Macaron: Chocolate and Almond Flour
A lot of people get the wrong impression about macarons and avoid making them because they’re supposedly the most difficult thing in the world to make. Truly, they’re not difficult at all. What is difficult is mastering them. For some reason people mistakenly think if something can’t be mastered on the first try, it’s too hard to fool with.
But there’s no reason to master macarons on the first try. Unless you just burn the crap out of them, they’re going to taste phenomenal regardless of their flaws. It’s like leaning to ride a bike, except that when you “fail” you get delicious cookies instead of a skinned knee. So relax. Tell yourself it’s okay if they don’t have feet, it’s okay if they crack, it’s okay if they’re hollow.
Each time one of those things happen, you have a chance to learn about what went wrong with your technique if you want to learn. If you don’t care about learning, focus on flavor, have fun making a tasty cookie and leave obsessive perfectionism to the professionals.
If this is your first time making macarons, read through these posts to familiarize yourself with some common problems and mistakes.
Macaron Mythbusters: 10 myths you don’t need to worry about (with my recipe anyway).
Macaron Ten Commandments: 10 important points to remember when macaroning
All About Hollows: pointers for honing your macaron technique and minimizing hollow shells
Macarons Are For Eating: macarons are crazy delicious; don’t forget that in pursuit of perfection!
I get a lot of macaron emails each week and most of them are about a question already answered in one of those posts. Essentially everything I know about macarons is here, so please check out those posts before emailing. If I haven’t covered your question or problem, snap a pic of your tray of macarons and upload it to the Facebook page so I can help you troubleshoot (seeing them still on the baking sheet tells me a lot!).
Otherwise, get a pot of tea or coffee going and enjoy your
But there’s no reason to master macarons on the first try. Unless you just burn the crap out of them, they’re going to taste phenomenal regardless of their flaws. It’s like leaning to ride a bike, except that when you “fail” you get delicious cookies instead of a skinned knee. So relax. Tell yourself it’s okay if they don’t have feet, it’s okay if they crack, it’s okay if they’re hollow.
Each time one of those things happen, you have a chance to learn about what went wrong with your technique if you want to learn. If you don’t care about learning, focus on flavor, have fun making a tasty cookie and leave obsessive perfectionism to the professionals.
If this is your first time making macarons, read through these posts to familiarize yourself with some common problems and mistakes.
Macaron Mythbusters: 10 myths you don’t need to worry about (with my recipe anyway).
Macaron Ten Commandments: 10 important points to remember when macaroning
All About Hollows: pointers for honing your macaron technique and minimizing hollow shells
Macarons Are For Eating: macarons are crazy delicious; don’t forget that in pursuit of perfection!
I get a lot of macaron emails each week and most of them are about a question already answered in one of those posts. Essentially everything I know about macarons is here, so please check out those posts before emailing. If I haven’t covered your question or problem, snap a pic of your tray of macarons and upload it to the Facebook page so I can help you troubleshoot (seeing them still on the baking sheet tells me a lot!).
Otherwise, get a pot of tea or coffee going and enjoy your