I guess it is no secret that I
have made many sugar cookies in the past year (but if it is, please take a look at my gallery). There’s just something so enticing about
creating art on edible mediums. I promise to all of you fellow bakers out there
that I will have many posts solely dedicated to sugar cookies in the future.
From the baking of the actual sugar cookie to all of the icing tips and tricks
I have picked up along my baking journey. This past Christmas season I have
decorated dozens and dozens of Christmas themed cookies and a few princess ones
too so I am taking a very short break from baking sugar cookies. Now onto more
macaron madness!
Today I got a macaron recipe book from one of my very good friends (and
occasional assistant). Apparently I had mentioned months ago that I wanted this
macaron book and she just had to get it for me (isn’t she great?). It’s filled
with a few different macaron methods. There’s the Italian method, the French
method and, what this particular book called, the ‘easiest macaron method’. The
difference between the Italian method and French and ‘Easy’ method mainly lies
in the preparation of the meringue. I suggest that if you are going to attempt
to make macarons, be sure that you are confident in your meringue making
skills.
The Italian method requires the boiling of sugar and water and
incorporating this directly into the egg whites. The difficulty with this
method is that you absolutely need a digital candy thermometer (too much
fiddling and lack of precision with non-digital thermometers), a stand mixer,
octopus arms or insanely fast hands. Some recipes swear by the fact that you do
not need a candy thermometer to test the temperature/stage of the sugar water.
Many recipes suggest dropping a spoonful of the sugar water into a cup of cold
water to test the various stages. However, in my experience I have either ended
up burning cups and cups of sugar water or I have produced a weirdly textured
meringue. The other problem is that if
you only have a hand mixer or your own hand with a whisk, you will not be able
to beat the egg whites fast enough without the bowl shifting as you will need
at least one hand to pour the hot sugar water slowly into the egg whites. Despite
the cons that have been presented, I do stand by the fact that if you do have the proper tools, this method is
the most reliable. We shall see if this method works well in terms of making
macarons.
The French method requires absolutely no boiling of sugar or water
which is why this method is my absolute favourite for making meringues. You do
not need a thermometer, stand mixer or any fancy, expensive equipment. That
being said, this method is a little less reliable. I have noticed that the
meringues tend to flop if you add the sugar too fast or if the temperature in
the room is slightly high. I’ve heard from many people that if the weather
outside is wet, your meringues are sure to flop. I’m not a strong believer in
that theory as I live in Vancouver, the city of rain, and I am still able to
whip up meringues regardless of the season.
I have solely based this
research on my own personal experience so take it with a grain of salt…or
sugar.
Beautiful
Baking Fellow Sweeties
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