Elsie Hui

I’ve recently been introduced to macarons, and I loved them! The nice crispy shell texture with a soft centre make an amazing treat! Not only do the ones at the store taste good – they look amazing! So, I figured I’d try my hand at making a simple batch of Vanilla Macarons as it appears I have all the ingredients in my pantry! Of course my batch didn’t look great – but tasted wonderful!

Ingredients: Makes about 12
1/3 cup finely ground almond
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 egg whites
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Let’s get started on my first batch of shells! First, we gather all our ingredients so we have everything ready and preheat the oven to 300F.

Then we grind the almonds until they’re fine and then we grind it with the powdered sugar! I figured we do this so that the ground almond is coated with the powder sugar so it doesn’t lump!

Lots of recipes call for sifting the mixture a few times. I tried and I guess my strainer is too fine… it separates the powdered sugar from the ground almonds. The end results wasn’t rough or anything but it’s got some texture as I had to omit the step. So, we go to beating the egg whites until the mixture starts becoming airy and bubbly. At which you will add the 2tbsp of sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Once you got the soft peaks, beat the vanilla extract in.

From here, mix half of your egg white mixture into your almond mixture and mix until they’re incorporated. Then, fold in the rest of the egg white and put into a piping back or a ziploc bag. Then, you can cut out a corner and pipe onto a lined cookie sheet of circles. Then you let them dry for about 30 minutes (or until a hard layer is made)

Once the hard layer is formed by drying it, you can pop them in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until they move off the parchment paper easily. At this point, you can take them out and let them cool while you make the filling.

For the filling…
You can start by taking out the ingredients that you need.

Start with the egg yolks, and beat together the ingredients until it’s even and smooth.

Then, move it to the stove top and cook it until a custard texture

From here, I removed it from the heat and returned it to a bowl and let it cool to room temperature.

When it has cooled, I arrange the macaron shells so that they kind of match each other in relative shape and size. I put a dollop of the butter cream on one side and put the other side on carefully. Once they’re assembled, I put them in the fridge to set. When you’re ready to eat, take them out a few minutes ahead to take the chill off of them. They apparently last up to a week in an air-tight container in the fridge. Ours are often gone way before then!