The Macaron Experiment continues ...

Today I had to urge to un-coward myself by making macarons.  I used Italian meringue and I think I like this method better: the batter seemed to be easier to work with, and I was able to obtain the right consistency without too much trouble at all.

These are espresso macarons.  For the base, I followed the recipe in the book that I mentioned in my previous post, and I added a teaspoon of espresso powder.  I also baked the cookies at 325°F instead of 375°F.  I then filled some with praline buttercream and others with gianduia ganache.

These cookies had great texture - a thin, crisp outer shell, inside of which was tender with a hint of a chew.  Apparently macarons freeze well, so I'll be doing that with a bunch of these, for when my parents come to visit next month (yay!).

Et voilà - my third attempt at macarons!

French Macarons, the Italian Way

Adapted from i ♥ macarons, Hisako Ogita

Preparation
- A piping bag with a 1/2" round tip
- A thick cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. If, like me, you have a Vollrath 17" x 14" heavy gauge 3004 aluminum sheet, you will likely need just one sheet. If you are using a professional half sheet pan, you will probably need to layer 2 of them to create a thick bottom layer.
- If desired, draw 1" circles, 1" apart, at the back of your parchment paper, to use as a piping guide. If you think you might be making macarons more than just once, it will save you a lot of time if you print out a ledger-sized sheet with 1" circles on it so that you can lay this stencil underneath the parchment (remember to remove the stencil before you put the sheet in the oven!)

Mix in a small bowl:
  85 grams ground almonds or almond meal*
  150 grams powdered sugar
*If the almonds are not very fine, or if you do not have ground almonds, combine 85 grams slivered almonds with 150 grams powdered sugar and process in a food processor for 2-3 minutes, until the almonds are finely ground.

Combine in a 1-cup measuring cup:
  2 Tbsp water
  65 grams granulated sugar

Bring this syrup to 240°F. This can be done in a saucepan over medium high-heat. Personally, with this small amount of syrup, I prefer to heat it in the microwave. It takes 4-5 minutes, with a couple of pauses in between to stir the mixture and take its temperature. Either way, be very careful because the syrup (and its container) will be hot.

Meanwhile, preferably with a hand mixer (a stand mixer will work too), beat:
  90 grams egg whites (about 3 egg whites)

Gradually increase the speed to high, and beat until the egg whites have become very frothy.

With the hand mixer on, pour the hot syrup into the egg whites, very slowly and carefully, making sure not to let the syrup touch the beaters.  If you are using a stand mixer, quickly stop the mixer, pour in about a third of the syrup, and beat on high for 5 seconds. Repeat this two more times, until you have added in all the syrup.

Keep beating at medium speed until the outside of the bowl is cool to the touch. The meringue will be firm and smooth. Beat in:
  1 tsp vanilla extract, or seeds from ½ vanilla bean, or 1-2 tsp espresso powder
  a few drops of food colouring or gel, if desired

Add half of the flour mixture to the meringue. Stir it with a spatula, scooping it up from the bottom of the bowl.

Add the rest of the flour and continue mixing in a circular motion, with your spatula scraping against the sides of the bowl.

Once the flour has been incorporated, press and spread out the batter against the sides of the bowl. Scrape the batter and fold it over itself. Repeat this about 15 times (no more than 20 times).

The batter is ready when you pull some up with a spatula and let it drip back down. It will drip slowly and will settle back into the rest of the batter within 5-10 seconds.

Pour the batter into the prepared piping bag, and pipe 1" circles, 1" apart on the baking sheet(s). This batter will make about 4 dozen 1" circles.

Rap the baking sheet on the counter two or three times to flatten the batter and rupture air bubbles in the batter. Let the piped batter sit on the counter for at least 30 minutes. You will know it's ready when you gently touch the surface of one and it doesn't stick or cling to your fingertip.

A few minutes after you have finished piping the batter, set your oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325°F. When a dry shell has formed on the surface of the piped rounds, they are ready to be baked. It will take 12-14 minutes in the preheated oven. The macarons will expand upwards, will barely spread sideways, and will not brown.

Set the sheet on a wire rack and let the macarons cool on the sheet. When they are cool enough to handle, peel them from the parchment and set each cookie on a wire rack.

When completely cool, fill with buttercream or jam of your choice: take one cookie, spread or pipe the filling on its bottom, and take another cookie to form a sandwich. Store them in an airtight container. On the first day, the cookies will have a slight crunch. I prefer them after they have spent a day in the refrigerator. The cookie becomes more tender, and the flavours and textures blend better and seem to be more refined after having time to meld in the refrigerator.