Tiny Urban Kitchen

Exploring Food from Boston to Hong Kong and Beyond

  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About Me
    • Travel
    • Recipes
    • Michelin
    • Subscribe
    • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×
    • Michael Chiarelli Ottimo Yountville California
      Bottega + Ottimo Yountville
    • Ciccio Yountville California
      Ciccio Yountville
    • Charter Oak St. Helena Napa Valley California
      Charter Oak St. Helena Napa Valley California
    • Cole’s Chop House Napa California
      Cole's Chop House Napa California
    • Compline Restaurant Napa California
      Compline Restaurant + Wine Shop Napa
    • Napa, California
      Thomas Keller's La Calenda: A Tribute {Now Closed}
    • Ad Hoc Thomas Keller Brunch Yountville California
      Thomas Keller Ad Hoc + Addendum + Bouchon Bakery
    • Mandalay San Francisco
      Mandalay San Francisco (Burmese Food)
    • Boulettes Larder Ferry Building San Francisco
      Boulette Larder (Ferry Building) San Francisco
    • Bodega SF California (Vietnamese)
      Bodega SF (Modern Vietnamese)
    • Tselog Daly City California
      Tselogs (Filipino food) Daly City California
    • Mesa by José Avillez Macau
      Mesa by José Avillez Macau
    Home » Recipe » Dessert » Baking

    French Macarons

    Published: Aug 19, 2009 · Modified: Oct 28, 2014 by Jennifer Che

    If you couldn't tell from my profile picture, I really love French macarons. The Pierre Hermes Ispahan macaron is one of my favorites in the world (I've had it in Paris and also in Tokyo). In the US, Thomas Keller's Bouchon in New York City makes excellent macarons.

    This recipe, inspired by pastry chef Bonbini, involves three parts: the Almondy Mass, the Italian merigue, and the buttercream frosting.

    If you think you can work relatively fast, preheat oven to 320 degrees first. Since this was our first time trying this, we wisely decided to wait until we thought we were close to baking before turning on the oven. Over all, I think the whole process took about 2 hours, start to finish. I can see the whole process taking a lot less time once you are experienced.

    Oh, and having a stand mixer and food scale is REALLY helpful.

    PART I: the Mass

    Ingredients for the Mass

    40-45g aged egg whites
    100g almond flour
    100g powdered sugar
    3 drops of food coloring

    To make aged egg whites, just set your egg whites out in the fridge the night before. I would also highly recommend using a food scale, as it is much more precise than measuring volume.

    Combine all Mass ingredients with a manual whisk.

    Add food coloring if desired.

    Part II: The Italian Meringue
    Ingredients:
    57g aged egg whites
    160g sugar
    75g water

    Heat sugar and water in a pot until 230 degrees Fahrenheit. This is just above the boiling point of water, and the solution will turn clear a little before reaching this temperature.

    Mix egg whites in a stand mixer until you have soft peaks.

    Slowly pour the sugar water into the egg white mixture while continuing to mix!
    Beat this mixture until stiff peaks form.

    Combine Parts I and II (Colored Mass and the Italian meringue) to form the batter for the macaron cookies!

    Pipe out circles onto parchment paper for baking.

    Some recipes recommend "whacking" the pan against the counter to flatten out the batter. This aids in the development of "feet", the signature little layer of air-bubbles at the bottom of the macaron. Other recipes recommend letting the macarons sit out for at least 30 minutes so that the tops can dry out a bit, thus developing a "skin" that prevents cracking.

    We did not wait 30 minutes before baking our first batch. As a result, the first batch had much more cracking than other batches that did sit out for 30 minutes. Lesson learned. We whacked all of the batches, but I'm not sure if that made any difference or not.

    Bake for 9-11 minutes depending on the size of the macaron (just watch carefully!) remembering to rotate the pan halfway through. To further prevent the macarons from cracking, use two pans, one on top of the other to protect the macaron from the high heat.

    Yay little feet are forming!

    Lay out the cookies, and spread with buttercream frosting (or other fillings, such as nutella). Buttercream frosting recipe and tutorial

    Serve immediately!

    [Note - I did find that these macarons still taste quite good after being stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. The baker at Bouchon bakery had told us that their macarons would last at most 1-2 days after purchase, which is consistent with my experience]

    Some sad cracked ones!

    Enjoy!

    Lessons learned - aka "if I were to do this again"
    - I would actually buy almond flour instead of almond meal. Almond meal works fine, but it is less refined and therefore gives the macarons a much more substantial "chew" when you are eating it. Still delicious, but tastes slightly less professional.

    - Definitely let the batter sit for at least 30 minutes to form a skin, thus reducing the possibility of cracking.

    - Make more cool flavors! The next plan: Ispahan Macaron!

    Recipe in English Measurements
    for the mass:
    - 1-¼ cups almond flour
    - 1 cup powdered sugar
    - 1-½ egg whites or 3 tbsp. of egg whites

    for the meringue:
    - ¾ cup sugar
    - ⅓ cup water
    - 2 egg whites or ¼ cup of egg whites

    ©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
    All Rights Reserved

    More Baking

    • Totoro Valentine Cookies (Matcha)
    • Matcha Mochi Cake
    • Chinese Eggnog Tarts
    • Kabocha Pumpkin Mochi Cake

    Recent Posts

    • Bottega + Ottimo Yountville May 14, 2025
    • Ciccio Yountville May 11, 2025
    • Charter Oak St. Helena Napa Valley California May 8, 2025
    • Cole's Chop House Napa California May 5, 2025
    • Compline Restaurant + Wine Shop Napa May 2, 2025
    • Thomas Keller's La Calenda: A Tribute {Now Closed} April 30, 2025
    • Thomas Keller Ad Hoc + Addendum + Bouchon Bakery April 27, 2025
    • Mandalay San Francisco (Burmese Food) April 24, 2025
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

    More about me →

    logo
    Food Advertisements by

    Explore

    • Recipe
    • Restaurant
    • US Travel
    • World Travel

    Popular Posts

    • Restaurante Litoral Taipa Macau
      Restaurante Litoral Taipa Macau
    • Antonio Macau Taipa
      Antonio Macau Taipa
    • Vienna Opera House
      Vienna Austria Trip Report
    • Steirereck Vienna Austria
      Steirereck Vienna Austria

    Recipes

    • Appetizer
    • Snacks
    • Meat
    • Vegetables
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Seafood
    • Noodles

    Recently Traveled

    • Hong Kong
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Boston
    • California
    • United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • Spain

    Support Us

    Support Tiny Urban Kitchen by making purchases on Amazon through our affiliate link:

    Recognition


    Featured on the front page
    of the FOOD Section: 2015

    Best Food Blog Awards:
    Restaurant & Dining 2012

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Me
    • My Equipment
    • In the Press
    • Project Food Blog
    • Privacy Policy

    Eating Guides!

    Eating & Travel Guides
    Trip Reports
    "Kawaii" (Cute Foods)
    Around the World

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube
    • Mail
    • RSS Feed

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Shop at Amazon

    Copyright © 2024 Tiny Urban Kitchen