Regardless, hearing all these comments on how difficult they are to make, i decided to try again today; taking extra caution with each step in hope to succeed. The little asian boy inside me of course demanded an asian touch to these desserts when it came to choosing flavors, so the ones i made today were green tea (matcha) flavored with redbean paste as the filling, and thai iced tea flavored with cream filling. without further ado, lets get into the process.
Materials:
A. 1/4 cup (~60g) granulated sugar
B. 1 large egg white (~40g)
C. 1/2 cup (~60g) confectioners sugar
D. 1/2 cup (~60g) almond flour
E. thai iced tea powder (optional depending on flavor)
F. a pinch of cream of tartar
G. red bean paste (optional depending on flavor)
green tea (matcha) powder (not pictured)
Directions:
1. combine the almond flour and the confectioners sugar and mix well. be sure to break down all the large clumps. you may wish to use a food processor to help you with this. after combining, sieve the mixture and set aside in a bowl.
2. add a pinch of salt and a pinch of cream of tartar to the eggwhite and beat it in a bowl at high speed until peaks of medium firmness appear. then slowly dash in the granulated sugar while mixing until a thick mixture with peaks begins to form.
3. add in the pre-combined/sieved almond flour and confectioners sugar mixture 1/4 of the portion at a time. fold the mixture into the beaten sugar+egg white briefly before adding in another 1/4 of the portion. after all the almond flour + confectioners sugar mixture is added, mix vigorously until a thick smooth batter forms.
4. if you would like to make different flavors, now is the time you add in the food coloring and or flavoring extracts. today i chose to make 2 different flavors, so i split the batter into 2 portions and added a dash of greentea (matcha) powder to one, and thai iced tea powder to another. mix until the coloring and flavoring extracts are well combined with the batter.
5. transfer the batter into a sandwich bag to squeeze out into the baking pan later. I use a sandwich bag because they are cheap, easy to obtain, and disposable. you may choose to use anything that does the same job. i like to place the sandwich bag into a cup before adding in the batter, it makes it a lot easier to do the transfer. once transferred, squeeze out all the air in the bag, seal it, and try to push the batther together towards one corner. use a scissor to cut one of the corners to allow for explusion of the batter while squeezing.
6. squeeze the batter onto a baking pan covered with parchment paper. the batter should be thick but not solid. it should settle into a semi-flat circle on the pan. the batter at this point, should not be so thin as to flow everywhere, but if it appears to hold its shape like whipped cream, transfer the batter out, and stir the batter more to allow for more thinning.
7. set the squeezed shells on the baking pan out for an hour or so to allow for the surface to dry and form a thin film. this step is crucial in obtaining the "lace skirt" edges of the final product after baking. the lace skirt appears because the surface of the batter has been dried and formed a thin film before being baked, therefore, when the air bubbles in the batter expand during baking, the batter can only be pushed out aroudn the bottom edges forming a "lace skirt" appearance. to speed up this process, you may prewarm your oven to the lowest temperature setting (mine was 170deg F) and place the baking pan with the squeezed batter on it into the oven. as soon as you place the tray into the oven, turn off the heat and allow the remaining heat to provide the speed drying effect of the batter surface in the oven. let sit in the oven for ~10 mins checking periodically by gently touching the surface of hte batter. if it does not stick to your hand, it is ready.
8. preheat your oven to 275deg F and bake the batter for ~20 mins. you may check for the "lace skirt" appearance periodically. they hsould form after ~10 mins in the oven.
9. when the shells are done baking, allow them to cool on the baking pan and remove them by picking the parchment paper up slightly and assisting the removal by pushing from underneaht the shells. do not attempt to pull the shells off the parchment paper by force as this will usually break them.
10. for the green tea flavored shells, i paired them up with redbean paste (which u may make yourself or is commercially available at many asian grocery marts). and for the thai iced tea flavored shells, i paired them up with a cream filling. obtain one shell, place it upside down, place the filling in the center, and cover it with another shell (much like how you put together hamburgers).
voila! you've just made your own macarons!
rasberry, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla etc are all popular flavors. play around with different food coloring and different fillings using the same technique to make a whole variety of flavors!
just remember, always have some fun in the kitchen :)
-Ney
