macarons, these french bitches
when my macarons rose nicely in the oven, i was filled with an undescribable sense of satisfaction. afterall i did met with unsuccessful attempts that caused me much frustration and the oh i need to strangle someone now kinda feeling. however for me, the macaron journey has only began and its gonna be a really interesting one.
so i read that there are two commonly used methods of making macarons, one being macarons au blanc monte which is the usual whisked egg whites with stiff peaks while the other is macarons au sucre cuit which is italian meringue. i chose to use the latter as it's easier to work with and handle in warm and humid singapore.
italian meringue is made by pouring a hot sugar syrup at 118 °C a thin stream into whisking egg whites already giving sitff peaks, then continue whisking till it cools. one great thing i found out about italian meringue is that it produces a beautiful art known as "bec d'oiseau" which i have yet to achieve.
my italian meringues are like white clouds that when scooped and dropped on a baking tray, they retain their shape. for those who have been to canele patissier and seen their meringue clouds, you will know what i am talking about. and yes i love cooking sugar as its amazing to watch the mixture bubble and slowly turn to amber.
my macarons are flawed in several ways, they lack of that smooth shiny dome that makes it looking sexy and classy. somehow the legs are also not really frilly and are kinda small and lastly, are macarons supposed to have a dome or are they supposed to be flat on top. and one thing about macarons is that they are like sensitive little fellers, affected by the environment.
oven temperature and intensity differs between ovens and then there's humidity levels and then room temperature. that's what is so interesting about making macarons as i have to twitch plenty and have many trial and error sessions to get one set of instructions that suit my kitchen and oven.
a few days back i bought a bottle of rose brand rose syrup by t.g. kiat and co. after seeing the beautiful label on the bottle and the cap design. when i took it out of my bag and placed it on the table my mum took a glance and started telling me of how when she was young this was the only brand of rose syrup available on the market and how her sisters and her will be smiling when my grandad bought a bottle home.
so yes if you were wondering, i made a batch of rose flavoured macarons and for the chocolate ganache, i stirred in a generous amount of rose syrup. i feel classy already.
so i read that there are two commonly used methods of making macarons, one being macarons au blanc monte which is the usual whisked egg whites with stiff peaks while the other is macarons au sucre cuit which is italian meringue. i chose to use the latter as it's easier to work with and handle in warm and humid singapore.
italian meringue is made by pouring a hot sugar syrup at 118 °C a thin stream into whisking egg whites already giving sitff peaks, then continue whisking till it cools. one great thing i found out about italian meringue is that it produces a beautiful art known as "bec d'oiseau" which i have yet to achieve.
my italian meringues are like white clouds that when scooped and dropped on a baking tray, they retain their shape. for those who have been to canele patissier and seen their meringue clouds, you will know what i am talking about. and yes i love cooking sugar as its amazing to watch the mixture bubble and slowly turn to amber.
my macarons are flawed in several ways, they lack of that smooth shiny dome that makes it looking sexy and classy. somehow the legs are also not really frilly and are kinda small and lastly, are macarons supposed to have a dome or are they supposed to be flat on top. and one thing about macarons is that they are like sensitive little fellers, affected by the environment.
oven temperature and intensity differs between ovens and then there's humidity levels and then room temperature. that's what is so interesting about making macarons as i have to twitch plenty and have many trial and error sessions to get one set of instructions that suit my kitchen and oven.
a few days back i bought a bottle of rose brand rose syrup by t.g. kiat and co. after seeing the beautiful label on the bottle and the cap design. when i took it out of my bag and placed it on the table my mum took a glance and started telling me of how when she was young this was the only brand of rose syrup available on the market and how her sisters and her will be smiling when my grandad bought a bottle home.
so yes if you were wondering, i made a batch of rose flavoured macarons and for the chocolate ganache, i stirred in a generous amount of rose syrup. i feel classy already.
posted by Ian at 6:10 PM
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