In the latest in our occasional series of blog posts where we try to answer your macaron baking questions, we’re sharing our top tips for making your macarons shells perfectly smooth.
There are three main factors that may prevent your shells from becoming perfectly smooth domes: graininess from undissolved sugar, graininess from undermixed batter, and peaks that form when piping. Here are our three suggested solutions to these issues.
The essentials of a macaron batter are meringue and almond flour. But there are different types of meringue. So which is best? We recommend following a recipe that uses either Italian meringue (combining hot sugar syrup with whisked egg whites) or Swiss meringue (whisking egg whites and sugar together over boiling water). These methods ensure that the sugar crystals are fully dissolved - eliminating one possible source of graininess.
This is a tip that comes down to experience. Once you have made macarons a few times, you will get a feel for how the batter should appear when it has been mixed correctly. When mixed to perfection, the batter should flow like lava. If your batter is under-mixed you will get a slightly grainy finish and perhaps a small peak where you finished piping.
3. Give the tray a helpful tap
If your piped shells look like they aren’t going to settle into a flat surface you can give them a helping hand by tapping the baking tray of piped shells on your work surface to encourage them to spread and settle. Small peaks that have formed from the piping process can be smoothed out with a clean finger or a small brush.
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Fine Mesh Sieve: To obtain a shiny and smooth macaron shell, you must run the almond flour and confectioners' sugar through a fine mesh sieve. You can use a hand crank sifter if you have one, but I prefer using a mesh one.
Well, this is one of the easiest issues to fix. Bumpy macaron shells happen because of: Under mixed batter. Fix: Mix the batter enough so it will be flowing.
Fine Mesh Sieve: To obtain a shiny and smooth macaron shell, you must run the almond flour and confectioners' sugar through a fine mesh sieve. You can use a hand crank sifter if you have one, but I prefer using a mesh one.
There are three main factors that may prevent your shells from becoming perfectly smooth domes: graininess from undissolved sugar, graininess from undermixed batter, and peaks that form when piping. Here are our three suggested solutions to these issues. The essentials of a macaron batter are meringue and almond flour.
This is a big myth! I've even heard people saying to not let the batter sit for an hour in the piping bag. This is far from the truth! You can absolutely let the batter sit for hours in the piping bag.
Macarons should have a slight crunch with an overall chewy texture as one bites through the dessert. That texture is what truly makes a macaron marvelous.
Meanwhile preheat your oven to 325 degree F (160 degree C) with the oven racks in the top and bottom third of the oven. Bake the cookies (two sheets at a time) for about 14 - 16 minutes, rotating the pans top to bottom, front to back, about halfway through baking.
Introduction: My name is Terrell Hackett, I am a gleaming, brainy, courageous, helpful, healthy, cooperative, graceful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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