French Macarons 法式馬卡龍

I am sharing with you my French macaron recipe today. I have tried different recipes and played around with different ratios. This is “the one” after so many trials and errors. My recipe is more like a set of numbers — ratios of egg white, sugars and ground almond. The numbers are calculated based on 1 g of egg white. Once you have your egg white weighed, everything else can be easily calculated. In this way I won’t be wasting any egg whites =)

My basic ratios for French macarons are as follow. The recipe provided below is based on two large egg whites.

Ingredients ratio (by weight)
egg white 1
ground almond 1.2
granulated sugar 0.4
icing sugar 1.6
Cream of tartar: 1/8 tsp per large egg white

今天跟大家分享EC的法式馬卡龍食譜，在試驗過不同食譜及更改不同份量後，這是EC最滿意的配方。EC的配方是一組數字 — 即蛋白、糖及杏仁粉的比例。這堆數字以每一克蛋白計算，量好蛋白即可計算出其他材料的份量，這樣做便不會浪費蛋白了！

EC的法式馬卡龍基礎比例如下，食譜是兩個蛋白份量。

材料重量比例
蛋白 1
杏仁粉 1.2
細砂糖 0.4
糖粉 1.6
他他粉: 每隻蛋白用1/8茶匙

For my tips for making French macarons, please visit my Mocha Macarons post.
有關EC的馬卡龍製作心得，請參閱Mocha馬卡龍。

French Macarons
法式馬卡龍

makes about 24 to 26 sandwiched cookies
約24至26個份量

Ingredients

For the Macaron Shells

60 g egg whites, aged 1 to 3 days in the fridge
25 g granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
75 g ground almond
95 g icing sugar
Gel food coloring of your choice

For the Ganache Filling

60 g premium dark chocolate, chopped
60 g whipping cream
6 g unsalted butter, softened

材料

馬卡龍外殼

蛋白，放在雪櫃一至三天 60克
細砂糖 25克
他他粉 1/4茶匙
杏仁粉 75克
糖粉 95克
色膏

黑朱古力夾餡

優質黑朱古力，切碎 60克
淡忌廉 60克
無鹽牛油，放軟 6克

Directions 做法

Line baking sheet with parchment paper with a master template underneath. I downloaded my template here.
焗盆內放圓形紙樣後墊上牛油紙備用(EC在這裡下載紙樣)。

In a food processor, process ground almond and icing sugar until finely ground. Pass mixture through a sieve into a bowl and set aside. This will create macaron shells with a smoother surface.
用食物處理器將杏仁粉及糖粉打成幼滑粉末，過篩放入大碗中備用，這樣做可令馬卡龍表面更光滑。

Place egg whites in a clean mixing bowl. With an electric mixer, whip egg whites until frothy. Add cream of tartar (to stabilize the meringue) and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Add sugar and continue beating until firm peaks form. When you lift up the whisk, the meringue will stand straight up with a little curve at the tip. Add in food coloring.
蛋白放在乾淨的鋼盆中，用電動打蛋器打至泡沫變細密後加入他他粉(可令蛋白霜更穩定)，打至蛋白霜成軟勾狀便將糖加入，繼續打至接近乾性發泡，拉起打蛋器蛋白霜尾部呈短小彎勾狀，加入色膏打勻。

Fold meringue into the almond-flour mixture with a spatula in two additions. Knock some air out by pressing the batter around the sides of the bowl with the spatula a few times. Then begin to fold by scraping the batter from the bottom of the bowl and bringing it to the top. Keep folding until the batter forms a thick ribbon that slowly disappears into the batter. Undermixed batter will be pointy after piping and over-mixing will deflate the meringue, resulting in runny batter that loses its shape after piping.
蛋白霜分兩次加入杏仁粉混合物中，先以膠刮將麵糊往盆邊壓幾次壓破部份氣泡，再輕輕將麵糊從盆底往上翻，拌至麵糊落下時呈絲帶狀般緩慢流下並出現摺痕便可停止，麵糊若攪拌不足唧出來後會有尖角，攪拌過度則令蛋白霜消泡，麵糊會變稀，唧出來後麵糊會立刻往外瀉開。

Scrape batter into a pastry bag fitted with a large round piping tip (I used Wilton #2A). Pipe out dollops of batter onto the prepared baking sheet using the template as a guide. When done piping, tap the baking sheet against the counter a few times to eliminate any trapped air bubbles. Pop bubbles that haven’t risen up to the surface with a toothpick. Remove the template and let the tray stand at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the weather and humidity, until the shells are dry to the touch. While waiting, preheat the oven to 300ºF/150℃.
將麵糊倒進已備圓形花嘴的唧花袋中(EC用Wilton #2A花嘴)，在牛油紙上依紙樣唧出圓形，將焗盆往枱上拍幾下震掉氣泡，如發現仍有氣泡可用牙籤刺破，取走底部紙樣，讓麵糊在室溫下靜置30﹣45分鐘至表面不黏手(視乎天氣及濕度)，此時將焗爐預熱300℉/150℃。

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until set without browning. If you touch the shell and it feels firm and doesn’t wiggle it is done. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack before filling.
焗12至14分鐘，以手指輕碰馬卡龍，若馬卡龍挺身不會搖動即代表已熟可以取出，在鋼架上完全放涼後可唧上夾餡。

.To make the filling, heat whipping cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it bubbles around the edges (but not boiling). Alternatively, microwave cream in a microwave-safe bowl on high. Add to chopped chocolate and let stand for two minutes. Stir with a spatula until combined. Stir in softened butter until smooth and shiny. Fill pastry bag with ganache then chill in the fridge until it feels firm enough for piping.
夾餡做法：將淡忌廉倒入小鍋中小火煮至邊緣冒泡後(用微波爐將淡忌廉加熱亦可)撞入朱古力碎中，靜置兩分鐘後以膠刮攪拌至朱古力完全融化，加入放軟牛油拌至順滑有光澤，倒入唧袋中，放入雪櫃冷藏至適合唧花的軟硬度取出。

To assemble the macarons, pair up shells of similar sizes. Pipe out dollop of filling on the flat side of a shell then top with the other one, flat side down. Store filled macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a day to mature them. Bring to room temperature, about 15 minutes, before serving.
配對形狀相若的馬卡龍，把夾餡唧在其中一塊外殼上(底部朝上)，蓋上另一塊外殼(底部朝下)，完成所有馬卡龍後放在密封盒中於雪櫃保存一天後可食用，食用前把馬卡龍置室溫15分鐘回溫便可。

By just piping two more tiny dots, you can make bear shaped macarons!
只需多加兩個小圓點便可做成小熊馬卡龍了！