Hotkist's Blog

Italian-Meringue Macaron Shell

2020-12-30T17:24:00.012-05:00

Thank you for reading my blog. Please support my blog by clinking on the links that are tied to my account. It's been a while since my last post. I went back to school as a fulltime student and working as a fulltime employee, and at the same time had a newborn while in school and at work.

I received several request if I can share my macaron baking experience.

After reading several articles and macaron cookbooks, I found that there are three methods and a various technique of making a macaron. A couple of classes at Institute Culinary Education (ICE) in New York, NY helped me realized these important macaron baking techniques – how the meringue is prepared, proper folding, etc. Both classes were taught by Prof. K. Gordon. I have a signed copy of her book that I used as reference when troubleshooting the macaron shells.

I had applied these learnings from her classes - altered a few things to the recipe, and adjusted some of the techniques. The three methods I learned from ICE to make the shell are French Meringue, Italian Meringue, and Swiss Meringue. I tried all three methods. The batter from the French meringue method was too runny and spreads fast as soon as it was piped on the baking sheet; the Swiss meringue was too stiff to pipe. After several attempts and expensive failures, I finally found that the recipe using the Italian meringue works the best for me. It was the most stable, consistent structure, and easy to pipe. Hope this recipe and technique can help baker enthusiasts like me.

Like most recipes posted on the internet, this recipe calls for four main ingredients: almond flour or almond meal, confectioners’ sugar, granulated sugar, egg whites. Some additional ingredients that I also tested in making the meringue are the following: cream of tartar and powdered egg white.

Take me to the Recipe.

Ingredients Information

Almond flour or almond meal can be made at home or can be purchased at your local grocery store. The recipe below calls for a commercially milled almond flour. I mostly bought my almond flour at Costco and sometime at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour that can be found at any local grocery stores, if I am short a few ounces and need it on pronto. I prefer the Kirkland’s blanched almond flour based on two factors: cost and quality. I find it economical to purchase a 3-lb bag for the same price as a 1-lb bag from different brand. I also find the product dry and powdery, which is what is needed for this receipt, rather than having an oily almond flour that could affect the outcome of the macarons - cracked macaron shells.

Confectioners’ sugar is one of the key ingredients of macarons. Confectioners’ sugar can be purchased at your local grocery store. Domino brand or store-brand confectioners’ sugar works the same. I tried them both and there was not difference to the macaron’s smooth texture.

Granulated sugar help build the meringue structure of the macaron in combination with egg whites. I have tried branded or store-brand sugar and both works the same. A regular granulated sugar is what this recipe calls for as it won’t matter much for Italian meringue because the sugar is cooked into a fully dissolver syrup.

Egg whites is the important ingredient making the meringue. Some recipes may require “aged” egg whites, “aged” egg whites with dehydrated egg whites, “aged” egg whites with dehydrated egg whites and cream of tartar, room temperature egg whites with cream of tartar, cold egg whites, and more. I have tested these variations and observed different results. I have experienced over- and under- whipping the egg whites - caused weak shell, air pockets under the shell, and cracks on the shell.

Ingredients

165 grams Almond flour (Link)

165 grams Confectioners’ sugar (Link)

150 grams Granulated Sugar

4 large Egg whites, room temperature, fresh unaged

¼ cup Water

Optional Ingredients

Food coloring (Gel or Powdered)

Cream of Tartar (Link)

Powdered egg whites (Link)

Salt

Instructions

Making the Italian Meringue

In a large bowl, combine the almond flour and confectioners’ sugar, and stir with a rubber spatula until everything is combined. Sift the combined almond flour mixture, at least twice, to ensure no clumps of large granules. Set aside.

Combined, but not sifted

Sifted, no clumps

In a saucepan, stir the granulated sugar and water to dissolve. Bring it to boil over medium-high heat. Clip a candy thermometer to the pan and cook until the sugar syrup reaches 235 ºF. When the sugar-water mixture starts to boil, start whipping the egg white. If you do not own a candy thermometer, dip the spatula in the boiling syrup and let it drip into a wide-opening glass / bowl of cold water. If syrup forms a soft ball that means it is done (Note: a soft-ball technique I learned from ICE). Remove the saucepan from heat. It takes about 6 to 7 minutes to form a soft ball.

Sugar and water for making syrup

While the sugar-water mixture is close to being ready, start whipping the egg white, on medium speed, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Monitor the sugar syrup until soft ball is formed.

Sugar is caramelizing

When the syrup is ready, reduce the speed of the mixer to low and slowly pour it into the soft peaks egg whites. Continue whisking until stiff peaks form and the meringue is lukewarm and glossy. It takes about 4 to 5 minutes to form a stiff peak. The Italian meringue will still be warm at this point. Stop the mixer. Remove the whisk attachment.

Incorporating the Ingredients

Method 1 (My preferred method)

Scoop a cup of the combined almond flour mixture and fold it into the lukewarm Italian meringue using a rubber spatula. Continue scooping until all the dry and wet ingredients are incorporated. Add gel / powdered food coloring, as desired. Fold the ingredients about 8 times. This process should take about a minute.

Stiff peak

Method 2

Form a well in the combined almond flour mixture. Spoon the lukewarm Italian meringue into the center and stir using a rubber spatula. Continue spooning the lukewarm Italian meringue until all the dry and wet ingredients are incorporated. Add gel / powdered food coloring, as desired. Fold the ingredients about 8 times. This process should take about a minute.

Note: I noticed no significant difference between the two methods.

Piping

After folding, spoon the batter in a pastry piping bag with a round tip (Wilton Tip #10 or alternatively cut a 1/2 -inch opening in the bag). Fill the bag halfway. Cover the remaining batter with a plastic wrap placed directly over it (not on top of the bowl), to prevent a skin from forming.

Pipe the meringue on the parchment paper that sits on top of a silicone mat. Though not required to have both, but I find it helpful and it prevented the feet from burning. I also find it easier for the shell to be removed after it cools down. I learned this process as it goes. In a 13x18 baking sheet pan, at least 24 x 1.5-inch macaron shells can fit with 1.5 inches space apart from one another.

2-inch macaron shells, before slamming.

After piping, firmly slam the baking sheet down to remove excess air by lifting the sheet about 6-inches above the table and release. Slam the baking sheet at least 6 times or until the “tail” (or peaks from piping) on the shell settles out. Air bubbles may be seen on the shell.

Continue piping, then slam the baking sheets again. This process will eliminate excess air or stiffness from the batter without the need of additional folding. Let the macaron to rest for 10 minutes to form a skin before baking. Don’t be afraid to touch the shell. If your finger sticks to shell, give additional few minutes for the skin to harden.

Smooth surface when skin is formed

Baking

Preheat the oven to 325 ºF. Use the “Convection Bake,” if your over have this option. It helps with the air circulation for even heat distribution. When the skin hardens and the oven is ready, place an extra empty baking sheet pan on the baking pan with the piped shells. Basically, doubling the pan for even heat distribution. This is optional if you have a limited number of baking sheet pan. This technique was taught at ICE.

Bake the Italian meringue shells at 325 ºF for 17 minutes, rotating the pan after 8 minutes. If you noticed that the shells are turning darkening too quickly, put a wooden spoon in the door of the oven to prop it slightly open and lessen the heat. Remove the shells from the oven. Slide the parchment paper onto a cooling rack and the shells cool completely, about an hour.

Pipe and bake the next batch.

My 4-YO taster

Green shells (pistachio nut ganache), orange shells (raspberry ganache),

brown shells (dark chocolate and Nutella ganache), and yellow shells (strawberry ganache)

Filling

Fill the cooled shells with your desired filling by turn the shell over, so that their feet, flat side is in contact with the fillers. Place another shell of matching size flat-side down onto the filling to make a sandwich. Twist slightly the shells to sandwich them together securely.

White shells (macha green tea ganache)

Storage

Store the macarons with fillings in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days. I prefer my macaron having a cookie texture with soft and chewy in the inside. Anything after 2 days the shell becomes gradually soft. Or, store the macaron shells in an airtight container and fill them when it is ready to be eaten. I find this process prolongs the cookie texture of the macaron shells.

Yield

Approximately 15 sandwiched macarons (30 x 1.5-inch macaron shells)

Alyssa & Co. Sweet 16

2015-06-14T18:02:00.001-04:00

I love Tiffany & Co., I guess who doesn't?

I finally made a Tiffany & Co. gift box cake and loved the result.

Ube Cakes for Mother's day

2015-06-14T18:00:00.001-04:00

Rustic Buttercream Wedding Cake

2015-05-09T17:53:00.001-04:00

A simple rustic buttercream cake for my husband's cousin's cousin's wedding held in NYC.

Mickey Mouse Theme Birthday Cake

2015-02-08T10:29:00.002-05:00

This cake was made for my cousin's son's 1st birthday. They love chocolate, so I made chocolate cake for them. I could have made chocolate filling, as well, but it would be chocolate-overload for the little kids.

My cousin anticipated 104 guests, it was more than enough, The top yellow cake was not served. It was saved for his actual 1st birthday (02/08/2015). The whole middle tier cake was served and half of the bottom tier. There were more than enough for everyone.

I really like the design. It is simple, clean, and tad bit playful. Nothing fancy. My cousin wanted a simple cake and that is not busy looking.

Shamrock Birthday and Wedding Anniversary Cake

2015-01-16T12:52:00.002-05:00

It is not St. Patrick's day.

This adorable cake was made for a married couple. His wife is turning 64 years. Their daughter asked me to make a birthday / wedding anniversary cake and a dozen cupcakes for her parents and for the kids.

The cake is chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream.

If you love peanut butter and has no peanut allergies, then you would love this cupcake. The cupcake is a peanut butter cupcake with vanilla buttercream.

Disney "Frozen" Theme Birthday Cake

2015-01-03T16:56:00.001-05:00

The daughter, Shannon Mei, of our good family friend was turning three (3). She is one of those adorable girls who love love love the Disney Frozen movie.

Originally, I made a 3D sculpted Princess Ana made of modeling chocolate. Time was short, but the work had already begun. At a very last minute, the cake plan changed. I could not deliver the 3D cake for Shannon Mei. Instead, I made her an all-buttercream covered cake instead of the fondant cake.

Overall, I am glad that it turned out pretty and clean.

Shannon love berries. This was a vanilla cake with vanilla filling and layered with sliced fresh strawberries on each layer.

HO HO HO!!! Holiday Cake

2014-12-24T17:25:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays!

What is better than Filipino delicacy, a scrumptious ube cake, for Holiday dessert?

Yesterday, 12/23/14, was not a good time to buy groceries for fresh ingredients. Grocery stores are packed and lines were long. I wanted to get the freshest ingredients as possible for ube cake. I actually baked two ube cakes - one for my mom's dinner get-together tonight, 12/24/14 and one for my in-laws that we will take with us tomorrow for Christmas dinner.

I did not expect that my in-laws (mom, dad, and sister) would love a Filipino delicacy. The actual loved my ube cake. During their visit, I baked an ube cake that they can take with them back in Maryland. This time it is decorated with the Christmas adornment rather than just covered with buttercream.

I am pleased with myself. I am getting better with handling buttercream. Getting a smooth surface has been a challenge. Without photo-enhancement, the surface really came out clean and smooth.

Bridal Shower Cake

2014-12-11T13:54:00.001-05:00

I enjoyed baking and decorating the beautiful bridal shower cake on the picture below for a colleague at G&W Labs.

Nishita loves chocolate. So, I made her a chocolate cake with dark chocolate buttercream.

I see the hesitations on Nishita's face as she cuts through the cake. She didn't want to cut the cake.

What flatters was that Nishita's fiance don't crave sweets and yet ate a quarter of the 8" cake. They told me that the cake was very good, very rich and moist.

Cookies and cream cupcakes, again

2014-12-04T21:44:00.001-05:00

Seattle Seahawks Football Field Birthday Cake

2014-11-30T10:42:00.002-05:00

I enjoyed decorating this birthday cake. When decorating this birthday cake, I had some challenges.

Thanksgiving Red Velvet Cupcakes

2014-11-30T10:36:00.003-05:00

These scrumptious cupcakes were my family's Thanksgiving desserts. The cupcakes were moist. My in-laws were enjoying this delicious cupcakes.

The red velvet cupcake was iced with milk chocolate buttercream.

More Scrumptous Ube Cakes

2014-11-30T10:33:00.001-05:00

There were three purple yam cakes ordered for Thanksgiving Day. All cakes were decorated the same, so I only took I picture of the three cakes.

My foolproof recipe was a hit again. The cakes were moist and dense. It was so traditionally flavored that I received so many compliments that the cake was delicious.

Moist, dense ube cake

2014-11-30T10:27:00.001-05:00

The ube cake turned up to be gorgeous. Baking ube cake always possess a challenge. When cakes cool down, the weight of the cake tends to rise and drop down as the cake settles, and it ruins the side of the cake.

The ube cake color is perfect! It has the traditional purple hue of a Filipino ube cake.

The ube cake is sprinkled with the toasted with ube cake.

Neapolitan Cupcakes

2014-11-30T10:21:00.002-05:00

My good friend's son had his birthday party at a farm in New Jersey. Since my friend's children enjoyed the cupcakes I made for my son's birthday party, I made the same cupcake flavors for her son's birthday party.

The Neapolitan cupcakes were decorated like an ice cream sundae. The cupcake filling was a vanilla buttercream. The cupcake was drizzled with Hershey chocolate syrup sprinkled with candy sprinkles.

Mickey Mouse Cupcake Favor

2014-11-13T15:29:00.000-05:00

My son celebrated his 2nd birthday. He loves Mickey Mouse. I decided to make

Farewell Party Cupcake

2014-11-13T14:35:00.001-05:00

Cookies n' Creme cupcake is anyone's favorite, but for Shara, she loves it. A friend of mine ordered 2 dozens of Cookies n' Crème for her farewell party, but at the last minute she added 2 more dozens. I was short with fondant roses. It was originally for 2 dozens, but it worked out.

The cupcake itself is cookies n' crème. The Italian meringue vanilla-flavored buttercream.

Roses were not part of the original order, but for my friend, I went a little extra. In the end, the presentation was gorgeous and it was not what they expected.

5 minutes after the speech, the cupcakes are gone...all gone! Some had 5, as I heard. The cupcake received so much compliments from colleagues, Managers, Director, VP's, and Executives.

Birch Tree Stump Cake

2014-11-05T14:00:00.004-05:00

This cake was for Dustin and Danielle for their bridal party. The cake was a marble cake filled with chocolate mousse filling. The tree stump was airbrushed with shimmering silver food color and hand painted to provide wood accents. The dirt was dried and crushed chocolate cake. The mushroom was made of vanilla fondant.

Cookies 'N Cream Cupcake, aka Oreo Cupcake, and Cappuccino Cupcake

2014-03-01T09:40:00.001-05:00

My thoughtful manager (the VP of the department) ordered 4 dozens of cupcakes to surprise and give treats to his hardworking team, as a token of his appreciation, at the staff meeting.

What is more delightful than to see your colleagues at work enjoying each scrumptious bite of this delectable, guiltless cookies 'n cream (Oreo) cupcake and cappuccino cupcake?

(Cookies 'N Creme)

Used: low fat ingredients, besides the high-sugar-content Oreo cookies, and still came out good.

Dark chocolate meringue Italian buttercream is filled inside each cupcake. Vanilla meringue Italian buttercream is swirled on top of the Oreo and cappuccino cupcakes.

(Cappuccino cupcake)

Baby Shower Party

2014-02-01T20:37:00.001-05:00

The cake was an ube (purple yam) cake with macapuno (sweet young coconut) buttercream. A favorite dessert of the Filipinos.

A variety of colorful and adorable creations.

Diaper cake (126 pieces) of size 1 diapers stacked into 5 tiers.

Adorable diaper cupcake on a decorated champagne glass

Lollipop wash cloth.

A basket of lollipop wash cloths.

Diaper cake with diaper tricycle topper.

Damask Pillow Cake

2014-02-01T20:21:00.005-05:00

To stencil Damask design on a quilted pillow cake is a challenge, as the surface area of the cake is not even.

It took many many hours to finish this cake.

The cake was a moist lemon cake with cuts of fresh strawberries on a vanilla buttercream.

The rocking horse cake topper was provided by host of the party.

Cake Tasting

2014-01-13T19:31:00.005-05:00

Bottom to Top: Ube cake with macapuno buttercream, Ube cake with semi-sweet chocolate and dark chocolate buttercreams, chocolate cake with chestnut and semi-sweet buttercreams, chocolate cake with hazelnut and semi-sweet buttercreams, chocolate cake with strawberry and dark chocolate buttercreams.

Ube and chocolate cakes on a cake platter, unfilled.

His and Her cake tasting. Six flavors of buttercream.

My son calls these buttercreams as ice creams. He was so excited thinking that these were his ice cream desserts.

Italian Meringue Buttercreams

Heavenly Ube Cake - Part 2

2014-01-04T13:50:00.003-05:00

There are a variety of purple yam (a.k.a. "ube") cake recipes available online. The recipe I used for this cake came from my grandparents, the former owners of F. Quinal Store & Bakery in the Southern Province of the Philippine Island that was established since 1949 through 2004, but with some modifications.

The modifications to the recipe includes the following: ingredient substitutions, incorporating baking techniques that I learned from the Institute of Culinary Education, applying the Lean Six Sigma principles (Gage R&R and DOE) to provide consistent results and to identify and reduce variations in the measurement system, and applying Chemistry to balance acid and base during ingredient substitution. After all, baking is science and art. I am such a dork!

I finally perfected the recipe after so many Design of Experiments! Changing one variable at a time to produce one light, moist, dense, and delicate piece of art.

This cake started with these gorgeous deep purple-colored yams that were cooked, boiled, and mashed. Thanks to food processor.

Bake until perfection. This batch of 6" cakes is trial number of something number. I can't recall how many failed batches I made and how many happy stomachs it fed. They were all pleased to be my Guiney pigs and asked to keep it coming. However this batch (cooling on the rack) came flat and gorgeously smooth.

Another batch... Consistent result! No dome and / or sinking in the middle.

This ube cake recipe has a sponge or chiffon cake texture.

This recipe is a keeper! 

It was dense and moist!

I find it a compliment when this home baked cake is compared to renowned commercial bakeries, such as Red Ribbon and Goldilocks.

I have to continue practicing to perfect smooth buttercream covering.

I am not avid of food coloring, but for the sake of traditional “purple” ube cake I have to raise the purple food coloring quantity in my baking to accentuate the purple hue of the purple yam.

Heavenly Ube Cake

2014-01-03T18:22:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year!

A picture of purple yam ("ube") sponge cake. Ube cake is filled with young coconut (a.k.a macapuno) buttercream.

The ube cake was covered in ube buttercream. It was the best batch of ube cake ever. As I cut the layers to stack the cakes, cake crumbs sticks to the knife, which is an indication of moist, dense cake.

Happy New Year!

Yankee Onesie

2013-06-14T18:45:00.000-04:00

I just love this cake! The design is so adorable. I am a Yankee fan, too, so I was so excited to make this cake for my cousin's sister-in-law.

It my cousin's favorite cake flavor, Oreo cake with Oreo buttercream. How many Oreo cookies? For this recipe I used about 120 Oreo cookies.

Thank you Chrissie Seto-Perez for the picture.