Treat Thursday- BVF French Macaron Bake Off: Recipe #1

BVF Macaron Recipe #1(recipe below)

Bon Voyage Friends love to bake and we enjoy trying new recipes to broaden our baking abilities. With Di's birthday party right around the corner, we have planned out a fabulous party and we are making French macarons for the special occasion. Neither of us had ever made macarons before, so we both ordered silicone baking sheets (great minds things alike), so we could practice making the ever so delectable, yet delicate treats. Although it would certainly be an amusing and entertaining experiencing trying to make macarons the day before the party, Di thought it would be fun to create a bake off over the next few weeks as we attempt to create and possibly even perfect the ideal macaron recipe. With the Great British Bake Off taking place, we have created our own version: The BVF Macaron Bake Off. Let the baking begin!

French Macarons from Whole Foods Las Vegas, W. Charleston.

We will post each recipe we simultaneously use and the share experiences we had with trying to create this treat. As you can see from the picture above, macarons come in all different colors (generally with matching flavors).

Recipe #1
This recipe was obtained from the back of the packaging from the NY Cake Company silicone baking sheet. 

Silicone Macaron Baking Mat from NY Cake

Recipe #1 Ingredients

2/3 cup almond flour

1 cup powdered sugar

3 egg whites, room temperature

Gel paste coloring (optional)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. almond extract 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Sift together powdered sugar and almond flour
3. Whisk egg whites on low speed until frothy. Slowly add the sugar until stiff peaks form. (we both folded in the food gel after the stiff peaks formed)
4. Fold half the almond mixture into the egg whites. Then fold in the other half. 
5. Place silicone mat on a baking sheet and pipe or pour your batter in the center of each circle and let it spread until it reaches the outer circle.
6. Bake 12-14 minutes for a 2 inch macaron until the tops are dry to touch. Rotate the baking sheet half-way through.
7. Spread jam on the bottom of the cooled macaron and place another on top.

Di
I was excited to try this recipe and was pleased with the results! The silicone baking mat worked really well and the pre-imprinted circles on the mat add extra ease. With prep and cooking time, I spent approximately two hours creating these yummy macarons.

Recipe or Cooking Modifications: I couldn't find almond flour, so I looked at different websites and chose to substitute with ground almonds, which worked out really well. I didn't have a piping bag, so used a sandwich bag with the corner cut to pipe the mixture onto the silicone mat.

Taste and consistency: The macarons were tasty and the texture was similar to macarons I have bought from bakeries. By sifting the ground almonds & powdered sugar it was a fine texture to add to the egg mixture.

Filling: As I went with a yellow colour I then themed them as lemon flavoured and added lemon curd for the filling.
Outcome: This recipe was very simple, but it was not specific on when to add the food coloring gel or almond extract. I didn't turn halfway because I kept forgetting! But the outcome was evenly cooked with a shine to the top. I left them to cool slightly on the mat and then gently decanted them to a cooling rack.
Thoughts: In between batches I put the mixture in the fridge to prevent it from getting too runny. The recipe was really easy but it didn't say when to add extract or colouring so I added just as peaks were forming. I chose to make yellow macaroons and added a quarter size of a pea to the mixture, which created a nice sunshine yellow colour. For a first attempt I'm really pleased with the outcome and simplicity of this recipe.

Monica
Although I greatly enjoy baking, French Macarons seemed so complex and time consuming to create so I have never attempted to make them. The ingredients are simple but the technique sounded very difficult.

Prep Time: I measured the dry ingredients a few days in advance which helped save time. Overall, from start to finish it took approximately 25 minutes to prepare the recipe.

Recipe or Cooking Modifications: Knowing my oven's temperature normally needs to be modified, I reduced the heat to 340 degrees the first attempt and baked for six minutes, rotated the baking sheet and baked for another six minutes. For the second attempt, I reduced the heat to 330 degrees and cooked for seven minutes for each rotation-resulting in burnt macarons. I used a plastic sandwich bag and cut off about 1/2 at one end in place of a piping bag.
Taste and consistency: The first batch of macarons tasted good and the consistency was not grainy, the second batched were burnt and tasted charred.
Filling: I used raspberry jam to save time-almonds and raspberry are a yummy combination. 
Outcome: The macarons browned and the coloring did not withstand the baking process. I attempted a second batch, added more coloring to the raw mixture, and turned down the temperature but increased the baking time by two minutes. Neither techniques were successful. 
Tips: Whole Foods has almond meal (flour) in the bulk section for $8.99/lb. Bonus, the meal is made with skinless almonds. 
Thoughts: I have reviewed over five macaron recipes and learned there are several factors that can affect the outcome of macaroons: oven temperature variations, humidity, age of the eggs, and overall technique. I look forward to trying another recipe for round 2!