Baking Macarons in Paris

BAKING MACARONS IN PARIS

I had booked our Parisian Macaron class with Maison Fleuret way back when we originally booked our summer in Europe last october. We have been looking forward to this forever it feels like. I love that my kids and Joey all love to bake with me so much. Kenny and Ellie were really taking it all in and the boys were having so much fun just being in the moment. Kenny and patrick said the macaron class was their favorite class we did. Bruce still loved the Croissant class best, and Ellie couldn't decide between the two which she loved more.

PARISIAN MACARONS

We had the amazing opportunity to learn to bake macarons in Paris as a family with the Madison Fleuret cooking school. Definitely a highlight of our summer in Europe. 

INGREDIENTS:

Biscuits

125g almond flour

125g icing sugar 

40g water

125g sugar

Powdered food coloring 

45g x2 egg whites 

Ganache

150g Liquid cream & 150g dark chocolate 

OR

67g liquid cream & 200g white chocolate 

2g vanilla

2g flavor (if using white chocolate)

45g butter

SUPPLIES:

Stand mixer

Saucepan 

Mixing bowls 

Spatula

Large container 

Cling wrap

Sieve

Knife 

Candy thermometer 

Piping bag with 8 mm tip

Printed Macaron template 

Baking paper 

Baking tray

Cooling rack 

METHOD:

Ganache

1. Heat the cream in a saucepan. 
2. Place chocolate (dark or white) into mixing bowl. 
3. When cream boils, pour over chocolate and let it sit one minute. 
4. Stir with spatula until smooth texture is achieved. 
5. White chocolate ganache: add flavoring if you wish. 
6. Dark chocolate ganache: add the butter cut into chunks and stir until no lumps. 
7. Pour ganache into large flat container so it cools quicker and cover with cling wrap. 
8. Refrigerate ganache until it is at a piping consistency. 

Biscuits 

1. Prepare ahead tip: get your egg white ready a few days in advance and store in the fridge. Bring to room temp before using. Merengue will be even more fluffy. 
2. Prepare dry ingredients: sieve the powdered sugar and almond flour into the mixing bowl. 
3. To color the shells, add a bit of powdered food coloring with the tip of a knife. 
4. Add half of the egg whites and mix until dry ingredients are fully incorporated. 
5. Prepare Italian merengue: pour other half of egg whites into the bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. 
6. Prepare the sugar syrup: pour the water snd sugar into a small saucepan.
7. Attach thermometer to pan.
8. Heat the sugar and water checking temp constantly. 
9. When temp reaches 105C/221F, start whisking egg whites in mixer briskly. 
10. At 118C/244F remove saucepan from the stove, turn mixer to slow setting and pour in the syrup slowly around the sides of the bowl. Turn the mixer up again to high setting for a few minutes so the merengue becomes fluffy snd cools down. 
11. Check merengue: it should be fluffy, shiny and stiff. It should form a peak when you lift whisk from bowl. Should not fall out of bowl when you turn it upside down.  
12. Use a spatula to mix the merengue and the almond flour mixture you prepared: begin by adding just a spoonful of merengue to the first mixture to soften it. Then fold in one half the merengue before folding in the other half. 
13. Keep folding until you reach the right consistency: when you lift the dough mixture up on your spatula and it flows back into the mixture as a thick and continuous ribbon. DO NOT OVERMIX!
14. Prepare a piping bag with an 8mm round tip. Full with dough. 
15. Preheat oven to 160C/320F. Prepare trays: use printed macaron template under parchment paper as a guide. 
16. Pipe macarons: to get regular shapes, piping nozzle should remain close to the tray and you should keep your piping bag straight. 
17. When you finish piping macarons, drop the tray from a very small height onto flat surface 2-3 tops to clear any air bubbles. 
18. Place one or two trays into oven at 160c/320f for 12 minutes (exact time varies, watch close). When they are ready, the tops of the macarons should barely move compared to the base when touched. 
19. Let the shells cool down a few minutes in cooling rack. They should not stick to the paper snd you should be able to remove them easily. When they have cooled, pair the shells together by size. 
20. Take the ganache out of the fridge. It should be set enough to pipe. Stir smooth. 
21. Put ganache in piping bag (no tip needed)
22. Pipe small amount of ganache onto a shell 
23. Twist the other shell on top to close the macaron. 

ET VIOLÁ!

Patrick picked orange biscuits

Bruce was crazy independent with this and executed with great precision

I was loving all the color combos. Kenny chose a cherry ganache with green biscuits. 

Mixing ganache

Finishing ganache prep //Preparing the merengue for the biscuit dough

Patrick working with dad was the cutest thing to watch 

Little baker Kenny going strong // First biscuits out of the oven

Of course Ellie chose blue! She chose yuzu, a Japanese citrus for her ganache flavor

Gently screwing on the tops of the biscuits