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Debbie Paton

Macaron Feet | It's All About the Feet!

Updated: Jun 3, 2023


Red, white and blue macarons displaying delicate, neat feet

All macaron feet should have the all important delicate frill at the bottom of the shell. They are an iconic and an important feature of the macaron. Lovely little frills shows you have properly executed your technique using the correct ratio of macaron ingredients, mixing (macaronage) and have set your oven to the right temperature.



There are no short cuts in the preparation. So, let's go through the different processes: the meringue, macaronage, resting and baking.


The Meringue

This stage of the macaron making process has the biggest contribution towards ensuring pretty frills. Under beaten egg whites will cause the macarons not to rise properly and over beaten causes hollow/sunken/spreading out of feet.


So how do I know when the meringue is ready?

I use the Swiss meringue method which entails whisking the sugar and egg whites together over a double boiler until dissolved before moving onto the next stage, whipping into a meringue. Whipping take anything up to five minutes. I start off at a slow speed for 30 seconds, then up to medium for a minute or two, then medium high until stiff peaks are formed. When you lift the whisk from the bowl, the meringue will have collated on the tip of the whisk where the peak should be stiff and standing up right and you should be able to see little ripples or waves.


Stiff peak after removing whisk from meringue and the soft defined waves within the meringue

Macaronage

What is macaronage? It is French term for the process of folding the almond flour and icing sugar (dry ingredients) into the whipped egg whites. This process is intended to remove the air from the batter and is done until the batter has the right amount of air. It is worked until smooth, shiny and flows off the spatula like a ribbon without the batter breaking off. Another method to check if macaronage is ready is to draw a figure of eight.


When the macaronage step is done correctly, there is a greater chance your macarons turn out perfect (well actually perfection can be difficult with macarons) and have beautiful feet.



Macaronage: things to look for - glossy batter, continuous ribbon like flow off spatula without breaking


Steps to Succeed with Macaronage

  • Always weigh all the ingredients exactly (follow the recipe)

  • Make sure all the bowls, whisks, and spatulas are dry and clean, free from grease

  • Always sift the almond flour and powdered sugar together

  • Make sure your meringue is strong and shiny before adding the dry ingredients

  • Fold the batter slowly. Be delicate and mix continuously until you reach the right consistency that can be easily piped into smooth shells. Do be careful as it is very easy to overmix the batter

  • Do not use liquid food colouring. It can ruin the batter. I use powdered food colouring (where I add it to the sugar and egg white mix during the heating process). Occasionally, I may use gel colouring

Many macaron problems start from improper macaronage technique. If not done properly, macarons may to be too fragile or too tough. It takes lots of practice to master this technique with getting acquainted with each stage of the process from the meringue, batter consistency and the most important of all, knowing your oven.


Images of over and under mixed batter during macaronage.

Resting

Once the macarons are piped, it is critical to leave the trays to rest for 30 minutes. It will take longer if you are resting them in humid conditions. In these conditions, I will rest them in a preheated oven at 50°c for 30 minutes which helps to save time when I have a few batches to make.


Resting allows a skin to form over the shells holding in the batter while baking preventing any cracking. You will know when they are ready when the surface is no longer sticky.


Resting shells on silicon mat after being piped

Below are examples of cracking shells resulting from not enough resting time.


Images of cracked shells caused by under whipped meringue and not resting long enough.


Baking

I bake my macarons at 150°c inside my oven with top and bottom heat, no fan using the bottom shelf if my oven. I have an oven thermometer to ensure the heat remains constant. Some ovens have heat pockets so investing in a couple is worthwhile. The temperature display on the outside of your oven is not necessarily the correct temperature and may cause your macarons to over or under bake.


If the oven is too hot, the air in the batter will be released too quickly as steam and may cause the top to crack. If not hot enough, your macarons may not bake evenly and end up lopsided with possibly cracked shells.


I bake for 18 to 19 minutes. If your oven has uneven heat spots, I recommend turning the trays halfway through baking to ensure an even bake.


Before I remove them from the oven, I do a little wobble test - just by wiggling the sides of the macarons with my thumb and index finger to ensure they are solid. If they wobble a bit, I bake them for another minute or so, then test again.


To avoid browning of my pale macarons, I turn the tray after 10 minutes and cover with aluminium foil for an additional 10 minutes or so. This may mean you need to bake them for a minute or two longer as the foil reflects the heat.


It is in the first 10 minutes of baking the feet begin to form.


Finally, remove from the oven and leave to cool for half an hour to an hour on the silicon mat to ensure that the feet do not stick when you remove them.


How are Macaron feet formed?

During the baking process a textured ring is formed at the base of the shell. The feet are formed as the moisture in the macaron turns to steam and pushes the macaron upwards.


Macaron feet should look round an evenly sized circle at the base about 1 to 2mm thick.




Even this video wasn't taken by myself, I do love watching this time lapse watching them rise and fall during the baking process.


Some examples of where the macaron feet have not formed properly.


Showing the different feet caused by errors in the macaronage, not resting enough, over whipped meringue

Examples of some good macaron feet.


Examples of the perfect macaron foot

Clean, delicate, small ruffled, unbroken feet are a good indication the macaron is not hollow.


So if you follow the correct whipping of the meringue, macaronage, resting and baking times/temperatures you could be on your way to creating the perfect macaron with the iconic frilly feet.


Remember, be patient :-)





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