I was looking for rather specific silicon mats; I wanted the ones with the macaron circle outline on them. I purchased 2 of these and could not wait for them to be delivered! They fit my half sheet pans (which I purchased at Chef Central for $9.99 each) perfectly!
So, I had my new pans, my new silicon mats, a fresh bag of almond flour, and sugar. All I needed was some aged eggs and food coloring and I was all set to whip up some macarons. I separated the egg whites from the yolks the night before and kept them on my kitchen counter till the next morning (it's been pretty chilly here and I was going to bake the next morning). You can also keep them in the fridge and bring them out to sit to room temp before baking.
Here's my first batch... I tinted them a pretty lavender purple color, and added some sprinkles to make them pop. I'm pretty sure I messed up during the macaronage (mixing) process. My batter was too thick. The final product resulted in not-so-pretty discs. Surprisingly, the texture was pretty good: crisp outer shell, chewy insides, and not hollow. I filled them with a peanut butter frosting and jelly center. Here's how they came out anyways.
- the macaronage process -
(this is where I think I messed up... could have mixed longer)
- they look thick and don't have a nice shine -
- all matched up with peanut butter frosting and jelly filling -
- not pretty to look at, but the texture was pretty good -
The second batch I made, I tinted pink and added neon nonpareils. Here, I'm pretty sure I did OK with the whole mixing process. However, I miscalculated the baking time and left them in there too short, resulting in semi-cooked meringues. I had to throw them back in the oven to bake a bit longer, but I think this was the cause of my hollow shells.. I filled these with buttercream and rolled in sprinkles.
- mixing away -
- shiny and glossy and perfectly round -
- was SO sure they were perfect! -
- I will get this right one day........ -
