Macarons

Hear me out. This was my first ever time trying to make traditional French macarons and I think I did okay. I did learn that I was missing a few tools in the kitchen and that technique is extremely important with these macarons. I found a recipe that was geared toward beginners so I followed that (link below). The recipe was written really well and the directions were very clear. I would encourage you to use this recipe as well because of how well written that it was. It helps explain everything that you need to know. The measurements are also very precise.

There are quite a few things that I learned from this recipe. The recipe suggested that I use a 2A Wilson baking tip, but I do not have one (yet). I ended up using a Wilson 16 tip. There were a few things wrong with this approach. The tip is textured, so the batter did not come out smoothly, which in turn did not create a smooth top. It also is very small, which made it difficult for the batter to come out. I should have used a zip lock bag and cut it from the corner to mimic a 2A tip. (Click here to see the tip on Amazon.)

One helpful thing that I did was I printed (rather Jacob printed for me) a sheet of paper with circles on them with the diameter that I was looking for (1.5’’). This was very helpful because it took away some of the guesswork with estimating how big the macaroons were. I laid this paper under the parchment paper and filled the circles. When I was done with the tray, I removed the paper before the tray went into the oven. There are some silicone baking mats that have the circles on them to help (link here to an example). I have not tried them, but I think I may want to consider something like this if I feel I will be making these often.

I am really glad that I tried making macarons! It was easier than I thought, but also more challenging than I thought. I learned a lot this time and I know next time that they will turn out even better.

Taste: 10/10--The taste was delicious for my first time making them, but I need to improve.

Notes for next time: I learned a few technical aspects during the process so I know for next time.

Original link here!