2018 Baking Challenge- Macarons

This past year, I decided that I was going to do a baking challenge. Stipulations to said challenge:

1. Make at least two things each month

2. Must be something I have NOT made before OR something I have failed at before

I thought this would be a good place to start with a blog. I am not a professional baker. I am a professional professor of English as a Second Language. This is a hobby that I love, and I thought others might love it too. What follows is the chaos of my baking challenge. Most were wins, some were losses. I will share the things I found to work AND not work. I apologize in advance for all the profanity. #sorrynotsorry

Pistachio Macarons

Yes, I did just jump right in. I was like, you know what, let’s start with a really complicated recipe. That’ll be good. Sink or swim, right? But I LOVE macarons, and they’re hella expensive to buy most of the time. Well, first of all, they’re not cheap to make either, but that’s neither here nor there. Well, yes it is. It’s exactly here. Anyway…

I used Mini Munchies recipe: http://www.minimunchie.com/2014/07/31/pistachio-macarons/

Not only did I decide to make macarons, but oh, I also had to make pistachio flour. Yes, I am aware of the idiocy of that plan. Hindsight. 

For the pistachio flour:

Making your own flour

1. Take 110-120 grams of pistachios *err on the side of more (because you need at least 112 grams after you toast, and you might lose some weight in the grinding ** If you don’t have a food scale, get one. Seriously, this makes baking non-American recipes actually doable. This one is similar to what I have: https://www.amazon.com/1byone-700US-0001-Digital-Kitchen-Multifunction/dp/B018LXSPEA/ref=sr_1_26?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1538437388&sr=1-26&keywords=food+scale
2.  Put in a food processor and pulse. Make sure you don’t let it go too long or it’ll get hot and start to goo. If you don’t have a food processor, then you can chop by hand… godspeed.
3.  Put on a lined sheet tray and bake at 200 F for about 30 minutes. Let it cool completely.

Making the macarons:

You’ll need:

112 grams of pistachio flour (that you just made yourself, you badass)

200 grams powdered sugar

50 grams granulated sugar

90 grams egg whites (I think it was about 2 eggs) *The recipe said to make sure your egg whites were aged for a few days- putting them in a fridge alone for 2 days to let some of the liquid evaporate. I didn’t do this because ain’t nobody got time for that. Then it said to let them come to room temp- I did do this. 

1. Sieve 112 grams of your pistachio flour with 200 grams of powdered sugar *Side note here: I had a hell of a time with this part- maybe I overthought it. Anyway, I would recommend sieving your pistachios first all by themselves and then weighing again (to make sure you have 112 grams. Some of my bits were bigger and wouldn’t go through the sieve. That’s why you make a little extra. THEN you can sieve again with the powdered sugar. 
2. Prepare a pastry bag with a big round tip. *I always use a big cup to hold my bag in place because I don’t have 4 hands. 
3. In a stand mixer with a whisking attachment, whisk the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks. Then add your 50 grams of granulated sugar and whisk on high until you get stiff peaks- The peaks will stand up by themselves and not fall back on themselves.  
4. Once they have reached stiff peaks, you can add food coloring. *I didn’t do this because I didn’t have green and it would be weird to have purple pistachio macarons, although I do enjoy the alliteration.
5.  Fold in your dry ingredients (your sifted pistachio flour and powdered sugar). DON’T use the stand mixer for this. Just use a rubber spatula. Your batter should be shiny and stick together nicely. 

6. Pour the batter into your piping bag and pipe into circles on a parchment-covered sheet tray. *I drew circles in pencil on the backside of the parchment paper first because I don’t trust myself. You can make them as big or little as you want, but I did about the size of a half dollar.

7. After you finish, drop the sheet tray on the counter about 5 times to get the bubbles out. *Don’t be gentle, but don’t hulk out either. 

8. Let them be for at least 30 minutes on the counter. * I know…. Patience. When they’re ready to go in the oven, they’ll be more matte instead of shiny and you can lightly touch them. GENTLE. I see you. If they don’t stick to your finger, you’re good to go. 

9.  Bake in the oven at 275 – 300 F for 12-15 minutes. You don’t want them to be too brown on the top, but you want them to be able to get off the paper.

10. You want FEET! See this if you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, see the video. 

*my feet were fatty, but it’s fine. Chunky and funky 

 

NOW, for the innards:

For the pistachio buttercream, you’ll need:

½ c pistachios (shelled and chopped) – yes the recipe turned American all of sudden with the measurements.

1 c powdered sugar

1 egg
1/2 c unsalted butter cold 

1.  Beat powdered sugar and egg in stand mixer with whisk attachment on high speed for about 4 minutes until mixture is fluffy and voluminous. 
2.  Pour the sugar mixture into a saucepan. Add chopped pistachios. Heat over low/medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture turns into a thick batter- about 5 minutes. 
3.  Remove the batter and put into a shallow pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let cool *do this while you’re macaron shells are baking so that you don’t hate yourself later for having to wait longer to eat deliciousness. 
4. While you wait for it to cool, cut the cold butter into slices and beat in a stand mixer on high for about 8 minutes. Once the batter is softened and fluffy, add the cooled batter and beat on high for about 5 minutes until fluffy.
5. Fill another pastry bag and pipe into your cooled macaron shells.

Rating (scale of 1-5):

Difficulty: 3 

Amount of Time: 2 

Awesomeness: 5