The Science of Macarons - An informative writing

 The Science of Macarons

Although the flavors and textures of the French* Macaron may be difficult to even the best bakers, they are made from a very simple mixture of confectioners sugar, almond flour, beaten egg whites and granulated sugar. So how come macarons are so finicky? They have perfectly simple ingredients! We’re about to find out!

Let’s do a quick macaron anatomy lesson:

 “Macarons, a sweet almond-based confection notable for its smooth tops, ridged edges and unique texture, have become all the rage in popular culture, however the science behind them is a rather sensitive, finicky process that goes unbeknownst to many,” (Yale Scientific.org).  “Despite the simple ingredients, the technicality behind the making of the macaron explains why the price tag is so high,” 

Plainly stated, the science behind macarons relies heavily on the balance of the ingredients and the protein structure of the egg whites. Unlike traditional cookies, the base ingredient of a macaron is the egg whites, which are whipped into a meringue. The meringue is what provides the crunchy-chewy texture and a structure for the cookie, whereas most cookie dough is made of butter and flour, which gives it it’s play - doughy texture. 

The ratio of confectioners sugar to almond flour makes a BIG difference in the meringue that is formed. By putting in too much almond flour, you run the risk of having a thicker meringue (eeek!)

while too much confectioners sugar = a very thin meringue.

When you beat the egg whites, you convert it’s proteins and create a meringue, which causes the egg whites to become up to 4 times its size and take on a shiny whitish beige color that looks sort of like whipped cream. As the egg whites continue to be beaten, the protein structure in the meringue forms soft ‘peaks’. Once the soft peaks have formed, adding confectioners sugar and granulated sugar makes the meringue stiffer, giving you ‘stiff peaks’. To know when stiff peaks have formed and the meringue is ready, turn the bowl upside down over your head - none should come out! Overbeating the egg whites has a negative result, too. As the proteins continue forming bonds, the protein bonds are forced out, and you can tell after the macarons are done baking by a broken and cracked shell. Under beating the egg whites will leave you with a flat, stiff shell.

Once the macaron is made - beaten to the right consistency and texture, the next hardest part is still to come. It’s called macaronage, but it is basically gentle mixing. The meringue mixture is folded into the almond flour - confectioners sugar mixture. The entire folding process can either destroy your macarons or make them a huge success. The egg white mixture needs to be CAREFULLY added to the almond flour-confectioners sugar mixture by gently scraping a rubber spatula to the bottom of the bowl and bringing the contents of the bottom of the bowl up to the top. You continue this process until it makes a shiny lava like texture. You can add coloring and flavoring now and gently fold it through like the previous step. You can NOT over fold! It will make your fluffy meringue flat!

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*Did you know that macarons aren’t actually French? They were invented in Italy! The French were credited with tweaking the recipe to make it more elegant and chewy. The original macaron made in Italy was more of a crunchy meringue that was eaten by itself without a filling.

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The meringue can be piped onto parchment paper on a cookie sheet. You need to leave them to dry before they go into the oven so that the outer surface can harden a little. This way when they are  in the oven, the air will escape the bottom of the cookie rather than the top which will keep the top of your cookie from cracking. In the oven, you have very little control over the macaron shells, and if the oven is either too hot or just a little cooler than expected, the uneven heat distribution will keep the bubbles from forming around the base of the cookie which gives it its “feet”. (Look at the macaron anatomy to see what feet are.)

After the shells are removed from the oven and cooled, they can be filled with buttercream, ganache or jam. Even after this, they can’t be eaten yet! The macarons must be placed in the refrigerator overnight so that the cookies can absorb the flavor of the filling. After all of this, the macarons can finally be eaten. Although the process of making macarons may be finicky and difficult, when you do it correctly you can make some awesome cookies!

Thank you for reading my informative writing about the Science of Macarons! I hope it helped you in some way or another!

Stay healthy, stay safe and keep living life random!

Until next time,

Naomi