I have decided that I might be over-thinking the French macaron process. I’ve been trying too hard. After my successful third batch (here), I set off for the fourth and fifth with only mild anxiety. I was fueled by my first nearly-perfect macarons but I was anxious because I intended to share the next two batches with some of my food blogger friends in a holiday cookie swap. I wanted to make a good impression and as it happened, most of the 60+ macaron shells were hollow. I had not encountered this problem before and as I had been using the same ingredient ratio and technique, the hollow shells left me baffled.
What have I done wrong now?
After reading several tips on the web, I narrowed the possible causes to the following:
1) over-beaten egg whites (I remembered the egg whites being quite a bit stiff for the hollow batches)
2) too low baking temperature (though I followed everything exactly from the third batch).
This time, I beat the egg whites just enough so that I had fairly stiff peaks at the top but the whites at the bottom of the bowl were just a little less stiff. Because of this, the macaronnage step didn’t require as much folding before I reached the “lava flow” stage. I baked the shells at higher temperature and for just a little longer and gosh, my shells for this sixth batch were all perfect! I’m not certain if I was just having a good day and I won’t know until I make another batch if I have found the perfect technique given my ingredients, tools and oven but I was very pleased with the results.
~◦~◦~
“Make the filling pink,” my husband suggested after seeing my food color collection. I think he’s caught my macaron-mania and has really enjoyed seeing the finished product and eating them the last few months.
“These are matcha green tea flavored. I can’t think of a complementary filling that should be colored pink,” I countered. “I’m using chocolate ganache.”
He wasn’t convinced that the matcha and chocolate combination would go well…initially. But after tasting them, he was a fan. My husband is not really a pink kind of guy (though he’s allowed me to dress him in pink shirts finally) but I might indulge him in the green and pink combination for Spring-themed macarons next time.
(Please scroll down to the bottom of the post for additional notes on baking these macarons.)
Notes:
- I followed the same recipe from my first macaron post here but since these shells were a little larger, I adjusted the baking time and temperature to good results.
- I didn’t beat the egg whites as stiffly as I’ve done in previous batches. For this quantity (118 grams egg whites and 94 grams granulated sugar) I beat them for six minutes, alternating between speeds 6 then 8 then back to 6 again in two-minute intervals (after the granulated sugar had been incorporated into the egg whites).
- I used silicone baking mats only this time. The feet aren’t as tall compared with baking with parchment paper but the shells are much easier to remove from the mat. The trick is to leave the shells to cool on the silicone mat for a few minutes before carefully lifting them.
- Since my baking sheets are just a little smaller than my silicone mat, I inverted the tray when I baked these to avoid the mat curling upward on the edge of the baking sheet (deforming the shells on the edge). This worked very well. The mat didn’t slip and I had more usable space to work with.
- I baked these shells at 350℉ in my oven and lowered the temperature to 325℉ after 10 minutes. Ideally, for my oven, 340℉ would be perfect but my manual dial makes it difficult to be precise.
- 46 folds during the macaronnage step.
- These shells will be very crispy once they’ve cooled. You will think that they are unusable but they are just right this way. Fill them and store them in the refrigerator overnight (24 hours is best). The shells will absorb the moisture from the filling and will become chewy inside while remaining crisp outside. Take them out of the refrigerator 1-2 hours before you plan to serve them.
Here is the guideline I follow:
* Using egg whites as the base, adjust the amounts of the dry ingredients accordingly.
- Egg Whites = 1
- Almond Meal = 1.3 x 1
- Powdered Sugar = 1.6 x 1
- Granulated Sugar = .8 x 1
So if you have 95 grams of egg whites you will need:
- Almond Meal: 1.3 x 95 = 123.5 grams
- Powdered Sugar: 1.6 x 95 = 152 grams
- Granulated Sugar: .8 x 95 = 75 grams
Using this formula will ensure that your proportions will always work no matter what size eggs you use or how large a batch of macarons you make.
Update 7/25/15: I reduced the powdered sugar to 1.3 x 1 and made sure to replace the equivalent amount of almond meal that I had to discard while sifting (in this recent batch I had to discard 30 grams of almond meal that was not fine enough so I added back the same amount while sifting).
Matcha Green Tea Macarons with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
- ***For roughly 64 shells or 32 filled sandwiches 1 1/2 inches in diameter***
- 118 grams egg whites aged 1 1/2 days
- 153 grams almond meal
- 189 grams powdered sugar
- 94 grams granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon matcha powder
- Pinch cream of tartar
- ***For the Chocolate Ganache just enough to make 32-34 sandwiches***
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- 4 ounces dark chocolate at least 72%, chopped finely
- 1 tablespoon butter softened
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350℉.
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Prepare two baking pans lined with parchment paper or silicon baking mats. If you have macaron templates, lay the sheets below the parchment paper. Set aside.
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Pulse (a few times) ⅓ of the powdered sugar and all of the almond meal in a food processor. The goal is to make finer the texture of the almond meal and to remove any powdered sugar clumps. Combine this mixture with the remaining ⅔ of the powdered sugar and matcha powder and sift twice, into a bowl, using a fine sieve. Discard any large clumps of sugar and almond meal left behind in the sieve. Set aside.
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To make the meringue: In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy, about 1½ minutes (speed 4 on my Kitchenaid mixer).
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Add the granulated sugar all at once and process for 2-3 minutes (speed 4 then 6) until the granulated sugar has been incorporated and the mixture is thick.
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Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the cream of tartar and the food coloring and whisk the egg whites on high (alternating between speeds 6 and 8) until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes.
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Macaronnage: Detach the bowl from the mixer and add ⅓ of the almond meal mixture to the egg whites. Using a spatula, fold in the dry ingredients a few times following the curve of the bowl, lifting the spatula toward the center of the mixture and pressing down on it, rotating the bowl as you go. The goal is to fold out some of the air from the egg whites. Once the first ⅓ of the dry ingredients have been mostly incorporated repeat with the second ⅓ then the the remaining ⅓ of the almond meal mixture. Continue with the same folding motion. For this quantity, I repeated the folding motion 46 times. At this point, I had a thick, glossy batter that flowed thickly from the spatula. You should have a ribbon of batter that takes about 20 seconds to be incorporated back into the mixture. If it’s thicker than this you’ve undermixed and if it’s thinner you have overmixed the batter and the shells will spread too much when piped.
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Piping: Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch plain round tip. I like to place the pastry bag in a tall glass to make filing it more manageable. Pipe 1 1/2 inch rounds (following a template) onto the parchment paper. What works for me is to position the tip directly above the baking sheet and pipe using a slight swirling motion from the center of the round and pushing the batter onto the sheet. Others like to pipe the batter from an angle. Try both ways to see what works for you.
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To remove any air bubbles, rap the baking sheets against the counter several times, rotating the sheet as you go. Let the rounds rest until the tops form a “skin” or a slight crust. You’ll know they’re ready to bake when you touch the tops of the rounds and the batter doesn’t stick to your finger. Depending on humidity, this can take as little as 15 minutes or even as long as 30 minutes.
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To bake: I baked my macaroni shells in two batches. The sweet spot in my oven is the second shelf from the top. Bake for 13-14 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through the baking period. The feet should develop in the first 5-6 minutes. Be careful not to let the macarons get brown. Remove the first batch from the oven and repeat the same steps with the second.
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Let the baked macaron shells sit in the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. You will know they are done when they lift easily off the parchment paper or silicone baking mat. If the shells stick, they’re undercooked. Using the French meringue method here, the shells will be crisp but get chewy once filled and allowed to mature for 24 hours. The shells can be prepared 1-2 days in advance, before filling, if kept in an airtight container.
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Make the ganache: Heat the whipping cream over medium heat in a small pan until just before it boils. You should see bubbles along the rim of the heated milk. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate. Wait about one minute to allow the chocolate to warm up then add the butter and whisk the mixture until it is glossy and smooth. Cool to room temperature before using.
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Fill the macaron shells: Using another piping bag and tip, transfer the ganache to the pastry bag and fill half the macaron shells (match them up according to size once they’re cool) and cover with the other half to form sandwiches.
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Tip: The gain the additional chewiness that is sought after in macarons, fill the shells at least 24 hours before you plan to serve them, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature before you serve them. This process is called “aging” the macarons and allows the filling to soften the inside of the macaron shells a bit, lending more chewiness. The outer shells will remain crisp.
These look simply divine. I’ve always wanted to make macarons but have to afraid to try. Thanks for the helpful tips.
Hi Jean, your post came my way. I love the title of your site. Your macarons look great!
So pretty, I love the green tea and chocolate combo!
Perfect macarons! I love that flavor combination.
Cheers,
Rosa
They are so cute!! Macaroons are just soo much fun
I saw these on instragram and they stunned me. They are even more stunning here! Lovely work! I don’t know how you do it…I haven’t even tried my hand at macarons yet!
Beautiful macarons! I can tell you are having fun making these and photographing them, they are quite show stopping. thanks for the tips and when I actually begin making these I will check here since I don’t want hollow centers.
This is one recipe that I’m SUPER hesitant to give it a try among all the matcha dessert recipes…. one day I’ll ask you to come over to my house and we make this? Please? 🙂
Nami, that sounds like a plan! 🙂
Happy New Year to you Jean! Your macarons turned out beautiful with perfect feet/pied and a lovely shade of green from the matcha. Lovely image compositions! =)
These look like so awesome and YUM. I like this Great idea.
So beautiful Jean, I love the color. They look just like they just came out of a fine Parisian pastry shop. Perfect, just perfect!
Your confidence is contagious – I came *this* close to buying almond meal yesterday. Maybe next time…
Fabulous flavour combo! I’m glad you decided against the pink. 😀
What simply STUNNING macarons! I am still thinking about the ones you made for our cookie exchange and how delicious those were. I can only imagine how divine these are. Happy Wednesday!!!
I tried this recipe as my first macarons, and it came out perfectly! thank you!!
It tasted great too, but my kids thought they were too sweet…is it possible to reduce the sugar?
Also, it is quite a big batch, is it OK if I only make half of the recipe?
Congratulations on your first macarons! I’m so flattered that you chose my recipe for your first attempt and I’m so happy that the recipe worked out. Regarding the sugar, this recipe actually has less sugar than other recipes I’ve seen before. Like your kids, I don’t like macarons that are too sweet. Maybe you can try cutting back on the granulated sugar a little next time? I’m afraid to tamper with the proportions too much for fear of messing up the balance. I’ll try less sugar next time myself and if it works I’ll come back here and let you know. Yes, you should be able to make a smaller batch–just keep the proportion of the ingredients consistent and you should be fine.
Thanks again for giving this recipe a chance!
Are these Macarons soft and chewy on the inside?
Hi, Indiana. They bake up crisp out of the oven. When they are filled and allowed to age in the refrigerator for 24 hours the filling absorbs some of the moisture from the filling. This makes for a nice and chewy inside while the outside retains its crispness. I didn’t follow Pierre Hermé’s recipe but this is the method he uses for his macarons. In other words, they’re best eaten a day or two after they are made. Hope this helps! 🙂
Hello! These look absolutely lovely :3 I was wondering, about how many eggs is 118g?
Hi Christina,
I think it’s about 3 or 4 eggs, depending on their size. Since the ingredients are based on proportions, I measure the eggs first then measure the amount of the other ingredients accordingly. Here’s the link to my first macaron post which explains how I come up with my measurements. I do use the eggs as the base. If this is still not clear feel free to email again and I’ll try to help!
https://lemonsandanchovies.com/2013/12/macarons-with-chocolate-chambord-ganache-french-meringue-method/
Hey Jean, I’m a macaroon enthusiast and I’ve tried a variety of methods for the shell but by far I think your recipe is the most bulletproof. I’ve never responded to an article so I just wanted to say that you did a proper job.
Eddo, thank you so much for your comment. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate it–you made my day!! 🙂
This recipe looks great and I’m going to have a crack at it today but I forgot to buy matcha powder, is there any other powder i can use to replace that to make it taste the same? Also with the replaced powder, do I need to change the way I make the macarons?
Hi Sora. I can’t think of anything you can use that would replace matcha powder here. If you do end up substituting a different kind of powder to flavor your macarons, as long as you use the same amounts I’ve listed here, you should be fine. Hope this helps. 🙂
Hi Jean,
After many previous failed attempt at macarons, using your proportion factor worked! Thanks for a great recipe!
Monica
Monica, that’s wonderful! I’m so happy the macaron formula worked for you and thanks so much for taking the time to give me feedback!
These are breathtakingly beautiful! I love green tea everything, and green tea macaroons sound like such a treat. Thanks for sharing the proportions you used – I look forward to trying these. Pinned!
Your macarons are so pretty! We tried making tea flavoured ones as well. http://www.modeandhoney.com/tea-flavoured-macaron-recipe/
Thanks so much for the recipe. Will definitely have to try flavouring with matcha next time.
Чудесни!Особено съчетанието матча -шоколадов крем напомня за сладък,но здравословен живот.От до време изучавам полезните свойства на матча та, но makarons ,определено е моята мечта.Записах ке на курс за да науча как се правят Не мога да се осмеля да ги направя.Сега като прочетох,Вашият пост,научих много ценни технологични тънкости.Много Благодаря! Бъдете здрава и щастлива!
Hi Jean, I am a matcha lover and I can’t wait to try your recipe. But I dohave a question, if I were to reduce the amount of powdered sugar, do I have to add anything back in to balance it? Thanks!
Amanda, I’m not sure what you can replace the powdered sugar with. Macarons are so finicky and the right balance is crucial. The best I can say is to give it a try. Would love to reduce the sugar myself but not sure how it would affect the final product. Good luck!
Thank you for the sharing formula and recipe. I like macaroon and I like matcha, I will try it
I’m going to be making these for a dessert auction, they’re just too cute! Hopefully they turn out as well as yours- last time I made them for school, they were good, but hollow (and quite rushed… I had to make 200 sandwitches, so I had 2 days to make 400 cookies… not fun haha)
Thank you for sharing your recipie, these are gorgeous!
Danielle, I hope your macarons turned out well for the auction. I haven’t logged into my blog for a long time so I’m just now seeing your comment. Were the hollow ones based on this same recipe?
Hi, I adore matcha desserts, and tried your recipe to try to make matcha macarons. I’ve tried it twice, but both times at the macaronnage step, I can never get it to the ‘lava’ stage. It looks actually way too dry and I have tons of trouble even mixing because it feels like cement solidifying.
I follow the steps leading up to that step as closely as possible. The only differences are no food processing because I don’t have the machine, and I use a hand held mixer because no kitchenaid. At fold 46, it’s too dry and dense so I’ve tried mixing further, trying to squish out more air, but no go.
It’s a shame because they taste great! (I roll the failed batches like chocolate chip cookies and bake so it doesn’t go to waste.)
Help! If you have any ideas what’s happening, I’d love to hear them!
Anna, I’m just checking into the blog and seeing your note. I’m sorry for the trouble you had with the macarons. I’m not sure what advice to offer as I’ve never tried making them with a hand mixer. I’ve used this recipe countless times now and I’ve never had that trouble so I’m afraid I don’t know what’s going wrong. I’ll be making macarons again soon and I’ll be more observant of those steps.
Food coloring is mentioned in the recipe but not in the ingredients. Is matcha all you need for color?
My apologies for this, Tia. You don’t need food coloring with the matcha. I’ll fix the post. Thank you!