Well, I made the macaroons.
I decided to follow Margeurite Patten's recipe, in her Baking book. I was a bit unsure about how much to whip the egg whites. She says "until they are just frothy" and advises against trying to whip them to firm. But exactly when is "just frothy"?
The first signs of frothiness appeared very quickly. But I couldn't believe that was it. So I whipped faster and for longer. When I say "I", I mean "using my mixer, I". I stopped. Still frothy. I had another whizz. And another.
Eventually my nerves couldn't stand it, and I stopped. I muxed everything else in, and then made little thingummies on baking trays. I popped two trays in the oven.
How to tell if they are done? The cooking time depends on size. Uh-huh. Right. Well, I had more balls than the recipe should have yielded, so let's assume that I need the shortest amount of time. But looking at them, how can you tell? Should they be crisp? Soggy? Moist?
I still have 4 egg whites in the fridge, and a big bag of almonds so I can make another batch of ground almonds if necessary. So, I got them out and they are cooling on the baking sheets as I type.
We'll see.
I decided to follow Margeurite Patten's recipe, in her Baking book. I was a bit unsure about how much to whip the egg whites. She says "until they are just frothy" and advises against trying to whip them to firm. But exactly when is "just frothy"?
The first signs of frothiness appeared very quickly. But I couldn't believe that was it. So I whipped faster and for longer. When I say "I", I mean "using my mixer, I". I stopped. Still frothy. I had another whizz. And another.
Eventually my nerves couldn't stand it, and I stopped. I muxed everything else in, and then made little thingummies on baking trays. I popped two trays in the oven.
How to tell if they are done? The cooking time depends on size. Uh-huh. Right. Well, I had more balls than the recipe should have yielded, so let's assume that I need the shortest amount of time. But looking at them, how can you tell? Should they be crisp? Soggy? Moist?
I still have 4 egg whites in the fridge, and a big bag of almonds so I can make another batch of ground almonds if necessary. So, I got them out and they are cooling on the baking sheets as I type.
We'll see.
