French Macarons| How to make French Macaron at home | Thanksgiving and Christmas Treats | Stepwise Pictures

Hi Supermoms,

I am too excited to share the recipe of the most popular dessert - 'French Macarons'. They are perfect edible gifts for Christmas, thanksgiving or your dear one's birthday party. Simple, delicate and such sophisticated dessert. 

Yes, baking this dessert is a little tricky but trust me, if you have the passion to bake, then you must go for it.  I have tried my level best to simpify the process and given you all measurement for a small batch.

With more practise, one  can easily master the recipe!!  Let's make this festive season special!

FRENCH MACARON :

Preparation time: 1 & 1/2 hour

Cooking time: 10 -12 minutes

Yield - 40 mini macarons

Special Equipment - Electric Egg Beater ,  Weighing Scale, Macaron mat ( it will be great if you have it) or parchment paper/butter paper , Silicon Spatula , Piping bags or Zip lock bags

Ingredients :

40 gms Almond Flour ( I used readymade Blanched almond flour)

40 gms Icing Sugar

30 gms Egg White ( 1 egg)

25 gms Powdered Sugar 

1 pinch  Cream of Tartar

3 -4 drops of gel colour ( I used Red)

METHOD:

1. Process Almond Flour with the Icing Sugar in a food processor /mixer and sift 3 times to remove lumps. Do not process too much , else the almond flour will become oily. Measure all the ingredients and keep it ready.

TIP: To make Almond Flour at home, soak almonds in hot water for 4-5 minutes. Drain the water and immediately pour cold water on them. This helps to easily peel the skin. Then dry the almonds before you process them. Do this a day earlier. Clean the vessels that you are going to use well before hand.

2. Step two is to get the 'Meringue' right. Beat the  egg till it becomes foamy. Now add cream of tartar and beat again for one to two minutes. Add powdered sugar little by little and beat till you get stiff peaks.

TIP: Make sure that the egg white is clear and does not mix even a little bit with the yellow. 

3. Getting the Meringue is the most important step. 

TIP: You can add your food colour in this step also.

4. Now add half of the the sifted flour-sugar mixture . Just use the same 'Folding and Cutting technique' we use for making cake. Add the other half , cut and fold. 

TIP: It took approximately 40 ' Folds' for this quantity. Do not overdo this step otherwise the batter will become watery. The batter should look silky.

5. I transferred the batter to zip lock bags and made a small cut in one corner to pipe the macarons.

6. If you have a macaron mat, then your work is a breeze, or else no worries ... Line a baking tray with parchment paper/Butter paper. Start from centre and make  four to five concentric circles . Leave a gap of atleast 1  inch between each circle. 

Tap the Tray twice before you let them dry so that there are no air bubbles .

TIP: You get macaron templates in the web. Just print them out and keep it under the parchment paper for reference.

7. Once you have piped the entire batch, leave this to rest/dry for  one hour.

TIP: Check by touching the top layer . It will be non-sticky.

8. Preheat the oven at 140 degrees for 5 minutes. Bake the macarons in the middle rack at 100 degrees C for 10- 12 minutes.

TIP: The baking time might change depending upon your oven model. Also have a watchful eye over them after 5 minutes.

9. You will see how the macarons have developed feet!! Allow them to cool in the parchment paper for 5 minutes. Then they will come out clean like this. 

TIP: If the macarons stick to the sheet, then it means that it needs to cook little more.

10. You can make your choice of filling and sandwich the macarons. You can even use Jam, Marmalade or Nutella as filling or make a basic buttercream frosting.

All dressed up and ready !!!

Light, Chewy and one of the most loved dessert in the world is ready for the occasion!!!

Hope, I have inspired you to try!!!

Wishing you a Joyous Festive week and Happy Baking!

With love,

Masterchefmom