Macaron Tips & Tricks

I’ve been talking about having a post with all of my macaron tips & tricks for a long time and it’s finally here!! I by no means call myself a macaron master, but I’ve been making them for the last 5-6 years and have learned a lot along the way.

Lots of people claim to have foolproof methods. I’m going to be really honest with you, there’s no such thing. Famous bakeries throughout Paris, known specifically for their macarons, still have batches that fail and go straight into the garbage. It’s just the way it is.

I’m lucky and haven’t had to throw away batches I’ve made for a while. But that didn’t happen overnight and every time I pull them out of the oven I’m waiting for one tray to bring me back to reality. I’m sure it’ll happen soon.

To get to this point, I went through LOTS of failed batches. I didn’t learn how to make these when I was in culinary school so I am entirely self-taught with these. Here’s what I’ve learned that has given me more consistency to my macaron bakes. Say hello to my macaron tips & tricks!

Measure Your Ingredients

I cannot stress this enough. Baking has to be precise enough at the best of times, but there is probably no baked good that is as reliant on perfect, accurate measurements as macarons. Most of my other recipes have been written in cups, but not macarons. These alone are worth buying a kitchen scale for.

You really can’t guess at your measurements for these. Get out your scale and measure your ingredients. All of them. I’m talking egg whites, granulated sugar, almond flour, and powdered sugar. If you’re adding something like cocoa powder to the batter, weigh that too.

Weighing is much less important when we’re talking about filling the macarons, but you definitely, 100% should be weighing for the shells. It’ll save you a lot of heartache.

Aged Egg Whites

One of the things that has given me better results is aging my egg whites. I used to crack my eggs and use the fresh egg whites when I decided I was going to make them. Now, I typically crack and separate the eggs on a Thursday, and use them for macarons on Saturday.

So, how do you age egg whites?

First of all, separate your egg whites from your yolks. I put all of my egg whites in a bowl and use the egg yolks for other things, like lemon curd. When I’ve measured out the amount of egg whites I need into a bowl, I then cover it in plastic wrap and poke some holes in it. Then, it goes in the fridge until I need them.

I’ve found that aging the egg whites gives me a more stable batter and I’m less likely to have the dreaded volcanoes that used to haunt my dreams. I usually take my egg whites out of the fridge about 30 minutes before I need to use them, just so they can return to room temperature.

Processing/Sifting Your Dry Ingredients

Ok, I’m a notorious non-sifter. If a recipe tells me I have to sift something, I just don’t do it. Macarons are the exception, and this is why.

For macs, our dry ingredients are the almond flour and powdered sugar. If you’ve used either one of these, you know they can get quite clumpy. Well, the last thing we want in our macaron batter is clumps of either almond flour or powdered sugar. To avoid that, we measure them out, then pulse them in a food processor. To really make sure I don’t have any clumps, I then sift it into a bowl. This’ll help ensure nice, smooth shells, which is exactly what we want!

The Meringue

First up, we make the meringue. To do this, I whip the egg whites on a medium-low speed until they look nice and foamy. Once that has been achieved, turn the mixer to a medium speed and start adding the granulated sugar, two tablespoons at a time. Give the sugar a chance to get incorporated into the egg whites before adding more.

Once the sugar has been added in, turn the mixer up to a high speed and let it whip until it reaches stiff peaks. It should look something like this:

Food Colouring

If I’m adding food colouring to my batter, which I frequently do, I always add it while the egg whites are whipping, after I’ve added the sugar. It’s important to NOT use liquid food colouring for macarons, it’ll mess with the structure of the shells and they won’t turn out how you want them to. I always use gel food colouring from Americolor, but powdered food colouring would work well too.

The Macronage

Macronage is a fancy word for the macaron batter. The process of achieving good macaron age involves folding the dry ingredients (almond flour, powdered sugar) into your whipped egg whites.

To me, this is the part that takes the most practice. At this point (after making lots and lots of macaron batches), I have a pretty good idea of when the macron age is ready just based on the feel of it. Obviously that isn’t something I can really tell you about here, but let me try.

I add the almond flour/powdered sugar in three batches. I add the first third, fold it to incorporate it, add the second third, fold that to incorporate it, then finally I add the final third. This is when the real magic happens!

Add the last third of the dry ingredients to the egg white mixture, then fold it in like you folded in the previous two thirds. Now for the important part. You need to keep folding it until it reaches a “lava-like” consistency.

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen a whole lot of lava in my life. Here’s what you need to know. The batter should flow slowly off the spatula, looking almost like a ribbon. You should be able to draw some figure 8s with the batter as it flows of the spatula. You don’t want it to be too runny, that’ll leave you with either volcanoes or hollow shells. This comes with practice. The more you do it, the better idea you’ll have of what it should look like and what it feels like when it’s ready.

Piping

I use a round tip to pipe that batter. I also bake on silpats (silicone baking sheets). You can bake on parchment, I’ve just had better success with silpat. Pipe the batter to the size you want. My silpat has different sized circles on it, so I use those as a guide. If you’re using parchment or a silpat that doesn’t have any markers on it, you can print out a template and place it under the parchment/silpat to use as a guide.

Once you’ve piped it out, you’ll want to bang the trays on your countertop a few times to settle the air bubbles. When that is done, use a toothpick to pop any remaining air bubbles and gently stir them into the rest of the piped shell.

When the piped macs are all looking pretty, let them sit until they are dry to the touch. Depending on the day this can take as little as 30 minutes to multiple hours. A basic rule of thumb is that you should be able to run your finger across a shell and not have any batter on your finger. That’s when they’re ready to bake.

Baking

I bake my macarons at 300°F for 18-20 minutes. Here’s what I advise: an oven thermometer. So often and oven will say it is at the correct temperature, but it is actually running too hot or too cold. An oven thermometer will take all of the guess work out of baking these beauties at the right temperature. When they come out they should have beautifully formed feet. If you push gently on one of the shells, it shouldn’t separate from the feet, if it does, it needs a little longer in the oven.

Macaron Tips & Tricks: FAQs

Here are some of the questions I’ve had from my instagram followers. Feel free to ask me more questions and I’ll do my best to answer them!

• Do you have to bake them on a mat like that (silpat)?
  • Nope! You can either bake them on a silpat, like I do, or parchment paper.
• Have you had any success doing macronage in the mixer?
  • I’ve never tried macronage in the mixer. I like the control of doing it by hand, and now I have a pretty good idea of how the batter should feel when it’s ready to pipe.
• Do they have to be made with almond flour? Don’t love the taste.
  • They should be made with almond flour, but you can use other nuts flowers (also apparently some seed flours, but I haven’t tried this). I’ve made some with hazelnut flour before but it’s more expensive than almond flour and I get more consistent results using the regular almond flour.
• Always failed making macarons, do we have to use fresh eggs?
  • No, you don’t have to use fresh eggs. However, they will give you better results that egg whites from a carton. For borderline foolproof shells, age your egg whites for at least 24 hours before using them.
• Any tips for avoiding hollow shells?
  • A few suggestions I have:
    • Age your egg whites
    • Slowly incorporate the sugar into the egg whites and whip to stiff peaks. If they are under or over whipped, the shells will likely be hollow.
    • Macaronage: this is the most important. You should be able to draw a figure 8 with the batter without it breaking.
    • Make sure the macarons are fully baked before removing them from the oven. If the shells are underbaked, the middle will fall as they’re cooling, creating hollow shells.
• When do you add your food colouring? Does it matter when you do it?
  • Ok, so this depends on which method you’re using.
    • French: when the egg whites have almost reached stiff peaks. If I need more I add it during the macronage.
    • Italian: add the colour to the almond paste.
    • Side note: always, always use gel or powdered food colouring. It won’t effect the integrity of the shells and they’ll give more vibrant colours.
• How far in advance can one make these for a party?
  • This depends on what kind of filling you’re making and whether or not you want to freeze and defrost your macarons.
    • Fruit fillings with only last 2-3 days in the fridge, otherwise the shells will get soggy.
    • Shells can be frozen and filled later, they’ll last a couple of months in the freezer.
    • If you’ve filled them with buttercream or ganache, you can freeze them for 2-3 months before they are consumed.
      • If you don’t want to worry with the hassle of freezing and defrosting, most assembled macarons will last 5-7 days in the fridge.
• My problem with macarons is always what to put inside them.
  • This is where you can be creative! Try seasonal flavours, recreating the taste of your favourite candy bar. Decide if you want something floral, fruity, or something with chocolate. The possibilities are endless!
• How do you keep them from melting and spreading out a ton?
  • They shouldn’t be spreading when they’re baking. If they spread a lot after you’ve piped them, you’ve over mixed the macronage and unfortunately you can’t salvage this.
• How do you get them so perfect?
  • A LOT of practice and patience! They definitely aren’t always perfect, but I can consistently get pretty good batches.
• What temperature do you bake your macarons at? Mine always tend to brown 🙁
  • I bake mine at 300°F. If yours are browning, try baking at a lower temperature and increase the baking time slightly. It’s also important to make sure your oven is actually running at the temperature it says it is. An oven thermometer will be super helpful!
• How difficult are these to make if I’m not you?
  • Lol, they’re tricky to make no matter what. Consistent batches come with lots of practice and I’ve picked up a lot of tips and tricks over the last few years. Technique is everything with these.
• If I don’t have that fun baking sheet, how do I measure out the shells?
  • You can draw out or print a template and place it under parchment paper! Or, you can eyeball it, but that’s a little more unreliable.