Italian macaron shells
Learn how to make macaron shells using the Italian meringue method! This method consistently leads to beautiful, full macaron shells perfect for filling with your favorite flavors.
Equipment
- food processor (optional)
- Stand or hand mixer
- Food thermometer
- Food scale
- Pastry bags
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mats
- Baking sheets
Ingredients
- 200 g almond flour
- 200 g powdered sugar
- 50 g water
- 175 g granulated sugar
- 150 g egg whites (about 5)
Instructions
Pre-baking prep
- Wipe down all of your equipment and utensils with vinegar or lemon juice to remove traces of oil and water. Measure out all of your ingredients before starting
- Prep your baking trays. Flip them upside down and line with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. If you're using parchment paper, you can dab a little bit of macaron batter at the corner of each sheet to secure the paper and keep it from slipping
Make the almond paste & Italian meringue
- Combine the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and grind until fine. Sift through a sieve into a medium bowl
- Combine water and granulated sugar in a saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves
- Heat the sugar syrup to 244°F over medium-high heat
- While the sugar syrup is heating, place half the egg whites (75g) into the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form
- Once the sugar syrup hits 244°F and the egg whites are at soft peaks, trickle the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl while the mixer is running at medium-high speed. Continue beating until the meringue has cooled down and stiff peaks form. This takes about 10 minutes
- Create an almond paste by combining the almond flour and powdered sugar with the remaining half of the egg whites (75g)
Macaronage
- Once your meringue has reached stiff peaks, combine it with the almond paste. Mix in one third of the meringue each time, making sure to mix thoroughly so that there are no chunks of almond paste
- Using a "J" motion, fold the batter to squeeze out air until it reaches a lava-like consistency. You don't have to be gentle here, but make sure to check the consistency periodically so you don't overmix. Once the batter falls smoothly off the spatula in ribbons and can be used to draw a figure 8 shape, the batter is ready. Stop mixing once it hits this point
Pipe and rest macarons
- Fill a large pastry bag with the batter. Snip off the tip of the bag to create a 1/2 inch opening
- Pipe into rounds that are 1 inch in diameter, leaving 2 inches in between. They will spread a little to create shells that are ultimately around 1.5 inches in diameter
- Bang the pans against the counter a few times to knock out any air bubbles. Use a toothpick to gently pop any remaining bubbles that you see trapped below the surface of the shells
- Let the shells rest for 20 minutes to 1 hour until a skin forms and you can gently touch the top of the shells without batter sticking to your finger
Bake the macarons
- While the macarons rest, preheat the oven to 325°F. I use an oven thermometer to double check the temperature and will let the oven run through a few cycles of heating and cooling down to stabilize
- Bake for 11 - 14 minutes. I gently wiggle the tops of the macarons to see if they're done baking. If they are wiggly, then I will keep them in for another minute then check again
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely before removing from the tray. Once the macarons are cooled, they will easily peel off. If they are sticking, they need to cool for longer
Notes
- This method makes about 100 macaron shells that are about 1.5 inches in diameter. You can easily easily half the recipe if needed
- If you do not have a food processor, you can skip the step where you grind into a fine powder. In this case, I recommend sifting and weighing the almond flour first. Any pieces that are too big to pass through the sieve, remove and replace with finer pieces.