My Battle with Macarons.........(2) The French Meringue Method with Fresh Egg Whites

After yesterday's attempt in making macarons......and succeeding it, I am indeed very happy, hehe :) However, I realized that this success is only the beginning, as a total success in 'Macaron Making' is not only to have a mac with feet, but the overall form of a macaron has to be standard, in order to have a perfect match when pairing them together, and also to have a perfect texture in and out ....for example, a friend told me that a macaron is supposed to be crispy on the outside (the shell part) and 'chewy but not wet' in the inside. Moreover, the inside should not be 'hollow' as some of mine actually turned out that way yesterday :(

I have been searching and googling the internet for more background stories of Macarons. OK, I admit I'm a bit obsessed with this little 'yo-yo'.........or 'totally' obsessed with it, :P

I realized that a lot of 'experts' out there do fail once in awhile in their macaron baking , even-though they have been baking it like baking a normal cookie.
I also realized that they stick to the method which they find they are comfortable with. I have also come to know there are in fact 3 methods of making macarons :-

1. French method - this method uses raw egg whites (either fresh egg whites or the most recommended 'aged' egg whites) beaten to a peak (French Meringue) and mix into the almond mixture;
2. Spanish method - beaten egg whites, but with higher sugar content, added to the almond mixture;
3. Italian method - this one uses a cooked sugar syrup added into beaten egg whites (Italian Meringue) and then added to almond mixture.

A lot has been said about the above methods, some mentioned that the Italian method promises a more solid shell but a lower feet, while the French method is more straight forward and promises a higher looking feet, however, the shell sometimes can be hollow.......but no matter which method you opt for, the end result still bolts down to the 'macaronage' stage, where the 'folding' technique comes in.

Anyway, I wish to try all the methods if possible to see the end results and to find one that I am comfortable with. However, this 2nd attempt I chose to use back the French method, but instead, I used fresh egg whites instead.....meaning I just cracked open it from the shell and no aging involve, as I also realized that the 'egg white' is also one of the very often talk about caused of a failed macaron.

I used back the same recipe I did yesterday except for the egg whites. 

Well, like what I did yesterday, I piped all the mixtures on 2 trays of lined parchments papers. This time I also did not use my Mastrad Macaron Sheet as it doesn't fit nicely into the oven, I wanted to stick to just parchment paper this time. I let it sit for 30 minutes plus (about 45-50 minutes) for the second tray, as my oven can only fit one tray at a time. Not being very optimistic (as usual when it comes to macaron), I brought a stool and sat right in front of the oven staring into the window, praying for those 'dainty feet' to appear before my eyes (sounded really crazy , I know).

Yes!! during the 8th minute, those pretty little feet slowly and gracefully raised up from their little skirts. Hehe.........I couldn't believe my eyes and like many have said........I was jumpin up and down (ya, again) and was so thrilled that I have succeeded 2 days in a row!!! WooHoo!! Should I head to the nearest 4D outlet and try my luck? kekeke........nah! just kidding :P

So, waited for them to come out of the oven, check on the shells, pretty crispy and solid.......then broke them in half to check the inside, much better than the previous day I would say........not so much emptiness (hollow) this time :)

I promise to myself that I will try to bake macarons more often now, so that I can master it, and also next attempt, I will try with some flavoring in it.......maybe Mocha! I have so many Macs, for once in my life, that I can play with it..........enjoy my pics ya and hope that they will encourage you to whip up a batch too........don't worry too much about failing or having a feetless mac........try it first, to know what Macaron making is about, and you'll figure out the techniques later, trust me!!~

Till then........enjoy!

Happy Macarons Baking!!

You can even make 'Macaron Pop'....aren't they cute?