Macarons and the Italian Method
October 7, 2014
After reading a few articles championing the use of the Italian method in making macarons, I got curious and decided to try it myself. The Italian method supposedly results in more stable macarons and more consistent results. Now who doesn’t want consistently pretty macarons? So I dabbled in using the Italian method of making macarons a few days ago.
It involved heating a sugar-and-water mixture to a certain temperature and pouring it into the egg whites slowly to make the meringue. There’s an almond paste too. For more detailed descriptions and instructions, click HERE.
Well, it didn’t work for me - the process required too many steps and too much time. The recipe I used said that you had to estimate the amount of meringue to mix with the almond paste (and here I was thinking that baking is supposed to be an exact science). I went with my gut and looked for the same consistency I end up with using the French method. It also said that the macarons can be baked as soon as they’re piped but when I did that, I got broken macarons with no feet (#1). I had to let them rest on the counter for at least 20 minutes, just like the French method, which resulted to #2 (salted caramel macarons) and #3 (plain macarons with lemon zest). But I got feet that were too short and virtually nonexistent (see third photo above). Dismal and disappointing results for such hard work. Maybe I didn’t do it right, I don’t know. But I’m sticking to the French method for the meantime.
Have you tried the Italian method? Any tips for the newbie me?
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