For those who don't have almond flour ready, here's a tip on how to make it.
Author's words

I decided to add a few details about making almond flour at home, I think it will be useful.

To clean the almonds, you need to pour boiling water for 10 minutes, drain and pour boiling water again, for a couple of minutes. Then drain the water and peel off the skin, it will peel off very easily.
Peeled almonds need to be dried in a hot frying pan or in the oven for 50C for about 10 minutes, very carefully - do not burn.
Cool down.
Peeled almonds and powdered sugar required by the recipe, before grinding in a coffee grinder, put in the freezer for 10 minutes. Nuts will be better milled and will not give oil.
You need to grind nuts with the addition of powdered sugar, in small portions, in a pulse mode for 5 seconds, shaking the coffee grinder. Literally 5-6 clicks and - pour out the crumbs. You can immediately sift it, put large crumbs back into the coffee grinder.
Get almond flour. It needs to be sifted 2-3 times in total.

So, mix ground almonds and powdered sugar and sift 2 times through a fine sieve

That's what's left. It can be crushed and sifted again

We cover the baking sheet with baking paper and prepare a bag for the dough.

Beat the protein until the first not very thick foam appears.
We add our 10 grams of sugar to the protein.

Beat until a stable foam (so that the traces of the mixer do not spread) and at the last stage add the dye (gel or powder and no other!).
I added half a teaspoon of my dye



We continue to beat until strong peaks or until such an extent that when tilted, the proteins do not drain from the bowl.

In three stages, add our sugar-almond mixture to the protein, mixing from top to bottom so as not to damage the bubbles in the protein.

Put the mixture into a pastry bag.
We put our macarons on a baking sheet. Diameter 2-3 cm, distance from each other 3-4.
I got 19 circles

Leave them on the table for 20 minutes (I left it for almost an hour! I was afraid that the top would crack when baking) until a crust forms, so that nothing sticks if you touch it with your finger. You can immediately sprinkle them with something lightly after planting, but I have not done this yet.
If after jigging the dough you have a stable tail, then the dough turned out to be thick, if your dough flows out of the pastry bag, then it is too liquid




Preheat the oven to 140 C.
Nothing sticks? Put in the oven on medium level and forget for 10 minutes. I didn't manage to forget, and after 5 minutes I was sitting by the oven... not in vain, by the way, I got to the performance "how a skirt is made". They are growing right before your eyes! So I recommend that beginners sit by the oven and take a look, it's worth it.
I baked 10-12 minutes

hardened? We get it!



We take them out on baking paper and put them on a cold surface, quickly remove them and turn them upside down so that any moisture in the very center disappears.

Now cream.

Because I didn't expect themI have will turn out, then I did not think about the cream.
I had this hazelnut cream. Type peanut butter, only from hazelnuts

Very soft texture. Not good good stuffing for macarons, too sweet... but it will do for a sample...

In general, we select the same halves (I got them of different sizes ... I need training), spread one half, cover the second ...

That's what I did. And there is a "skirt", and the top is even, not cracked, and the color is bright ...
Not bad for a first time. I am satisfied.

French President Macron, macarons, macaroons….sometimes it seems to me that all French words are very similar. But let's make it clear: macarons are still cookies, and macarons are the same cakes from two crispy halves with cream filling, which we will bake today and which you see in the main photo.

This is a small French pastry that consists of egg white, sugar, powdered sugar, almond flour and often food coloring. The lids of the cake are baked separately, and then assembled according to the “sandwich” principle with the help of ganache or cream.

I ask you not to be afraid of the difficulties that are written about on the Internet. The complexity of making pasta is greatly exaggerated! What they just don’t offer: sift the almond flour two hundred times, and then dry it with a thin layer in the oven, age the proteins (or freeze them), and it’s generally scary to read about the kneading process: undermixed is bad, mixed is even worse ... Today I’ll tell you about my how to make these cakes, see step by step recipe with a photo and see everything is much easier than it seems at first.

Ingredients for the filling (we will cook it first, because it needs to brew and thicken):

• Berry puree - 80 g (I used red currant, you can have absolutely anything)
• Fatty cream - 80 ml (I have 30%) What to replace? Fatty fresh sour cream without sourness.
• White chocolate - 180 g (I used two chocolate bars without additives)

Lids Ingredients:

• Powdered sugar - 150 g
• Almond flour - 150 g (I grinded almonds myself, I talk about the process in detail)
• Proteins - 50 g
• Sugar - 150 g
• Water - 100 ml
• Proteins - 50 g (this is two proteins from small eggs or 1.5 proteins from eggs of category C O)
• Gel thick dye (optional) - 0.5 tsp. You can make a replacement for dry dye, but it is forbidden to use liquid dye, since it gives a lot of excess moisture.

We use a total of 4 egg whites in our Macaron Hats recipe (two for the almond flour and two for the Italian meringue).

How to cook pasta filling (recipe with photo step by step):

If you have ready-made berry puree, feel free to use it and skip my explanations. I use frozen redcurrants to make a smooth puree. I spread the berries (by weight, about 200 grams of frozen berries) in a saucepan with a thick bottom and turn on medium heat.

Frozen berries release moisture and juice, turning into gruel. It will take approximately 10-12 minutes. Stir the mixture from time to time so that the berries do not burn.

If you use fresh currants (or other berries), you should add a little water (about 2 tablespoons), otherwise they may burn.

Puree is heterogeneous, so it is better to pass it through a metal sieve. Then measure out 80 g for the recipe.

In a bowl with berry puree add pieces white chocolate(180 g), as well as 80 ml. fat cream.

Mix all ingredients until completely combined. The chocolate will quickly melt into the hot puree.

It turns out a berry cream based on white chocolate. You can wait until it cools to room temperature, and then transfer it to a pastry bag and put it in the refrigerator. The filling should become thick.

How to make pasta hats

Sift icing sugar (150 g) into a bowl to get rid of lumps.

In the same bowl, add almond flour (150 g). If you buy it in a store and you have a choice, give preference to fine flour. If grinding almonds yourself, try to make the flour as fine as possible. The surface of pasta cakes depends on how small the almond grains are. The smaller, the smoother the hats.

Mix almond flour with powdered sugar(if you want, you can sift them together).

Now add 50 g of proteins at room temperature. Mix again.

It turns out a thick viscous porridge, which is called "marzipan". If you try to lift part of the mixture on the spatula, it will fall off in pieces (that is, the density is such that the mixture does not flow). Many recipes recommend adding coloring at this point. But I do it differently: I add it when cooking syrup. In my opinion, it is easier to dissolve and mix it. In thick marzipan, this is much more difficult to do.

Italian meringue for pasta

These coveted cakes can be made with both French meringue and Italian meringue. I love the second option for the stability of the result. And, it seems to me, Italian meringue cakes are more tender and airy. Italian meringue (in which proteins are boiled with sugar syrup) is easy to make, the most important thing is to have a pastry thermometer on hand. For those who do not have a thermometer, I will tell you how to determine the readiness of the syrup without one.

Combine sugar (150 g) and water (100 ml) in a saucepan and put on fire.

Stir the mixture and add food coloring. I use Ameri Color super red gel color. It is necessary that the syrup turns bright red, after combining with marzipan, the color will not be so intense. It takes me 0.5 tsp. dye. Stir it into the syrup and continue to cook.

Periodically insert a thermometer to check the temperature of the syrup. After waiting for 114 C, we begin to beat the whites in a separate bowl into a lush foam. When the syrup reaches 118-120 C, we will pour it into whipped proteins.

Of course, experienced confectioners can do without a thermometer. It is enough to look at how slowly the bubbles in the syrup inflate. That is, at the very beginning of its preparation, the bubbles burst, practically without inflating, and by the time the syrup is ready, they begin to slowly stretch and inflate, forming round balls. If you have not yet developed such a skill, prepare the syrup before testing for a soft ball (a drop of syrup must be dipped into a glass cold water and roll the ball). If the ball rolls, then the syrup is ready.

By the time the syrup is cooked, the proteins should be whipped into a fluffy white foam. We begin to pour in the syrup in a thin stream, without ceasing to work with a mixer. In the photo I have it stopped, but do not pay attention to this fact - I have not yet learned how to just take pictures while holding the camera in my mouth (although, oh, how convenient it would be)).

After pouring in the syrup, continue to beat the mixture until stable peaks. At first, the mass will be liquid and shiny, then it will begin to thicken before our eyes, leaving more and more clear marks on the surface.

The process can be considered complete if the mixture holds its shape. Build a "snowdrift" on the surface, it should not fall off. Another test for readiness is to turn the bowl with the contents upside down: the mass should not fall off. If the mixer is powerful, it takes 7-10 minutes to whip the mixture after adding the syrup, in a stationary mixer this process is even faster.

Combine marzipan and protein mixture, mix. It turns out "dough" for pasta, which is called "pasta". Don't be careful! Many recipes on the Internet prescribe: you need to mix very carefully, carefully, from top to bottom, from bottom to top, clockwise and other nonsense. But believe me, these actions will not affect the result at all, so mix as you like. The most important thing is that the meringue and almond mass are well connected so that there are no dry lumps.

Consistency ready dough for pasta, it should be viscous, drain from the shoulder blade with an uninterrupted tape.

What to bake pasta on: on a silicone mat, parchment or teflon sheet?

Opt for Teflon. It is perfectly smooth and slippery, thanks to which the hats do not cling to the surface when baking. My experiments with ordinary baking paper and a silicone mat showed that the lids are uneven, crooked. When I got a Teflon mat, the cakes turned out smoother, with a beautiful skirt.

So, we transfer the pastry dough into a pastry bag with a round nozzle and place the lids in a checkerboard pattern (for better ventilation during baking). Hold the pastry bag perpendicular to the baking sheet, at a 90-degree angle as you pipe (this will make the shape smoother). You can not use nozzles, but simply cut off the corner of the desired size. If you want to make perfect macaroons, you can draw even circles (2.5-3 cm in diameter) on the back side baking paper and extrude the mass along the contour. If you use a Teflon sheet, draw them on a sheet of paper and place them under the baking sheet, after jigging, remove them. I considered this idea superfluous - on the second baking sheet, the hand itself understands how it should be - and the cakes turn out to be approximately the same. In addition, I bake them not for sale, but for home tea parties =)
As you can see, after the lids are deposited, they look uneven (bumpy surface).

The "beaks" are visible on the lids, which remained after being deposited from the bag. In order for the surface to level and the air we do not need come out of the pasta, we take the baking sheet in our hands and hit the table several times (you can put a towel on the table so that there is no rumble). What happens if this is not done? The surface of the cakes in the oven will crack, as excess air will rapidly leave the halves of pasta.

After these actions, the blanks of the cakes turn out to be smoother and spread a little in volume. Keep this fact in mind when dropping off.

Next important point: leave the cakes to dry at room temperature. They should become matte and, when touched with a fingertip, leave no traces. If you touch the surface - it is sticky and “smears”, you can’t send such cakes to the oven, wait more. The time to dry the hats depends on the humidity in your apartment, it took me an hour.

There is such a way of drying for electric ovens: turn on the temperature of 100 C and set the baking sheet with pasta to an average level for 10-15 minutes, constantly checking the surface with your finger so as not to overexpose. As soon as the lids stop shining and sticking to your fingers, remove from the oven, cool and then proceed according to the recipe.

We send the cakes to the oven preheated to 160 ° C (Top-Bottom mode) and then we observe the process. The baking time depends on the power of your oven. My pasta takes 16 minutes to bake. At the sixth minute of baking, the skirt begins to grow, then it falls off a little, but not critically. Cakes are ready if they are easily removed from the baking sheet (now I am talking about a Teflon mat). From a silicone surface or from ordinary baking paper, they can only begin to be removed after complete cooling. Do not overexpose the pasta in the oven, otherwise they will become too dry, change color, and simply fry.
I recommend baking the hats in small batches to get used to the oven. If you see, for example, that the surface is cracked and the pasta has changed color, then the temperature is too high, for the next 5 pieces, make it smaller. In this way, by experience, you will determine what temperature for baking pasta for your oven is ideal.

Attention! If you have a gas oven, you need to heat it up to 250 C, then turn it off (!) And put a baking sheet with pasta in it. Leave them for 20-25 minutes until done.

We turn over the completely cooled cakes, we find halves that are very similar to each other.

Squeeze the filling from the pastry bag onto one of the halves of the “pair”. We connect them in pairs.

Macarons are ready! It is better to eat them not immediately, but the next day, so that the filling soaks the lids well.

Macarons can be made with the most various fillings, use both white and milk chocolate as the main component of the filling.

What are the perfect pasta?

It is considered that macarons are successful if they have a smooth, shiny, even surface and a characteristic "skirt", the lower porous layer. Macarons should not be cracked, bent to the side, the skirt should match the diameter of the lid. The cream should peek out a little from the cakes, but not flow out in any way.

Store pasta in a container with a tight lid. Store in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. This will keep them fresh and tasty for several days.

Why pasta doesn't work

Sometimes mishaps happen when making pasta. Rarely, but they do happen. This usually happens the very first time the pasta is cooked, and only because you can't know in advance what temperature your oven is ideal for baking pasta. But as soon as you make friends with the oven, there will be no missteps.

Let's analyze the frequent failures when baking them:

Why do pasta lids crack?

If you do not dry the pasta before baking, the lids will crack in the oven. This happened with my first pan of cakes. Before you send them to bake, you should let them stand at room temperature until the surface does not stick to your fingers and stops shining. A little higher in the article, I explained how to do drying in the oven.

Another reason for cracking is too high a temperature. If you dried the lids perfectly before sending them to the oven, and you should not worry about this, then the cracks appear due to the high temperature. Try reducing it.

Why doesn't macarons have a skirt or is it too small

This happens if the temperature in the oven is too low. In the recipe I used to cook, the temperature was indicated as 140 C, I set it exactly like that, but the skirts did not appear ((((When I increased the temperature to 160 ° C, the skirts turned out!

Why are pasta inside hollow (empty)

The halves can become hollow inside if there is too much air in the pasta. Therefore, it is important to knock the pan on the table well so that excess air comes out of the halves.

Why did the halves shrink and settle

This usually happens if you make French meringue cakes and not Italian ones. Let me remind you that in French sugar is whipped with whites “dry”, in Italian - we cook sugar syrup and add to beaten egg whites. So, if sugar is added in large portions, it will not have time to disperse: the proteins will whip, and the sugar will float on its own. As a result, in the oven, the sugar begins to caramelize, becomes heavier and pulls the meringue with it, which leads to a heavy bottom and a shriveled cap.

When planting, pasta hats have an uneven shape

Macarons spread on a baking sheet in uneven puddles in cases where the dough is very liquid. You've been tossing pasta with meringue for too long. Therefore, it is important to stop on time, the pasta mixture should flow down in a wide ribbon, if you raise the spatula above the bowl - this is the correct consistency for the dough. In this case, when we put the halves on a baking sheet, they themselves diverge a little, while they have an even round shape.

Macarons are not removed from the pan

If you have any questions about the recipe, ask them in the comments, I'm glad to get feedback!

I have recorded a video recipe for pasta cakes for you, which you can watch on our You Tube channel:

You can attach photos of the resulting cakes to the comments, it's very interesting to see how they turned out for you! Good luck!

If you will post photos on Instagram, please indicate the tag #pirogeevo or #pirogeevo so that I can find your photos on the network. Thanks!

In contact with

As I said before, not so long ago I was on a course on making macaroons. And she promised to talk about them. So to anyone who is interested, please follow me!

I'll start with a little background. Those who have been reading me for a long time know about pasta. I cooked them several times, and, to my great regret, every time I was less and less satisfied with them. Either there are too many bubbles in the dough, then the "skirt" does not rise, then the top bursts, then something else. I don’t know what the problem was: I always strictly followed the recipe: grams, degrees, the procedure. But the result was getting worse and worse. I even switched to silicone mats, because. once, due to damp parchment for baking, the entire batch of cakes was ruined immediately after the "seating": the paper went in waves and my neat circles spread in different directions. But later even new rugs did not help. Macarons have ceased to turn out at all! I was upset for a long time and looked longingly at recipes in books and on websites. In the end, I decided to look and go to some courses to find out what my problem was.
Several months have passed since then. We were looking for another apartment, then we moved and were engaged in the arrangement of new housing. In short, somehow it was not up to the courses. When I saw that there was an electric oven in the new apartment (as opposed to the gas oven in the previous one), I realized that I had to start conquering the "macarons" peaks again. But the fear remained. Having searched well on the Internet about all kinds of schools and courses that are in New York, I settled on classes from the Millefeuille cafe-confectionery ( orig. name"Mille-feuille"). Now more about them.
This pastry shop was opened in 2010 by Chef Oliver. A Frenchman for whom the art of confectionery is a true passion for life. He fell in love with New York during a visit in 2009, so much so that he wanted to move here and start his own business. A sort of small "corner of France in America." Located at: 552 Laguardia place, NY, 10012, between 3rd st and Bleecker st. His cafe-pastry "Mille-feuille" quickly earned love and respect, and their croissants were named the best in New York. The confectionery assortment is quite classic and fully meets the expectations of French pastries: chocolate eclairs, fruit tartlets, financiers, millefeuille, croissants, brioches, chocolate buns and, of course, macarons. Every Saturday at 9:30 a.m., the patisserie holds a master class on cooking one or another type of confectionery. 3 times a month it's macarons and 1 time - croissants. The lesson lasts 2.5-3 hours. During this time, under the strict guidance of the chef, the students themselves make 30 cakes and then safely take them home. The cost for one person is $135. Number of students in the class: 8 - maximum.

So, I was the last one there, but I was not late. The group was complete, all 8 people. I thought that we would be trained somewhere in the production area or in some separate room, but in fact, we cooked literally a meter from the client area of ​​​​the cafe, right in front of the visitors. Considering that it was early Saturday morning, there were not so many of them =) But no one interfered with anyone, and when the cooking process began, everyone forgot about any constraint. There were two instructors: the pastry chef (not Oliver himself, but also French) and his assistant. Everyone was given leaflets with a brief recipe and the number of ingredients. We announced that today we are making three types of pasta: pistachio, vanilla and chocolate. Everyone was divided into pairs and away we go! First we mix raw proteins With almond flour and powdered sugar and liquid coloring, then showed how to make Italian meringue and later, gradually, spoon by spoon, mixed it with the dough. A small master class on depositing dough on parchment and voila! Each student has 60 uncooked pasta halves. While everyone signs their baking sheets, the chef prepares the production oven. And then, 3-4 huge pans at a time, puts them to bake! And no "give them 30 minutes for them to get covered with a light crust." While the halves are baking, the filling is quickly made: fragrant vanilla beans, Valrone chocolate, whipping cream, pistachio paste ... Everything happens so quickly and so easily that you don’t have time to notice how an hour has already passed from the lesson. We were all brought for dessert macaroons from the assortment of the confectionery: raspberry, passion fruit, coconut, coffee, chocolate, blackcurrant and a few more flavors. Everything is fresh and very tasty! While we were tasting them, the first batches of our cake blanks are ready: and each, EVERY half is good! No cracked top, no crooked "skirt", no sticky dough to parchment - everything is flawless. Unless, the sizes of the halves are the same as the student himself wanted =) Some of the rest of the dough made such oblong lines, and then they called it "macarons-eclair". Why not? =)
I finally get my baking sheet and I'm proud of it more than ever. Still would! If at home I always had a few pieces immediately go into the trash due to the fact that they did not pass the "control", and then the rest had to be selected according to size, then here all the halves were the same, so it only remained to put the filling on top and connect. While all the students are busy with this process, each is given 2 boxes for pasta: for 24 pcs and 6 pcs. Only 30, as promised! =)

When everyone (terribly pleased and joyful) has finished, the chef gives the last recommendations and parting words about the storage of cakes. We solemnly promise not to touch them for another day, then we take apart our boxes, put the recipes with important notes in the margins into bags and, thanking our teachers from the bottom of our hearts, we happily go home to admire our masterpieces =)
And the next day, when I tried them... You know, they were the best macarons in my life! And from those that I have prepared, including! Delicate center with a slightly crispy crust that melts on the lips. All three flavors were very rich, but I especially liked the chocolate ones. They are my favourites! And yes, I will definitely repeat them at home and share the recipe;)