Recently I have posted some basic recipe of the Vanilla macaron and also just a few days ago some fresh recipe of Lemon & lime macaron went through. Both recipes are quite simple and I have already included some of my tips directly in the recipes. In the last one you can even find some pictures, that should help you out during the baking process (hopefully). Nevertheless, I thought that it would be useful to have a separate post covering all angles of macaron baking. Please note that those tips are for home made macarons.

The top-10 tips when you deal with macarons

• 🥣 The question of sugar adding technique in the egg whites: some say add spoon by spoon. Some suggest to add all at once. Some recipes even say to boil it in water (for Italian meringue method)! Well… I tired all methods possible and it really doesn’t matter. All works well, so choose whatever method you like the most. Just remember that it should be caster sugar, not icing sugar. Also try aging your egg whites for a day or two for better meringue results.
• 🍭Adding colour to your meringue: you can use gel or powder colours. Most of the time people prefer to use gel colourings as they sold in most of shops, but I recently noticed that with powder one you can get better colour than with gel. Certainly avoid adding liquid colours as they can negatively impact your macaron texture after baking. If you are using gel colour then add it to meringue and mix it with the mixer. This helps to mix the colour better. With powder it is better to add it in the middle of your macaronage process.

Are you wondering how to add more flavour to your macarons? Check my recent article on freeze-dried fruit and berry powders.

• 🍯Batter making technique or “macaronage”: when you are mixing your egg whites with the sugar-almond mix use spatula, and do it from sides to the middle. Also it is important that your icing sugar and almonds are well mixed together and there are no pieces of almond in it. Sieve your ingredients well. I tried adding almond-sugar mix spoon by spoon and all at once, both ways work, but be sure that you measured your ingredients well: not enough or too much almond-sugar mix can impact negatively your macarons. It is also really important not to overmix your batter.
• 🎉Readiness of the batter. It is important to know how your batter should look like when it is ready. I have made some quicky recently on the macaronage technique and “ribbon effect”. It is important that batter is not too liquid, or not too staffed. Mastering this step will help to avoid cracked macarons. Your batter should hold the form well.
• 💰Piping bags: there are million of those, but for me nothing works better than a disposable piping bag. Also helps if you are doing two colours at the same time (saves time on cleaning).
• ⭐️Baking yet or wait more? The best way to check if your macarons are ready to be baked is to pinch one of them and if batter sticks to your finger then it means wait longer. Most of recipes suggest to leave them for 15-20 minutes, but it really depends on your room temperature and humidity, so just check them out before baking. I recently posted some short video on my Instagram where it is shown how to check if your macaron is ready for baking or not, so don’t be shy and check it out.
• 🔄Rotate your baking tray halfway through the baking time. It is ok to open the oven and rotate the tray. This will help your macarons to bake equally if you have “hot spots” in your oven.
• 📆The older the better: a lot of literature on the macaron making suggests that it is better to overcook your macaron, than to undercook it. Too crispy? Not a problem. When you will sandwich your macarons with some tasty buttercream, or jam, and leave it for 24 hours or more, your macarons will observe some of it and will in fact become even better. A lot of chefs/bakers say that macarons require to stand for a day or two to become really perfect. So no worries about crispy shells!
• 🔥Brownie: in the previous point I have mentioned about overbaked macaron, but what if they get all brown? If your macaron changed colour then next time try to place your tray a bit lower. It can be that the heat from the top oven is too high and that is why your macarons turned brownish.
• 💡Read, read and read. There are a lot of recipes that you can find online, and some nice videos on Youtube, that explain really well how to make macarons. So my biggest advice is to never stop exploring and learning. Try things out, and if they do not work, try another time something else!Find your way of working with it, and all will be good. Good luck, and do not forget to share your experiences with me.

Ready to bake? Try out some of my exciting recipes: red velvet macarons, mango & blackberry macarons or very tasty and lovely carrot cake macarons!

Hope above info was useful and let me know if those tips worked! I will be adding more tips as the blog goes on, so stay here for more tips to come. Follow my Instagram page for some advisory videos on macaron baking, and of course lovely picture of pretty macarons.

Tag @macaron_adb on instagram and hashtag your creations #macaronadb I would love to see your work!

Have a lovely day/evening, and sweet times.

AdB.