Macaron: Test #1

Macarons are tricky. You'd think such light, pretty cookies would be easy to get right, but they are deceiving little buggers.

I would like to say that my macarons turned out as perfect as the picture above, but things didn't turn out that way. I wasn't expecting a perfect macaron, but I expected something that at least looked like a macaron.

I shifted the dry ingredients, beat the egg whites to perfect peaks and mixed it together. Here they are piped on a baking tray and setting.

'This isn't so hard.' I thought. Boy, was I wrong. When they came out of the oven I was dumbfounded. Did I accidentally make almond cookies instead of macarons? They are laughable almost, at how different they are compared to how they supposed to be.

I consulted my trusty friend Google as to why my macarons turned out... well, flat. Sheepishly, I found many blunders I had made in the process of making them. I have underestimated these cookies big time!

Mistake number one: grainy mixture. I only shifted the dry mixture once, so when I added it in with the egg whites it turned out grainy. That's why the macarons did not have a smooth top covering, and instead had a bumpy and rough surface. *sigh*

Mistake number two: This mixture was still tacky after setting. It had been setting for almost an hour, yet it was still sticky to touch when it should have been hard. I chose to bake them anyway, thinking it won't matter. Heh, my bad.

Mistake number three: I used icing mixture instead of icing powder. I'm still kicking myself over that one.

Mistake number four: Egg whites were supposed to be set 48 hours before use. I only set it for a few hours before use. But then again, in Masterchef they used egg whites fresh out of eggs too, so maybe it doesn't matter? Hmm...

So to comfort myself, I ate gummi bears. One can never have too many gummi bears. =D

Amused at how different the bears were. A super tall one plus three dwarf sized bears.

The macarons tasted like macarons, which are good. Soft and chewy. I will keep trying to make them until I get them right. These cookies won't beat me!