Date post: | 20-Dec-2015 |
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Before we proceed with the recipe, I’ll first throw in a little DIY on how to make almond
flour. Almond flour can be pretty expensive if bought as it is, but if you have time or are
looking to save a few bucks, then this is how you can make your own.
You’ll need some almonds, of course.
The amount you use will depend on the amount of flour you want to make.
Boil some water and put the almonds in a heat-prove container. Then pour the boiling
water over them until submerged, and wait for 1 minute.
Then drain them quickly and run cold water through them until they are cool enough to
handle.
Lay them on a paper or a tea towel and pat dry. You’ll see that the blanching process
has caused the almond skin to shrivel.
Peel or squeeze the almonds out of their skins.
Now this should be an easy process if your rinsing water was pretty cold and/or you
have long nails. I never thought I’d wish I’d grown my nails until today. I kept getting
almond pieces under my nails and they hurt like you wouldn’t believe.
Anyways, once that’s done, preheat your oven to 350F and lay the almonds out on a
baking sheet.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until dry. Watch the almonds - you don’t want them to turn too
brown.
After that’s done, it’s just a case of getting out your food processor or mill or coffee
grinder. Fill it until 1/3 up at a time and pulse until you get a fine powder.
Warning: over grinding can cause the almonds to clump together and turn into almond
butter, because the almonds will release its natural oil if over-ground.
For this particular recipe, you’ll need to sieve the almond powder to get a finer, lighter
texture.
Trust me, there’s a difference between these 2 almond flours - a 30 minute’s worth of
arm-work difference.
And so after you’ve got your almond flour, be it home-made or store bought, it’s time to
make some macarons.
As with my previous TL-DR walkthroughs, there’s going to be some commentary
alongside the recipe (written verbatim, in bold).
The recipe was written in metric measurements, but I’m going to include both the
original values given and the approximated US cup & spoon conversion that I used.
With macarons it is recommended that you go with the metric, since it’s all about
accuracy, but if push comes to shove, the converted measurements are pretty close.
MACARONS (basic recipe by Cristina)
[ 100g almond flour + 175g powdered sugar + 100g aged (1-3 days) egg whites + 30g
granulated sugar ]
[ 1 cup almond flour + 1 1/3 cup powdered sugar + 7 tablespoon aged (1-3 days) egg
whites + 2 ½ tablespoon granulated sugar ]
Level 1:
Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar as well as any dry flavoring together -
it is advisable to not put more than a tablespoon of dry (like cocoa powder or
matcha).
If there are any lumpy things (no more than a teaspoon), dump that lumpy stuff
out. You want smoothness.
I just wanted to make some macarons, as it is. No funny BUSINESS with coloring or
flavor just in case it messes up the chemistry or whatever. If you’re still on shaky
grounds I suggest starting out with the basic recipe until you’re confident to venture out
to different flavor or coloring agents.
Level 2:
With a handmixer or standmixer, begin whipping the eggs. As soon as they
begin to foam, add the granulated sugar and whip those babies until they form
stiff peaks.
I didn’t even think about taking pictures during this step as it might be a distraction and
cause something to go wrong. This step went pretty smoothly.
Level 3:
Add a bit (about 1/3) of the dry ingredients into the egg white mix now and fold
until combined.
Don’t be bashful with the folding - make sure the dry ingredients is mixed in thoroughly.
Level 4:
Then all of the rest and fold in until mixed thoroughly.
I once read, I think it was on Canelle et Vanille’s blog, that it's recommended to give the
batter 50 turns, or 50 folds. This, of course, is a highly researched and
calculated number, because under or over-folding could be quite scandalous, or so I’ve
read.
I decided to just take her word for it.
Level 5:
Put inside a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
Pretty self explanatory. You’d want a round plain tip that’s a little bit wide.
To easily manouver the piping bag, put it inside a tall glass while you fill the mixture in.
Level 6:
Pipe them out onto parchment paper as 1-2 inch rounds.
Hold the piping bag perpendicular to the tray and squeeze until you reach the required
diameter. Make sure to space the shell out evenly.
A note from C:
The only thing I forgot to mention, which is why yours did not turn out as perfectly as
you’d like them, is that when you pipe, hold the tip as close to the sheet as possible and
don’t pull UP. Just kind of spread down and when you’re done piping, smack the baking
sheet down a couple of times before you let them sit.
Level 7:
Let them SIT for 60-90 minutes.
Seriously, let them sit pretty for the allotted time. If you want to know what’ll happen if
you don’t - heck, I'll show you what’ll happen if you don’t.
The sitting process allows the macarons to create a film around the shell that will
prevent it from collapsing. This step is also crucial if you want to get the little macaron
“feets”.
Level 8:
Then pop them into the oven at 280 degrees F for 17 minutes.