Macaroons

There's been a lot of interested individuals who have requested us for techniques in making macaroons. Macaroons are indeed among the most elegant petit fours. They can be made in one of two ways - by creaming the batter or by the sponge method, which involves incorporating a meringue into a nut-, seed-, or fruit-based mixture. In France, a macaroon is often an almond confection that is crisp on the exterior and soft and chewy on the interior, generally made from almond paste or flour and meringue.

Today, we shall introduce to you one of the most enticing of all macaroons, macarons Gerbet. It is named after a nineteenth-century French pastry chef and is highly regarded in Parisian pastry making. Most often, they are filled with jam or even richly flavoured buttercream.

Macarons Gerbet

(Makes 25 macaroon sandwich cookies)

Ingredients

115g  almond flour

200g confectioner's sugar

For the meringue

90g egg whites, at room temperature

8g confectioner's sugar

For the finish

100g raspberry or other jam

Method

1. Preheat oven to 162 deg celsius.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. Combine the almond flour and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process for about 1 minute, or until very fine. Set aside.

4. To make the meringue, place the egg whites in the bowl of the standing electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Beat low to aerate. Add the sugar, raise the speed to high, and beat for about 3 minutes, or until soft peaks from. Take care not to overwhip or the meringue will be dry and will be difficult to fold in the dry ingredients.

5. Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, fold the almond mixture into the meringue until well blended.

6. Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with the #2 tip.

7. Carefully pipe fifty (50) 2.5cm (1-inch) rounds of the macaroon batter onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Set them aside for about 1 hour, or until the macaroons form a skin on their surface. This is extremely important, as the skin helps the macaroons hold their shape during baking.
8. Make the macaroons for about 10 minutes, or until firm and just beginning to brown around the edges. (The macaroons should not colour much during baking.) Watch carefully, as the high sugar content can cause the cookies to burn quickly.
9. Immediately transfer the macaroons to wire racks to cool.
10. Using an offset spatula, lightly coat the flat bottom of 25 of the cooled macaroons with thin layer of jam. Cover the jam with another macaroon, bottom side down, pressing gently to make sandwich cookies.

11. Serve the macaroons immediately or store them, air tight in layers, at room temperature for a day or two.

Tips

Buttercream, ganache, or pistachio or praline paste may be used as a filling in place of the jam.

A drop or two of food colouring among with 3ml (1/2 teaspoon) of any extract can be added to the meringue.

EVALUATING YOUR SUCCESS

The baked macaroons should be smooth and round with no cracks, crunchy on the exterior, and soft and chewy in the interior.

The baked macaroons should be consistent in size, shape and colour.

There should be just enough filling to hold the two pieces together as well as to add a bit of moisture.