French Macarons

Macarons have a reputation for being difficult because of the delicate processes used to produce them. Here is a (not so brief) breakdown of why each ingredient and the process they are necessary for is so important!

Dry Ingredients

The ground almonds and powdered sugar add body to the macaron batter. The almonds provide flavor as well so that the cookies do not only taste sweet. A 2020 study determined that the powdered sugar contributed to the cohesion of the batter, as well as the macarons’ hardness, providing a batter that was easier to work with and cookies with a crunchier texture. (2) Mixing the powdered sugar and ground almonds together at the start and sifting them to eliminate “lumps” of sugar or ground almonds allow for smoother incorporation with the meringue later on. It is important to use powdered sugar for this because it dissolves better when mixed with the meringue. (1) Additionally, fat is meringue’s biggest enemy (4). Adding it last gives the meringue its best chance at staying malleable and giving a good rise. We’ll talk about why in a minute.

Wet Ingredients (The Meringue)

The egg whites are the most important part of this recipe. The foam created with the egg white and granulated sugar contains the liquid and leavening for the batter. This is the meringue I mentioned earlier. When whipping an egg white, the proteins inside are mechanically denatured, or unraveled, thus exposing the hydrophobic part of the protein so that they can coagulate and trap air bubbles, creating a delicate network that slowly grows in volume. (5) When the air bubbles are at their largest size (and thus most desirable for this recipe), the meringue is stiff, smooth, and glossy (4).

The granulated sugar is important to add to the meringue before it forms stiff peaks because it helps stabilize the meringue. Eggs naturally contain water. When the sugar is added, it absorbs the excess water and makes the remaining liquid more viscous, preventing liquid from leaking out of the foam. (1) This is why it is important to add it before the foam is too firm–the sugar crystals need time to dissolve so that the meringue is not grainy, and they also need to absorb that liquid. It’s important to also note that sugar increases the time it takes to whip the meringue to the desired consistency.

The meringue is one of the most varied parts of a macaron recipe because there are actually three ways to make a meringue: the French, the Italian, and the Swiss. So what’s the difference? This recipe uses French meringue, which, unlike Italian and Swiss meringue, does not involve heat. Italian meringue is more similar to French meringue: The eggs are whipped to a thin foam before the sugar is added. Instead of adding the sugar a spoonful at a time, though, the sugar is mixed with a little water and melted to around 110°C and then slowly poured into the eggs as they are beaten. The heat helps denature the egg proteins as they are agitated by the mixer, helping them coagulate into smooth, light, sturdy foam. The Swiss method, on the other hand, involves heating the eggs and granulated sugar on a bain marie–in a heatproof bowl over simmering water–until the sugar is dissolved before whipping them. Swiss meringue tends to be denser than Italian or French, with Italian being the most versatile in patisseries because of its flexibility, stability, and longevity. (1, 4) If one were to use Italian meringue instead of French for this recipe, the strength of the meringue would help it retain enough air bubbles during mixing and resting to give the final macaron cookies their characteristic fluffy, chewy inside.

Other Factors

Although it is not technically an ingredient, the process of combining the meringue and almond/sugar mixture is an important part of macarons. In folding the dry ingredients into the meringue, the air is “knocked out”, reducing the volume of the resulting batter and thus the rise of the cookies while cooking. This is partially why macarons do not inflate like soufflés do!