Basic Macaron Batter (Vanilla Flavor)

By chelyc13

This recipe is from I (heart) Macarons by Hisako Ogita

PIED: As macarons bake, small pleatlike frills form at the bottom of each. This pleat is called a pied, or foot. Without it, the pastry cannot be called a macaron. Some bakers attribute the pied to the macaronnage, some to the oven temp, and some to a good rap of the baking sheet on the counter before baking.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cups (3oz/85grams) ground almonds
• 1 1/2 cups (5.25oz/150grams) powdered sugar
• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 5 tlbsp/65 grams granulated sugar
• 1 teas vanilla extract, or seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean

Preparation

Step 1

1. Cut a sheet of parchment paper ( or other nonstick liner) to fit your baking sheet. Draw 1 inch circles on the paper, spacing them at least 1/2 inch apart. This pattern will be your guide for squeezing out the macaron batter.

2. In a food processor, grind almonds and powdered sugar together to a fine powder. Sift the mixture through a medium mesh sieve twice. Set aside.

3. In a stailess steel mixing bowl, beat egg whites on high speed until they are foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar to the egg whites, as shown.
(before beating the mixture in step 3 with a hand mixer, scrape the remaining meringue from the bowl's sides with a spatula. Do this each time you start the mixer. After the sugar has been added, beat egg whites on high speed until they reach stiff, glossy peaks, about 1 minutes. You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer)

4. Add vanilla and stir lightly (if you are using a vanilla bean, to take o9ut the seeds, slit the pod and scrape out the seeds).

5. When the meringue is stiff, firm, and has a glossy texture, it is done.

6. Add half of the sifted flour mix from step 2. Stir it with a spatula while cooping it up from the bottom of the bowl.

7. Add the rest of the flour and mix it lightly in a circular motion.

8. Macaronnage: When you run out of flour, press and spread out the batter against the bowl's sides. Scoop the batter from the bottom and turn it upside down. Repeat this process about 15 times.

(If the macaronnage step is repeated less than 10 times, the baked macarons will lack luster. however, when it is repeated more than 20 times, oil stains may remain on the pastry's surface when the macarons are baked)

9. Macaronner: When the batter becomes nicely firm and drips slowly as you scoop it with a spatula, the mixture is done.

10. Attach a 0.4inch tip to the pastry bag. Twist the bag to hold the tip tightly. This prevents the batter from leaking out.

11. Place the pastry bag, tipe down, inside a deep measuring cup and pour the batter made in step 9 into it.

12. After pouring the batter into the bag, clip the bag top to prevent the batter from coming out. You can use a string or rubber band, as well as a clip, to close it.

13. Place the sheet used in step 1 on the baking sheet and squeeze out the batter onto the center of the circles. make small circles since the batter tends to spread out after being squeezed.

14. Rap the baking sheet firmly against the counter or other flat surface. This helps the macarons hold their rounded shape and helps the pied, or little foot, to form.

15. Dry the batter at room temperature, uncovered, for 15 minutes. A slight crust should form on top of the macarons. On rainy days, it helps to dehumidigy the room.

16. if the batter circles do not stick to your finger when you touch them, the drying process is complete. On a dry and sunny day, the drying process takes approximately 30 minutes.
(the batter is settled when no tips can be seen in the circles)

17. Place oven racks in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375.

18. Stack the baking sheet with the batter circles into an empty baking sheet and slide both into the oven.

19. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until slightly crisp and crackled on top.

20. To bake the macarons evenly, rotate the tray so that macarons at the rear come up front and vice versa.

21. If the insides of the macarons are still soft after 15 minutes, lower the temp to 300, cover the tray with foil, and bake for another 2 to 3 minutes.

22. The macarons are done! Remove the baking sheet from the oven and cool on a wire rack. When the macarons are completely cooled, remove them from the baking sheet.
(Macarons can be kept in the refrigerator for about one week if you keep them in a sealed container.)