Macarons, French Meringue Method (法式马卡龙)

Here are 12 FAQ to help you make macarons:

1) Which almond flour?
I use Phoon Huat's superfine almond flour. PH sells three types of almond flour. Only the one labeled "SUPERFINE" is good for macarons.

Almond flour that's not "macaron grade" is too coarse. Can you grind it to make it superfine? If you have a super duper grinder that's leagues ahead of what most people have at home, yes.

2) How to make French meringue for macarons?
I whisk fresh egg white on speed #3 to start with (#24 is the fastest on my electric whisk). I then drop to #1 after sugar is added. Finally, I whisk by hand to finish off. The meringue, when it's done, is at stiff peak stage, i.e. the peak is straight, not hooked. It's smooth and glossy, not grainy and matt.

Whisking slowly helps make the meringue stable. A stiff, stable meringue is crucial to everything that's important in macarons: the foot, the height, the sleek crust, the inside. If you don't want flat, footless, rough macrons with a hollow inside, you must get the meringue right. Remember: whisk SLOWLY.

3) How to hit the "macaronage" sweet spot?
Mixing the meringue with almond flour and icing sugar correctly is very important. If the batter is under- or overmixed, the macarons will be flat, footless, rough, or hollow inside.

How to tell when the mixing, the so-called macaronage, hits the sweet spot? By testing. When the batter's texture is smooth, I stop folding every 10-15 folds to drop some batter from about 25 cm high. When the batter doesn't move at all after landing, it's not ready. When it moves ever so slightly, it's almost there. From this point, I stop every 3-5 folds to observe the batter. When it oozes a bit after I stop folding, it's done.

4) Why do macarons have feet?
Before the batter is baked, it needs to rest till the surface isn't tacky. The dry surface is crucial to the macarons forming feet. Why? Because it's a shield, which stops steam formed during baking from rising. Since the steam can't go up, it looks for an alternative exit. Where's that? Between the batter and baking tray. That's why macarons have frilly bottoms, aka feet.

5) Why don't your macarons have feet?
Cracked macarons are footless (or have poorly formed feet). Why? Because most of the steam escapes through the cracks, not the space between the batter and the baking tray. Refer to Q4.

Macarons that aren't cracked may still be footless. If the oven temperature is too high, the batter is overmixed, the batter has too little egg white, or the macarons are too small, you can wave good-bye to macaron feet. These mistakes make the batter set too quickly, so there's no time to form cracks or feet.

6) Why do your macarons crack?
If the oven temperature is too high, or there's too much egg white in the batter, macarons crack because too much steam is created. Air bubbles that are too big could lead to cracks too.

Batter that isn't dry enough when it's baked could also result in cracks. Macaron batter doesn't dry well if it has too much egg white, it is overmixed, or the resting time is too short. Poking the batter when it's dry or half-dry – maybe to remove air bubbles – creates wet spots. Touching the batter before it's dry – to check if it is – creates wet spots too.

7) Why are your macarons hollow inside?
When the meringue is overwhisked or whisked too quickly, it's grainy; or it turns grainy whilst the batter is waiting to be baked. Grainy meringue can't rise well, so the batter doesn't rise to fill the big air pockets created by heat. That results in a hollow under the crust.

9) Why do your macarons blister?
Because big bubbles in the batter expand when heated.

8) Why are the results from your single batch of batter uneven?
Only evenly mixed batter yields even results. When the batter is uneven, some macarons have feet and some don't; some are hollow inside and some aren't.

10) Why are your macarons rough?
Because the almond flour is coarse, the meringue is grainy, or the batter is undermixed. 

11) Why do your macarons stick to the parchment paper?
Because they are underbaked, removed from the paper whilst still warm, or piped on the batter used to glue the parchment paper to the baking tray.



12) How to make macarons less sweet?
Do not change the recipe for macaron shells. It will end in tears if you do. Instead, go for a filling that has a bitter ingredient, such as coffee, matcha or cocoa buttercream. Homemade yam paste, green/red bean paste or lotus paste would be good too. You can make these with as little sugar as you like, to balance the macaron shells' sweetness. Imagine macarons filled with thick yam paste that's made with coconut milk. These "orh nee" macarons would give the buttercream and ganache lot a run for their money.

MACARONS, FRENCH MERINGUE METHOD (法式马卡龙) (Recipe for 20 macaron shells) 40 g superfine almond flour 50 g icing sugar   35 g egg white 25 g castor sugar small pinch fine salt 5 drops liquid red food colouring click here for Swiss meringue buttercream recipe 1. Cut parchment paper to fit bottom of 13" x 10" baking tray. Draw twenty 3.3 cm circles on paper with pencil, evenly spread out. 2. Place piping tip #802 in piping bag. Cut tip of bag to fit piping tip. Tie bag with rubber band just above piping tip. 3. Place almond flour and icing sugar in food processor. Blitz till mixture looks lump free, scraping down as necessary, then blitz a bit more (to be doubly sure all lumps are obliterated). Alternatively, sift almond flour and icing sugar. 4. Whisk egg white on slow speed till thick foam forms. Gradually add castor sugar, still whisking. Reduce speed. Continue to whisk till firm peak stage, i.e. peak is hooked. Reduce to manual speed. Continue to whisk till just hitting stiff peak stage, i.e. peak is straight. (Meringue is now smooth, not grainy.) 5. Sprinkle half of almond mixture on meringue. Cut with spatula till almond mixture is wet. Sprinkle with remaining almond mixture. Cut as before. Fold till just evenly mixed. 6. Add food colouring and fine salt. 7. Fold batter till colour is even and texture is smooth, pausing now and then to scrape down spatula. 8. Continue folding, pausing every 10-15 folds to drop batter from about 25 cm high. When batter moves ever so slightly after landing, it's almost ready. 9. Keep folding, now pausing to observe every 3-5 folds. When batter oozes slightly after you stop folding, it's ready. 10. Transfer batter into piping bag. Remove rubber band. Twist top of piping bag tightly, squeezing batter downward. 11. Pipe small dollops of batter in corners of baking tray. Place parchment paper on tray, pencilled side facing down. Press paper against batter so that it sticks well. Pipe using drawn circles as guide, avoiding batter that's under parchment paper. 12. Rap baking tray against worktop – hard, 4-6 times – till tips of batter disappear or almost disappear. Prick visible air bubbles with skewer. Smooth holes and remaining tips. 13. Set tray aside till batter isn't sticky when touched lightly, about 30 minutes depending on the weather. (I put the tray in front of a table fan turned on low because Singapore is very humid.) 14. Whilst macaron batter is drying, preheat oven to 135°C. When batter is ready, bake on middle shelf of oven for 30 minutes. 15. Remove tray from oven. Drag parchment paper onto wire rack. Leave till macarons are cool. Carefully peel parchment paper from macarons. 16. Separate macaron shells into pairs that are same size. Pipe filling of choice on one shell and top with the other. 17. Place macarons in fridge, covered, for a few hours or up to a few days. Remove from fridge before serving and allow to come to desired level of softness.

Edith Chong Pei See: A Thief?

Some readers share my recipes on their blogs, such as here, here and here. The bloggers in these examples rewrite the instructions, in their own words. I am flattered and happy that they share my recipes with their readers.

Sadly, not all bloggers are honest. Some people just copy and paste from my blog.

Copying word for word, or almost word for word, is an infringement of copyright, even when the original author is credited. If it weren't, we can all upload best selling books and make loads of money, right?

When I find unscrupulous bloggers who steal my posts, I leave this message on their blog:

Dear Thief

Copying and pasting from my blog is an infringement of copyright. Delete the text you have stolen, you despicable, low-down thief!

When the thieves get the message, all of them delete not only the stolen text but their entire post. There is, however, one exception: Edith Chong Pei See.

Edith Chong Pei See has an old blog, Precious Moments, and a current blog, Rumbling Tummy. The latter has this message, in red, on its home page:



SO CALLED stolen recipes? So the recipes on Precious Moments aren't REALLY stolen?

I am the blogger Rumbling Tummy refers to. Let me set the record straight.

Here is what's published on my post for sambal udang:

Cut dried chillies, red chillies, shallots and buah keras into small pieces. Pound or grind till smooth. Fry in vegetable oil over medium-low to low heat till medium brown. Add belachan and stir through. Add sugar, salt and tamarind water. Simmer till thick and oil separates. Add prawns and heat till just cooked, stirring and turning as necessary to cook evenly . . . . Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

This is a screenshot of what's on Precious Moments on 6 May 2015, before it's edited:



Precious Moments' text is the same as mine, word for word. That's a flagrant violation of copyright.

Edith Chong Pei See copied another recipe, dry chicken curry, almost word for word. This is a screenshot of the recipe on Precious Moments as on 6 May 2015, before it's edited:




Using my writing without my permission is stealing. If a person steals, she's a thief. If she's a thief, she's pond scum. Don't you agree?

Have you also had stuff stolen from your blog? Are you also a victim of copyright violation? What do you do? Do you just grin and bear it?

Matcha Swiss Roll

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

Matcha!

Matcha who?

Much ado about Swiss rolls.

This is another Swiss roll post, the third on this blog. 

My matcha sheet cake is barely sweet, to keep it in character with green tea which is drunk without sugar. It has quite little oil because matcha doesn't absorb much oil. My vanilla sheet cake, in comparison, has twice as much. Green tea powder also helps "lighten" the cake. You know how tea makes food seem less rich? Matcha does that with cake.

If you don't know much about matcha, please read my post on matcha layer cake. You'll find information on what type of matcha to buy and how to store it. 

My matcha sheet cake uses the chiffon method. Making the batter is quite easy. Just do the usual stuff that applies to all cakes, e.g. measuring the ingredients correctly, not over- or underbeating, not over- or undermixing, etc.

The baking part is less straightforward. When I bake the cake, I block the oven's bottom heat around two-thirds of the way. Why? To keep the inside of the cake moist whilst allowing the crust to dry out sufficiently. Without blocking the bottom heat, the crust would be sticky when the inside is just right. And if the bottom heat is blocked too early, the bottom of the cake would stick to the parchment paper.

What makes the crust dry out slowly? Matcha. Some of the fine powder rises to the top of the cake when heated. Do wet leaves dry well in the oven? No, not as well as flour which has starch to help it set. That's why the crust needs the tray's help.

I like to fill my matcha roll with matcha whipped cream and red beans. You can, of course, make sweetened red beans from scratch. But chances are your homemade version won't be as fragrant as Japanese canned red beans unless your beans are from Hokkaido. Chinese red beans are far inferior.

I've tried two brands of red beans: Hashimoto and Imuraya. Both are fragrant but I prefer Hashimoto. It has more bite and is less sweet.

Imuraya beans are mushy and the syrup, because it's thickened with cornstarch, is very gloopy. The gloop clings to the beans, adding to the sweetness and mushiness. Unlike Imuraya, Hashimoto is thickened with sorbitol. The syrup isn't as thick at room temperature, so I can drain it.

One small can of Hashimoto, 190 g, yields 130 g after it's drained. Leftovers may be refrigerated for a few weeks or frozen for a few months.

I like my matcha roll "naked", i.e. it's rolled inside out and there's no icing. I think the green, spongy look is quite pretty. Is rolling the cake difficult? Not at all. The cake handles well (provided it's made right). If you don't know much about rolling Swiss rolls, please read my post on vanilla Swiss roll.

After you make the Swiss roll, have a small piece to see what it's like. Take note of the taste and remember it. Keep the rest of the roll in the fridge, covered, for two days. Your saintly patience will be rewarded with a matcha flavour that's more intense than two days prior, and melded with the red beans. After taking a bite, you'll never again eat matcha Swiss roll that's freshly made . . . or store-bought.

Here's my video to walk you through the recipe:

MATCHA SWISS ROLL (抹茶瑞士蛋糕卷) (Recipe for one small roll) Cake 10 g very hot water  1/2 tbsp green tea powder 30 g egg yolks 10 g castor sugar 15 g corn oil 15 g cake flour 70 g egg whites 1/16 tsp cream of tartar 20 g castor sugar soft butter for greasing pan Filling 75 g fresh dairy cream, 35% fat 1/2 tsp green tea powder 40 g drained red beans, Hashimoto brand (beans need at least 30 min to drain well) If you double the recipe, use a 13" x 10" pan. 1. To make cake, preheat oven to 200°C. Grease 10" x 7" cake pan with butter. Line with 14" x 7" parchment paper, making sure paper has no air pockets or creases. Measure and prep ingredients as detailed above. 2. Add water to green tea powder. Stir till smooth. Cover. Set aside. 3. Whisk egg yolks with 10 g castor sugar till thick and pale. Add corn oil. Whisk till thick. Add green tea paste. Mix till even. Sift cake flour into mixture in 2 batches. Mix till just even after each batch. 4. Whisk egg whites on medium-low speed till very frothy. Add cream of tartar. Whisk till thick foam forms. Gradually add 20 g castor sugar whilst continuing to whisk. Reduce speed to low. Keep whisking till firm, hooked peak stage. 5. Loosen egg yolk mixture from bottom of bowl. Add egg whites in 2 batches. Mix with whisk till almost even after each batch. Scrape down and fold with spatula till just evenly mixed, banging bowl against worktop 2-3 times. 6. Scrape batter into cake pan, slowly and from 1' high. Spread as evenly as possible. Jiggle vigorously till batter is level, banging cake pan against worktop 2-3 times. 7. Bake cake on middle shelf of oven till risen, about 9 minutes (10 minutes if recipe is doubled). Place baking tray in bottom of oven. Continue baking till crust is lightly brown and middle of cake doesn't make squishing sound when pressed, 4-5 minutes (5-6 minutes if recipe is doubled), checking once every 30-45 seconds towards the end. 8. Remove pan from oven. Drop from 1' high 2-3 times. Loosen cake with knife. Drag onto wire rack. Leave till cold. Remove from wire rack. Place new parchment paper on cake. Flip cake upside down. Peel old parchment paper from cake, slowly. Flip again. 9. To make filling, whip cream till thick enough to hold its shape. Add green tea powder. Whisk till thick enough to stick to whisk. 10. To assemble Swiss roll, spread cake with whipped cream, then red beans. Roll. Refrigerate for 2 days, covered. Remove from fridge. Cut with serrated knife, wiping knife clean after each cut. Tuck in when cake is soft but filling is still firm.