Daring Baker’s Macarons

Daring Baker’s Macarons, Lay The TableWell, I realize I am a day late, which has exceeded my previous brushes with procrastination, but I have a good excuse…I have been out-of-state (1300 miles to the east) for 6 days and was on an airplane a good part of yesterday. (The day before the posting is my usual M.O. for completing each DB challenge:) So, I actually was able to buckle down today and get to work on the macarons, which I have never made before BTW.
The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Daring Baker’s Macarons, Lay The Table Baking anything french(hence macaron, not macaroon) is intimidating to me for some reason, but these weren’t as labor intensive(or scary) as I thought they would be, though I did grind my own almond flour. I couldn’t seem to get my almonds as finely ground as I would have liked, and I also should have taken the time to read the tips from other sites, but I didn’t:( I also added a tsp. of cinnamon(my favorite spice) and was easy on myself by using Nutella as the filling:) Chocolaty, spicy and nutty=YUM! My macarons ended up as a crunchy, chewy combo, but not a favorite cookie.

As you can see these are a little on the flat side and not “picture perfect,” but I was happy to complete this challenge satisfactorily.NOW, time to go look at all the beautiful macarons made by my DB friends:)

MACAROONS

In the United States, the term “macaroon” generally refers to a cookie made primarily of coconut. But European macaroons are based on either ground almonds or almond paste, combined with sugar and egg whites. The texture can run from chewy, crunchy or a combination of the two. Frequently, two macaroons are sandwiched together with ganache, buttercream or jam, which can cause the cookies to become more chewy. The flavor possibilities and combinations are nigh endless, allowing infinitely customizable permutations.

IngredientsConfectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)

Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.

7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Yield: 10 dozen. Ami’s note: My yield was much smaller than this. I produced about two dozen filled macaroons.

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