Obsession

I spent years using the french macaron method and accepted a certain element of crackage. It was just the expectation that the basic meringue is the simpler option, but then I bit the bullet and tried Italian meringue and never looked back. Yes it requires more washing up. But the "hit" rate as such is much higher. The cracks are not all blameable on hot spots. Sometimes it's just the mix. This recipe is from Pierre Herme as per the Telegraph. I do not use liquefied egg whites because it's never made a difference to me, and I'm definitely not buying mineral water, the remaining adjustments are just shortcuts to avoid over complication. The ones made here I decided to decorate (first time) by mixing up a little food colouring with vodka and just paint it on. MAKES around 72 macarons (or about 144 shells) Ingredients Part A: 300g ground almonds 300g icing sugar 110g egg whites Food colouring (gel or paste) Part B: 300g caster sugar 75g cold wate...

I've been trying to do macarons for awhile, (okay I've tried like twice?) and I think this actually worked. Funnily enough though, the should-have-been-a-failure ended up better than the ones that were text-booked. The recipe I followed was as follows here . It's the one in the comments which I reproduce here. 110g icing sugar 60g ground almonds (sift these together after whizzing down to a fine powder in a food processor) Then beat up 60g egg whites (usually 2 eggs' worth) with 40g caster sugar and a LITTLE bit of food colouring (a tiny dot of the gel stuff is much better and more intense than the liquid stuff), untill you have a firm, shiny meringue. Fold this gently, a third at a time, into the almond mixture. DON'T overmix; when it's just incorporated part the mixture with your spoon - it should slowly flow back together like 'molten lava' might. (If you can picture such a thing) Then pipe circles by holding your piping bag still and squeezing it a ...