“Arrggggh what the….?”
“Little buggers!”
“F#@$%*S(SFSDF!!”
These are just some of things that you may have yelled when making macarons. These temptingly sweet, heavenly little morsels have caught the imagination of sweet lovers worldwide over the past year or two. However making them is another matter altogether. Today, on this cold, early Sunday morning, Mr NQN and I are attending the brilliant and brand new macaron masterclass at Baroque Bistro!
“Help yourself to the macarons, just open up any of the fridges and just try them all” Jean-Michel Raynaud the production and business manager of Baroque says (and our teacher for the day). Our eyes widen in excitement and what is a bistro kitchen suddenly gets turned into a Willy Wonka Wonderland of sugary confection where one can pick macarons from trees and giant macarons grow like sunflowers in the ground. Or maybe that’s just my imagination 
Jean-Michel Raynaud
We start with a coffee, necessary for the 9am wakeup you do understand and we follow Jean-Michel and Puti who makes all of the macarons here into the fabulous open kitchen where diners outside can peer inside and watch proceedings. It’s open as a bistro while we are there but we are taking over one part of the kitchen. We have a class of seven today including the lovely Ja from Beansprouts Cafe as well as her friends who are pastry chefs who want to master the temperamental macaron and other people who are just fascinated by the little beauties.
Jean-Michel starts off by explaining what we will be doing. Formerly of Planet Cake and Sweet Art he hails from France and has baked cakes for a slew of celebrities including the wedding cake for Bec & Lleyton Hewitt as well as cakes for Nicole Kidman, Delta Goodrem and even Bob Hawke. His area of expertise was pulled sugar as well as designing and decorating cakes.
The macaron piping machine
Jean-Michel hands us a folder with notes, tips, instructions, hints, troubleshooting, information on tools and recipes. Today we will learn how to make macarons using the Italian meringue method which they prefer as it produces a more stable, reliable macaron. Here at Baroque they have an Italian piping machine (originally built for biscuits) which they use for macarons. Our batches are much smaller than the typical 3kg lots of Tant Pour Tant (the almond meal and icing sugar mix) that constitute one lot for them.
They make 8,000 macarons a week and the two things that one needs to look for with their macarons are:
1. A smooth top and shiny finish
2. Feet. Ahh the dreaded feet
The top 10 things that I learnt were:
1. Use old egg whites for best results. Older egg whites are less elastic and more watery which means that they take longer to whip up and therefore there is a less risk of overbeating the whites.
2. Even though you have beat up a meringue into soft peaks, for best results and so that it doesn’t look so dome shaped and is flatter with better feet, you knock back the macaron mixture.
3. With the Italian meringue sugar syrup, it is possible to “de-cook” the sugar if your sugar has gone over a certain temperature by adding water into the syrup. Simply letting the temperature drop back down to the desired temperature will not suffice.
4. Colours are best added during the sugar syrup stage, particularly liquid colours as they can introduce additional liquid to the mixture which is not desirable. Fresh flavours are easily used instead of flavour essences eg. passionfruit pulp cooked down.
5. Humidity, particular the relatively high humidity in Australia (which is often 50% and above compared to France at a 35% maximum) is often the main culprit for failed meringues and hard meringues. To get rid of any excess moisture:
a) dry out your almond meal in the oven. It is always good practice to dry the almond meal out in a 50-60C oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
b) grind your own almond meal from whole almonds
c) prop open your oven while cooking to let any steam escape with a metal tool or some matchsticks as this can also cause hollow macarons
Using your fingers to rest the piping bag
6. Piping is the most important skill of macaron making. Do not overfill the piping bag especially if you are a beginner at piping (a bag no more than half full is best). If you are right handed, hold the piping bag in your right hand and use your finger on your right hand to rest the bag against the parchment. Pipe vertically down slowly and then “cut” the end by not pressing and then swiftly jerking the tip up. Piping does get easier with practice!
7. Timing is important with an Italian meringue. Start beating your egg whites as soon as the sugar syrup starts rapidly boiling.
8. Macarons should rest for between 1-4 days waiting time once filled. This is so the meringue can suck the moisture back into the shell giving it a luscious melt in the mouth texture as well as flavouring the macaron shell with the filling flavour as all macaron shells are plain in flavour. As buttercream has no moisture in it, a buttercream filled macaron needs to rest for longer i.e. 3-4 days whereas others need 1-2 days.
9. If you were to want to add a liqueur like Grand Marnier to a ganache filling, you would heat it in the cream so that the alcohol cooks off as it can eat at the ingredients in a macaron.
10. You can also add other nuts apart from almonds. As different nuts have different levels of oils, it is best to substitute 20% of the almonds with nuts such as hazelnuts or macadamias. You can also sprinkle them on top but you may want to toast them before you sprinkle them on top as the oven temperature will not toast them.
We start by making the ganache fillings. Jean-Michel recommends doing the fillings and the Tant Pout Tant (TPT) and mixing that up with some egg whites the day before as it is easily done ahead of time and creates less work and stress in the kitchen when baking. He demonstrates making a batch of each of the fillings before we make some ourselves.
Flat butter-for croissants
We start off making a dark chocolate ganache made with 53% chocolate. The lower the percentage cocoa content then more likely it is to bind with the cream as high cocoa content chocolate has less cocoa butter and can cause the ganache to split. We heat cream up until boiling point and then quickly stir 3/4 of it into a bowl of dark chocolate ganache.
We’re careful not to create bubbles and once it has combined we add the rest and then add the butter ensuring that this is done quickly so that the butter has time to melt. You can also heat the butter with the chocolate but it’s best not to boil the butter as it will clarify and separate.
The salted caramel filling is an interesting combination of caramelised sugar, butter and heated cream. This is then cooled in the fridge. In between this can help ourselves to any macarons and order tea or coffee.
Covering the ganache with cling wrap
Sugar Syrup
We do some piping practice before lunchtime where he shows us how to make meringues and shows us how to decook the sugar syrup and shows us what to look for and what not too look for in your meringue mixture. We practice making macarons using a stiffer, fluffier mixture than the desired one as it’s better for practicing although we will be making our own after lunch with the proper consistency.
Croque Norwegian $14
We break for lunch where we sit outside and order what we would like from the menu. As we are a little pressed for time, we order simple things like Croque Norwegian which has a divine onion bechamel, smoked salmon and is buttered and toasted on the outside.
slow cooked eggs, smoked salmon, spinach and hollandaise $19
We also order the tartine of slow cooked eggs, smoked salmon, spinach and hollandaise which is served on a split, buttered baguette. It’s not bad but the Croque Norwegian has stolen my heart.
Croque Madame
We chat to Jean-Michel about his time here and his previous time working at Planet Cake and Sweet Art. Funnily enough when we ask him what he likes to eat he tells us that he likes biscuits and lollies-he says that he can eat an entire packet of biscuits but not the macarons as he sees them day in and day out. Which brings us to the question, why are most pastry chefs so skinny? Does one have to become a pastry chef in order to be around sweets and stay skinny? 
Back to class!
Pouring the egg whites into the TPT
Our lunch eaten we go back to the kitchen where our teas and coffees are waiting for us. We mix the TPT with egg whites vigorously until we get a smooth paste which we then cover with cling wrap (directly on top of the surface to avoid drying out) and left at room temperature.
Tucking the bag into the nozzle
Jean-Michel warns us to have our piping bags ready as it’s a fairly quick process from here. Preparing a piping bag, you use a number 11 nozzle and slide it into a large piping bag. As the number 11 is fairly wide you want to tuck the narrow part of the plastic piping bag into the piping tube to avoid it coming out when you fill the bag with macaron (clever trick!).
We then place our egg whites in the mixer and then set out sugar syrup to boil. When the sugar syrup reaches 115C start whisking the egg whites in the mixer. We want the sugar to reach a 118C temperature and whilst you can tell this with a sugar thermometer he shows us how to do this with dipping our fingers in the sugar syrup. Yes! Seriously, it is possible to stick your little fingers straight into sugar syrup if you’re fast enough. I was too chicken to do this.
The key is to soak your hand in some cold water and then quickly dip them in and snatch a little bit of syrup and plunge this into the jug of cold water. If it is a soft pliable ball then that is ready to add to the meringue mixture which is slightly whipped further than soft peaks but not until the stiff peak stage is reached.
The sacrifice
Mixing the meringue shell mixture
And then deflate until glossy!
We then mix a couple of scoops of this meringue mixture with the TPT and egg white mixture. These are “sacrificed” and you can beat the mixture quite quickly. Then incorporate the rest of the mixture gently folding until the mixture is combined. Then following all of your instincts, deflate the mixture so that it is reduced about a quarter or third less and shiny. This gives the best result.
Adding lustre powders
Or gold feuilletine sprinkles!
We then fill our piping bags with the mixture which we pipe onto the macaron template which we slide under baking paper weighed down by little magnets. It’s easier said than done but by the time we’ve finished with one tray our second tray looks much better. We get to try all sorts of finishes on the macarons including gold lustre dust but my favourites are the blue lustre dust which you sprinkle over with a sieve and then blow on so that the finish becomes more sheen like and lighter and the gold feuilletine sprinkles which appeal to the Vegas show girl in me. These bake in a 150C oven for 30 minutes.
While these are baking we take the ganache and the caramel out of the fridge so that they can come to room temperature and become easier to pipe. The ganache is pretty much ready as is once it does but we need to emulsify the caramel so that it becomes smooth and glossy.
To go from this…
To this…
To salted caramel filling!
To do this we whisk the mixture vigorously occasionally putting it on a medium heat hotplate for a second or two to loosen it up but never allowing it to melt again. Once this has lightened in colour and become very glossy we add 10 grams of Fleur de Sel, the prized sea salt from Guerande in France which is hand harvested by paludiers using rakes. During the classes we are encouraged to taste everything and feel everything so that we know what things should and shouldn’t feel and taste like.
Pairing up like sizes
Once the macaron shells are baked we pair them up next to each other and place them in the blast freezer for a few minutes. We fill the piping bags with the two types of filling, the chocolate ganache and the salted caramel and pipe the filling in each one.
Holding base place top half on top of filling.
Twist gently to push down filling until the edge of the filling lines up with the edge of the macaron shell
Et voila!
The best way to place the top macaron on is to twist it slightly. I also make some “black forest” macrons by adding a half griottine (a kirsch and brandy marinated cherry) with the chocolate macarons scattered with cocoa nibs and filled with chocolate ganache. And voila! We have completed our macarons!
Griottine cherries
We’re given boxes which we fill with the macarons that we have made and we take these, our aprons and a carry bag excited with all of the secrets of macaron making in our hot little hands. It was an absolutely fantastic class and one in which I learnt so much more than any book has ever taught me.
Salted Caramel Macaron
Recipe from Baroque Patisserie
SALTED CARAMEL FILLING
Ingredients
250g Fresh Cream
350g Granulated (castor) Sugar
10g Fleur de Sel
350g Butter
CARAMEL MACARON SHELL
Ingredients
600g sifted TPT (300g Almond meal with 300g icing sugar)
120g egg whites
Ingredients 2.
300g Caster sugar
75g water
120g egg whites
food colouring
Step 1. MAKING YOUR FILLING:
Chop your butter into small cubes
Weigh your sugar into a medium saucepan
Weigh your cream into a small saucepan and bring to boil, remove from heat as soon as it starts to boil.
Commence cooking your sugar stirring occasionally to ensure that it caramelises evenly
When the sugar reaches a dark brown consistency remove from the heat and slowly pour in the hot cream whilst continuing to mix with a spatula
Let the caramel cool to around 45°C and then add the butter a few pieces at a time whilst mixing the caramel.
Pour the caramel into a shallow container and allow to cool in the fridge.
Beat the caramel mixture until light, shiny and smooth.
Step 2. MAKING YOUR MERINGUE SHELLS:
Add the colouring to the first batch of egg whites (1) above.
Mix the TPT with the egg whites, mixing vigorously until you have a smooth paste.
Mix the caster sugar, water and colour, commence cooking.
Place the old egg whites in a Kitchenaid mixer with the whisk attachment.
Once the sugar has reached 115°C commence whipping your egg whites until they reach ‘soft peak’ consistency.
When the sugar reaches 118°C remove from the stove and pour slowly on the still mixing egg whites.
Turn the speed to maximum for around 1min and return to medium for another 2min and then let the meringue cool to around 50°C whilst mixing slowly.
Using a spatula commence incorporating the meringue into the TPT and egg white batter. Work the mix gently from the sides to the middle until you reach a homogenous, shiny texture.
Step 3. PIPING AND COOKING YOUR MERINGUE SHELLS:
Using a plastic piping bag with no. 11 tip, pipe the shells onto a baking sheet according to the size template.
You should stop piping before the mix reaches the outside edge of the template.
Tap the tray gently on the side of the bench until the macaron reaches the size of the template.
Remove the template from beneath you baking sheet.
Leave the macarons outside at room temperature for 15 min or until they have formed a skin and are dry to touch.
Cook the macarons according to the cooking guide for your type of oven
Once cooked, slide the paper off the tray and let the shells cool (preferably on a wire rack)
Step 4. ASSEMBLING YOUR MACARONS
Pull the shells from the paper gently and turn them upside down.
Pair your Macaron shells according to size and lay them out on your bench.
Take your caramel out of the fridge and transfer it to a mixing bowl.
Place the caramel over a bain marie to soften the mixture and melt any pieces of granulated butter (take care not to melt the mix too much). Remove from the heat and whisk the caramel energetically. This will thicken the mix to a butter cream consistency (perfect for piping).
Fill one half of your paired macaron shells filling them generously but keeping a space of approximately 3mm from the edge of the shell.
Pick up the macaron filled with caramel in one hand and the empty pair in the other and close the macaron by gently twisting the two shells together from left to right.
Remember to let the filling spread regularly all the way to the edge of the shells.
STORING AND SERVING
Put the finished macarons on a tray and leave them in the fridge for a least 24 hours.
Prior to serving, let the macarons return to room temperature.
NQN and Mr NQN attended the Macaron Masterclass as guests of Baroque Bistro
Baroque Bistro & Patisserie
88 George Street, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9241 4811
http://www.baroquebistro.com.au/Masterclass/
The Macaron Masterclasses are held every Sunday from 9am-2:30pm and cost $220 per person and include your apron, coffee, tea, lunch and a box of macarons to take home with you.
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107 Comments | Add your own
Thank you thank you thank you Lorraine for this very interesting and informative post! I wanted to take the class myself, but couldn’t justify the cost
I can even spot a few other food bloggers in your photos 
“Help yourself to the macarons, just open up any of the fridges and just try them all” = dream come true!
This looks like it was so much fun. And I learned something from your experience — never realized you should let filled macarons rest! Thanks for all the helpful tips
Great post, Lorraine. I still haven’t tried to make macarons and after reading your comment about humidity, I better wait until next winter. I loved your tips and hints and the photos and instructions are perfect. Saving this URL for my first attempt!
“Le jeu en vaut la chandelle” which is a French phrase meaning It is worth it (to sweat for it)!!!
Bravo to you !Pierre
Oh wow. I had considered making these, but it looks way too hard.
Can we buy them from there though? Are they available everyday?
Wow- these are detailed instructions. Almost like being there. I have a confession. I have never… made macarons. Mainly because I’m scared it will be an epic baking fail! Maybe I’ll try one day. The whole class looks lots of fun.
What a great course – I talked to a chef who runs macaron making courses in Paris and she said that sometimes, even despite doing everything perfectly, they don’t work out due to the weather – proving that even for the pros – macarons are pretty hard to master
Ooh-those macarons look so delicious and pretty!
Greetings from Finland!
Um. Drool! Looks a like a lot of fun. I keep reading about macarons and classes. Someday I too will have the courage to attack these little cuties!
That macaron masterclass sounds completely fabulous and the finished results too perfect for words. Yum.
What a wonderful class. I’ve done a class too, but it didn’t help me LOL, well not much. Some things are just down to the kind oven you use at home. When making macaroons there are so many places where you can go wrong.
This looked like it was really fun.
Sigh. Macarons, the holy grail. Thanks for sharing your class, it’s easy to see now why macarons are so expensive!
The salty caramel in your title got me rushing over to see you with excitement…and then I saw yet another macaron…which by the way…I have yet to attempt.
Quite frankly, until, I looked over your whole post…I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be reminded of my none existing macarons. I’ve seen too many posts on this subject!
However, Wow…what an experience you’ve shared here.
I got a free ticket to a very expensive baking class in Sydney no less for just coming over to your very elaborative culinary journal:)
Fantastic post!
Flavourful wishes, Claudia
Oh. my goodness.
I am waaaaay too scared to try and make macaroons! What a great class though!!! BRILLIANT!
I’ve still never even had a macaroon.
What a fun class that would have been – If I was told I could eat all the macarons I wanted then there wouldn’t be much left for anyone else
How fun! I am not a big fan of macs, except for salted caramel ones
After the successive sweet photos my sweet brain exploded!
These little masterpieces worth the work – yum yum!!
Cheers,
Gera
Hi there & thank you for your fantastic blog. What do you do in #2 of the Top 10 things I learned? Maybe I should just do the class when I have a chance to come to Sydney…Cheers, Liz
ps: the Matterhorn/25th June blog was partiality scrumptious also
Yum!!!!!!! I want to eat the caramel ganache by the spoonful. And the Croque Norwegian from next door looks delicious – I want that right now. Perhaps I should become a pastry chef to manage my weight …
As I embark on my first blogcation, I find myself thinking, Hmmm what would Lorraine do??? You cover the subject so well… I hope I can recover your lessons when I move around. I am never going to make macaroons that perfectly though, never!!!
I absolutely love macarons, but I doubt I have the patience to make them. As well there is the danger that I would eat all of them! Deb
oh the dreaded macaron. I LOVE eating them but haven’t tried to make them yet. All the stories scare me off. Maybe I should invest in the class.
Hi Lorraine, Can you please clarify this part on the piping bag: “As the number 11 is fairly wide you want to tuck the narrow part of the plastic piping bag into the piping tube to avoid it coming out when you fill the bag with macaron”. Doesn’t the piping tube separate from the piping bag from the pressure exerted by piping the macarons? Or is there a coupler to bring the tube and bag together? I have trouble piping biscuits so interested to learn more! Thanks
Superb!! Thanks a lot for sharing all these wonderful tips, Lorraine!! My significant other LOVES baking macarons but he’s always looking for tips on how to improve the look of his babies, now he’ll know what to do.
And I had the chance to try some of Baroque’s salted caramel butter recently (wink wink), they’re to die for… And this is coming from a true Parisienne who grew up eating macarons
I think I’m going to squirrel away my pennies to go and do this course – looks fab!!
I have never tried making macarons. Maybe now. Then again maybe not.
Awesome post, thanks for sharing your experience! I’ll be giving this a try!
Fantastic report NQN! My mouth was absolutely watering. I’m going to have to plan a trip to Sydney one weekend to do this course (and taste the Croque Norwegian!) Fantastic. Love your little tips too about the ganache!
ooh so jealous! Macarons are number one on my must bake list – but I am soooo scared of them!!
one day I will get around to it… your tips here have very much helped!!
8 people that’s about $1760 not a bad way for chefs to increase bottom line,more chefs should throw open their doors and let us wanna be’s in.
Just a question you had a post on 25/6/10 about food tour of Wellington then 2 days later it was Farewell Austria, wow do you guys astral travel or something.
Wow, I wanna go! I think the cost is really reasonable too!
What fun!
I will definitely be doing this soon!
SSG xxx
This class looks fantastic. And great ides with the black forest cupcakes! Did Mr NQN enjoy the course?
Thanks for sharing this Lorraine! So wanted to do this class, until I found out how much it was! =(
HOW AWESOME!!!!
First, all you can eat macarons and second, learning how to make them!!! it’s a dream come true in a day!!!
I was so excited to recieve a comment from you!!! So thanks
I’m really scared to attempt macaroons..but I’m going to for Bastille Day. What a great post – I love seeing the professional kitchens and equipment, what a dream.
Still SO overwhelming a task! I think I’m more scared now and my first batch were actually ok
Holy. Bloody. Moly. Tricky little blighters, aren’t they? I love the tip about “de-cooking”
And I’d also like to live in a vat of that salted caramel filling… sweet dreams are made of this…
I was at Baroque for lunch the other weekend and noticed a bunch of people in the kitchen in the middle of a class. I’m guessing it was this they were doing.
I want to try this….but am still scared on baking anything..LOL!
What a great post…inspirational, maybe I should head to Sydney early enough to do this class next month…hmmnn, food for thought!
Salted caramel macaroons….I’ve died and gone to heaven. I love the combination of salt and caramel. It’s one of those magical combinations. My mouth was literally watering reading this post.
I need a macaron masterclass too!But I prefer to eat them all.
Now, THAT is one thorough macaron tutorial! Should be required reading for anyone attempting these fragile sandwich cookies. Who knew older egg whites are best?? Wow!
wow.. conclusion for me.. macarons are SO HARD TO MAKE!
Well done!! Very impressive!
Absolutely fantastic post, Lorraine! So informative and interesting and your photos capture everything beautifully.
I confess that as much as I love macarons, it’s that gorgeous first sandwich that has me drooling. 
I finally got to try my first macarons in Singapore!!! They were aWESOME…I can see what the hype is about! But I wouldn’t have the patience to make them…they are so tedious and meticulous to make!
I loved your step-by-step pictures of the class. I don’t think I could justify that much money for a class, so for the time being, your lesson there will have to suffice. PS: I do like the font they use at Baroque, and it’s on the apron, too
I’ve never even eaten a macaroon, let alone made one. Any recommendations for nice macaroons in Perth?
Fabulous – and shows why you should buy rather than make them. I have in my possession 4 macaron from Pierre Hermes shop in Selfridges. They are simply the best macaron I have ever tasted – soft, flavoursome and magnificent. Even better than the Laduree ones (which are also temptingly close). In our house I am the only one who like them – so no need to share!!
What an awesome class!!! They all look so fantastic!! yum!
oh my gosh! Thanks so much for this post and it’s sooooo informative for us readers! (: I’ve failed twice in making Macarons and succeeded once but still can’t seem to taste like any tt is sold. This would help heaps! Thanks again!
ps : i could just taste those salted caramel ones as I read your post! (:
Thanks for all the great tips. Hopefully I can conquer these fickle little things now. Oh how i’d love my own piping machine
‘Help yourself’….they are either very trusting or had more than they could sell? Trust me, they wouldn’t have that problem if I had been there! Thankyou for your generousity in sharing this experience with us. I make italian meringue all the time but never considered it in this context, I have lots left over every week- or perhaps I should say I did have, cause I won’t anymore!
wow, Mr NQN took lots of great shots, very details ! Glad to see my pictures in ur blog too (since I wanted to have my pictures while I was in the class but I can’t do that..haha)
Macarons there is amazing, I like it the most I have tried in Sydney. Such a wonderful time there and very glad to meet you again
Man, I wish they had these sort of classes in Melbourne
I’ve been too scared to try making macarons myself because the failure rate is something like 98%. Might have to start brushing aside my fears though. After all, practise DOES make perfect!
oh you are one lucky girl! that looks so amazing! now to tell my hubby that I just have to do that class before baby number 4 arrives!
ohhhhh it all looks gorgeous including your sandwich…yum yum! your blog is now turning into this pregnant lady’s dream! I should just send it to my pregnant friends so we can drool together
Corrie:)
Oh look at your gorgeous macarons with gorgeous feet! I haven’t tried making macs yet and I don’t know if I dare to, it looks all too hard! I LOVE salted caramel macarons.. not sure if you’ve heard of Pierre Herme, he’s a French mac KING and they opened a store in London a few months ago. OMG i feel head over heels for his salted caramel macs and have never looked back
Thank you for taking the time to learn how to make these challenging pastries and report back; I had decided long ago they would be off-limit, but I am reconsidering now; as far as chefs and being skinny, I think it is the fact that they work 18 hour days and don’t eat too much sugar.
OMG, I am SO jealous!!! I wish I could attend such a class, since my macarons always turn out a disaster… Lovely photos, you must have had a blast!
I tried to make Macarons last weekend as a surprise for my daughter’s birthday dinner. I spent most of Saturday afternoon making them, the kitchen was covered in almond meal and they were absolutely horrible! Not sure if I am game to try making them again but I would LOVE to attend this course and am seriously thinking about it. Thanks for the post Lorraine
Fascinating post Lorraine! I need to try the Italian method myself, but after having my own macaron masterclass at Lenôtre last Christmas, I am still perfecting that technique!! Am definitely going to send this info to my mum in Sydney tho!!!
Wow.. this class looks fantastic! I wish I could take this class too!
These dainty sweet morsels look so tempting but I think it’s one of those things I’d rather receive as a gift than make myself – way too much fiddling for my slap dash cooking style
Im sure your instructions, insights and photo’s will be a great help to many who are itching to try!
Yet another fantastic & detailed post Lorraine. And I love the tip re holding the baking paper down with magnets – such a simple idea, but I just never thought of it.
I’ve already shared this post with many macaron-baking friends
Oh, these are gorgeous. Great tips on macaron making as well. I have yet to attempt making them, one day I will!
Great writeup, my favourite line has to be ‘does one have to be a pastry chef to be skinny’. Love it!
I’m so glad you posted this, Lorraine! I had honestly all but given up on being able to make macarons…I’m horrible at it, lol! (I’ve finally come to peace with the fact that it can’t be the fault of every macaron recipe out there — the fault is with me!
) Anyway, with your thorough instructions and pics even I should be able to make these little beauties! 
I actually think of French desserts as an entire food group, with macarons being the king. Ever since I discovered them at Laduree in Paris years ago, I could quite happily live on these. That said, i’ve always been too afraid of making them myself for fear of ruining my love for them. But I would love to try a whole class dedicated to the cause!
Gosh, I’m suddenly feeling the urge to dash off to the Pierre Herme counter at Selfridges after work…
Miss B xx
Great recount, and beautiful pictures. =)
Thanks for the tips! Macarons are such PITA to make. I should try the Italian method next time.
Great job on the finished product – they look so professional!
Wow to being able to help yourself to the macarons in the fridge! Go on.. tell… how many did you eat?
Thank you so very much for posting this!!! I live in Northern California and I freak out a bit whenever I see these little gems (most Americans have no idea about real macarons.) I can’t wait to try making them myself
Oh, you are so fortunate to be able to attend such a fabulous class! Fun, informative and good food! THANKS so much for sharing the great tips…I will refer to them often!
Your macarons look perfect!
macaron virgin here, both in the making and eating. frankly, i just want some salted caramel.
Thank you for your post! I jumped on their website straight away and booked myself in for a class in August! Sooo excited about it and today ventured there during my lunch break to get some macaron goodies! The salted caramel macaron is to DIE for! The jasmine one is also not bad, but a bit too perfumey for my liking.
Thanks again! Loved every word of it!
Wow, what a fantastic experience, I love hands-on classes because you learn so much.So many macarons, a virtual sea of them.
Baroque really do a great job , my husband isn’t a sweet tooth at all but loved them when he tried the Pistachio flavour at the 30days of Design & fashion Expo.
I’ll definitely make a bee-line for Baroque when the Rocks Aroma Coffee festival is on later on this month.
What a splendid masterclass!! You & Mr.NQN were there as guests, how wonderful for you 2!!
The Chef looks great & he teaches you all so well!! Georgous pictures too, dear Lorraine!
What a fab experience for you!! The end results say it all,…the filled macarons look like the real thing,..sublime treats!
Many kisses from Brussels!
i would love to attend a macaron class! how funny, i also just posted about macarons the other day.
ooo I’m so glad your macarons turned out!
Lorraine, I was just wondering, do you remember the diameter of the circles on the template? I’m thinking about making one of my own
thanks!
You probably know already about my fixation with the process of making macarons – I will be blogging my experience of making them for a food bloggers’ masterchef UK event yesterday in the next week or so!!
I’m less fussed about eating them but the process of making them fascinates me and I love the end result. Still learning though, mine are often too chewy or too dry, I cannot hit that exact texture I want.
I would’ve yelped with giddy excitement if I’d gotten that invitation to try such gorgeous creations. Sounds like a wonderful experience and I’m so glad you shared it, and the recipe, with us, Lorraine
.
After reading all your fab tips and tricks, I was inspired to make my first ever batch of macarons. I’ll try and keep this brief, but excitement about my first foray into the world of macaron is still bubbling.
In short, I think they turned out ok, a little less glossy than they should be (I forgot to let them sit for 15 min after piping), but they taste yum with a light crisp outside & chewy inside. If you’d like to see my effort (sans fancy gold dusts
) I put a pic up here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52335649@N04/4822474007/
2 small points. 1, your recipe didn’t say when to add the salt to the caramel butter cream (and I would use much less butter 2nd time round). 2, I couldn’t find the oven guide to figure out what temp to cook at. It’s possible I’m just blind though, after all, I had to read the first few lines of the TPT mix vs meringue mix a number of times to get my head around it!
Other tips:
* I finely sieved everything, based on Callum’s experience on MasterChef
* I traced around a spice jar for my template – the 3cm diameter was perfect.
Thanks so much for your wonderful blog. Its a daily must read for me & I’ve tried so many new places based on your reviews & sumptuous photos!
hi loraine,
thanks for the recipe. i was wondering though, you say to refrigerate the macs for at least 24 hours – can they be frozen and does freezing them have the same effect as putting the macs in the fridge (like fridge & freezer both result in macs with chewy insides)?
i was hoping to attempt a few batches of macs in different flavours, and then store them frozen so i can just pick and choose whatever flavour i want whenever i want to eat one.
I embarked on my first attempt at making these yesterday and the result wasn’t too bad.. Not as high as I would’ve liked but, not bad. The salted caramel is to die for!! Might have to use that in some cupcakes! Yum!
Thanks again for posting this.. Your photographs made it a little easier!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31041954@N07/4896197992/
Thank you so much for the wonderful photos and macaron guides. I’ve been contemplating on trying the Italian method. Your post makes me want to run to Williams-Sonoma to get candy thermometer and scale.
Hi Lorraine!
I was surfing your blog and saw that you’d attended a macaron class too! Interesting write-up there. I’d learnt lots just from reading it!
Hello,
For the macaron template, I only use parchment paper. Would I place the template under the parchment paper, pipe the macarons and then carefully slide the template out?
It would take a lot of time for me to trace the template to my parchement paper each time?
Thank you in advance
Drooling! Saw the macarons on French Food Safari the other day. So want to make these…or go to Baroque instead…still deciding!
what colour food colouring??
how many does it make ???
I’ve made macarons three times before but using the French method, will the recipe work if it is halfed
how many macarons does this recipe make? thanks
Hi there! I’m soo envious u got to go. I didn’t even know there was a macaron making lesson out there. And to think I’ve spent heaps on cakes n cupcake classes. I love macarons n would like to try this. Reding ur blog, I noticed u failed to mention which part to put the fleur de sel. Is it when u start mixing d butter?
Thanks
These Macarons are truly a master piece as u emphasize. I learned how to make these delectables back a few years ago at The Ritz Carlton Buckhead Atlanta, Ga. Chef Celine Plano and master Chef Eric Chopin. Real fun and a heavenly treat!
Your blog is terrific!
just want to ask, I use this recipe for the macarons, but it turned out that the feet is very very short, probably about 3mm, and the top is kind of flat (which is ok, I supposed?) and not as ’rounded’ as yours.
any idea what went wrong?
Hi ! Congrats on your lovely blog.
macaron problem…in theory as a Michelin starred chef I should kind o know what I am doing but these damn things are so hi and miss ! You don’t say in your excellent Baroque experience wih Jean-Michel whether or not he rests them to form a skin. I find he longer I wait and leave them the more they seem to burst and form a little mountain !!! Aaaargh !!!! Your comments would be very very welcome.
Kind regards
Stephen
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