Macaron has been high on my list of recipes I’ve wanted to do a video for. There’s something about seeing the batter being mixed and piped that no written words can explain quite as well. Macs have forever been popular in France, but are relatively new to the US, only catching the public’s attention within the last 10 years or so. Man, though, have they grown in popularity.
It’s really no surprise Americans have fallen in love with macs. They’re small enough to eat with minimal sweet tooth guilt, they can come in just about any flavor you can think of, and in most cases they’re completely gluten free, which in this day and age is worth its weight in gold.
Today we are making chocolate raspberry macs, but not just any chocolate. It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Guittard chocolate and have been for a long time. They celebrated their 150th birthday recently, and created a limited addition chocolate – Eureka Works 150th Limited Edition 62% – which is legitimately one of the best chocolates I’ve ever had. Generally I just eat this stuff on its own, but it has a flavor profile that goes great with raspberry, so some of my stash is going into this delicious mac.
As a recipe, macaron seem to intimidate many cooks and bakers, especially so-called “amateurs.” Yes, the batter can be a little finicky and yes, they take some practice to get the hang of (like everything on Earth), but I’m sharing this video and recipe disspell the myth that they are beyond the reach of anyone! Happy mac-ing!
Cheers – Chef Scott
- 250 g powdered sugar
- 250 g almond flour
- 65 g water
- 250 g sugar
- 93 g egg whites A
- 93 g egg whites B
- 10 g red gel food color
- 216 g chocolate, 62% Guittard 150th Anniversary Eureka Works
- 144 g raspberry puree
- 34 g glucose
- 80 g butter unsalted
- Combine the almond flour and powdered sugar and pulse in a food processor (or sift) until homogenized. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl to use later.
- Combine the sugar and water in a sauce pot and heat over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally, to dissolve the sugar.
- Once the sugar syrup begins to boil, begin to whip the first scaling of egg whites in the stand mixer with a whip attachment on medium speed.
- Once the sugar syrup reaches 121C/250, turn the egg whites in the stand mixer on high speed. Carefully pour the syrup over the whipping egg whites in a steady stream down the side of the inside of the mixing bowl. Be careful not to pour the syrup over the whisk.
- Let the mixture whip on high for 20 seconds then turn the speed down to medium and whisk meringue until it has reached the soft peak stage.
- While the meringue is whipping, combine the almond flour mixture with the second scaling of egg whites (B) and any food coloring. Mix until combined into a thick paste.
- Once the meringue has thickened to very soft peaks (and is still warm) add to the almond paste in two additions.
- Add 1/3 of the meringue as the first addition until mix thoroughly combined.
- Add the remaining meringue and mix the batter gently to the proper consistency. The meringue batter should settle in the mixing bowl within 20-30 seconds when dropped from a spatula.
- Gently transfer the batter to a piping bag with an 11mm round piping tip.
- Pipe the macaron on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat.
- Bake: convection oven; 157C/320F; 12-14min.
- Roughly chop the chocolate and reserve to use later.
- Rough chop the butter and reserve to use later.
- Combine the raspberry puree and glucose and heat the mixture until it comes to a simmer.
- Pour the hot raspberry puree over the chocolate and let sit for 2-3min.
- Add the chopped butter and whisk or hand-blend the ganache until is is smooth and well emulsified.
- Cover the ganache with plastic wrap to touch and allow it to set in a cool room ( 10-18.3/50-65F) until firm enough to pipe but not fully set, about 2hrs.
- Pair the baked macaron shells by matching size.
- Using an 11mm round piping tip, pipe the ganache onto one half of each pair of macaron shells and sandwich the shells together using a gentle twisting motion to press the filling down evenly.
- Wrap the macaron in plastic wrap and temper them for approximately two days in the refrigerator until the shells have softened but still retain some crunch.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I want to give it a try! How much sugar did you use as it doesn’t say?
Hi Iva,
Sorry about that! The recipe calls for 125g of sugar for the syrup, and I’ve updated the recipe card too!
Cheers – Chef Scott
125g sugar for the syrup or 250g as it says in the recipe!?!?!
Hi Ana,
For the written, printable recipe at the bottom of the post, the correct amount of sugar is 250g.
Sorry about that! I often used different scaled recipes for a video compared to a full size batch for home use, and both of those are scaled down from my production recipes so sometimes it get a little complicated for me to juggle!
Cheers – Chef Scott
Ok so in this recipe it shows 250 for sugar what is the correct amount for the above recipe please mark clearly as I am an amateur
Hi Lyn,
250g of sugar is the correct amount to use, although I’m not sure what your specific question is? There will be 250g of powdered sugar in the almond flour mix to create the paste, and then 250g of granulated (table) sugar to make the Italian meringue syrup. Does that help?
Cheers – Chef Scott
Hi Scott,
How many macarons are considered 1 serving?
Thank you,
Marie
Hi Marie,
It’s a good question but unfortunately there’s no real answer. It totally depends on the size of the macaron that you pipe, and there’s no one “right” size, although I would try and keep them between 1.25″ and 2″ in diameter for a typical macaron. This is part of why I don’t include yields, since it gives each baker the ability to customize the recipe to their own specific needs. With that being said, I believe I got 4 half sheet pans of shells for this recipe.
Cheers – Chef Scott
What should the consistency of the egg whites be when you pour the syrup? Are you cooking at 320 degrees, no fan? Do,you find there’s a difference between baking the on parchment vs Silpat?
Hi Julie,
The egg whites should have achieved a full foam with no clear albumen visible, and just starting to develop structure. A fan is appropriate for this recipe as it helps the shells rise, but many fan-forced ovens are notoriously uneven, so you made need to test a sheet of them first and see if there’s a section of the oven that gets more air than the other. I prefer baking on silpats, as they insulate heat in the bottom of the shell a bit and are easier to remove, but I’ve made 1000s of macs on both parchment and silpats so it’s really just personal preference!
Cheers – Chef Scott
Hey Chef!
In the written recipe it doesn’t say to let the shell stand at room temperature to form a skin before baking. Do you do this or is it unnecessary with your recipe?