Testing Tasty’s Macaron Recipe-Is It Really Foolproof?

I know first-hand how difficult macarons can be to master. It’s been years since I’ve attempted to make them, so I am going to give them a go again. When searching for recipes, I found this one by Tasty, which claims to be “foolproof”. This is a bold promise. This is why I’m choosing this recipe to make. However, I’m noticing that this recipe and others online are only volume-based. Meaning they are only measured in cups, tablespoons, or teaspoons. This makes me question how foolproof the recipe could be. I’m going to attempt to convert the measurements into grams when trying the recipe. Here is my list of conversions.

Step 1-Using the Food Processor

I’m making the recipe as instructed. The first step is to combine the almond flour, powdered sugar, and salt and process on low speed till combined. This step was easy, but I had to use a spatula to scrape the excess flour off the sides of the food processor.

Step 2-Sifting the Mixture

Now the recipe says to sift the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. I am enlisting the help of my friend Madison for this. She is finding it quite time-consuming to sift the mixture by hand and recommends a sifter with an agitator. I will keep this in mind for the future!

Step 3-Making the Meringue

To make the meringue, you start by whipping the eggs and salt until soft peaks form. This seems simple enough. Now that my soft peaks have formed, I am gradually adding the granulated sugar. The video says to make sure the peaks are stiff enough that you can lift the bowl over your head and the meringue stays in. I have very stiff peaks, but I am supposed to now incorporate the vanilla and food coloring. This is proving to be difficult. I think it would have been easier to do this when my peaks were still soft.

Step 4-Adding the Flour Mixture

Now I am adding about a 1/3 cup of the flour mixture to my meringue at a time. The recipe says to fold in until I can make a figure eight with the batter, and the batter looks like wet sand. After carefully folding in the flour, I am finally able to make a figure eight. However, I am not able to achieve the wet sand mixture. Maybe my batter is too sticky. Hopefully, I did not add too much sugar.

Step 5-Piping the Batter

Now to the most stressful part of macaron baking, piping the batter. I realize now that the only round tip I have to pipe with is quite small. Maybe I lost my others while moving. Using a cup to hold the decorating bag, I spoon my batter into the bag and tie it up. After piping four dots of batter onto the corners of the sheet to hold the parchment paper, I start piping. My batter is proving to be a bit too runny, so the first pan of macaroons is a bit large. My second pan of macarons is a little unevenly spaced.

Step 6-Baking

Tasty’s recipe says to tap the pan against the counter multiple times to pop all the air bubbles. So I am doing that, then letting my macaroons sit out until dry on top. This takes about 45 minutes. The recipe recommends using an oven thermometer. I do not have one, so I place a meat thermometer in a potato and use the ambient portion of the thermometer to show my oven temperature. It’s showing that my oven temperature is off, so I’m setting the oven closer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Placing the macaroons on the middle rack, I set the timer for fifteen minutes. After three minutes, the macarons are already rising fast. Maybe my meat thermometer is wrong. So I turn the oven back down to 300 degrees, but I think the damage is already done. My macarons are caramelized on the top, but still too sticky to move.

Since the macaroons won’t come off the parchment, I let them bake for a few more minutes. Finally, I can remove them from the parchment and put them on a wire rack. The middle of the macaroon is still sticking a bit when I lift it. My friend and I performed a taste test on the macaroons and decided they still tasted good. I can tell the macarons have too much sugar in them. This might have happened when converting the cups to grams. I go to bake my second pan, and there are similar problems. They brown on top too much. These don’t stick as bad to the parchment though. While they are cooling, I am going to make the buttercream.

Final Thoughts

I made an orange marmalade buttercream, which turned out well. It made the macarons tastier, but unfortunately, they were not beautiful. While no one complained about the macarons’ looks, I really wanted to make the perfect macaron. The process of making them took at least four hours, which is insane. Next time, I am going to purchase an oven thermometer and a bigger piping tip. I will also start off with a recipe that has gram measurements. Have you made macarons before? What are your tips for improving them?