Comments on: La Macaronicité 3: the more reliable macaron recipe and a few tips

By: Duncan

Duncan — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:20:56 +0000

@Steve: entirely your choice. The Italian meringue tolerates more variation in composition/conditions, but still within limits…!

@Hilary: thanks for your comment. There's nothing about the cold "shock" that will facilitate removal of sticky shells, beyond making them slightly less soft. I would imagine that that technique is only useful for people whose ovens are basically baking the shells correctly, so it's just marginal adhesion that has to be dealt with.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 05:55:21 +0000

great article Duncan!
I'm obsessed with macaron and have been making or should I say trialling 2 or 3 times a week! its a sickness!
If you can give me one advice, should I go with French or italian meringue? I do want to get serious with this…meaning hoping to be the australian version of Herme lol
Thanks

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:19:28 +0000

I've received a couple of macaron cookbooks in French recently. Something got lost in translation, because my first try was too moist in the center, and the tops were too dry. Your recipe helped fill in the blanks, so my next try was nearly perfect. Macarons a la Pistache!

The only thing different from your method for me was I needed about 10 minutes in the oven.

Thanks!

By: Hilary Thorogood

Hilary Thorogood — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:27:10 +0000

Hi Duncan

i've just been on a course making macaroons and the tutor sugggests you 'shock' them once out of the oven by moving greaseproof + macaroon shells off the baking tray immediately and onto a cold surface.

this seemed to ensure they then came effortlessly off the paper.

Also to solve the egg problem they use a product called 'two chicks' which is in all supermarkets (you might need to ask) its often with the milk. Its basically fresh pasturised egg white and contains 15 egg whites in each carton-its brilliant and SO easy. no more egg yolks.

Hilary

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 01:10:31 +0000

sooooooooo excited i stumbled upon your site! i recently attempted the french meringue method with some success. they looked pretty, however they had quite a large air pocket inside. can't wait to try your other method! thank you sooo much for such a detailed recipe! can't wait to try it!

By: Duncan

Duncan — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 08:51:35 +0000

@Annalisa: you usually would replace an equivalent weight of the TPT: so for instance if you add 30gm cocoa, you would remove 15gm sugar and 15gm almond. Sometimes you'll need a little extra eggwhite.

By: Annalisa

Annalisa — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:15:54 +0000

Congratulations on putting together this AMAZING guide to macarons! Thanks to you I managed to fix what I was doing wrong and produce lovely ones!

I have one question: how would you convert this recipe to make chocolate macarons? I tried substituting some icing sugar for cocoa but they came out very cake-y and didn't rise properly…

By: Duncan

Duncan — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 01:01:34 +0000

@han: don't play around with the proportions of ingredients until you've successfully made macarons. The perception of sweetness is controlled by the texture of a good macaron and the choice of filling.
@Lee,@Alice: it's wonderful to hear of people succeeding after frustrations (I know the feeling only too well!).

By: Lee

Lee — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 00:30:12 +0000

Hi Duncan, you are a genius!! I tried your recipe last night and it worked! My last two attempts (using other recipes from the net) were epic failures BUT this time, using your detailed step-by-step recipe and tips, it was a success! Thank you so very much for sharing
= )

By: han

han — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:24:42 +0000

Hi Duncan.

I tried the recipe today, using the method you write above. However, The macaron don't have body perhaps? They were flat!!! Maybe you can suggest what I have done wrong?

Next time I will put less sugar because the macarons are very sweet.