Macarons a l'ancienne

Macarons à l'ancienne (old fashioned macarons) are all the rage at rural fairs in the Touraine Loire Valley. To read the blurb posted on stands selling them you would believe they are positively a health food -- gluten free, made from a few simple nourishing natural ingredients. They are certainly a sweet treat, but at around €2 each, not something you want to be buying in any quantity or very frequently. And they are actually rather easy to make at home.

 

Artisanal macarons à l'ancienne at a food fair in the Touraine.

No one really knows where macarons come from or how they were first created, but the traditional rustic style (as opposed to the refined, colourful and fashionable choice in patisseries all over France) is one of the most delicious specialities of the Poitou region, just to our south and west. They are crunchy on the outside and squidgy on the inside.

 

 Piping macarons.

 

The word macaron first appeared in a book by Rabelais, written between 1548 and 1552. It may come from the Italian ammaccare 'to crush' - after the ground almonds used to make them. According to some historians these little cakes arrived in France in 1533 from Italy with Catherine de Medici when she arrived to marry Prince Henri (later King Henri II). The queen's pastry cooks brought with them the secrets of working with sugar and almonds to make marzipan, and also the more humble macaron. Other culinary historians say that macarons were already being made in French convents of the Middle Ages. Their accounts vary too on how the macaron spread throughout France. Some say that pilgrims on the route to Santiago de Compostella gave macarons as a thank you gift to their hosts at each staging point. Others say that the King loved them (and there is documentary evidence for this) and so pastry cooks throughout the land made sure to learn how to make them when he visited.

 

 A tray of uncooked macarons.

Whatever the truth of the matter, the result is that macarons are now ubiquitious in the Hexagon. They rose in popularity first in Nancy and in Bordeaux, where two nuns made them famous after the Revolution. At the end of the 19th century two sisters in Montmorillon were the last in a long line of macaron makers. Having no descendents themselves they gave their recipe to their kitchen maid, who carried on making the macarons. Her daughter married and in 1920 she and her husband took over the business. It is now run by their grandson, who has expanded to several shops and in 2003 set up the Musée de l'Amande et du macaron. It seems that these days, France doesn't produce sufficient almonds to supply the ever burgeoning macaron market, and they are now made with Spanish almonds. 

 

 Dusted with icing sugar and ready to bake.

So here is an easy recipe for making your own. I don't bother to colour or sandwich them. They are a nice little biscuit with coffee.

 

Fresh out of the oven.

 

Ingredients

3 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1½ cups almond meal

Vanilla extract

Icing sugar

 

Method

1. Heat your oven to 180°C.
2. Beat the egg whites until stiff, for about 10 minutes, ideally in a stand mixer.
3. Beat the sugar in gradually and thoroughly.
4. Add a few drops of vanilla.
5. Fold in the almond meal with a metal spoon.
6. Leave the mixture to rest for 30 minutes.
7. Line baking trays with silicone mats.
8. Put a wide plain round nozzle in your piping bag and load the mixture into the bag.
9. Pipe a spiral from the outside in to fill a 5 cm diameter circle for each macaron.
10. Dust the macarons with icing sugar.
11. Bake for 15 minutes. Be careful not to overbake as they will be too dry, and taste a bit burnt. They should be lightly coloured and have a craquelure on top.
12. Cool completely and store in an airtight container. They will keep a long time -- much longer than they will last...

Makes 25 - 30 macarons. 

 

 Fresh out of the oven.

Fresh out of the oven.