dome uniform in shape and the small bubbles around the borders?

PLEASE HELP WITH THE RECIPE. THANKS IN ADVANCE.
PINKY. ~_~

By Joal (Joal) on Monday, March 04, 2002 - 08:36 pm: Edit

Dear Pinky,

I believe you're looking for the French confection known as a macaron (not like the macaroon cookies).

Here's the proverbial good news. I have two links for you: the first is for a recipe (which I have not tried)
(http://www.upperworld.com/fr/vegan/recipes/recipe.php/397) . After you pipe the meringue batter on to a Silpat or parchment sheet, it rises in the oven giving it its characteristic shape and as you say small bubbles around the sides. Cute, yes?

The second is a short story on the history of the macaron (http://www.discoverparis.net/parisinsights/Jul01_macarons.html) .

Now the bad news. Macarons are tricky to mix and bake; having someone show you how to do it and watch you as you do your first batch is terribly helpful.

The trick is in how you mix the dries (almond flour and 10x) in the egg whites/sugar. Nature didn't intend for people (or animals) to mix dries and wets and how you do it will determine to a large degree what you find at the end of your work.

The baking is also tricky since you want to have a slightly crusty outside and a soft inside. May I suggest that the next time you think about taking some brief baking classes that you check on one that does French pastry and ask if they can show you how to make macarons de Paris.

I make macarons every so often and am still having trouble making large ones (3 inches in diameter or so) without the top cracking and the middle over-cooking. It's tricky. I've been slowly reducing the temperature so as to not too quickly cook the outside and folding my dries/wets in different ways. Nothing has worked to my satisfaction. If anyone out there has a suggestion, I'm all ears (as I'm sure Pinky is too).

Good luck in your search.

Joal

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Monday, March 04, 2002 - 11:20 pm: Edit

Don't use almond flour, use almond paste.
And when you make ones that are larger than 1 1/2
inches, double pan. If you find that top cracking still occurs, spritz with water flavored with almond. As far as the small dome, use a round pastry tube, lay it on your papered pan so the opening is at a 45 degree angle, downward and pipe until you get the size you want. Bring the tube up quickly so theres no tail.

By Joal (Joal) on Monday, March 04, 2002 - 11:28 pm: Edit

Dear Spike,

Thanks for your comments. I eliminated the double-pan because I'm using an oven with a metal grill instead of a platform oven. I'll try the spritzing. When you fold in the eggs whites with the dries for the larger size, do you ever stop a bit short and keep the texture a bit firmer?

Joal

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Monday, March 04, 2002 - 11:39 pm: Edit

No, I whip the whites longer and put more sugar in.
kinda towards Japonaise'.
If your whites are dry use more sugar or cut back on the cream of tartar.
If you were to put some of your whites after they are whipped between your first finger and thumb,
the strand should be 2" long, the whites should be glossy, firm. Like for mousse', not chiffon.