I had a Holiday dinner to attend and decided I wanted to make something to bring.

I got a little ambitious and wanted to make Macarons.

Note, I said macarons – not macaroons. Macaroons are those delectable delights made with coconut.

I’m referring to Macarons, the fancy French dessert. I think the closest thing we have to it here in America is the whoopee pie, but not really. The macaron is made with two “wafer/cookies” with a filling sandwiched between them. They are about the size of a dollar coin.

The recipe is actually quick simple, its the preparation that can be difficult. In a nutshell, they are made with whipped egg whites, sugar and almonds. I decided to use the recipe from a fellow blogger, Joe Pastry that calls for the following recipe:

3.8 ounces blanched almonds
7 ounces powdered sugar
3.5 ounces egg whites (aged overnight at room temperature)
1.75 ounces granulated sugar

You want to start by measuring the ingredients exactly. Baking is a science, its not like savory cooking where you can just throw in a dash here or dash there. I started off by taking the blanched almonds in my food processor and turning it into something close to the consistency of sand or flour.

Then add the powdered sugar and pulse about 10 times.

Then you want to whip up your ROOM TEMPERATURE/OVERNIGHT egg whites. That’s right, you need to “age” the egg white and make sure they are at room temperature. I was a little scared about doing this, but nothing I have read says it is dangerous. I placed mine in a sealed container and left it on the counter overnight. You’ll want to add the egg whites to a CLEAN bowl of your mixer. Make sure it is clean and dry or your whites might not whip together properly.

Once it gets frothy, you’ll want to add your granulated sugar in gradually. Once you do this the egg whites will transform to a silky-firm texture. You want to be able to pull the whip from the whites and have the tip just droop over slightly. Anything beyond this and you will get something that will be dry.

Pull the bowl off the mixer and with “conviction” as Joe says, throw in your dry ingredients and mix until just mixed. I then divided the mixture into two batches as I wanted to have “red” macaroons as well.

Everything is going well at this point. Really.

It is the next step that caused my disaster. I divided the mixure into two parts and added red food coloring to one batch. I then folded the color in. The color was more light pink, so I added more coloring.

And more…and more. HUGE mistake.

By the time I was done, I could tell the consistency of the “red” batter was decidedly thinner than the white batter. I didn’t have time to whip up another batch. It was time to form the “coins” on the baking sheets and pop them into the ovens. Carefully I “poured” red batter into the piping bag and it was so runny I didn’t have to do much to pipe them on the tray. I knew I was fracked at this point.

I cried a little. I then piped the white mixture and that gave me more confidence. You have to let your “coins” air dry for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees and then place in the oven after they have rested.

After about 12 minutes, you’ll want to check to see if they are done. Gently tap the top and if it is firm, it’s ready.

Surprisingly, the red macarons looked great – but once I pulled them into the light, I could see they weren’t. While they did “rise”, the dome was wafer thin and translucent. The white macarons looked great too. You need to let them rest for another 30 minutes.

After about 30 minutes I decided to try and “de-sheet” my macarons. I think I needed to keep them in for another few more minutes. The pink ones were flat and any pressure on the sides made the “dome” collapse and break. The white ones looked awesome, but since they weren’t completely cooked, they stuck to the non-stick silpat. I think the use of parchment is recommended since you can “peel” them off the parchment. Peeling from the silpat is not so easy. Go parchment for sure!

So why did I post this if it was a failure? Hopefully someone will learn from my mistake and make wonderful macarons. I will try again for sure – and when I do I will repost with success!