Based on my experience, the gap in the insulated cookie sheet makes the surface of the pan too hot and the macarons will crack when it bakes. The best results will be obtained when the baking sheets are stacked one on top of the other to form a tight double layer.

I think I’ll stick with the almond flour for now since I have problems getting hazelnut. Regarding the baking pans, is it all right to use an air insulated cookie sheet for baking? My two baking sheets don’t seem to nestle together closely.

Thanks for answering my previous question. I’ll try making the macarons this weekend.

Chloe

So sorry for late reply. I’m using multidrop machine – a machine with a hopper and a few nozzles drooping the a fixed grammage of batter onto baking trays.

Hope that my info is clear.

Regards :0)

Thanks for dropping by!

Yes, you can certainly use any commercial almond flour. You do not need to grind them yourself. You can also substitute any nut flour (like hazelnut flour) in place of almond flour but the taste will be different. It all depends on the taste you are trying to achieve in the end. Experiment and find that combination that works best for you.

Good luck!

I’ve made macarons before, but have not reliably obtained the elusive foot so thank you very much for suggesting the use of Italian meringue. My question has to do with the almonds: can you use almond flour (Bob’s Red Mill brand in the US)? Or do you have to finely grind yourself in a food processor? Also, can I substitute hazelnut flour?

Thanks!

Thanks for dropping by.

Typically, the way to tighten and stabilize your meringue to give it slightly more holding time is to add a small amount of egg white powder. Adding egg white powder equivalent to 2% of the weight of your egg whites should be sufficient to give it more stability in your macaron batter. You would typically add the egg white powder once you achieve soft peaks in your egg white foam.

Usually, in my experience, only large professional production environments would use machines to drop the macaron batter onto trays. I’m curious as to what type of machine you would be using in your kitchen. Are you able to share this information with us?

Hope this information helps.

Cheers

I’m currently using French Meringue to make macaroons. I would like to use machine to pipe the batter onto baking trays instead of using piping bags. What i afraid is the batter can’t stand long in the machine and become more watery over time. Do u have any suggestion to make the batter more stable? Tq very much :0)

I’m happy you achieved success making your macarons. After making them a few times, you’ll achieve a certain instinctive feel for how the batter should fall when folding and you’ll be able to better understand how environmental factors affect the outcome of the macaron batter and make adjustments where necessary.

If you are operating in a very humid environment, you will get erratic results such as the inability of the macaron batter to dry properly. That’s why your tops were still sticky even after two hours. The dryness of the tops will affect the thickness of the shells after baking. I highly recommend you put the piped macaron batter in an air conditioned room to dry out. An air conditioned room is cool with less humidity and should dry your macaron tops within 15-30 minutes. You’ll get even faster drying results from the Italian meringue method (10-15 minutes). As I mentioned in my last response, sugar based products are highly hydroscopic in nature and will absorb the moisture from the air if you are operating in a very humid environment. Always ensure you keep this in mind and make adjustments where necessary when working with sugar based creations.

If you are making small batches, the French method is probably faster and easier for you. You’ll get the same results as the Italian method anyway. The Italian method becomes critical when you are making large batches of macaron batter. The holding time (i.e. stability) of the macaron batter needs to be maximised since you will be piping the batter over a longer period of time. If you were to do this with the French method, the batter would deflate too quickly (due to the instability of the French meringue).

If you have access to an air con room, you shouldn’t abandon the thought of making macarons for xmas. I’m sure you’ll see better results once you tweak how you approach making macarons within your kitchen environment. Good luck!

thanks for answering my question on how to properly defrost macaron shells. Baking those little macs can really make me jump with glee or reduce to tears.

Today I tried making them using the italian meringue method. It was a major flop. The macs developed huge feet and very thin tops (like rice paper thin) that breaks when I poke it with my finger. Could all these result from my underfolding of the batter and inability to dry properly due to the very wet weather (it was raining non-stop the whole day)? I had dried them for 2 hours but the tops were still a bit sticky.

Between the french and italian method, I have better success with the french but wanted to try the italian since everything I’ve read point to it being the more reliable one. I think it’s better for me give up the idea of baking macarons for xmas gift since the weather is not getting any better.