Finally I have succeeded at making the French Macarons. It took a bit of practice and quite a few disappointments, but here they are. As it turns out the trick is in beating the egg white to proper stiffness and preheating the oven to the right temperature.

Some recipes call for lower temperatures or higher temperature, and believe me I have tried them all. There is also a difference between ovens and if the macarons have dried up enough before going into the oven. So many factors, and I have tried a number of them, and found the right one for me. You just have to try and find the best one that works for you. I hope that this recipe will help you in making the perfect macarons.

And after all this talking, here is the recipe. 🙂

In a large bowl, or in a bowl of a food processor, combine the powdered sugar, almond flour and ½ teaspoon salt. Either sift it together or process on low speed until well combined.

In a separate large bowl, beat the egg whites and ½ teaspoon of salt with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.Gradually add the granulated white sugar, until fully incorporated.

Continue to beat the egg whites until very stiff peaks form. Careful not to over mix! For me it helped to switch to medium high speed, it took a bit longer, but I managed to beat the egg whites until very stiff without over beating them. You should be able to flip the bowl, without anything falling out of it.

Add the vanilla extract and food coloring, if using, and mix until just combined.

Add about ⅓ of the dry ingredients mix into the egg whites, and gently fold through using a rubber spatula.

Continue until all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated and keep folding until you can make a figure 8 while holding up the spatula.

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Transfer the macaron batter into a piping bag fitted with a round tip.

Place 4 dots of the batter in each corner of a rimmed baking sheet, and place a piece of parchment paper over it, using the batter to help adhere the parchment to the baking sheet.

I used a Silicon Cookie Mat, you can find a similar product here.

Pipe the macarons onto the parchment paper in 1½-inch (3-cm) circles, spacing at least 1-inch (2-cm) apart.

Tap the baking sheet on a flat surface 5 times to release any air bubbles.

Let the macarons sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until dry to the touch.

Preheat the oven to 160˚C (320°F). Bake the macarons for 15-17 minutes, until the feet are well-risen and the macarons don’t stick to the parchment paper. I used the special silicon mat, but parchment paper works as well.

When you touch the top of the macarons, it should not move around on its feet. If it does, then they are not yet done baking. Continue baking and checking at 2-min intervals, until macarons don’t move when touched

Transfer the macarons to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.

While the macarons are cooling down, prepare Mascarpone Cream frosting.

In a large bowl whisk the chilled mascarpone cheese until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and whisk to combine. While whisking, slowly add the heavy cream until light and fluffy, and hold stiff peaks. Careful not to over mix, or it will curdle. You can also add food coloring if desired.

Transfer the cream to a piping bag and start assembling the cookies. Take one macaron shell, pipe out a dollop of cream, place another macaron shell on top to create a sandwich. Repeat with the remaining shells and cream.

Place in an air tight container for 24 hours.

Enjoy!

If you cooked and liked this recipe, please leave a comment and give it a rating. It is really important for us to know your opinion 🙂 Thank you!

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