My Maiden Macaron Attempt ~ Matcha Macaron 抹茶马卡龙

To support this month’s Aspiring Bakers theme, I gathered all ingredients and baked maracon for the first time on 11th March 2012. Since I just bought a pack of matcha powder while shopping for the ground almond so naturally matcha macaron came into my mind.

I was lucky to get the signature “feet” on my first trial but my macarons were over baked. I should have baked at lower temperature instead of 175C as suggested in the recipe. Also, I got to blame myself for not monitoring closely (I was busy drawing on my Iphone actually; those who play the game should know what I am talking about).

The over-baked macarons were not wasted; they were very delicious in my opinion, tasted just like meringue cookies. I finished all by myself. Hehe.

This batch of macarons is from my second attempt. I learnt my lesson. I lowered the oven temperature and stayed close to the oven to observe throughout the process. I was so happy to see the macarons came out green (no more brown top) and in shape. After maturing, the crust is slight crunchy whereas the inside is slight chewy. Though I like it chewy I think it can be more tender.

Recipe adapted from here. I have actually made slight changes to the amount of ingredient in my two attempts. That’s why there are two sets of ingredient amount in the recipe below. The first set yields dryer batter (which is easier to pipe) and more intense matcha flavour whereas the batter from second set is slightly runnier and the match flavour is quite mild. Personally I prefer more intense matcha flavour so I will use 5g of matcha powder next time.

 Matcha Macaron

Ingredients: (make 24-26 individual macaron shells of 35mm diameter)

(A)
35g/37g ground almond (sifted weight)
5g/ 3g matcha (green tea) powder
40g/40g icing sugar
(B)
33g/35g Egg white
40g/40g icing sugar

Method:

1) Sieve ground almond (my ground almond is not fine enough, so I grind it again before sieving). Do not use the ground almond which does not pass through the sieve. Combine sifted ground almond with matcha powder and icing sugar in (A), sieve together into a large mixing bowl.

2) Beat egg white until foamy and add icing sugar in 3 batches, continue to beat till soft peak.

Picture credit to http://blog.yam.com/homeeconomics/article/33251341

3) Fold in egg white to ground almond mixture with a rubber spatula till a uniform and glossy batter is formed.

4) Fit piping bag with a 1cm plain nozzle tip (Wilton #2A) and fill in the batter. Pipe small circles on non-stick baking sheet (I get my template from here).

5) Prick any air bubbles with a toothpick. Let macarons rest on the baking sheet at room temperature for at least 20 mins till the shell is no longer as sticky (will still be a bit sticky when touched). This step will “dry” the caps and help them rise later when they cook. Meanwhile, preheat oven at 150C, upper heat only.

6) Bake macaron shells at centre rack with upper heat only until “feet” appear (it takes about 3-5 mins) then move the pan to lower rack, switch to lower heat only and place a cool empty tray on upper rack (this is to prevent remaining heat from the upper heating element to further brown the top of macaron shells), continue to bake for another 8-10 mins (depending on individual oven) (I tried using double tray when baking, it helps to prevent the bottom of the shells to turn brown before the shells are fully cooked).

7) Remove the baking paper with maracon shells from baking tray and cool on wire rack. Remove macaron shell from baking paper. Pair them according to size, pipe your preferred filling (I used Nutella here) on cooled shell and assemble. Keep in airtight container in fridge and let them rest for another 24 hours. The humidity of the icing will get into the crispy caps and that’s what will make them crisp on the outside and so tender on the inside. Take out macarons from fridge 20-25 mins to thaw before serving.


In pairs


My friends, Esther and Ann, also use the same recipe source for their macarons. Check up their beautiful macarons here and here.

I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #17 - March Macaron Madness! (Mar 2012) hosted by Alan of Travelling Foodies.

Reference:
http://foodnouveau.com/macarons/
http://foodnouveau.com/2010/03/29/paris-france/how-to-make-macarons-a-detailed-illustrated-step-by-step-recipe/
http://foodnouveau.com/2011/12/16/france/a-macaron-troubleshooting-guide-useful-tips-and-advice-to-master-the-french-delicacy/
http://blog.yam.com/homeeconomics/article/33251341
http://blog.yam.com/homeeconomics/article/12709186