As we have remarked before, France and Italy are two nations that have made significant contributions to the development of the macaron. Both nations are also credited with different methods for making meringue – an important step in the construction of the perfect macaron. We thought you might be interested in how the methods differ and which we use and why.
The French Method
French meringue is created by combining sugar and egg whites. Most recipes recommend around 50-60g of sugar for each egg white. The egg whites need to be whisked until stiff peaks start to form and then keep whisking as the sugar is slowly added.
The Italian Method
Italian meringue is created using a sugar syrup. This is the type of meringue we use in our core macaron recipe. Mix caster sugar and water together in a small pan. The volume of the sugar and water combined needs to fill the pan at least a 1/4 full. If the pan is too large the temperature of the syrup will rise too quickly. The syrup must be heated up to 117°C and this requires a good depth of syrup for a thermometer to measure accurately. As the temperature of the syrup gets close to 117°C, start whisking the egg whites. Whilst continuing to whisk, pour on the sugar syrup should be poured on to the egg white. Continue to whisk until stiff peaks form.
Why We Use Italian Meringue
There’s been a lot of experimentation in the Macarons & More kitchen. In the early days we experimented with different meringues, oven temperatures, baking times and resting times. Our perfect macarons weren’t created by accident. A lot of science and a lot of note-taking went into the development of our core recipe. Ultimately, the reason we use the Italian meringue is because we've found that extra stability is created by heating the egg white during whisking. The egg white proteins are altered slightly by the heat. That stability helps us during the next stage when the meringue is combined with the ground almonds, particularly in creating the perfect consistency to pipe the macarons. French meringue has a tendency to collapse when it is added to the almonds.