For all their simplicity, macarons can be difficult to make at home. Their light-as-air texture, crisp outer shell, and signature foot rely on good technique. In short, it comes down to how you mix the macaron batter.
Macaron batter is made by folding almond flour and confectioners’ sugar into a whipped meringue with a flexible spatula, and the technique even has its own name: macaronage. Macaronage can be challenging because you want to intentionally deflate some of the air in the batter while still preserving enough bubbles to make your macarons light and airy.
Baking Instructor Elisabeth Berthasavage, host of our Classic Macarons at Home On-Demand class, has the secret to success: Once there are no visible streaks of almond flour or confectioners’ sugar in the batter, she instructs you to use your spatula to smear the batter up the side of the bowl, rotating as you go. Working your way around the bowl, scrape everything back into the center and repeat. As you continue, the batter will gradually change, becoming smoother, shinier, and more fluid. With each pass, the texture improves. Watch her in action:
As Elisabeth explains this technique breaks down large, irregular air bubbles while preserving the smaller, more consistent ones needed to achieve macarons’ signature round shape and smooth texture.
To test if your batter is ready to pipe into cookies, lift your spatula and let the batter fall back into the bowl. It should flow in a continuous ribbon without breaking, and it should dissolve back into the surface smoothly and evenly.
Get all of Elisabeth’s expert tips in this in-depth On-Demand class: Classic Macarons at Home.
Cover photo by Patrick Marinello; food styling by Ryan Salerno.
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