This is a little humiliating and it is only my 2nd time but. I’m a bit fed up. I’m following All We Eat’s Step by Step Basic Macaron Recipe to the t. I thought I under-whipped the egg whites the first time, so I made sure to get the right consistency this time but they ended up looking like that. What am I doing wrong???
by Myapocalypsewasfab
3 Comments
Cracked tops usually means your oven was too hot (lower your temp since everyones oven is different). The thin tops means your meringue was not super stiff. You can always go super stiff and macaronage the extra air out to the right consistency. The perfect consistency for the batter i go by is when the batter falls off try spatula slowly but still connects flowing down. You don’t want the ribbon batter too thick where it breaks off. The rule i like to go by is when the ribbons at the bottom are overlapping each other and you can see a slight blur at the edges. Then you know it’s ready.
Those are horrible instructions,along with a bad recipe. They are NOT easy to make no matter that person claims. Macarons should also always be made with weighed ingredients.
Toss that recipe and go check out Pies and Tacos website and recipes. I would also suggest watching YouTube videos so you learn what your meringue and macaronage stage should look like.
Practice is your friend when learning. And bake times and oven temps are different for everyone. You have to learn what works best for your oven. Lots of trial and error in this process lol. But I’m sure you will get there!!!
Getting *perfect* macarons is a highly technical accomplishment, don’t get discouraged! Even after you get them to okay, there’s a lot of fine tuning.
That being said, I always recommend Adam Ragusea’s recipe for a reality check, [here](https://youtu.be/tsCvAijBn4Y?si=SLUjFSPjdiuEIxaA) – – everything after there is micro-adjustments. (As a note, if you follow his recipe, avoid cocoa powder, it’s a curse)
For direct feedback, I think the oven was too high– maybe even with convection on (?). And there was also an issue with macaronage. Before piping, the ribbon should slowly flow back into the mix, such that when piped, a couple whacks on the table, and the cookies are smooth, but not flat.