French Macaroons

[T-Cake]

Hi,

This is my first post, so i hope im writing in the right forum. I've been baking cakes for just under a year for my family and friends, all my cakes have been 3D sculptures of the items, XBOX's, Chanel bags etc.....and i decided to branch out into other aspects of baking to keep myself challenged.

The first thing i have tried is French Macaroons, you know the smooth pebble like meringues with ganche or butter cream filling....you use icing sugar and almonds etc......i’ve made two batches so far and i cant for the life of me get them smooth, they are always bumpy or have air bubbles in them...it is driving me insane.

I've put pics up on my blog if you want a visual of what my problem with macaroons is....
T-Cakery

Can anyone please help me on this, i really want to be able to conquer these cute little goodies.

Thanks for any help

Toni

xXx

 

[LPBeier]

When you fill your piping bag, take a firm straight edge gently push the meringue down in the bag until it starts coming out of the tip, and then twist it tight (or use an elastic. This helps keep the air out and can break up any large air bubbles.

Next, position your bag at a 90 degree angle to the tray (straight up) and within a 1/4 inch of the surface. Slowly pipe until it is the size you want without lifting the tip. When you have it shaped, stop the pressure and lift the tip slowly. If there is any bump or indentation from the tip, carefully smooth it over with your finger but you shouldn't need to do too much.

This technique is the same used for piping "balls" on cakes.

Hope it helps!

 

[T-Cake]

Hi,

Thanks i will definatley try pushing the air out from the bag more before piping. They taste really nice, crunchy on the outside chewy in the middle, i just want them to be pebble like. Grrrrrrrrrrrr.