Day Three

Catching the afternoon sun

 

When todays Macarons came out of the oven I stood there looking at them, "Is that it, is this what they're supposed to look like? They look pretty good, but I don't know". And I realised that I've never actually eaten a store bought macaron. I've seen them through the glass and I came close to eating one at a high tea, but got distracted by all the other delicious food. And none of these experiences or all the pictures I've looked at really give me an idea of what my finished product is supposed to be. 

Lemon Butter Filling

Well I'll just keep going with the challenge and see if I can reproduce the same quality of macaroons or improve them a little more, either way and I'll be happy. 

The trick of leaving them on the bench (20min today) really worked and I had no more cracked tops and the macaroons had some real height to them. I'm thinking of leaving them a little longer tomorrow. There is also the issue of which rack in the oven to put the trays on. The oven I'm using is particularly zealous in heating from the bottom up so anything below the bottom half is off limits. Today I baked them in two batches one after the over on the third rack down. This is a good rack but I end up with macarons that have sat on the bench for different lengths of time and therefore have slightly different heights (the ones that sat for longer were higher).

Smooth tops thanks to sitting on the bench before baking

While I was mixing up this batch I did start to wonder about my Italian meringue. Was it stiff enough? At the end of whipping in the syrup I would say that it was at a soft peak stage, but I suppose it should be a stiff peak. More research (i.e. a quick study break from researching raw milk cheeses to look up Italian meringue) A few webpages and a youtube video later and here’s what I know: Italian Meringue should be at a stiff peak and I can't over whip it so I'll just keep whipping until I'm happy with the consistency. 

I've also decided that I need a little practice in piping the filling. It’s actually quite tricky to pipe just the right amount, not too little or too much. Like most things in life practice makes perfect.

Not enough filling, but oh so perfect

Let’s hope tomorrows macarons are just as good or better!!

Pulse