Vanilla macarons inspired by Animal cookies! You can probably tell by now that I like the colors pink, white, and sprinkles. These were actually the first macarons that I’ve made successfully in Singapore after 2 rounds of failures :’)! Baking in this weather makes me feel that I took my macaron baking experiences in the US for granted!
Assuming your macaronage technique is ok already, you probably also already know that the key to developing feet and prevent cracks is to have a dry surface before placing in the oven. If it doesn’t dry either the batter is wrong, or the temperature or humidity is not ideal. Unfortunately in the Baltimore, it takes 10 minutes to dry. In Singapore, I can wait for 2 hours and it still can’t be guaranteed.
Tips and tricks for baking French macarons in Singapore:
1) Turning on the AC is a must, don’t even try baking macarons on a rainy day in the heat…
2) You can play cheat by placing the tray of macarons in the oven at high heat for 10 seconds, until a shell forms, but before it changes color. Take it out of the oven, adjust the temperature to the ideal 160 degrees, and then place it back in the oven to start baking.
3) I am an advocate for oven thermometer for macarons! Better safe than sorry, after all your hard work perfecting the batter
4) There are many people who have research conventional vs convection ovens for macarons. Essentially one is fan-mode that attempts to create even circulation, and the temperature should be set at a slightly lower temperature than stated. It’s useful for baking multiple trays at one time so good for bakeries or large batches. The other provides heat from top and below. For these, I switched to fan mode. I can’t explain fully, but the first batch using conventional oven failed and the fan mode succeeded in developing no-hollows.
5) Don’t try baking macarons in two layers. This fails in the US as well.
The other variables: macaronage techniques, temperature variations, types of flour used etc, are more forgiving. But I’d say that the above 5 tips are the essential ones specific to baking macarons in Singapore. Please give it a try again, macarons really aren’t that difficult with the proper tips and experimentations, and happy macaron baking!
| Basic Macarons recipe adapted from How To Cook That
220 g or 1 3/4 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar) Vanilla Buttercream 150g butter |
To make macaron shells
Preheat oven to 320F (160 degrees Celsius) Sift together the icing sugar and almond meal using a coarse sieve. Discard any gritty bits of almond meal that do not go through. Beat together the egg whites and caster sugar on high speed until they are stiff enough that you can turn the bowl upside down without them falling out. Beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add the almond icing sugar mixture and fold in using a rubber spatula. Keep gently folding until the mixture looks like lava, it should have some movement but not be runny. While you are folding periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl and the spatula to make sure everything is mixed uniformly. Color half ot he portion bright pink and sprinkle on funfetti. To make vanilla buttercream Start with 150 g butter and beat well with icing sugar (sifted). Add 3-4 tablespoons of whole milk. Mix for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. For the final assembly, sandwich 2 macarons with this asian buttercream. |
My Dose of Sugar 