I've Finally Got It! French Macarons, with the help of Kawaii Sweet World (Gluten- and Dairy Free)

Et encore, une recette Française! Pour voutre plaisir, un dessert: macarons!

After about five years of off and on attempting, I have finally, finally managed to make a successful batch of these notoriously finicky little sandwich desserts!

Since before I began writing this blog, I have struggled with these little demons. There was a time where I spent about two weeks straight baking nothing but macarons. I have tried dozens of recipes that I found online. I even bought a book for learning how to make them, but the recipe therein used a boiled sugar meringue which was almost impossible to get right. And every failure was an expensive waste of ingredients.

But after all this time, I've found a recipe that really works!

I used this recipe is from Kawaii Sweet World, scaled down to two egg whites, which made the ingredients 2 medium egg whites, at room temperature, 35 grammes (1¼ ounces) caster sugar, 130 grammes (4½ ounces) icing sugar, 80 grammes (2⅘ ounces) ground almonds, and a pinch of salt. As you may have noticed, the ingredients are primarily measured in grammes, as opposed to the ounces as I usually use. This is because grammes are far more precise, and precision is what you need for macarons. By all means, though, use the ounce measurements.

They turned out really well! The only little problems that I encountered were overly browned tops and slightly sticky bottoms. One of the shells broke in half: the top separated from the bottom which was stuck to the paper. As such, I only got 15 sandwiches, as opposed to 16. Taking this into account, next time I make them, I'll make a little side step from the temperature and cooking time: I might do 140°C (285°F, Gas Mk.1) and for 18 to 23 minutes instead.

See how they lost their bottoms? Oh my.

I then used about 170 grammes (6 ounces) of filling to make sandwiches, using about a teaspoon of filling in each pair. I used some leftover chocolate fudge icing, but you could use chocolate spread, buttercream icing, jam, crème pâtissière, or anything you want. I got 15 sandwiches in total; it would have been 16 were it not for the shell that bit the dust.

I'm really, really, really pleased with how these came out: I've never made successful macarons before, and I was truly amazed with how easy Rachel's recipe was to follow, and how great the results were.

I'll be doing many more macarons in the future, maybe shaking up the flavours, shapes, and combinations. I'm excited to add this illusive treat to my repertoire!

THIS TIME IN 2016: American Style Chocolate Chip Muffins (Wheat Free)
THIS TIME IN 2015: April Afternoon Tea Party: Bollywood Part Two!
No blog this day in 2014
THIS TIME IN 2013: Gingerbread of the Gingeriest Proportions (Wheat Free)