Macarons

Vanilla French Macarons 

by #Madiha Rafiq‎

Ingredients for Macarons 
125g almond meal/flour
125g icing sugar
125g caster sugar
90g/3 large egg whites at room temperature
1 tbsp meringue powder OR 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Generous pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
Food gel/paste as needed


Macarons preparation method
Microwave egg whites at medium power for 10 seconds and set aside

Sift almond flour and icing sugar together and set aside

Using a hand or stand mixer whisk egg whites until foamy, building up the speed slowly. Add meringue powder or cream
of tartar. Add salt and continue whisking. Add caster sugar gradually and whisk on high until it’s glossy and soft peaks are formed. Add vanilla and any color if you want, continue whisking on high until ALMOST stiff peaks are formed. They should still flop over.

Add all the meringue to almond flour-icing sugar and fold in.

Macronage: this is the stage of folding in all your batter until you get a perfect consistency. Keep scraping all sides of the bowl with your spatula until a glossy mixture that ribbons nicely is formed. The consistency should be
Like thick cake batter. If you drop some from your spatula, it should FLOW, not fall as a blob.

Fill piping bags and cut off a half cm hole. Pipe onto the parchment lined trays, preferably using a template. Bang the tray on the counter 5 times, rotate and repeat until all bubbles rise to the surface. Pop any left over air bubbles with a tooth pick and smooth over.

Let the trays rest for 20-30 mins. (This recipe doesnt require a long resting time)
Bake in a preheated oven at 150 for 20 mins. Allow to cool on the trays completely before removing.
Fill with the frosting or ganache of your choice.
Enjoy !