almond macaroons

when I first arrived at my job as pastry chef at the club, I was told I could do anything I wanted with the dining room menu, as long as I kept on the apple crumb pie and the almond macaroons. neither came as a surprise to me-one of the things I love about the club is the traditional new england food we serve among the fancier fare-scrod with mashed potatoes, the apple pie, fish balls on fridays. but what did surprise me was how many plates of macaroons I would sell, and how often I would be making them!

macaroons are some of the oldest known cookies. they date back to the late 18th century. They were created in an Italian monestary. The name macaroon comes from the Italian word for paste-maccarone. The recipe was carried into the world by a pair of Carmelite nuns, who baked and sold the cookies while in hiding during the French revolutionary war, to pay for their housing. they were known as the "macaroon sisters".

macaroons were very popular in the United States during the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson was a macaroon lover, and they were served in the White House. Jefferson's own recipe for macaroons, found in "Thomas Jefferson's Cookbook" gives instruction on how to make almond paste, by pouring boiling water over the nuts to remove the skins and to soften the meat. the almonds were then pounded with a mortar and pestle.

luckily for us in the 21st century, with store bought almond paste, macaroons are quick and easy to make (and require very little muscle). macaroons are in fact, only a combination of three ingredients-almond paste, sugar and egg whites. here are the proportions:

8 oz. almond paste (make sure it is not marzipan, which has more sugar and it not used for baking)
4 oz. sugar
1 egg white

Pre heat your oven to 325 F. temperature is key here-macaroons are a slow baking cookie. If your oven runs hot, you may want to try 300. or invest in a oven thermometer-its worth it!

Begin by breaking up the almond paste into walnut size chunks, and place the sugar on top, in the bowl of a stand mixer. I always make macaroons in a a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment. you could use a food processor, using the blade and a "pulse" motion. if you are machine-less, use you fingers, and work the ingredients like you were cutting butter into flour for a pie crust. On low speed, mix the paste and sugar together, until the paste breaks apart, and the mixture looks like coarse sand, like on a beach in Maine. I can always tell that this step is finished by the sound of it-it begins to sound like one of those rice filled maracas that they let me play in elementary school band. time to add the egg white-as is-no fancy whipping, the white is there to hold everything together and give the cookie that wonderful chewy texture.
let it mix until it forms a ball or two-there is no gluten here to worry about developing, but you can over beat the almond paste, which will make the cookies greasy.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat pan liner. I always use a pan liner for baking cookies. it makes the world a better place to live in, with less stress and time wasted cleaning. But I cannot emphasize this step enough when it comes to macaroons-they will stick to your non lined pan. scoop the cookies with a smallish ice cream scoop, and place about 2 inches apart. they do spread a tiny bit, and I like to give them space so the air can circulate and dry the outside out. I usually put a slivered almond on top of each cookie. Place the cookie sheet in the center of the oven, and bake for about 20-30 minutes, until the cookies are a light golden brown. color is really the only way to tell if the cookies are done. they change texture completely as they are cooling, the outside forming a crisp outer shell to the sweet chewy center. which brings me to the 2nd most important step in macaroon baking-do not try to remove the cookies until at least a half an hour passes by. if you try to remove them while they are still warm, the bottom of the cookies will stick to the parchment, pulling their insides out, and you will be left with only a warm hollow shell.

I serve almond macaroons dusted with confectioners sugar and topped with fresh berries at the club, but they are wonderful as is with a cup of tea. hope you enjoy them!