Last week I blogged about my favorite macaron books. I’d waited a bit, trying to get the latest and greatest books for comparison. I wanted one more book, but it was not going to appear until next year and I did not want to delay offering advice with the holidays upon us
Guest what? The book, Macarons by Pierre Hermé, has appeared early. All my high hopes and expectations for this book have been exceeded. This book, this one, is the macaron bible that we have all waited for. It should be at the top of your list when considering macaron cookbooks.
Why? Baking macarons may be the single most delicate cookie operation you will ever undertake. It’s complicated, with many steps. Along the way, doing the wrong thing — something too hot, too much folding — and your macrons will fail. Hermé’s solution is to provide the most completely documented set of instructions, each accompanied by a photograph:
- 32 steps for the macaron shells
- 9 steps for a perfect chocolate ganache
- 8 steps for assembling the shells and fillings into complete macarons
There are techniques and details here that only the expert Hermé could provide. He reminds us that the meringue egg whites have to be weighed to get just the right proportions. And he surprises us by saying those egg whites should then be refrigerated for a week so that they lose their elasticity. Clearly, his great macarons require advance planning!
I promise to faithfully follow 48 of his 49 steps. His last step, to refrigerate the assembled macarons for 24 hours before easting, is untenable.
There are, by my count, 56 macron recipes here. Every recipe is accompanied by a full page color photograph, all tortuously tempting. It’s impossible to open this book and not start eyeing your eggs.
Recipes are grouped by chapter:
- Classics like rose and pistachio
- Fetish flavors like a peach, apricot, and saffron gem
- Signature creations including the Inca: avocado, bananas, and chocolate
- Made-to-order types including a carrot + orange
- Exceptions like the Delicieux: grapefruit and wasabi
Macarons is filled with imagination, creativity and wonder. How do they all taste? Well, I just got the book yesterday, but I can tell you that our holiday dinners and parties will be complemented by choices from Macarons. This Christmas will be white for us. Snow we don’t need. Just lots and lot meringue!