Peach Macaron

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There’s a double whammy of peach flavor in these Peach Macaron.  They have freeze dried peaches in the shells and peach syrup in the buttercream.  A bi-fecta of peach flavors.

 You knew I had to make macaron didn’t you? I mean, it’s almost required with these events. That’s pretty much the first thing that gets put on the sign-up sheet; macaron. Everything else takes research and planning. And more research and writing. Then there’s a little more research when my original idea is a flop or just doesn’t seem to come together.

What is it about macaron?

They’re like a unicorn. You see them in books but haven’t ever seen one in real life. Yes, I know they don’t exist. But making macaron at home does exist! I know, because I’ve done it. Repeatedly. I think I have more macaron recipes on my blog than regular cookie recipes.

Do you remember what it felt like the first time you rode a bike without training wheels? Or that first kiss? Or acing that test in class? That’s sort of what mastering these cookies feels like. It’s feels so good you want to do it again and again and again… you get the picture.

I have had everything go wrong that can go wrong with a macaron. No feet, hollow shells, hard shells, wrinkled tops, browned tops, and unable to remove them from the silpat. I think that about covers all the errors. Did I miss any? So, when I find someone who’s looking to master them I offer up some tips they might not find in all those YouTube videos they watch. I know, but I watched those, too. So many times.

Tips and tricks for successful macaron:

Weigh your ingredients. I cannot stress how important this step is. Buy a food scale and weigh them. The same cup of powdered sugar weighs different in January than it does in August. And since moisture is the enemy of these precious cookies, you want to control the moisture content in your ingredients as much as possible.

If you want to use another nut besides almond meal, put it in the freezer before you process it. This will help solidify some of the oils in the nut and prevent you from making nut butter. I would not recommend replacing all the almonds with other nuts unless you have ready made nut meals. There’s pecan, almond, and I think walnut is commercially available? Don’t quote me on that last one, but I know pecan and almond are available.

Flavor your shells!! They’re not just pretty tops for the delicious filling. They’re part of the cookie! Imagine an Oreo with a flavorless shell. Sounds gross right? I add freeze dried fruits, but have put cheese doodles, freeze dried vegetables, and even cereal in some of my macaron. This is the only reason that people who eat prepared macaron like mine better. There’s flavor in the shell!!

If you’re going to add flavor or coloring, add it when you add the nut meal mixture to the meringue. If you add an oil based anything to the meringue before it finished it will not make a stiff peak. I don’t want to take the chance and add any colors and flavors when I’m in the macaronage stage of the process.

The “lava” stage is a pain. I watched hundreds of videos trying to figure out what they were talking about. I never could get it quite right. The last class I took with Mom was educational! The instructor said to watch the sheen of the batter. It will go from dull to having a sheen when it’s just about ready. A few more turns to give a completely shiny appearance and you’re ready to pipe!

Take out your aggression and bang those sheet pans on the counter! This releases any trapped air bubbles in the shells. And if they’re not perfectly smooth when you’re finished, dap a finger (I use my middle or my ring finger) in a little water and lightly press them flat. Sometimes the macaronage is little thicker or I’m just too tired of folding and it’s not as smooth as it should be. I had to do this with these peach macaron.

Let them rest! The tops need to be dry. Some people say it’s an hour. I start with 30 minutes and do the tap test. I tap the tops with my finger and if they feel tacky, then I give them another 15 minutes. When they are no longer tacky I put them in the oven.

Get an oven thermometer. I can’t stress this enough. I bake mine between 315 and 325 depending on how hot it is in the house and if I’ve had the oven on for anything else. And yes, I do rotate them front to back and top to bottom. I have 2 ovens and only put one pan in each oven.

After 9 minutes I pull them out and but the bottom pan in the top oven and spin it around so the back is front. I hope that makes sense. If they start to wrinkle you can try to turn up the heat, but it might be too late at that point. Just increase the oven temperature a few more degrees before you put another pan in there.

That’s the part where I really can’t help all that much during the process. However, once they’re cooked, I’d be willing to help trouble shoot what went wrong. It’s best to stick to one recipe until you can nail that. Then once you do, start changing up the ingredients. Add some fruit to the shell or some flavors to macaronage. Try some different nuts in the shell. I’ve used pecan, walnut, peanut, and almond of course. I plan on trying macadamia nuts and possibly cashews. Of course those are very oily and might take some playing to get right.

Yes, I know. I haven’t talked much about these peach macaron. They have freeze dried peaches in the shell and Torani peach syrup in the buttercream. They have overall great peach flavor. Which is awesome because I love peaches! Of course, you could use peach juice or fresh peaches in your buttercream if you want. Since I suck at buttercream, I stick to the basics until I finally master it.

I found the freeze dried peaches at CVS! Along with some freeze dried apples, bananas, and berries. I have found cranberries, blueberries, berries, bananas, mangos, cheese, shrimp, beets.

Who says you have to make sweet macaron all the time! You don’t! If you lessen the amount of granulated sugar in the shells, they’re not as sweet and you can make some delicious savory ones. Trust me! I’ve got a couple of them on my blog already. I’m thinking some shrimp or cheese might be the next ones.

Well, I hope I have inspired you to try these finicky cookies. I truly will help and try to troubleshoot any problems you might have. Just shoot me a FB message or tag me on IG. I’m always willing to help everyone make these cookies. Because once you do, you’ll be addicted like I am.