Macaroni - was the favorite dessert of the French monarchs from time immemorial. The recipe to France was brought by the Italian princess Catherine de Medici, who married Henry II, the king of the future republic. This is hard to believe, but in the distant 16th century, pasta was a simple cookie made from almond flour, egg whites and sugar. No exotic flavors and rainbow colors, no cream filling, only dough.
The second layer of pasta got in the early 20th century. Pierre Defontaine - the grandson of Louis Ernest Ladur (the owner of the first Laduree tea room in Paris) - decided to glue the two halves of the cookies together using the sweet chocolate mass, known in French cuisine as “ganache” (ganache). Thus, the pasta has become familiar to us a two-story look.
By the way, it is necessary to pronounce all the same "macaron", as required by the French transcription. Macaroon (macaroon) is a completely different cookie, which in 90% of cases is prepared from egg whites and coconut chips.
As history shows, pasta has always been the lot of wealthy people. Therefore, these cookies are now associated more with the Queen of Manhattan, Blair Waldorf from the series “Gossip Girl”, eating a ton of pasta in her own bathroom, than with a housewife baking an elite dessert in her own kitchen. However, with the onset of the crisis, it will be useful to master the recipe for airy cookies to surprise loved ones.
Secrets
flickr.com/photos/saltwater_helen
Before cooking pasta according to the recipe of Maison Ladurée, you should master the detailed step-by-step instructions of those who have already done this before you and know all the pitfalls of a complex process. In addition, you need to know a few simple cooking secrets: they may seem insignificant, but experienced people argue that they need to follow to achieve the perfect result.
“Make old” eggs.Most agree that eggs should be at room temperature. It is best to get them out of the refrigerator 12 hours before cooking, but it is also possible for 2-4 hours.
Sift flour 3 times.It is 3. The number of siftings is experimentally derived by chefs of the Parisian culinary school Cook’n with class. And the first time you do it just to get rid of the lumps, the second time - you fix the result, and the third time - you sift the flour along with powdered sugar. The procedure will make the dough glossy.
Drying the dough before baking.Do not immediately try to shove a pan with pasta in the oven. Let them lie on the table for 20-30 minutes.
Air circulation during baking.The desired mode is provided by the correct arrangement of the cookies on the baking sheet (chess order) and the oven slightly opened a little in the process (so that excess moisture leaves).
Proportions are important. In the case of pasta make the dough on the eyes will not work. Therefore, kitchen scales - your faithful assistant for the preparation of dessert.
The classic recipe for pasta
flickr.com/photos/hetstyle/
Ingredients:
- almond flour - 150 gr,
- icing sugar - 150 gr,
- sugar - 150 grams,
- water - 50 grams
- protein - 50 + 50 gr (about 3 eggs),
- dye (preferably gel).
Instruction
Prepare the flour, namely: sift it as expected - 3 times. Add icing sugar, whisk well and sift again.
Separate the whites from the yolks. Make sure that this mass does not get a single gram of fat, water or yolk. It is important! Divide the protein into 2 parts - 50 grams.
Prepare a workplace for kneading dough. Pour 50 grams of protein into a large bowl. Put a stewpan with sugar and water on the stove, next to a cup of proteins, a spare glass of water, a mixer and a thermometer.
*Attention! A thermometer is extremely important to monitor the temperature of the syrup. Degree more or less - and the whole idea will fail!
Next, we will perform several actions at the same time. We turn on the stove and begin to cook the syrup, stirring with a thermometer. Keep it in the middle of the mixture so that the temperature is as accurate as possible. Watch the heat carefully. As soon as the thermometer shows 95 degrees, start beating the proteins at full power of the mixer. When the syrup has heated to 110⁰, remove it from the stove and slowly begin to pour it into the proteins.
Whipped whites should be almost hard; when turning the bowl, they should not leak out or drip from it. If the syrup is already heated to 110 degrees, and the proteins are not whipped to the desired state, you can cool the syrup with water and wait for the desired temperature again. Pour in syrup, continue to beat the mixture with a mixer.
*Attention! The mixture should be tight and very strong. She should not have any flowing qualities. In the process of whipping the mixture is cooled. Add another 50 grams of protein, and on top - ready-made flour and powder.
The dough begins to interfere with the spatula and continue the procedure until the desired texture is obtained. The dough should drain from the walls of the spatula, and not fall into lumps. Cover the baking sheet with parchment for baking.
Pour the dough into a pastry bag and begin to gently form the pasta caps. We try to arrange them in a staggered manner. Do not forget about drying! Put the pan in the oven, heated to 140 degrees Celsius.
Baking time - 10−20 minutes. Do not be discouraged if your “hats” begin to crack, crumble, or “rise.” Even the great Ladur could hardly have made perfect macaroni the first time.
If everything worked out, then your macaroni will have “skirts”. This will happen in 3-4 minutes. After 10 minutes, you can try to pry them with a knife. If the biscuit easily moves away from the parchment, then the pasta is ready. The lid on the "skirt" should be tight.
Prepare yourself to your taste - it can be custard or ganache. It is important to remember that if the filling is liquid, it will soak into the dough faster and soften it more quickly. Therefore, such a filling can be filled with cookies just before serving.
Ganache can be applied immediately after the oven and left in the refrigerator until consumed.
I propose to prepare the famous French dessert - macaroni cookies. This one-bite, airy cookie just melts in your mouth. I want to bring to your attention the easiest version of this cookie from the famous Italian pastry chef Luca Montersino. The cooking process is quite simple. The main conditions: high-quality almond flour and respect for the order of input ingredients.
To make macaroni french cookies at home, you must immediately prepare the ingredients on the list.
Remove the protein from the refrigerator 2 hours before preparation.
Sift almond flour. It should turn out 50 grams of sifted almond flour.
Beat whites with sugar until resistant peaks.
Gently introduce sifted icing sugar.
Then sifted almond flour.
Introduce sifted wheat flour and gently mix from bottom to top.
Introduce powder or gel dye and mix gently again.
Put the mass in a pastry bag and squeeze it vertically onto a silicone mat or parchment. Leave for 60 minutes at room temperature. The surface of the cookie should be covered with a thin film.
Bake in a preheated oven to 155 degrees for about 13 minutes. Cool completely.
To prepare the filling, you must immediately prepare the ingredients on the list.
For the filling, melt the chocolate in a water bath.
Add blueberries and mash with a blender until smooth. Put in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to thicken the mass.
Apply the cream on the halves of the cookies, cover with the other halves and refrigerate for several hours.
French cookies "Macaron" is ready. Enjoy your meal!
There is nothing difficult in preparing Macaroni at home, but it is not always the case even for experienced confectioners. Therefore, in order for dessert Macaroni turned out beautiful and tasty, you must strictly follow the recipe of its preparation. This Macaroni recipe involves the creation of cookies with 3 types of toppings: chocolate, raspberry and pistachio. If you wish, you can choose one type of filling that you like best.
In order for the cookies to turn out bright, liquid food dyes of 2 colors will be required: red and green. Macaroni biscuits with chocolate filling will be colored by adding cocoa. If you wish, you can take dyes of other colors.
Also for the whipping of proteins will need a mixer. In order to make macaroni cookies airy and tasty, it is recommended to use only high-quality store almond flour.
To make macaroni cookies at home, you must follow the step-by-step recipe exactly:
Stage 1 - Cooking almond cookies:
- Cool 5 chicken eggs thoroughly and then separate 5 proteins into clean dishes, ensuring that the yolk does not accidentally get into the whites.
- Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to proteins.
- Beat 5 proteins for 10 minutes at medium speed, when foam starts to appear in the process of beating, gradually pour out 60 grams of sugar without ceasing to beat.
- Take 200 grams of store almond flour and add 300 grams of powdered sugar in it, mix well until smooth.
- Sift the mixture of almond flour and powdered sugar 2 times.
- Pour the mixture of almond flour and icing sugar into the whipped protein and gently bottom up, stroking the dough with a spatula, stir in the almond flour and icing sugar without breaking the protein.
- Divide the dough into 3 parts and place in 3 different clean containers.
- In the first part of the dough, add a few drops of liquid red dye and gently mix it with a spatula so that it evenly turns red.
- In the second part of the dough, add a few drops of green dye and gently mix it with a spatula so that it turns evenly green.
- In the second part of the dough, add a teaspoon of cocoa and gently mix it with a spatula to obtain a uniform brown color.
- Take baking sheets and lay them out with parchment paper or put silicone mats.
- Take a pastry bag with a smooth tube, put the dough of the same color in it and land the dough on a baking tray of the same diameter, usually 3-4 centimeters, at a distance of several centimeters from each other. Holding the baking tray strictly horizontally, lift it somewhere a centimeter above the table and let it go so that the baking tray hits. Repeat several times. This procedure will smooth the surface of the cookie and allow air to escape from the dough.
- Sow on the baking sheets in the same way the dough of other colors, while not forgetting to clean the pastry bag or use a new one so that the dough of different colors does not mix.
- Leave the dough on trays at room temperature for 30 minutes until it is covered in a crust. This will prevent cracking of macaroni cookies during baking.
- Heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
- Place 1 pan in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Then pull out the baking sheet and leave to cool.
- In the same way, alternately bake macaroni cookies, laid out on other baking sheets. And be sure to pull them out of the oven in time and let them cool to room temperature. The presence of a skirt on the edge of the inside of the cookie will indicate that the cookie was prepared correctly.
Stage 2 - Preparation of raspberry filling for almond cookies:
- Enumerate and gently wash 400 grams of fresh raspberries.
- Put 400 grams of raspberries and 250 grams of sugar in layers in an enamel bowl and leave to stand until raspberries give juice.
- Put the raspberries and sugar on a slow fire and bring to a boil.
- Dissolve 2 teaspoons of starch in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Add to boiling raspberry diluted in starch lemon juice and cook for 2 minutes.
- Cool raspberry filling.
Stage 3 - Preparation of pistachio filling for almond cookies:
- 125 grams of almond flour mixed with 125 grams of powdered sugar.
- Pour into a saucepan and add 50 milliliters of water to the sugar-almond mixture.
- Put the sugar-almond mixture with water on the stove and over medium heat until the mixture begins to clump up, then remove from heat. It turned out marzipan.
- 80 ml of cream of 35% fat content mixed with 30 grams of pistachio paste.
- Put the creamy pistachio mixture on the fire and bring to a boil.
- Pour boiling cream into marzipan and mix well.
- Cool pistachio filling.
Stage 4 - Making Chocolate Filling for Almond Cookies:
- Pour 50 milliliters of 35% fat in a saucepan, put on the stove and bring to a boil.
- Gently chop 80 grams of dark chocolate with a knife.
- Put the chocolate in a bowl and pour hot cream into it, then stir with a spatula until the chocolate is completely dissolved in the cream.
Stage 4 - Macaroni French pastry layer:
- Take 1 slice of brown biscuits and put a small layer of chocolate filling on the inner surface. Cover with a brown slice and press down lightly. The filling should be slightly visible on the side of the cookie. Do the same with other macaroni chocolate cookies.
- Take 1 piece of green biscuits and put a small layer of pistachio filling on the inner surface. Cover with a second slice of green and lightly press down. The filling should be slightly visible on the side of the cookie. Do the same with other macaroni pistachio biscuits.
- Take 1 loaf of red cookies and put a small layer of raspberry filling on the inner surface. Cover with a second slice of red and lightly press down. The filling should be slightly visible on the side of the cookie. Do the same with other macaroni raspberry cookies.
- Put the multicolored macaroni cookies on a saucer or tray and serve on the table.
French macaroni cookies ready. It should turn out smooth, soft and melt in the mouth. Enjoy your meal!
One of the most tender and sophisticated French desserts, macaroons, also called macaroons or macaroni, are easy to make at home. In the homeland of this cookie, the cost of one macaroons reaches 2 euros, but you can cook 10 times more miniature macaroons in your kitchen and treat your loved ones to them by spending the same amount on food. We will tell you how to make macaroons and share a variety of filling recipes.
Macaroni Recipe
Ideal pasta should have a smooth surface, a smooth round shape and a crisp. Biting on macarons, you should expect a tender dough texture and a moist filling with a rich taste under the crust. Macaroni biscuits are a real masterpiece of French cuisine, located between two fingers.
Ingredients for Homemade Pasta
The basis of macaroni-almond flour and egg whites. This dessert is not only very tasty, but also useful. The key ingredient, almond flour, can be purchased at the store as ready-made, or you can cook it yourself in your kitchen. To do this, take fresh almonds, dry it in the oven for an hour or two at a temperature of 200 degrees, then pour boiling water over the nuts and peel them. After that, the nuts are interrupted into flour in a coffee grinder or blender, and the resulting flour is again dried for 20 minutes in the oven and sifted.
To make homemade macarons you will need:
- Almond flour - 150g.
- Powdered sugar - 150g.
- Sugar sand - 140g.
- Egg whites- 100g.
- A couple drops of food coloring. The macaroon color will depend on the selected dye. It is not recommended to use vegetable or fruit juices as a dye, as they lose their saturation during baking.
The macaroon recipe at home requires thoroughness and accuracy. Volumes of components need to be measured accurately, not to do without scales.
Step by step process of cooking macaroons
Almond macaroon cakes have the following step-by-step cooking scheme:
- Mix the powdered sugar and flour, pre-sifted through a sieve.
- To make macaroon cookies, it is recommended to use “aged” proteins. This means that, after separating the whites from the yolks, it is necessary to let them stand at room temperature for several hours, and it is better to leave them overnight, and in the morning bake homemade macaroons.
- At medium speed, beat the whites, gradually increasing power. When the egg foam is at the stage of soft peaks, we begin to add sugar in portions and continue to beat.
- Add a dye to proteins and beat until hard peaks.
- We succeeded, which now needs to be mixed with dry ingredients: flour and powder. Cooks call this process McCaronage.
- Gently stir until the dough has a homogeneous consistency.
- Now the dough must be placed in a pastry bag.
- Take a baking sheet and cover it with parchment. It is very important that the paper is perfectly smooth without creases and bruises.
- In a staggered manner, “land” future macaroni cakes on parchment, with sharp movements, “cutting off” tails. The diameter of the finished macarons should be 3-4 cm.
- When you place all the cookies on the sheet, you need to take a baking sheet, holding the parchment, and knock them on the table so that the surface of the macaroni becomes smooth and all the excess air comes out of them.
- Now leave the macaroon biscuits for 20 minutes to one side, during this time a crust should form on their surface and the dough should not stick to your fingers.
- After a specified time, check the cakes, if the dough is still sticky, let them stand for another 15 minutes, if the crust has already formed, you can bake macaroons.
- Oven French cookies needed at a temperature of 150 degrees for 10 minutes.
- After removing them from the oven, immediately remove the parchment from the baking sheet. When the macaroons are cooled, they can be easily removed from the baking paper.
Now you know how to make macaroons. It remains to choose an appetizing stuffing for your homemade cakes.
Cooking Macaroon Filling
Fillings for macaroons can be very diverse, from simple jams and thick to complex to prepare confit. By the way, they do not have to be sweet. You can cook and salty stuffing, for example, from tomatoes or cheese. We will share the most mouth-watering sweet variations.
Mascarpone cheese filling
The easiest version of the filling for macaroons is prepared on the basis. For her you will need:
- 100g Mascarpone.
- 50g melted chocolate.
- 2 large spoons of powdered sugar.
Mix all the ingredients and the cream is ready, you can connect with it half a macaroon.
Chocolate ganache
Break a bar of black chocolate into small pieces. Then heat half a glass of 30% cream and pour them into chocolate. Stir the ingredients until the mass is smooth. Ready to put in the fridge for at least 8 hours, plasticized it with cling film.
Lemon Confit
To make this filling, you need 3 lemons and 100 g of sugar. Step by step cooking instructions are as follows:
- Cut the zest from the lemons.
- Cut the flesh of the lemons and clean it aside.
- Pour cold water over the zest and bring to a boil.
- Then drain and refill the zest with clean water.
- Again bring to a boil and repeat the third time the same step.
- Put the zest in a saucepan with a thick bottom, add lemon pulp and sugar and cook on low heat, stirring for about 45 minutes.
- When the mass thickens, cool it and puree with a blender.
- Using a pastry bag, place the filling on one half of the macaroons and press the second one.
We hope our macaroon recipe with a photo will help you to bake delicious cakes and enjoy the cooking process.
Video: Macaroon recipe from Elizaveta Glinskaya
Macarons have absolutely nothing to do with pasta.. This is a sweetness resembling meringue: two airy cookies are glued together with a layer of jam or cream. The composition of the biscuits includes egg whites, ground almonds and food colors, giving it a bright color. For the light of additives and fillings, pasta biscuits can have a variety of tastes.
Pasta Cookies: First Option
To make pasta cookies at home, you need to take the following ingredients:
- 275 g fine crystalline sugar or powdered sugar
- 125 g almond flour
- 50 ml of boiled water
- 3-4 egg whites (100 g)
- 3 g of dry protein
- food coloring
For almond flour, almonds need to be crushed into powder, sieved and allowed to dry for about a week. Egg whites should preferably be kept at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Water with 150 g of sugar to put on fire. While the syrup is boiling, the proteins with the dry protein should be whipped with a mixer at low speed until the peaks, gradually pouring the remaining sugar. Continue whisking until the temperature of the syrup reaches 115 degrees. Pour syrup into proteins and mix until smooth. In two steps, mix almond flour into the dough and tint it with a dye.
Cover the baking sheet with a double layer of foil (parchment) or a special silicone mat. Piping the pastry bag with dough and depositing the dough into circles about 2 cm in diameter at some distance from each other. Shake the baking tray gently and leave for 30-60 minutes. If bubbles appear on the surface of the dough, pierce them with a toothpick.
Pasta biscuits can be put in the oven when a crust forms on the surface of the meringue, and it will not stick to the finger when touched. Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes in the oven, heated to 140-160 degrees.
Let the prepared cookies cool, and then fasten the halves with any cream, chocolate or jam to your taste.
Pasta Biscuits: Option 2
There is another recipe for making macaroni cookies, without syrup. To make pasta with this recipe you will need the following products:
- icing sugar - 150 g
- almond flour (ground almonds) - 75 g
- egg whites - 2 pcs.
- sugar - 1 tsp.
Powdered sugar combined with ground almonds. Squirrels beat at medium speed until soft peaks, add sugar and continue to beat until light shine. Add a mixture of almond and powdered sugar and mix gently as if you are putting the dough. If desired, add food coloring.
Pasta Biscuits: Cream Options
Macaroni halves can be glued together any cream or filling, but the French often use ganache (flavored cream of chocolate, cream and butter) or Kurd (fruit cream, something between a pudding and a custard).
To prepare ganache, heat 50 ml of heavy cream, melt chocolate in them (80 g of dark chocolate or 100 g of white), mix until smooth and let cool.
For cooking lemon cream zest of two lemons mixed with 200 g of sugar. Then pour the juice of four lemons into the sugar, stir it. Separately, beat four eggs with a fork (without foam), pour in sugar and leave for half an hour. Then strain into a saucepan, add 40 g of butter and cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until the cream thickens. Let the finished cream cool.
Enjoy your meal!