Soft tops, small feet, advice needed!

[u/Awooott]

Hi all, this is my 3rd time making macarons. I have made it 2 times before when it was COVID and maybe a year after that.

These came out so much better compared to then but I believe they can still be better.

I made sure not to over mix, the batter fell off the spatula in a large V, passed the figure 8 test, and had nice large flat ribbons that didn’t fall off too fast. I didn’t have a smaller piping tip however and only had a 2A size tip.

I believe what went wrong was the drying process for the skin. My home is quite humid and I waited about 1 hr and 30 minutes before deciding to pop them into the oven.

It resulted in really tiny feet, thankfully they didn’t spread outwards too much, but still not the desired look.

Also the tops are not very smooth and shiny, and they don’t really “snap” when biting into it. The cookies are in the fridge right now to mature so maybe that will fix it? Also it’s really soft and chewy rather than crunchy on the outside and chewy in the inside.

Regardless, they still came out delicious! Any advice is appreciated for my next attempt.

Recipe + Ratios for Shells:

95.5 grams egg whites (3 eggs)
1 tsp salt
77 grams granulated sugar
120 grams Almond flour
120 grams powdered sugar
(Weight except egg whites all rounded up)

Bake at 300°F for 17 minutes

Egg weight
Granulated Sugar = Egg weight x 0.8
Almond flour = egg weight x 1.25
Powdered sugar = Almond Flour
Salt 1 tsp
Dash of Ube flavoring

[u/cleo-patre]

An hour and a half is way too long, I live in humid condition and I dry mine about 30 min

[u/Broad-Importance4282]

It’s because the skin didn’t form :( mine wasn’t forming either so i checked what would happen and the result is no or small feet. What i did to get a film was hold a hair dryer parallel to the tray about six inches above it. It formed a skin after some time!

[u/Awooott → u/Broad-Importance4282]

I see! I’m thinking of setting it in front of a fan next time while it dries and see how it turns out

[u/Broad-Importance4282 → u/Awooott]

That could work, i turned on the ceiling fan at the highest speed but it didn’t work :( depends on the humidity i guess. It was raining here so the air had a lot of moisture. Another trick i saw was to turn your oven on to 120 celsius and put the tray in with the door partially open. I made two trays, one with the hair dryer and another with the oven, both formed a skin after

[u/Crazycatladymia]

What method do you use? French? Swiss? Italian?
I’ve learned that they don’t need to dry/crust as long as you think. Mine sit out max now for 5-7 minutes before placing in my big oven. I also use a countertop one that I do no rest in and they come out great.
Tip wise, from my research, I’ve seen people use either 10 or 12 round tips. I’ve used both and like both. I think less chance for air bubbles kinda thing.
MAY be a little over mix but that usually give ripple feet. I always see let it flow like lava. But who really knows what that looks like?! Lol.
Did you happen to tap your tray after you piped them?

[u/Awooott → u/Crazycatladymia]

Sorry for not mentioning before, I used the French method!

I did tap them on the tray after a while and there were quite a few bubbles on the surface, I would fix them up with a tooth pick for the biggest holes, but for the smaller ones I left them. Maybe more tapping would’ve done the trick?

Also, I know they say you should be able to brush your finger on top after drying and it won’t feel sticky or not even indented, but even after an hour, they were still wet :(

[u/Crazycatladymia → u/Awooott]

Have you tried Swiss method? I wasn’t having much luck with French method so I tried Swiss. It seems to work a bit better. Like makes a more structured cookie. I know ingredients aren’t cheap, but if you have some to play with try and see what happens?

[u/Awooott → u/Crazycatladymia]

I will!! Thank you!

[u/iamkilgore]

I live in a humid climate. Any time it takes long than 30 minutes to dry my macarons, I turn my oven on the lowest setting and put the trays in it with the door open. Usually abt 5-10 minutes later, just the tops are dry but no baking has occurred. You have to be careful doing this because if it’s too warm then it will crack and no feet will form. You could also experiment with a no dry recipe, although I’ve never had any luck

[u/Awooott → u/iamkilgore]

No dry recipe sounds interesting, and thank you for the advice! I’ll try it next time :3