Comments on: Mad about Chocolate Macarons

By: veron

veron — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:59:41 +0000

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!

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:11:27 +0000

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?

By: veron

veron — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 20:04:20 +0000

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.

By: Ivy

Ivy — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:19:39 +0000

Hi Karen, the macarons looks cool, could you share the receipe with me?

By: Dawnie

Dawnie — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:41:44 +0000

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!