Mad about Chocolate Macarons
I’m obsessed with macarons. My first attempt at macarons of any kind was a disaster. Although they had the requisite frilly feet, they had extremely brittle shells that practically fell apart if you looked at them too hard. The insides were underbaked and wet. My second attempt was an improvement - smooth tops with tiny feet. They were acceptable, but far from perfect.
That was when I decided to move on to chocolate macarons. The results can be seen in the photo above. I’ve since found chocolate macarons to be much easier to bake than any other flavour. The lighter coloured ones seem to brown too quickly.
These are my latest attempt at chocolate macarons. This particular recipe which calls for Italian meringue is a keeper. The extra step of boiling sugar syrup, in my opinion, is well worth the effort, especially if you like your macarons with beautifully high feet.
October 30th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Hi!
I am so envious with all your beautiful macarons. I tried the Italian Meringue version last weekend and I could have wept tears of frustration. They had annoying empty shells, almost non-existent feet and was markedly sweeter than the simple whipped egg whites method. Do you have an idea why this could be?
Thanks!
October 31st, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Hi Vernon,
Thanks! I’d check the oven temp to make sure it’s not too high. As for the non-existent feet, it may be because the batter was undermixed. Did your shells have peaks?
November 2nd, 2007 at 4:04 am
Hi Karen. My oven temp was around 310F, but I’ll use an oven thermometer to check. I think you are right about the non-existent feet having to do with my mixing. I went ahead and added the extra egg white to my powdered sugar and ground almonds and the mixture hardened to a mass by the time my italian meringue was ready which resulted in my having to work harder to mix them up - so I probably did not mix them very well (my arm got so tired !). My shells did not have peaks but they were really hard and the first batch into the oven had a lot of cracked shells. I’m trying again tomorrow. Thanks for giving me some clues to what to check on. I’ll let you know what happens.
November 28th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Hi Karen, the macarons looks cool, could you share the receipe with me?
March 9th, 2008 at 3:41 am
Hi Karen! Greetings from Charlotte, NC ! Your pictures are lovely and your cookies . . . well, I can tell you definitely have a beautiful passion for creating them! Not to mention the effort you put into their packaging!
I’ve spent an hour on your blog, but can’t find your source for your macaron recipe - please help us creative wannabes out there and share your recipe. In North Carolina, someone cannot have a food business out of their house without an entirely separate kitchen, my baking is for charity events only, just finished 450 packaged Outrageous Brownies for a foster home fundraiser, and these macarons would simply be lovely to try for my charity baking! Type in when life permits! And keep up the great work!