Update: Life Changes and a new look at Macaron

Alright.. big apologies are owed for neglecting this blog. I am so sorry.. life has gotten away from me. Personal life, Mommy life and Professional life.

Over the past few months I have

-moved states
-started school
-started a new job
-left that job for one that lets me bake!

Doesn't look like much but I swear to you.. it is!

In February I was accepted to Le Cordon Bleu in the Patisserie and Baking program and I love it so incredibly much! I have met Chefs from all over the world. My favorite Chef Instructor graduated from LCB in Paris, I admire her so much. She had the opportunity to even work for the great Pierre Herme! I know she may never read this blog but if she does, I want her to know that I look up to her and respect her for everything that she has done, and continues to do for me as a student. She has a large heart and incredible knowledge. Thank you Chef!

I also started working for Elizabeth Arden at Macy's ... it didn't last long. While I loved all the ladies in the cosmetic department, and lets be honest here-- all the makeup, it just didn't work out. Plus, I was offered a lead position at a bakery! So I left Macy's and started working in the kitchen. I am so thankful to my new boss for putting her faith and trust in me. I was hired to head up the new off site kitchen. I will be baking macaron, cupcakes, cakes and there was talk of mini tarts or hand pies in the future as well.

Sadly, due to some unplanned reasons, I had to take a term off from school. This is heartbreaking to me.. I miss all my fellow students and Chefs so much. But I will be back Aug 17th! This break allowed me to regroup, get acquainted with the new bakery and spend some much needed time with my little man. I miss him during the times I'm in class. He seems to be doing really well in daycare. He has been broken of the pacifier and his speech is developing. He has even pee-peed in the potty twice now! I can't believe he will be 3 this fall. Time is seriously escaping me.

I have decided to make an effort to keep this blog updated. Forgive me if time gets away from me but I will work on getting more things posted. Especially as I get into more production classes in school.


--MINDY-- 

this is for you...


So its been awhile since I wrote about macarons. Nearly 3 years ago. Yikes. I have had many ups and downs when it comes to producing the perfect macaron. Looking back at my original post.. I HAD A LOT TO LEARN.

You NEED to sift your dry ingredients!

What do you do if the egg whites don't whip?

To double pan or not to double pan?

Parchment or silicone?

Measure by weight or by volume?

Gel or liquid food coloring?

There are so many methods that can be executed to make macaron. There are SO many things that can go wrong. While the traditional french method is what I used originally.. I recently attempted an Italian meringue method. I have to say, I like it better. Je suis desole!

Please forgive my photos as I used my iPhone to take them during the initial baking process.

What you will need:

200g of Almond flour

200g of Powdered sugar

75g of Egg whites x2

Food coloring

50g Water

200g Sugar

Tools:

stand mixer

piping bag

round tip

parchment paper

candy thermometer

sauce pan

2 spatulas

food processor
sheet pans
stencil *optional*

Since taking classes and being traditionally trained, I have to say that I have moved to the dark side and started using weight measurements. SO.. go pick up a kitchen scale. You can find one, I did, at Wal-Mart or Target for less than $20. Just make sure that it can measure in grams.

Put your almond flour (meal) and powdered sugar in a food processor and pulse a few times. Then sift into a large bowl.

If you look at the recipe, you will see that I said that you need 75g of egg whites x2.. this is because you will be coloring one of the portions of egg whites and whipping the other. Yes. Just go with me here. I, like a dummy, didn't label my food coloring once I took them out of their boxes. So I grabbed pastel when I wanted regular color. My, what should have been, orange colored macarons are pastel yellow. Learn from me, label your boxes!

So, add your food coloring into your egg whites and then mix that into the dry ingredients. You will end up with a weird kind of paste. Set this to the side and put the other 75g of egg whites into the bowl of your mixer. Now if you find that your egg whites are not whipping.. your bowl may be dirty or have some fat (maybe butter from buttercream) residue on the inside. You can remedy this by wiping the inside of the bowl down with a little bit of white vinegar. Fat prevents the whites from whipping up. If you're really nervous, a pinch of cream of tartar will help too. A question that gets asked a lot is, "do my egg whites need to be aged?" NO. Now.. traditionally speaking, eggs in Europe come directly from the farmer and they are FRESH. In America, the eggs you get from the grocery store are already a few weeks old. If you are buying them or getting them directly from the chicken-- then yes.. please age your whites. Otherwise, just bring them to room temperature. An easy way to do this is to fill a bowl with warm water and place your uncracked eggs in there for 5-10 min.

Go ahead and start whipping the whites to soft peaks in your mixer. While that is going, pour your water and sugar into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. You can stir gently or swirl the pan but you want to get to 118F.  Once you've hit the right temp, take the sugar off of the heat and slowly drizzle the hot syrup into the egg whites. Try to not hit the whisk as its rotating otherwise you will end up with hardened sugar on the sides of your bowl. You really want a slow stream of syrup to run down the side of the bowl as it hits the egg whites. Bring your whites to stiff peaks. This can take some time, be patient.

When you have reached glossy, stiff peaks, go ahead and mix one third of it into the almond flour paste that you have set aside. Don't be scared to deflate it. This will lighten the paste up quite a bit. Then add half of the egg whites, keep folding.. add the remaining. Keep folding. You want to stop when you have reached a slow, lava like ribbon. Where the batter will not hold ripples but is also firm and not free flowing. Dump this into your piping bag and get your sheet pans. If you want to use a stencil, just google "macaron stencils".  I don't personally have one created but I printed one from there. I like to use parchment over silicone for that reason, you can put a stencil under the parchment and pull it out before baking. Silicone is ok and I did use it for this batch because I was out of parchment.

LET THESE REST! They need to form a skin. If you don't let them form their skin.. you risk this:

THE HORROR!!

 I let mine rest for 30-45 min. Humidity will take its toll on these if its hot and humid out. Just leave them alone and once you can touch it without any batter coming off on your finger, they are ready to be baked. 300 for 16-20 min. You don't need to rotate. just let them do their thing. (Don't mind the dirty window)

Now... if you notice that my "foot" is a little small. This is because I failed to bring my eggs to a stiff peak. I got scared and pulled them too early. They were almost there!! But because they weren't, the batter was more runny and that lead them to spread too much once piped out. So the larger that macaron is in diameter, the smaller the foot. 

Also.. I did not double pan, but I will try it the next time I bake them!

Now these were Thai Tea macaron. The filling was something I winged. So I'm going to do my best to remember exactly what it was that I did. 

What you will need: 

Thai Tea Mix

8 oz (2 bars ghirardelli) white chocolate, chopped

 1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp karo

2 tsp sweetened condensed milk

I happen to have this bag of Thai Tea mix in the pantry so this is what I used. If you have something different you're welcome to give it a go. Heat your cream in the microwave for a few seconds and then steep 3 tbsp of the tea mix into the cream. While its still slightly hot, add the karo and the condensed milk. Strain. Please be careful because this tea WILL STAIN YOUR CLOTHING. Use this hot cream over your white chocolate and stir. Let this cool, put plastic wrap directly on it to prevent any sort of weird drying and put in the fridge. Once it has firmed, you can then use this to pipe into your shells.

 

Bon Appetit!