STAFF REVIEW: MACAROON MAKING

I watch a lot of baking shows, and have seen a lot of people attempt to make the famous French macaroon, but I had never attempted to make the delicious biscuit myself. I had an understanding that they are not the easiest thing to master, so when I came across the chance to take part in an online macaroon class lead by an expert, I had to take up the opportunity!

A few days before the class I was sent an email containing the shopping list and the recipe we would need to follow in the class. The ingredients came to a total of just under £15, and they were all relatively easy to find. 

However, I did have to go to the large Tesco superstore to find the food colouring as they didn’t sell this in my local supermarket! Ann suggested to use a powder food colouring as this works best in macaroons. I couldn’t find this, so I got some gel colouring which was the next best thing.

The live stream began at 11am, and lasted for approximately an hour. The stream was accessed through the Ann Smart School website. Although this was not an interactive experience, participants were able to speak to Ann live via the chat box at the bottom of the screen. Ann was extremely helpful in answering any questions that arose as we cooked along, and had loads of helpful tips to improve our macaroon-making technique!

You have the option to cook along live or if you’d rather cook at your own pace, the live stream is available to watch on demand after the demonstration has ended. I would recommend trying to cook along with Ann as if you get stuck, she will be able to offer you some expert advice on how to improve your bake! 

I started by sieving the icing sugar and ground almonds twice to make sure there were no lumps. Ann told us that if we were to make professional standard macaroons she would suggest for us to use a super fine mesh sieve, to really ensure the mixture is as smooth as possible. Of course, the recipe would work just as well with a regular sieve, which is what I used.

Next, I whisked together an egg white and the caster sugar until it had formed stiff peaks and looked nice and glossy. I added some of my pink food colouring, but not too much as I was going for a baby pink shade. Ann told us that if we were using a gel food colouring, we should be sparing as it will make the mixture too wet (this is why powder colouring was suggested). 

I then folded in the almond and sugar mix, until the desired consistency was achieved. The consistency is very important to creating the perfect macaroon. Ann explained that the mix should fall off the spatula in ribbons. This was where everything started getting quite technical, and I was thankful to have an expert on hand for advice. 

Next, it was time for the part I was most excited for… piping! Ann taught us the perfect piping technique to ensure no air pockets were formed within the macaroon, and provided us with a template we could use for reference to make sure they were all the same size. I decided to freehand mine. This probably wasn’t the best idea as it was my first time, but my macaroons didn’t turn out too dissimilar in size!

Before the macaroons went in the oven, they needed to dry. As I used gel colouring, it made my mixture a bit wetter than Ann’s. So, I left mine for an hour just to be certain they were dry.  

We learned that oven temperature is one of the most important things to get right when baking macaroons. Too hot and they could rise too fast, too low and they may not rise at all… Ann told us to put a spoon in the door to keep it ajar if it was too hot. 

Finally, after letting the macaroons cool down, we filled them with our vanilla Chantilly cream (that I also coloured baby pink) and voila! I had made my first ever batch of French macaroons. They tasted so delicious, I had to try to refrain myself from eating the whole batch in one sitting!

Thanks for reading!

I really enjoyed this macaroon making class; it was a great way to spend my morning and learn a new skill that is deliciously rewarding. Without Ann’s helpful tips along the way I doubt they would have turned out as good as they did! 

If Macaroons aren't your thing... Ann's Smart School of Cookery has plenty of other cooking classes to enjoy!