Macarons

Having used this book for almost 3 years, there are few things to bear in mind. I found using 300g ground almonds, 300g icing sugar and 300g caster sugar produced too much quantity of the same colour, so I tend to use the same quantity and split into 2. Do not use less than the 110g egg white called for to mix the colouring otherwise the batter will be too stiff and you will not have a smooth surface, plus your shell will all have peaks, which makes your macarons a nuisance to stack (I used 150g egg white). If you use this book a lot, I think it is good to deviate from the recipes, to see the results that are produced. It all helps to produce the perfect macarons. For example instead of the 180C that pierre recommends, I bake all mine at 150C for 11 minutes and they turn out perfect.Lately I have used 300g ground almonds, 300g icing sugar and 300g caster sugar to make 3 different Macaron flavours, hence think outside the box and make 3, possibly 4 different colours / flavours of Macarons as illustrated in the image below. The green macarons are Matcha tea, orange are Orange flavour and the brown ones are Coffee.I love what Pierre Herme has done with this book. I am not sure that the aim is to copy what he has done, but to get you thinking on how to create your own Macarons, try to copy Pierre and you will be frustrated because many of the ingredients are not easy to come by. My first batch of Macarons I made were Coconut Macarons which involved using Coconut natural extract in the shell and Coconut oil and more coconut extract in the filing. It was divine for my first trial.I bought my ground almonds from Sainsbury's and it was not finely grounded, after sifting the almonds only 100g of the 200g was finely grounded. In the end I decided it will be a waste to throw 100g away and that had an impact on the presentation of the shell. It was not smooth at all, but it tasted good. I now buy my ground almond from Costco, as it is more finely grounded, and comes in a 1.36Kg bag (No longer available). Waitrose's quality is also good, but is quite expensive.The book is inspirational and highly recommended for anyone who is patient and skilled to produce these delicate munchies.

I found this book to be very informative on how to make macarons as well as provide many ideas, some more on the exotic end, on what to fill them with. Don't be deterred from buying this book thinking it's too exotic since the classics are also included. In the end macarons are about expressing your individuality and your personal taste, Pierre Herme is an inspiration and will trigger you to have your own ideas on what to fill them with. I highly recommend buying this book if you are serious about your macarons.

A really great book showing easy to follow step by step instructions and pictures to make macarons an excellent edition to anyone’s baking repertoire.

Tried a few recipes and macarons looked and tasted as they do when you buy them in Pierre Herme shops. Detailed instructions, and useful pointers, unlike many other macaron books. Macaron flavours unique and different, sometimes very different (caviar, gherkin, truffle, even ketchup). A great book and certainly the best macaron book out there.On the negative. the section on suppliers is pretty appalling however and could have been better researched; many I tried to track down either are based abroad and do not do any form of mail order, or deal with trade only (so what on earth is the point of including them?). Few (I daresay not a single person) will notice the difference between rose water from an obscure producer/supplier versus supermarket bought equivalents that are readily available, once you have diluted it all out and baked it in the oven. Meanwhile, there is very poor (or typically no) sourcing information for things that are harder to get hold of (e.g. food grade titanium oxide, from a reputable supplier). A few recipes also call for things you will probably struggle to source even in Paris (e.g. butter from specific districts in France), though these can be readily substituted. Perhaps these issues can be amended for future editions?Word of advice also on the recipes; the amount of colouring appears to refer to fairly concentrated gel colours. Using UK supermarket brands of food colouring necessitates a rough doubling of the amount to achieve the characteristic vibrant PIerre Herme macaron.

Well ......... I should have just gone ahead and bought this book long long time ago. It would have saved me a lot of time, energy and wasted ingredients.I am no newbie when it comes to baking, but no matter what I did, nothing worked. I followed million different recipes online, YouTube recipes etc. and they all very conveniently “forget” and skip over some crustal steps and details that make ALL the difference.This book is very well constructed with very clear and simple-to-follow instruction. I have, at no point, had any trouble understanding the instructions and as long as you follow everything to the letter, you will succeed in making these little cookies.Just a quick warning for those who wish to bake Macarons with whatever they already have scattered about in their cupboards ....... it won’t work with this particular book. There are some ingredients in here that require a little effort to get, which I personally see as an exciting challenge and a chance to discover new flavours. If you love baking and don’t have a problem doing some searching, you’ll love the results.I will be buying the second book as well, as I am well impressed by everything I found in this one. I definitely recommend ^^

I never thought I would have the ability to make macarons, as I know how complicated they are to make, but this book is so well written, that I managed it first time. To say that there is attention to detail with the recipes would be an understatement. The recipes are amazing, and the book allows you to make macarons that are as simple or as complicated as you want to.