French pasta pasta recipe. French Macaroni Cookies: Best Recipes

07.03.2020 Desserts and cakes

Unusually tasty, crispy outside and soft, pastry pasta from the inside will not leave indifferent even the most sophisticated gourmets!

The cakes are made up of two almond-protein halves connected by a creamy layer. A variety of jams, fresh fruits and berries, ganache based on dark and white chocolate, jellies, cream cheeses and much more are used as filling for pasta.

Nowadays, this dessert is very popular, but you can enjoy it not only in an expensive cafe or restaurant - it is quite possible to cook macaroon cookies at home! These cakes are a universal treat for any occasion., they can be served at the table for any occasion, or beautifully decorated as a gift to a loved one. Combined gifts consisting of fresh flowers and fresh, fragrant pasta cookies in a gift box are very relevant. In online stores and pastry shops, the cost of such gifts can be overestimated, this is due to the extraordinary popularity of the dessert. Having prepared a delicacy yourself, you can save on a gift and at the same time pleasantly surprise the hero of the occasion.

On the Internet, you can find a lot various macaroon recipes... The basis in most of them is the same - protein meringue on almond flour, only the methods of making cookies, fillings, and flavor combinations vary. The cooking process is quite simple: even an inexperienced housewife can bake delicious macaroons. However, you will first need to carefully study the technology and the main nuances, without which the cake may not work.

From the history of French delicacies

The history of the emergence of pasta pasta is ambiguous, several of its variants are known. According to one version macaroon recipe was invented by French nun sisters, who soon opened their own pastry shop, where they successfully sold dessert. Another version says that baking macaroon does not come from France at all; its recipe was brought by the pastry chef of Queen Catherine de Medici from Italy.

One way or another, the cake is popular all over the world, but it occupies a separate niche in French cuisine. Most people associate modern Paris not only with fragrant croissants, but also with mouth-watering colored macaroons from a popular pastry shop. Many people note that it was in France that they tried the most delicious macaroons. The recipe at home, as well as options for cream, fillings, can be found below.

Step-by-step homemade macaroon recipe: almond flour

As mentioned earlier - the base for the cakes is a protein meringue with almond flour... Nowadays, you can buy almond flour in almost any supermarket or specialty store for pastry chefs. However, as you know, many unscrupulous manufacturers mix ground peanuts into such flour. The taste of macaroon with such flour suffers accordingly. Besides, the price is not happy either. It's much more profitable to buy whole almonds and make your own baking base. The homemade method for making almond flour is as follows:

Please also note on the fact that if you want to bake snow-white pasta, it is best to dry the almonds naturally. A nut fried in a pan or in the oven will make the color of the flour and, accordingly, the finished cake creamy.

Classic macarons: basic recipe

For making classic macarons you'll need:

Please note that macaroons should be prepared in strict accordance with the recipe. No measurements "by eye", it is best to use a kitchen scale!

It is preliminarily recommended to "age" the proteins. To do this, you need to carefully separate them from the yolks, place them in a completely dry dish, cover with foil and send them to the refrigerator for a couple of days. However, this step can be skipped if desired. The only important nuance is that proteins must be strictly at room temperature. That is why they must be removed from the refrigerator a few hours before cooking. Next, the proteins must be whipped with a mixer until a thick foam. In order for the process to go faster - you should add a teaspoon of lemon juice and a small pinch of salt to them... Next, add 150 g of sugar to the proteins and beat until soft peaks are formed.

Next stage - Sift the almond flour thoroughly into a bowl along with the icing sugar. It is necessary to mix protein and almond masses very carefully. With any careless movements, the proteins can settle and at best you get flat macaroons, and at worst you will simply have to throw out the dough. Experts recommend mixing the mixture with smooth movements from bottom to top. You can see what the finished dough looks like in the photo below.

Bake pasta can be used both on parchment and on a special silicone mat... On sale you can find special sets for making pasta, which consist of a pastry bag and the rug itself with already marked circles. On parchment, you can draw such circles yourself using a compass and a simple pencil - this will make it much easier to spread the dough. The main condition is to let the cakes stand for several hours at room temperature. It is necessary to bake macaroons only after a crust forms on the surface. This way, the finished biscuits will be smooth and will not crack.

The baking time depends on the specific oven, at a temperature of 150 degrees the cake will be ready in an average of 30 minutes... You can check the readiness as follows: the pasta should form a so-called "skirt", they should also easily lag behind the parchment. The halves must be well cooled, greased with the selected cream and connected together.

Macarons on Italian merengue

Another popular option for making an exquisite dessert is pasta on Italian merengue. To prepare the meringue you will need:

80 g of water;
300 g of granulated sugar;
110 g of egg whites.

And also for cakes:

125 g almond flour;
125 g icing sugar;
50 g of egg whites;
Salt.

Cooking Italian meringue - simple process... First you need to boil the sugar and water syrup. When the temperature of the syrup reaches 115 degrees, it is necessary to begin the process of whipping the whites. Slow speed is best. At a temperature of 120 degrees, it is necessary to gradually pour the syrup into the meringue, increasing the speed. You can stop whipping only after the meringue has cooled to 30-40 degrees.

Further, as in the previous recipe, you need to mix sifted almond flour, powdered sugar, and add 50 g of protein. If possible, it's best to use a blender or food processor. Then you need to add the finished Italian meringue to the sugar-almond paste in parts and mix everything thoroughly. Also, if you want to cook colored pasta, you need to add food coloring. Before baking macarons according to this recipe, you must also leave at room temperature. until a crust forms on the surface... Bake is best at 130 degrees on the bottom rack of the oven for 20 minutes.

The best fillings for pasta

Today, there are many options for pasta fillings. Not only classic chocolate, pistachio, raspberry, but also more original ones - with basil, mascarpone, cheese, lavender, mint macarons are relevant. Classic cream - dessert filling - chocolate ganache... Next, a basic ganache recipe is presented step by step.

For cooking you will need:

Dark or white chocolate - 120 g.;
90 g cream with a fat content of at least 30%;
30 g of butter.

The recipe is actually simple: you will need to melt the chocolate and butter in a steam bath and warm up the cream a little. Next, mix both masses. Remember that a good ganache will only work if you use quality chocolate with a high content of cocoa beans. Ready-made ganache can be combined with food flavorings (rum, almonds, orange, coffee), with fresh fruits and berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, banana, passion fruit, kiwi). Another basic filling option for pasta is butter cream... To prepare it, you should take:

200 g mascarpone cheese;
50 g icing sugar.

Beat such a cream very gently, at a low speed, otherwise the capricious mascarpone cheese may curl. You can add about 70 g of fruit puree to the finished cream to taste.

We draw your attention to the fact that it is absolutely not necessary to prepare any complex fillings for macaroon. You can even use your favorite chocolate paste, jam, jam, jelly or confiture, which can be found in every refrigerator. Properly prepared cakes will be incredibly tasty with absolutely any filling. In addition, do not forget that the shelf life of such a delicacy is short - no more than a week in the refrigerator. Although we assure you, they will not stay there for long!

sets the whole taste of cookies ... According to the cooking technology, I recommend weighing everything and measuring the degrees with a culinary thermometer. Many people think that these cookies are difficult to cook, I have a different opinion - they are easy to cook, you just need to follow the cooking technology and understand what to do and why.

Macaron recipe with Italian meringue

This recipe is what I love to cook pasta, it comes out slightly damp on the inside and surprisingly crispy on the outside.

Part 1 (Almond mixture)

200 g almond flour
200 g icing sugar
75 g egg white (we need 150 g in total)

Part 2 (Italian meringue)

75 g egg white
75 g water
200 g sugar

I'll make a reservation about almonds, you can buy ready-made almond flour or cook it yourself. I really love to cook pasta from almond flour, prepared by myself. We buy a little more almonds from your recipe in the store. after peeling and drying, the weight of the almonds will decrease and you may not have enough.

I will briefly describe the process of preparing almonds for pasta:
In order to peel the almonds, you need to pour boiling water over the raw almonds. Leave to infuse for 2 - 3 minutes, then drain and pour cold water (that is, we need a contrast of hot and cold), repeat this procedure a couple of times. After that, the peel on the almonds comes off very well.
Leave the nuts on a tray to dry (almonds are best dried if left to dry in the room for 5-7 days).

If you do not have time to dry, you can use the oven (dry almonds at a temperature of 70-80 degrees for about an hour). CAUTION!!! you need to make sure that your almonds are not roasted in the oven.
Remove the almonds from the oven and leave to cool. Already such almonds can be used for further pasta cooking.

Recipe for making pasta (macaron) at home:

Step 1 – Grind almonds and sugar, sift through a fine sieve. Sowing preferably twice, so your pasta will be more lush. Be sure to weigh, because after sifting and grinding, the weight may change, but we need the exact weight according to the recipe.

Step 2 – Whisk the almonds and powdered sugar several times with a whisk. Why are we doing this? This is especially necessary when you are not sure that your almonds are completely dry, while stirring the sugar absorbs excess moisture from the almond flour. If you are confident that your almond flour is dry, you can skip this step.

Step 3 – Strain the protein through a fine sieve.
Why do you need to do this? So that the protein during the pasta (when you mix everything with spatula) is evenly distributed and the pasta inside is without voids and unnecessary lumps. In consistency, the protein should be liquid like water, and it is desirable to have room temperature (this way it will beat better). Some say that you need to age the protein, others say that it is not necessary ... Why do you need to age the protein at all? During aging, protein loses its structure and becomes thinner (protein shelf life in the refrigerator is 1 month). Although you may not age the protein, BUT it is imperative to filter it through a fine sieve several times (you will mechanically make the protein thinner).

Step 4– Weigh the protein and halve (according to the recipe, we need 75 g each in Italian meringue and almond flour with powdered sugar). Add one part to almond flour with powdered sugar, pour the second part into a clean container, where we will beat the whites for the Italian meringue.

Step 5– Stir almond flour with powdered sugar in spatula (earlier we had already prepared it, weighed it and sieved it through a sieve 2 times) with protein(the protein was previously strained and weighed on an electronic balance).

Step 6 – In a stewpan (where we will cook syrup for Italian meringue) we measure out the amount of water we need.

Step 7– Weigh sugar and pour into water... In order for the sugar not to crystallize when the syrup is heated, it is important to follow the sequence - first, pour water into a saucepan - then pour sugar.

Step 8– We put the saucepan on the fire and heat it to 118 ° C, measure the temperature with a culinary thermometer. IMPORTANT - during the heating process, you do not need to stir the syrup, because when stirring, the sugar crystallizes, and the Italian meringue will not be homogeneous and airy.

Step 9 – Beat the whites (75 g) with a mixer... Begin to beat the whites, when the syrup has reached about 90-100 ° C, at low speed and continue beating until the syrup reaches 118 ° C. Here you need to adapt, tk. squirrels for Italian meringue should not be whipped (whipped protein around the edges in the bowl becomes lumps, becomes too dense in structure, airiness leaves) and should not be not whipped.

Step 10– Gradually introduce the syrup into the whites and continue to beat. (I usually increase the speed of the mixer a little, BUT not much, because at high speed the meringue will thicken and the pasta may be empty inside, or even wrinkle altogether).
How to check if the Italian meringue is cooked correctly? It's very simple - turn the bowl of meringue in the air and it should stay there and not fall on your table, as well as the beak of the meringue itself should be soft (we take out the whisk from the mixer and see what it looks like).

Step 11 – We carry out macaroni... Those. Pour the meringue into the almond mixture and use a silicone spatula to stir from the walls to the center in a circular motion and turn the bowl counterclockwise.

Step 12 – At what stage should the dough be dyed? It's up to you to decide at what point you will do it. If you cook pasta of the same color, then there is no problem - just add food coloring to the dough and carry out the pasta. And if you need to make several colors at once?
I can offer you several color options.

Option 1

Option 2 - we divide the almond mixture with protein and powdered sugar by the amount that we will paint, and in the same way it is necessary to divide the Italian meringue, we carry out the pasta separately.

Step 13 – Place the pasta on a baking sheet with paper, leave to cover the pasta with a crust. In order to avoid bumps and unevenness on the surface of the pasta, you need to knock the baking sheet on the table a couple of times (this way you give the correct shape and if there are air bubbles, they will come out from there).

Step 14 – We bake for 10 minutes (if baking on a silicone mat, the baking time should be increased by 2 minutes) at a temperature of 160-180 ° C... To prevent pasta from burning the bottom, we put two baking sheets at once. We determine the temperature ourselves, because ovens are different for everyone. In the baking process, open the oven at 4 and 8 minutes - this is done so that the pasta skirt does not crack and is solid.

Step 15 – We take the pasta out of the oven and transfer it to the table to cool it down.

Correctly cooked pasta easily separates from baking paper (or silicone mat), has a uniform structure with a crispy crust inside and is slightly damp inside.

Enjoy your tea!

Where to buy pasta?

If you can't make pasta (macaron) at home on your own or you just don't have time for it, then you can

in our home bakery. We will be happy to prepare this delicious delicacy according to your order.

Prepare and weigh the ingredients for the white chocolate strawberry ganache.

Advice 1. It is best to order white chocolate from online confectionery stores. in quality and taste, it differs significantly from the chocolate that is sold on the shelves of ordinary stores.

Advice 2. Ganache is best cooked the day before (for example, in the evening), because it needs time to stabilize.

Chop the white chocolate with a knife.
Pour cream into a saucepan and bring to a boil (do not boil).
Add chocolate to the hot cream and leave for 1 minute without stirring.

Gently stir the chocolate and cream, starting to stir from the center to the edges.

Add strawberry puree and soft butter.

Stir the mixture again from the center outward.

Punch the ganache with an immersion blender until smooth.

Council. Strawberry puree is prepared as follows: the strawberries are defrosted over a colander (so that excess juice can drain), then poured with a blender. If desired, the puree can be rubbed through a sieve. Then, on the scale, the required amount of puree is measured.

Transfer to a bowl, tighten with cling film so that it lies directly on the surface of the chocolate mass, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Remove the ganache from the refrigerator 30-60 minutes before filling the pasta (it should warm up and become plastic, but not too liquid).

Now let's start cooking pasta.
Prepare your inventory before starting work and make sure you have all the ingredients you need.

Necessary equipment and inventory
scales (preferably electronic)
mixer
thermometer for caramel
coffee grinder (if you make almond flour yourself)
sieve (with meshes 1-1.5 mm)
two large bowls (for sifting almond flour and powdered sugar)
bowl (for whipping proteins)
silicone spatula (for pasta)
piping bag (it is better to use disposable bags)
round tip for a pastry bag (diameter 8 mm)
two baking trays
parchment paper

Prepare equipment and inventory

Libra. A prerequisite for making successful pasta. All ingredients must be weighed on a scale. Best of all - electronic scales, because they provide the required accuracy. An error of 1-2 g may not spoil the pasta, but it is better to weigh all the ingredients precisely so that you can be sure that incorrectly measured ingredients will not negate all your efforts. So, we weigh everything on the scales and in no case hope "by eye"!

Mixer. For those who make pasta for the first time, I recommend using a hand mixer (the most common one found in almost every kitchen).
In the recipe, two processes need to be synchronized: whipping the proteins and boiling the syrup to a certain temperature. These actions must be done simultaneously, therefore, at first glance, a stationary mixer is indispensable. But in fact, a hand mixer is easier to control, it is easier to control, unlike a stationary one. Therefore, my advice is to learn how to cook an Italian meringue using a hand mixer, and when the process is well mastered, it will be easy to prepare the meringue in a stationary mixer.

Coffee grinder. You will need it if you make your own almond flour and icing sugar. A blender will not work in this case - it will not provide the fine grinding required for pasta.

Caramel thermometer. I consider it a necessary tool, although a professional can do without it. We are considering cooking pasta on an Italian meringue, where you need to boil the syrup to a temperature of 110-118 ° C.
First, with one hand (and one eye) we boil the syrup to the desired temperature, and with the other hand we beat the protein with a hand mixer (and with the other eye we follow the protein). It sounds impressive, although after a few workouts, the process of boiling the syrup is almost playful;)
Just in case, below in the recipe I will write a method for cooking syrup without a thermometer, and you yourself decide which is easier: buy a thermometer or learn how to cook an Italian meringue by making a test on a soft ball. It is not difficult, but it requires the utmost concentration of attention and coordination of actions.

Stencil and parchment paper.
On a sheet of cardboard or parchment, in a checkerboard pattern, draw circles with a diameter of 3.5-4 cm. It is convenient to place such a stencil under a sheet of parchment (the parchment will shine through) and then it will be convenient to plant pasta of more or less the same size.
It is also better to cut several sheets of parchment in advance, along the width of the baking sheet (so as not to be distracted during the cooking process).
In addition to parchment, pasta can be baked on special (professional) silicone mats.

Prepare the required ingredients

Almond flour.
Almond flour is one of the main ingredients in pasta. The appearance, taste and texture of pasta depend on the type of almond and the quality of the almond flour. Therefore, one of the primary conditions for successful pasta is to find good flour.
As I mentioned, not every variety of almonds is good for pasta. Macarons are not made from fatty almonds. Unfortunately, you can only find out if flour is suitable for pasta by preparing a batch of cakes. In the case of oily flour, the top crust of the pasta is too thin and soft, it "glows" directly. At the same time, pasta has skirts and turns out to be of the correct rounded shape (of course, provided they are cooked correctly). Taste qualities, however, are good. Therefore, cakes can be enjoyed with pleasure at a family tea party. But, if you want to get the perfect result, find the right almond flour (you can buy it in many specialized confectionery online stores). In order not to be greatly disappointed, first take a small batch of flour, and when you try and make sure that the flour is suitable, you can take more (and keep this seller in mind in the future).
If it is completely impossible to buy ready-made flour, you can cook it yourself (but keep in mind that this requires additional time).
Before cooking pasta, it is better to dry the almond flour in the oven.

Later, I'll show you how to make almond flour yourself.

Powdered sugar.
If possible, it is better to buy ready-made powdered sugar without starch additives (you can also buy it in online confectionery stores). Commercially available powdered sugar, usually with added starch. And if the starch is more than 3%, it is better not to use such a powder, because the starch will absorb all the moisture, and the pasta will be too dry after baking.
Also, you can prepare powdered sugar yourself in a coffee grinder. Of course, the coffee grinder, unfortunately, is not intended for grinding sugar, but other than it, other equipment will not give such a fine grinding. By and large, the powder from the coffee grinder is not ground finely enough - it will contain non-ground sugar grains, even after sifting. But this is better than nothing;) Powdered sugar prepared in a coffee grinder must be sieved several times through a fine mesh sieve to remove unmilled sugar grains.

Egg whites.
Many pasta recipes often refer to "aging" the proteins. Whether you need to do this is up to you. But from practice I can say that "aging" affects the finished result, especially not the appearance of pasta. "Aged" proteins produce more flavorful pasta with beautiful "skirts", the pasta dries faster before baking and is less likely to crack.
In order to "age" the proteins, they must be carefully separated from the yolks, placed in a clean container, covered with a lid and left in the refrigerator for 3, preferably 7 days. During this time, some of the moisture evaporates from the protein, and it becomes more "liquid". Also, such proteins whisk better and faster. Even Italian meringue itself on aged protein whips faster. In general, I can say that every nuance in pasta has its own meaning and plays a role. And in the case of a protein, this is also obvious, since he behaves differently, and a lot depends on his behavior :)
In addition, the protein can be "aged" in another way (this is what I use) - the proteins can be frozen. Proteins should be placed in a tight plastic bag, tied well (or closed with a zip-lock) so that the proteins do not spill out, and placed in the freezer for a couple of days. Proteins can be stored in the freezer for a very long time, so their supply can always be kept in the freezer and used as needed.
Another important condition. After the proteins have aged in the refrigerator (not to mention frozen proteins), the proteins should be allowed to warm to room temperature. Those. the egg whites should be warm when ready to whisk (maybe even slightly warmer than room temperature). Therefore, if you are going to cook pasta in the morning, you need to get the proteins out of the refrigerator / freezer in the evening.
If there is no opportunity (or desire) to "age" proteins, you can not do it. Just use table (C) eggs (again, 15 days old is better). Pasta cooked on such eggs will take a little more time to dry (air dry) before going to the oven.
Attention! Do not use dietary (D) eggs - they will not make pasta. With table eggs, you can separate the whites from the yolks and leave the whites in a bowl, tightened with cling film, overnight.
Before separating the whites from the yolks, it is better to wash and dry the eggs. The whites need to be separated very carefully so that not a drop of the yolk gets into the protein (otherwise the whites will not beat up). Also, the dishes where the proteins will be stored and whipped must be perfectly clean, otherwise the meringue may not work as it should. The bowl in which the protein will be whipped must be washed thoroughly. It must be perfectly clean and dry! It must be free of grease or detergent. You can pour about 0.5-1 teaspoon of a table bite (9%) into a bowl, add water and wash the bowl well with acidified water. Then rinse the bowl thoroughly under running water and rinse with very hot water at the end.
Wipe the bowl thoroughly with a clean (!) Cotton towel (or put in an oven preheated to 100 ° C for 10 minutes or until the moisture has completely evaporated).
If the bowl is hot after the oven, it should be allowed to cool to room temperature.
In order to prevent anything from getting into the bowl while sifting almond flour and icing sugar, it is better to tighten it with cling film and set it aside until use.

Food colorings. It is better to use high-quality powder or gel dyes (can be ordered from online confectionery stores). The amount of dye depends on the desired color. But do not add too much gel dye - a large amount of the latter can make the dough too moist, of the wrong consistency. Do not use water-based dyes. they will give extra liquid and the pasta may not work.

Cooking pasta

1. Drying almond flour:

Preheat the oven to 150 ° C.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, add flour and level.

Council. When measuring flour according to a recipe, take a little more than you need by weight, because during drying and sifting, the weight of the flour will decrease slightly.

Dry the almond flour for 5 minutes, making sure that the flour does not change color.
Remove the baking sheet with flour from the oven and let the flour cool completely (important!).

2. Sifting almond flour and caster sugar:

Sift the almond flour through a medium sieve into a large bowl (sifted flour should make exactly 150 g).
Remove large nut particles remaining in the sieve (can be used for making pies / muffins).
Sift 150 g of icing sugar to almond flour.
Sift the mixture of almond flour and powdered sugar 2 more times.
Re-weigh the sifted flour with powder - the total weight should be exactly 300 g (if necessary, add a little almond flour and powder, up to 300 g).

Council. Sifting is a very important step and should not be neglected. Repeated sifting enriches the flour with oxygen and allows you to get a homogeneous smooth dough.

Add 56 g of protein (measure on a scale) and a little food coloring to the mixture of almond flour and powdered sugar.

Stir the protein with the dye slightly (so that the dye begins to disperse in the protein).
Set the bowl aside and start preparing the Italian meringue.

3. Cooking Italian meringue.

Pour 56 g of protein into a perfectly clean bowl.
Put a bowl of proteins on the work surface near the stove. Place a mixer nearby (with perfectly clean whisk attachments).
Pour 37g of water into a small thick-bottomed (!) Saucepan.
Add 150 g of finely crystalline granulated sugar.
Put a saucepan with sugar on a low heat and stir occasionally with a whisk until the syrup boils (!).

Advice 1. It is better to take a thick-bottomed pan, because the thickened bottom conducts heat well.

Advice 2. It is better to take fine-crystalline sugar, because it dissolves faster and is less likely to crystallize.

Council. After the syrup has boiled, it should no longer be stirred to avoid crystallization. Also, before boiling, you can dip a clean silicone brush in a bowl of cold water and wash the sides of the pan if sugar crystals have adhered to them. This is also done to avoid crystallization of the syrup.

After the syrup boils, the heat can be increased to medium.
Place a caramel thermometer in a pan with syrup so that its tip does not touch the bottom of the pan (otherwise the readings will be incorrect). The syrup must be brought to a temperature of 114 ° C.

Council. In general, the temperature range for making pasta syrup on Italian meringue is much wider. The syrup can be brought to temperatures between 110 and 118 ° C. And, provided that all other actions are performed correctly, the pasta will turn out to be both 110 and 118 ° C. I chose the golden mean for myself - 114 ° C - the stage of the soft ball.
By the way, if you prepare syrup without a thermometer, you can check its readiness as follows: put a bowl of ice water next to the saucepan. After the syrup has boiled, scoop up some syrup with a clean spoon and drip into a bowl of water. If such a large drop of syrup can be reached with your fingers and rolled into a ball, which, at the same time, will be soft and pliable to the touch, the syrup is ready.
Do not bring the syrup to 110 ° C, or heat it more than 118 ° C - it will have a bad effect on the quality of the meringue, and the pasta may not work.
If the syrup has almost reached the required temperature, and the proteins have not yet whipped, you can pour in about 1 teaspoon of cold water - the syrup will cool slightly, and the proteins will have time to whisk until the syrup reaches the desired temperature again.

When the syrup reaches about 108-110 ° C, you can start whipping the whites (in parallel, we cook the syrup and whisk the whites).
Whisk the whites until light foam.
Whisking time may vary depending on the freshness of the proteins.
In order to check whether the whites are whipped enough, you need to periodically turn off the mixer and look at the whisk: if even a little foam "clings" to the whisk, the whites are whipped enough.

Whipped protein until light foam.

If the whites are whipped before the syrup has reached 114 ° C, the mixer can be turned off - in a short time the whites will not fall off. While the syrup is boiling, the mixer can be turned on for a second, slightly knocking the proteins. Also, you can increase the heating of the syrup so that it reaches the desired temperature faster.

Council. I whisk the protein (and all the meringue completely) at 2 speeds of my 5-speed mixer, without changing the speed. At medium speed, the meringue is more stable. If your mixer has 3 speeds, you can try whisking at 1 or 2 - you need to adapt individually.

Once the syrup has warmed up to 114 ° C.

We begin to pour the boiling syrup, in a thin stream, along the side of the bowl, into the proteins, while whisking at a medium mixer speed.

Pour in all the syrup, set the pan aside and continue to beat the whites with the syrup - they will soon turn into an Italian meringue.
A very important point! Whisk the meringue until it thickens. This takes from 2.5 to 5 minutes (as I wrote above, the time the meringue is ready depends on the quality of the protein). Also, during whipping, the meringue will cool down a little (you should pay attention to the temperature when preparing a large portion of pasta, but, in our case, we do not focus on the temperature of the meringue, because we are preparing a small portion).
It is very simple to check the readiness of the meringue: periodically, you need to stop the mixer and tilt or turn the bowl - if the protein mass moves in the bowl, i.e. it is thin, not thick enough - we continue to beat. You need to catch the moment when the meringue has just thickened, and when the bowl is turned over, it will not pour out of it, it will remain motionless in the bowl. Immediately turn off the mixer - the meringue is ready. It's important not to interrupt her. For reliability, when the proteins begin to thicken noticeably (we also focus on time), it is better to check the meringue more often for readiness.

Merengue is closer to being ready. It has thickened and increased in volume, but still pours out of the bowl when tilted.

The finished Italian meringue is whipped until soft peaks.
The peaks are bent into the so-called "bird's beak".
At the same time, the meringue does not pour out of the bowl when tilted.

4. Preparation of the dough. Macaroni.

Almond flour with powdered sugar, protein and dye, thoroughly grind, using a silicone spatula, until smooth (the mass should turn out to be thick and plastic).

Add a third of the Italian meringue to the almond-egg mass (in order to "relax" the thick mass a little).

Stir until smooth by rotating the spatula clockwise and, at the same time, turning the bowl counterclockwise.

Add the rest of the meringue.

Gently (!) Mix the dough by rotating the spatula clockwise and, at the same time, turning the bowl counterclockwise.

The dough mixing process is called "pasta".
The dough does not need to be mixed for long, only until it becomes smooth.
If the dough flows off the shoulder in a wide thick ribbon, it is ready. You don't need to mix anymore.
Excessive stirring will make the dough too runny, and the unmixed dough will be too thick, and tails may remain on the pasta.

Advice 1. There is another way to pasta. With this method, almond flour is not ground with protein with a spatula, but simply mixed with liquid ingredients: protein, meringue and dye. Pour almond flour with powdered sugar into a large bowl, add protein, dye and all the meringue - the dough is gently mixed until it becomes a "ribbon". This method is very good because the pasta runs more smoothly, there is no need to "relax" the dough, it kneads well right away. But, if you cook pasta on new (previously untested) almond flour, I like the method of grinding more (described in the recipe). Because with this method, even at the stage of grinding the dough, you can see what kind of flour, how it absorbs liquid. With some flour, the dough at the grinding stage is too thick, it spreads over the bowl and is difficult to mix. Most likely, when the meringue is introduced into the dough, it will still be thick, in which case you should not wait for the flowing "ribbon" during the pasta, it is better not to knead for too long - mixed until smooth, a few more movements and stopped. If the dough is so thick, you can add some protein or add more gel coloring. The main thing, as I said above, is that the flour is not greasy.
Each of these moments with flour is individual, so it is better to discuss it separately (ask in the comments, on the forum I will wait for your photos with the resulting pasta, or with photo questions :)

Tip 2 ... I would like to say a few more words about the moment of adding the dye. On the Internet, in many recipes, dye is added to the syrup. I would advise you to do this as a last resort, because one of the main tasks is to properly prepare an Italian meringue. The dye added to the syrup can change the structure of the meringue (dyes are also of different production and composition). Protein, in general, is very sensitive to all kinds of additives (after all, we also wash a bowl with vinegar to wash off all the excess), so it is better to add the dye at the very end of whipping the meringue, or to the protein, which is mixed with almond flour (as described in the recipe). Of course, when you learn how to cook pasta, then you can experiment with adding dye to syrup, meringue, etc. When the base is mastered - experiments are even very welcome;)

5. Placing the pasta on a baking sheet and forming a crust (airing)

Put a round nozzle (diameter 8 mm) on the pastry bag.
Twist the tip of the pastry bag (including the attachment) so that the dough does not pour through the hole until we start working.
Insert the piping bag into a tall, wide glass.
Transfer the dough to a pastry bag.

Place the pastry bag with the dough on the work surface, unfold the twisted tip and, using a scraper, "fit" the dough closer to the nozzle.

Council.Do not be upset if the first time pasta is of different size, uneven, etc. It's just a matter of practice. The more often you cook them, the better and smoother they will turn out from time to time.

If the tails of the planted pasta do not diverge, you can gently knock the baking sheet on the table covered with a towel (if the tails have parted by themselves, you do not need to knock, otherwise the pasta will blur and their smooth rounded shape will be broken).
After the pasta has been planted on the parchment (there is still dough in the pastry bag), carefully remove the stencil from under the pasta.
Place the stencil on the second baking sheet, cover with parchment and deposit the remaining dough.
After the pasta has been planted, they need to be allowed to wind.
To do this, leave the pasta for 15 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature.

Council. The longer the proteins are aged, the less time it will take to air the pasta. So, well aged squirrels: the airing time can be about 10-15 minutes. Squirrels not aged (table eggs): the airing time can be about 1 hour. Also, when the humidity in the room is high, the pasta may take longer to ventilate. Again, you need to navigate not by time, but by the "crust" formed on the surface of the pasta. If you touch the pasta with your finger, and nothing sticks to your finger, moreover, you can even lightly, without pressing, run pasta over the surface with your finger - they are sufficiently windy. They can be sent to the oven. If the pasta winds up for too long, the lids will dry out and the pasta will not work, so we are looking for a "golden mean".
If the pasta does not wind up for a very long time - the pasta, most likely, will not work - the meringue is improperly prepared.

6. Baking pasta

Place a baking sheet with pasta in an oven preheated to 140-150 ° C and bake for about 12-14 minutes.
Remove the parchment with ready-made pasta from the baking sheet and leave on the work surface until it cools (if you leave the pasta on a hot baking sheet, they will continue to dry).

Advice 1. Because all ovens are different, in the case of pasta baking, you just need to adapt to your oven. The temperature range for baking pasta, in different recipes, ranges from 140 to 180 ° C. What temperature regime is suitable for your oven can only be found out empirically.
In my electric oven, I bake pasta according to the following scheme: I put the pasta in an oven preheated to 150 ° C (bottom + convection), after 3 minutes I reduce the temperature to 140 ° C (bottom + convection). After another 3 minutes (the skirts have already formed by this moment), I switch the oven to the top + bottom heating mode (without convection) and continue to bake at a temperature of 140 ° C, for about 4-5 minutes, until tender. At 6 minutes, I sometimes open the oven to let off extra steam if I see that the skirts rise too high (this usually happens with not aged protein).
Sometimes they use a design of two trays, placing them in the oven one above the other - this allows you to dissipate the heat a little (if your oven heats very intensely from below).

Advice 2. You can check the readiness of the pasta as follows: if you touch the lid of the pasta and it does not budge, the pasta is ready. If the lid "rides" even slightly, moves from a light pushing motion with your finger - the pasta needs to be dried a little more.
Ready-made pasta can be easily removed from the parchment, but it can also stick - the main thing is that the cap and the pasta are not soggy - other options may be the norm. towel) the surface or, immediately after baking, put it together with the parchment in the refrigerator. After that, the pasta will easily come off the baking sheet.
Also note that the pasta should not be overdried - then no filling will even save them. You can check whether the pasta is overdried or not like this: with light pressure with your finger on the back of the pasta, the middle will remain soft.

7. Filling the pasta with filling

Sort the pasta halves by size and arrange in pairs (from the laid out pasta, half will be filled with ganache, and stick together with the second, unfilled half).
Fill a pastry bag with a round nozzle (diameter 8 mm) with ganache.

Council. The macarons should be soaked in ganache, brew, as usual, we leave the cakes to infuse. And only then will they become real "Macarons" and fully reveal their magnificent, refined taste. Freshly cooked - these cakes are not at all interesting, well, just like cakes without impregnation - they seem to have a taste, but something is missing. And what is lacking is exposure;)

8. Storing ready-made pasta

You can store ready-made pasta in the refrigerator for about 3-5 days (depending on the filling), or in the freezer for about a month (also depends on the filling) - the main thing is that the pasta does not absorb the smells of the refrigerator / freezer.
Half an hour before serving, remove the pasta from the refrigerator.
Now you can enjoy the taste of real French Macaron at home!
The path to mastering the pastries was not easy (what is it worth, at least to read so much of the recipe text ...) ?! But life experience shows: what is given with difficulty is more appreciated :)))

Macaron - Macaron

Time for preparing:30 minutes
Setting time of pasta:15-30 minutes
Baking time:10 minutes on a baking sheet

For 40-45 cakes

Ingredients:

Option 1 (classic with equal proportions):

250 g Powdered Sugar
250 g Almond Flour (Powder) -
90 g + 90 g Egg Whites
250 g Sugar
75 g Water

Option 2 (sweeter and smoother pasta):

325 g Powdered Sugar
175 g Almond Flour (Powder) -
90 g + 90 g Egg Whites
250 g Sugar
75 g Water

Light Ganache:

75g Cream 35%
150 g White Chocolate
20 g Butter

Dark Ganache:

100 g Cream 35%
100 g Dark Chocolate
20 g Butter

Cooking method:

The first step is to sift the sugar and almond powders so that no large particles remain. Most of all, this concerns almond flour, which may contain pieces of partially ground nuts. By the way, it is better to weigh these ingredients already sifted, for greater accuracy. Mix the powders together and add the egg white, half of the total amount, leave the rest for whipping. It is necessary to mix everything well, turning into an almond-sugar paste.

Next, we prepare. Dilute sugar with water and put on a moderate heat. When the syrup boils, begin to beat the rest of the proteins at low speed. Stir the syrup from time to time - by rotating the saucepan, and not with a spatula, so that the sugar does not crystallize. When its temperature reaches 110 ° C, add the whisking speed to the maximum and continue heating. Having reached 118 ° C, remove the syrup from the heat and in a thin stream add it to the whipped whites, without stopping the mixer, only reducing the speed (preferably to medium). Do not stop whipping. Now the merengue needs to be allowed to cool, whipping into persistent peaks, or, as the French say, to bird beaks.

Mix the whipped meringue in three stages into the almond paste, thoroughly and quickly enough, but neatly. The result is a viscous mixture. We transfer it to a culinary bag and place it on a baking sheet covered with cooking paper or a silicone substrate, halves of future pasta, leaving a place between them and trying to adhere to the same size. To make it easier to stick to straight lines and one diameter, you can draw auxiliary lines for yourself directly on the cooking paper with a pencil. When experience is not enough, it helps. After the baking sheet is ready, it must be lifted several times and thrown on the table, strictly vertically. This will help release excess air bubbles and make the pasta surface smoother.

Leave the baking sheet for 15-30 minutes (depending on temperature and humidity). Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 150 ° C. The pasta should grip a little and if you touch it with your finger, it should not stick and leave marks. If this is not done, then the pasta may swell and crack, and everything is gone. So take your time - it's better to wait a little longer. We send the baking sheet with the "grasped" pasta into the preheated oven, close the door and lower the temperature to 140 ° C. The pasta should be baked for 10 minutes, at the 6th minute, when the characteristic "skirts" are already formed, it is recommended to quickly open the oven and turn the baking sheet over so that the cookies dry evenly. Sometimes I skip overturning, but I always open the door. The main thing is to wait for the appearance of "skirts". After the oven, you must immediately remove the pasta from the baking sheet, transfer it directly on paper or a silicone substrate to the wire rack so that they begin to cool.

Cooking light ganache. Bring the cream to a boil. Then, after removing from heat, add white chocolate in small pieces, carefully stirring in with a whisk. As soon as we achieve a completely homogeneous consistency, add softened butter, also carefully stirring it in with a whisk. By the way, white ganache can be made in any color using syrup or food coloring.

Dark chocolate ganache is prepared according to the same principle. For a more elegant taste, this time I added a little Grand Marnier liqueur to it.

After the ganache has cooled down and thickens a little, use a culinary bag to spread it in small amounts on the pasta halves, exactly in the middle. And cover with other halves. The amount of cream to your liking - someone likes a thick layer, someone thinner.

It is better to store pasta in the refrigerator, in a tightly closed container. Enjoy your meal!

Macarons - a dessert loved by millions! It would seem that they are just colored almond cookies, interconnected by a creamy filling, but when you taste them, you immediately understand - this is love for life.

Pasta cakes are called a universal delicacy, because they can be served at the table for any occasion, or even make a gift of flowers and macarons and present it to an important or dear person. Another big "plus" is the ability to "decorate" macaroons in any color using food dyes and give any taste (there are not only macaroons with chocolate, berries or vanilla flavor, but also with caviar, cheese and even ketchup flavor!).

The price of a ready-made dessert is quite high (this can be explained by its popularity), not everyone has the opportunity to buy a lot of macarons and eat "as much as they want." Therefore, the editorial staff of WomanSovetnik has prepared for you a real master class on their preparation!

Picky cookies

Dessert "macaroon" or "macaroni" got its name for a reason. Because the French word “macaron” (meaning “to break”) is perfect for describing how to prepare the main ingredient in cookies - almonds, which are broken into flour.

The "right" macaroon should have tasty filling. And the cookies themselves - emphasize with their simplicity the subtlety of the aroma and flavor shades of the filler.

It is quite difficult to prepare homemade macarons, because the recipe has so many nuances that many, even using proven algorithms, often get an unsatisfactory result and never again dare to bake a dessert. Moreover, it does not work not only for beginners, but also for real confectioners who are inattentive to the accuracy of the cooking process.

So if you've been looking for a really good, accurate macaroon recipe - here it is! The main thing is to strictly follow the algorithm described below, otherwise the result of all your efforts will not please you.

You will have to work quickly - we postpone watching the series or talking with a friend until later, devote all your attention to cooking.

Macarons step by step recipe with photos

We need for cookies:
- 300 g of sifted almond flour;
- 300 g of sifted icing sugar;
- 200 g protein from chicken eggs;
- 300 g of sugar;
- 100 g of water.

We need for the filling:
- 200 g. Nutella;
- 100 g of butter;
- a bunch of salt.

We used this particular filling, we will also describe other options below.

And you will also need:
- kitchen scales;
- stewpan;
- deep bowls;
- mixer;
- parchment for baking;
- pencil;
- stack;
- a pastry bag or syringe with a nozzle.

Algorithm of actions:

1) as mentioned above, it is important to strictly observe every nuance described in the recipe, if you want French macarons to turn out in your kitchen. So measure the EXACT amount of ingredients not by eye, not with glasses or even spoons, but with a kitchen scale. And one more thing - all the dishes used in the cooking process must be perfectly dry!

2) put a deep bowl on the scales for kneading the dough, reset the indicators and sift almond flour through a sieve, exactly 300 g;

It is important to know! You can cook the flour yourself: buy an almond, soak it, dry it well and grind it without a peel in a coffee grinder. But it's easier to just buy 🙂.

3) without removing the bowl from the scales, add 300 g of sifted powder there;

4) mix the ingredients thoroughly with a spoon or a broom, or a mixer;

5) to obtain 200 g of protein, 6 large eggs are needed. Do not measure the amount by "eye" - put another bowl on the scales, zero and measure exactly 200 g of protein;

6) pour half of the protein (100 g) into another vessel (we also weigh);

It is important to know! You cannot take protein from eggs that you just took out of the refrigerator! It is necessary that it be at room temperature, that is, 2-3 hours before cooking, remove the eggs from the refrigerator and leave them on the table.

7) we prepare a pastry bag - it must already be placed with a nozzle in a deep glass and fixed;

8) pour 100 g of water into a clean stewpan and add 300 g of sugar there - send it to the stove on a slow fire;

9) pour 100 g of protein into a deep bowl (such as for preparing a salad), put a mixer and a glass of cold water next to it;

10) we heat our sugar syrup (point 8), stirring constantly, to 95 degrees (it is better to use a thermometer, if there is none - watch for the first bubbles on the edges of the syrup - then the temperature is about 95. Food coloring can be added to it;

11) At this time, while the syrup is boiling, beat the protein with a mixer to the state of peaks (as in the photo), as soon as the syrup begins to boil profusely, remove it from the stove and pour it into a bowl with whipped protein, without ceasing to beat until the mass becomes homogeneous ;

12) leave the mixture to cool to 45 degrees, beat again;

Secret! A well-beaten mass should be so tight that even if the bowl is turned over, it will not leak out and fall out.

13) add the remaining 100 g of protein + powdery almond mixture;

Secret! mistakes in making pasta are often made at this stage. If the mixture is not allowed to stand, the added protein will simply curdle and the macarons will not work.

14) with a spoon, or a special spatula, begin to gently mix the ingredients until the dough has a homogeneous state. We continue to mix until you see that the dough slowly slides off the spoon, like thick sour cream;

15) move the dough into a pastry bag;

16) place the parchment on the baking sheet;

Secret! You can prepare the parchment for baking in this way: so that the macaroons cooked at home are the same - just draw circles on the parchment using the stack as a stencil (outline the top), then turn the parchment over and place it on the baking sheet. The distance between the circles should be at least 4 cm, and they should be placed in a checkerboard pattern;

17) at a height of 1.5 cm from the parchment, we begin to squeeze the dough onto the parchment. Since it flows a little - make circles that do not reach the edges, the dough itself will take the correct shape;

18) leave the future pasta-cookies to dry for at least 25 minutes. What is it for? After drying, a glossy crust appears on the surface (to which nothing even sticks if touched). And without drying, your macaroons will not have an airy "skirt";

19) during the period of drying cookies, you need to preheat the oven to 140 degrees;

20) put them in the oven on a medium level. Baking time - 13 to 19 minutes;

21) at about 15 minutes, try to lift the macarons from the parchment with a knife, if it works out - they are ready, if not - we leave to bake. In no case should the temperature be increased;

22) pull the macarons out of the oven, the recipe requires them to cool completely.

Algorithm for preparing the filling (we have ganache with Nutella):

1) the oil must first be pulled out of the refrigerator (at least 2 hours before) so that it becomes soft;

2) beat with a mixer in a bowl all the ingredients;

4) squeeze a sufficient amount of ganache onto one of the halves, attach the other half.

Done! We hope that you have got the same wonderful macarons, the recipe with the photo step by step will not give you the opportunity to make a mistake!

Macarons step by step recipe VIDEO

As promised, recipes for good fillings

Option 1: Chocolate Ganache with Nutela

We need:
- 100 g. Nutella;
- 100 g of black or milk chocolate melted in a steam bath;
- 100 g of butter;
- 100 g heavy cream (33%);
- a bunch of salt.

After mixing all the ingredients, we transfer the ganache with dark chocolate into a pastry bag and send it to the refrigerator for 3 hours.

Option 2: Ganache on white chocolate

We need:
- 200 g of white chocolate melted in a steam bath;
- 100 g heavy cream (33%);
- 30 g of oil.

First mix warm chocolate with cream. Since the mass will have a sufficiently high temperature, you can throw the butter without ghee, it will melt anyway. Before using ganache with white chocolate, it is also necessary to send it to the refrigerator already in a pastry syringe so that its temperature becomes room temperature.

Option 3: Pistachio Ganache