Why Do My Macaron Shells Crack? Tips for Home Bakers (2024)
Home bakers may have experienced the frustration of their macaron shells cracking. We thought it might be helpful to share our experience in this matter to help you understand why your macaron shells are cracking and what you can do to prevent it happening.
1. Dry your piped shells before baking
Meringue gets its consistency from the molecules of air trapped in the egg white proteins. During baking, this trapped air in the meringue component of the batter expands. To prevent the batter from expanding, rising up and cracking your shell, the piped shells must be given time to form a protective skin before baking. To encourage this you need to leave your shells out to dry before baking.
Typically, the shells are ready to bake once the batter has turned from a wet glossy look to a dull matt appearance. Putting your shells in the oven at a very low temperature can be a speedier way of reaching the stage where the protective barrier has formed.
2. Pipe soon after mixing
Piping the macarons quickly after mixing the batter will also help prevent cracking. The texture and integrity of the final batter is at its best while residual heat from the Italian meringue remains. Leaving macaron batter too long before piping can cause the batter to collapse and lose its architecture of trapped air.
3. Check your decorations
Shell decorations, particularly nuts, may compromise the protective skin of the unbaked macaron shell. It may be necessary to bake your shells first, then add any sharp decorations afterwards.
4. Don’t overmix your batter!
If your macaron batter is overmixed this will also cause your shells to crack.
To recap: if your shells keep cracking, the four main things you can try are - mix the batter less, dry the shells for longer before baking, and bake the macaron shells at a lower temperature, undecorated, for longer.
If your macaron batter is overmixed this will also cause your shells to crack. To recap: if your shells keep cracking, the four main things you can try are - mix the batter less, dry the shells for longer before baking, and bake the macaron shells at a lower temperature, undecorated, for longer.
When there is too much air in the batter, it breaks through the skin of the shell as the macarons bake and causes cracked, hollow shells. If you think your meringue was over-mixed, try to mix the meringue for slightly less time or at a lower speed to create a more stable meringue with smaller air bubbles.
If your macarons don't have feet, it could be because your batter is too wet. Make sure you're using aged egg whites (more on that below) and avoid adding liquid flavoring and coloring.
Even if you vaporize the moisture in the outer parts of the shells with sufficient heat, if you don't bake long enough the liquid will spread and settle on the surface. This will give them a mottled, stained appearance. Under-baking will also leave your macarons raw on the inside, and they will be very fragile.
However don't over bake overbaked shells will become brittle and hollow. -Don't over do the macaronage (specially when doing French method, it can be very easy to over mix).
If your oven temperature is too low, your macarons don't get enough heat to lift and rise. They may rise a little but it will be minimal. Batter not mixed enough. If the batter isn't mixed long enough or too much, the macarons won't rise properly.
If your macaron batter is overmixed this will also cause your shells to crack. To recap: if your shells keep cracking, the four main things you can try are - mix the batter less, dry the shells for longer before baking, and bake the macaron shells at a lower temperature, undecorated, for longer.
Under mixed batter is the most probable cause for bumpy shells. You should make sure to mix the batter until it's flowing slowly and effortlessly off the spatula. And you should be able to pick up some batter with the spatula and draw a few figure 8s with the flowing batter without it breaking up.
If you are desperate and must produce macarons then you will need extra drying time. You can try using a hair dryer to gently dry the surface too. 2) If your oven is too hot, the shells will cook too fast and get burnt on the outside before the inside is cooked.
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Introduction: My name is Cheryll Lueilwitz, I am a sparkling, clean, super, lucky, joyous, outstanding, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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