Macarons — Parisian almond meringue sandwiches

i. Origin & history

Almond-and-egg-white biscuits are old and probably Italian in origin; the word macaron is thought to come from the Italian maccherone, from a root meaning "to crush", referring to the crushed almonds. Such biscuits are recorded in France from at least the sixteenth century, and many French towns developed their own single-shell versions: the macarons de Nancy, associated with two nuns who, the story goes, sold them to support themselves after their convent was closed during the Revolution and became known as the Sœurs Macarons; the macarons of Saint-Émilion, Amiens, Montmorillon and Boulay. These are rustic, cracked-top biscuits, still made today.

The smooth, colourful sandwiched macaron — the macaron parisien or macaron Gerbet — is a Paris creation. It is most often credited to the pâtisserie Ladurée, where in the early twentieth century Pierre Desfontaines is said to have had the idea of joining two shells with a ganache filling. Other Parisian pâtissiers were making similar sandwich biscuits around the same time, so the exact origin is debated.

The macaron's global fame is recent. From the late 1990s, pastry chefs such as Pierre Hermé turned it into a luxury item with inventive flavour combinations and seasonal collections, and the colourful towers in Ladurée's windows became an emblem of Paris. By the 2010s macarons were sold from Tokyo to New York.

It is worth settling a common confusion: a macaron (one o) is this French almond-meringue sandwich, while a macaroon (two os) in English usually means a dense, chewy coconut biscuit. The two share an ancestor but are now quite different things.

ii. Macaronage, the skin and the "foot"

Three stages decide whether a macaron succeeds. The first is the meringue. This recipe uses the Italian method, in which hot sugar syrup at 118 °C is poured onto whipping egg whites. The hot syrup partly cooks the whites and produces a dense, very stable meringue that is more forgiving than the French method of whipping whites with dry sugar, giving more consistent shells.

The second is macaronage: folding the meringue into the paste of ground almonds, icing sugar and raw egg white. The aim is to knock out just enough air that the batter flows like slowly spreading lava. Under-folded batter is stiff, pipes into peaks and bakes with lumpy, cracked tops; over-folded batter is runny, spreads into flat discs and has no foot. The test is to lift the spatula: the batter should fall in a thick, continuous ribbon that sinks back into the surface within about 20–30 seconds.

The third is the skin and the foot. After piping, the shells rest at room temperature until a dry skin forms on top — they should no longer feel tacky to a light touch. In the oven, the inside of the shell heats and expands, but the skin stops it rising evenly through the top; instead, the batter pushes out at the base, forming the characteristic frilly ring called the pied, or foot. Without a skin, the shells crack across the top.

Finally, filled macarons are left to mature in the fridge for 24 hours. Moisture from the filling migrates into the shells, softening the interior so the macaron becomes tender and chewy inside while the outer shell stays crisp. Eaten on the day they are baked, macarons are dry and brittle.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 24 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 150 g finely ground blanched almonds
• 150 g icing sugar
• 55 g egg whites, for the almond paste
• 150 g caster sugar
• 40 ml water
• 55 g egg whites, for the meringue
• 1 pinch salt
• ¼ tsp gel food colouring (optional)
• 100 g dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 100 ml double cream
• 20 g unsalted butter, soft

Ground almonds must be blanched (skinless) and very fine; sift them with the icing sugar and discard any coarse pieces, which give bumpy shells. Commercial "almond flour" sold for macarons is ideal. Weigh the egg whites rather than counting eggs — accuracy matters. Whites separated a day or two ahead and kept covered in the fridge, then brought to room temperature, whip more reliably. Use gel or powder colouring, never liquid, which thins the batter. A sugar thermometer is essential for the syrup. The ganache can be replaced with buttercream, lemon curd or a thick jam.

iv. Method

1. Line two baking trays with baking paper or silicone mats. Sift the ground almonds and icing sugar together, then mix with 55 g egg whites to a thick paste. Add the colouring if using.
2. Put the caster sugar and water in a small pan and heat to 118 °C. When the syrup reaches 110 °C, start whisking the other 55 g egg whites with the salt to soft peaks.
3. With the mixer running, pour the hot syrup in a thin stream down the side of the bowl onto the whites. Whisk for 5–8 minutes until the meringue is stiff, glossy and just warm (about 40 °C).
4. Fold a third of the meringue into the almond paste to loosen it, then fold in the rest, pressing the batter against the side of the bowl and turning it over, until it is smooth and falls from the spatula in a thick, continuous ribbon that disappears into the surface in 20–30 seconds.
5. Transfer to a piping bag with a 1 cm plain nozzle and pipe 3.5 cm rounds, holding the bag vertically, about 3 cm apart. Bang each tray firmly on the counter two or three times to release air bubbles; pop any remaining with a cocktail stick.
6. Leave the shells at room temperature for 30–60 minutes, until a skin forms and they are no longer sticky to a light touch. Heat the oven to 150 °C (300 °F), fan 140 °C.
7. Bake one tray at a time for 13–15 minutes, until the shells have risen on frilly feet and lift cleanly off the paper. Cool completely on the tray.
8. For the ganache, bring the cream to the boil, pour over the chocolate, leave 2 minutes and stir until smooth, then stir in the butter. Cool until thick enough to pipe. Pair the shells by size, pipe ganache onto half and sandwich with the rest.
9. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for 24 hours to mature. Bring to room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Weigh everything. Macarons are unforgiving of approximate measures. Digital scales and a thermometer are essential.
• Judge the macaronage by flow, not time. Fold, test, fold again. Stop as soon as the batter flows in a thick ribbon.
• Let a skin form. Shells baked before they have dried on top crack and lack feet. Humid kitchens need longer.
• Know your oven. Hollow shells usually mean too hot an oven; browned shells mean too hot or too long. An oven thermometer pays for itself.
• Bake one tray at a time on the middle shelf, for even heat.
• Do not skip maturing. The 24 hours in the fridge is what turns crisp, dry shells into proper macarons.

vi. Variations

Classic Parisian flavours include chocolate, raspberry, pistachio, vanilla, coffee, salted caramel, lemon and rose. Flavour the shells with a teaspoon of cocoa, matcha or freeze-dried fruit powder in place of an equal weight of icing sugar, and match the filling. The rustic, single-shell macarons de Nancy and the soft Amiens macarons are worth seeking out for their history.

Related almond-meringue sweets on DessertCat include the dacquoise, the hazelnut meringue and the Sienese ricciarelli, a chewy almond biscuit from Italy. Coconut "macaroons" are a different biscuit; for coconut sweets see cocadas. The meringue kisses page covers plain meringue.

vii. Serving & storage

Serve macarons at room temperature, arranged on a plate or in a box, with tea, coffee or Champagne. They are classic gifts and celebration sweets, and in France they are bought as presents for hosts, at Christmas and for weddings, sometimes stacked into a tower (a pièce montée of macarons).

Filled macarons keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week; take them out 20 minutes before eating. They freeze very well, filled, for up to 3 months: thaw them in their container in the fridge, then bring to room temperature. Unfilled shells can be frozen for up to 3 months as well.

ix. More from French

• Dacquoise — nut meringue layer cake
• Financier — brown-butter almond cake
• Hazelnut Meringue — crisp nut meringue
• Paris-Brest — praline cream choux ring
• Ricciarelli — Sienese almond biscuits
• Meringue Kisses — crisp piped meringues