Macawrong to Macaron: Resting (Part 2)

In my last macaron post, I somewhat described the ideal macaron structure. Syrup and Tang sums it up really well in a pictorial form.

Macaron Nazis will say that the ideal macaron is much more than these 4 points. They detest the air pocket under the smooth dome and practically have an ideal measurement for the angle of the rising dome. But for this struggling student, what I am aiming for in this series is just what is described in the picture above.

So first of all, feet. All macarons have feet.

Some argue that the French meringue method yields taller feet when compared to the Italian meringue method. And there have been various debates on the causes of feet formation. One commonly cited process essential to feet formation is resting of the piped batter before baking. This is meant to form a ‘skin’ on the top surface of the macaron batter and when baked, the skin can rise, due to the pressure exerted by the egg white meringue under it, forming the classic dome. This exposes the rough batter, which we term as the ‘feet’.

Another process that may contribute to feet formation is having heat from underneath the pan. Heat from under the pan is meant to start cooking the batter from the bottom up, causing air to be released from the meringue, which travels upwards, pushing the domed lid up and (you guessed it) exposes the ruffled feet.

Whichever belief you subscribe to, feet formation is closely related to skin formation. A good strong skin is required to trap the rising air. In my multiple previous attempts, resting the batter did nothing for me. I got the sameugly cracked yellowed hard chewy cookie. This time I am relying on the dry Melbournian winter to help me stabilize the egg whites.

Here is the moment of truth. Rest or no rest.

Following the recipe in Alison Thompson’s book titled simply Macaron, I used a ratio of 2.25:1.4:1 of icing sugar:almond meal:egg whites. All units in grams. This is the typical French macaron method I am talking about. Egg whites whip to soft peak, fold in dry ingredients, pipe and bake.

To test the effect of my first variable, which is rest, I made one batch of macaron batter. Everything was well till the macaronage bit when I thought the batter looked a tad bit too chunky. Still, I piped onto two trays. Baking one immediately and resting the other for an hour.

Rested macarons are to the left

Resting obviously has a drastic effect. The rested batch rose higher, had more feet (not too clear in pictures, I obviously need macro lens) and was a tad bit smoother than their non-rested counterparts. I was startled. My first macaron with feet.

It was upsetting that the macaron shells lack the characteristic smooth dome and possess the undesirable nipple. I apologise for the lack of a better word. I can only attribute this nippling to the chunky batter. Macaron batter is generally thicker than what most pastry chefs are used to. Ribbons or batter falling onto themselves are meant to disappear within 30 seconds. That nipple you see there was resting for an hour!

You know this called for another installment of the macaron series. Onward to extermination of the nipple.