Making Macarons - attempt 3

Third attempt at the macarons! If you've ever had a go at making macarons (or you've seen my previous failures) you'll know there are a lot of variables which can affect the final product including the humidity in the kitchen.

This time I used a recipe from David Leboviz for chocolate macarons. I only aged the egg whites for an hour, I made sure that I didn't over whip the egg whites, I let them set before I baked them and I cooked them with the oven door slightly a jar.

They look a lot better than last time. A little flat maybe - perhaps I was a bit too cautious with the whipping! The taste was okay, but the texture was still the problem. Instead of being soft and fluffy in the inside they were really chewy. I was starting to think I would never get this right, until someone sent me this post from Not So Humble Pie. It includes a quote from Hermé:

"As soon as they're made they're not ready to eat, but they're really at their best after 24 or even 48 hours," he says. "An osmosis takes place between the garnish and the biscuit. When freshly baked this is hard and crisp, but it absorbs some humidity from the filling and its inside becomes more tender while the crust on the surface stays intact."

So maybe that's how they are supposed to be when they come out of the oven?! I didn't bother doing the filling as I thought they were all wrong! Next time macarons, next time.