‘Macaron’ rollercoaster

Hello TGIF!! How quickly the week has passed by. Hello to my new followers as well. Thanks for stopping by to read my fairly new blog.

So the first thing that came to my mind this morning was ‘choc macarons’ and yes I was absolutely determined to correct the error/errors I made in my previous 2 attempts. The error/errors? I might have over/underbeat my meringue. I even timed my whisking. I took about 5mins till it formed stiff peaks. Another error I could have made was over or under mixing. I did my research. I asked around, I watched videos, I read blogs. And even after all that effort put in, today’s trial #3= failed yet again!! Quite annoyed at myself. It rained today so probably the humidity, moisture affected the outcome.

I initially was preparing to update a successful macaron post but looks like I’m gonna show you readers some pictures of failed macarons instead of perfect pretty filled ones. If you have been following, I did bake a successful batch before in May. They were my first attempt at strawberries & cream macarons. I was jumping for joy when I saw feet meaning they had risen!! I made them after my first attempt at choc macarons which obviously failed since I’m at my 3rd one. I should compare recipes to see the difference but first, I need to get it back from my neighbour!

I guess my only successful outcome was my choc ganache! After realising the same failed outcome of my first batch, I decided to make notes and do some experimenting!! Okay, so here are shots I took during my prep and my baking adventure experimenting  with different batches.

1st attempt in April= FAILED!

Melting choc to make choc ganache

Mix in the butter and cream

Viola! Left it to cool and thicken

I think this is one of my errors? Looks like stiff peaks but broken meringue?

Fold almond meal

Attempt #2

Flatter appearance as compared to my #3

So next is my 3rd attempt.

2nd attempt: all piped, left to dry for 30mins

Ready to pop into the oven

They did rise but not high enough!!

1st batch

2nd batch

Decided to take notes after experimenting

2nd attempt: FLAT

3rd attempt: 1st batch, 30 mins drying

3rd attempt; L-R: 2nd batch, 1st batch

Two different batches for my 3rd attempt. I let them rest at different time periods. These were my notes taken.

1st batch: 30 mins drying time. Least bubbles appeared on the surface thus a smoother finish. It was crisp, chewy, a little soft, cracked easily when pressed. Risen slightly compared to my 1st attempt.

2nd batch: 20 mins drying time. More bubbles appeared but slightly harder than 1st batch so it didn’t crack that easily. It was crisp, chewy as well. This batch rose higher.

Below are some pics I took during my experimenting..

2nd attempt result: FLAT, cracked

3rd attempt: 1st batch

3rd attempt: 2nd batch

3rd attempt: final batch

Compare and analyse

Okay so the first row are my different batches and the differences in each result.

The flat one really wasn’t good and had a sticky bottom, too chewy for my liking. Even though these ‘macarons’ aren’t what I expected, they’re still edible so I got my dad to taste. It tastes much better with my silky choc ganache. Thank goodness for that, it did the ‘macaron some justice’ So I added more choc. Hah. He preferred the 3rd attempt, 2nd batch where it was crisp, chewy, slightly harder than the other batch. Well in my opinion, I went for the other. It had a smoother finish and least bubbles on the surface. A few of my friends are coming over later, so I’m gonna ask them to be my taste testers! Hopefully I can take the criticisms. Heh 😀

Oh btw, the final batch was sucha disaster, expected because I wanted to see how bad it would be without leaving them to dry before baking. True enough, the texture was real sticky, worse than my 2nd attempt. Terrible terrible!! Threw them away. yup there was lots of wastage today. Oops.Can’t expect myself to sample all anyway!!

I will take a break from macarons for now. Maybe it really is the unpredicatble weather here in SG. Humid max!! I will continue my research of course. Oh here’s something I read from Ms Humble’s blog. She’s like queen of macarons!!

Even the professionals struggle with macaroons, says Meike Beck, chief home economist at the Good Housekeeping Institute. “Three seconds of overbeating and they’re ruined.” The institute spent a month making hundreds of batches of macaroons, trying to perfect a recipe. In the end it gave up. “They’re best left to the professionals. Macaroon recipes do work. But they are not consistent.” — Times Online

I’m no macaron pro but I did it before and I will probably find another recipe to try out and if it is a success, I will share in this space!

Alright, with that said..time’s running out! Gonna fill my ‘macarons’ for my friends before they come.

Thanks for your time dear readers!! Stay tuned for more baking adventures from the aspiring pastry chef(:

Love, D