The store offers all sorts of French pastries such as caneles, choux pastries and of course, macarons!
Owner David Introligator is offering classes to teach you how to bake the all-too-popular macarons!
Macarons are taking the world by storm right now, including Vancouver! These smooth, delicate little rounds sandwiched with creamy fillings are sweet, crunchy, light with just the right amount of melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Not to be confused with the French coconut macaroon (OO!), a macaron is a sweet merignue-based cookie. Look at this awesome macaron tower display in the shop!
Let's get started, shall we? We were fortunate to be invited to observe one of David's macaron classes. Each class is limited to six spots and is two to three hours long. David covers both the French and Italian methods to make macarons.
Participants gather round a large table to watch David demonstrate the making of the macarons in the kitchen behind the shop front.
Basic ingredients need to make macarons (same ingredients but different proportions for the French and Italian methods):
- Almond powder (ground almonds, basically);
- Confectioner's sugar (aka icing sugar, powdered sugar);
- Egg whites (best if aged for a day or two);
- Granulated sugar;
- Any flavourings you like such as cocoa powder, green tea powder etc.
Equipment needed:
- Weighing scale;
- Sieve;
- Bowls;
- Spatula;
- Food processor;
- Hand mixer or stand mixer (stand mixer is highly recommended for Italian macarons);
- Piping bags and tips;
- Oven trays.
First, before making the actual biscuits, David shows us how to make chocolate ganache for the filling with three simple ingredients -- chocolate chips, heavy cream and butter.
Start by boiling the cream in a pot.
When the cream is boiling, pour over the bowl of chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks broken into small pieces).
Gently stir the mixture until the chocolate is melted and the cream is totally incorporated with the chocolate. Add a small nub of butter and mix well. You should have a glossy smooth chocolate mixture. Place into the fridge to set for a couple hours and you should end up with something like in the bottom right picture.
The French Method
Now, we can start making the biscuit part!
Combine the almond powder, icing sugar, and your choice of flavouring (here, David used cocoa powder) in a large bowl and give it a rough mix. Then, pour it into the food processor for a good grind.
After blitzing it in the food processor for a few minutes, sift the mixture and discard the bits left in the sieve.
Time for the meringue! With the egg whites in a big bowl, use a hand mixer to get fluffy soft peaks, then add the sugar and continue mixing at high speed until stiff peaks form. You'll know its done when you can hold the bowl upside down over your head and nothing falls out!
Finally, add the dry mixture to the meringue all at once and fold it gently until most of the air from the meringue is gone and none of the dry mix remains. You should end up with a runny batter.
Time for piping! David gave tips on the right way of holding the piping bag and how to prevent batter from dripping from the tip.
A handy tool to have while piping the macaron batter is a template of rounds so you can be sure that all your circles are uniform and of the same size (more or less). You can find templates on the Internet or draw your own circles on a piece of parchment paper and piping on the opposite side. When using a template, place a piece of parchment paper over it and slip the template out when you are done, and it is reusable again!
With swift and practiced hands, David expertly pipes the batter onto the cookie sheet, at the same time explaining the batter will spread out and the rounds will flatten, so it is important to leave some space between them.
After piping, the batter gets a 30-minute rest as you want them to dry up and be smooth to the touch (the dried batter should not stick to your fingers). It is now time for hands-on practice for the participants!
While the batches of macarons rest, David shows us the Italian method , which is slightly more complicated than the French method. He uses the Italian method to make the macarons he sells in the store.
Same procedures for blending and sifting the dry mixture, and this time, you add some of the egg whites directly into the dry mix. If you wish to add food colouring, it is advisable to put a few drops of gel colouring on the egg whites.
The Italian method involves boiling sugar and water to a temperature of 118 degrees Celsius (you will need a candy thermometer for this!).
While the sugar syrup is coming to a boil, begin whipping your egg whites in a stand mixer. When the syrup has reached the right temperature, pour it into the stand mixer while it continues to whip the egg whites. Be careful as the sugar is VERY HOT! Turn up the speed on the mixer and continue mixing until you get a thick, shiny meringue (but not too firm).
Add some of the meringue into the dry mixture and mix well, and add the remaining meringue and gently fold it into the batter. Then, pipe the batter into rounds in the same manner as the French method, and leave the rounds to rest.
At this time, the batch of French-method macarons have rested enough and is ready to go into the oven!
Every oven is different, so you may have to experiment at different temperatures to get the right setting for your oven at home!
Take a look at the baking macarons and make sure they don't burn! They don't take very long -- about 12 to 15 minutes depending on your oven.
When they are out of the oven, wait for a few minutes before you remove them from the parchment paper. Have your choice of filling ready and pair up the cookie rounds. Then pipe a small dollop of filling (David used good ol' chocolate ganache) and gently press the two sides together.
Class participants get to take home a batch of their macarons made during the class, as well as a box of six macarons from the store and ingredients to make a batch of their own macarons at home.
And today's chocolate macarons are done! It is best to let them mature in the fridge for at least 24 hours before consuming -- this is so the biscuit has a chance to meld with the filling and the flavours combine for a more textured taste. When mature, the cookies should not open like an Oreo cookie; the two sides should be tightly fused together by the filling.
Here's a mini macaron tower to end this post! Happy macaron making everyone!
♥ Nikki
