This divinely gentle, light and weightless, melting in your mouth pasta cookie is equated with the sweet masterpieces of confectioners. Previously, its recipe was a secret behind seven seals, and only representatives of the aristocracy could afford to try this delicacy. In our time, dessert has ceased to be inaccessible, and with proper culinary skill, it can be prepared in the home kitchen.

The history of the origin of French sweets

According to ancient culinary recipes preserved in a cloister near the city of Nancy in the northeastern part of France, French pasta was first made in 791. This recipe was invented by the sisters nuns Marie-Elizabeth and Margarita, who either wanted to circumvent the ban on the use of sweets, or, according to the teachings of St. Theresa of Avila, found a replacement for meat in the form of almonds.

It is noteworthy that before the dessert had a different appearance than it is now. It was just a round cake, which was covered with jam and sprinkled with spices. Its current form, as well as popularity around the world, pasta received in the twentieth century.

Classic Macaron Cookies (macaron)

Cookies "Macaron" consists of two round halves (shells) with a characteristic skirt, layered with filling. The baking of shells is considered the most difficult in the process of their preparation. All the intricacies of the process are described in detail in the classic recipe, but it is worth noting right away that without a kitchen scale and thermometer, it is impossible to make pasta.

So, for the almond dough you need to prepare:

  • 100 g of almond flour;
  • 100 g of granulated sugar;
  • 37 g of egg white.

Another component - Italian meringue is prepared from:

  • 100 g of white crystalline sugar;
  • 29 ml of water;
  • 37 g of protein.

Step by step recipe:

  1. Put a dish on the kitchen scale. First, through the sieve, pass the necessary amount of powdered sugar into it, then walnut flour. For a smooth and smooth shell surface, larger pieces of walnut should not fall into the dough.
  2. Next, thoroughly mix both components with a whisk, it will not be superfluous to sift the resulting mixture through a sieve with small holes. After that, add protein and carefully knead everything until smooth.
  3. For meringue, add sugar to the water, send to the stove and cook, without interfering, so that the sugar does not crystallize on the walls and does not burn to 110 ° C.
  4. When the sweet liquid becomes 95 degrees, start whipping the proteins until a stable foam. There is enough time for whipping, and the syrup has time to reach the desired temperature. At the next stage, it must be introduced into the proteins in a thin stream, continuing to whisk until the moment when the meringue becomes 45 degrees.
  5. Next, connect both components of the macro. It is important not to overdo it. When the mess will drain a wide strip from the shoulder blade, he is ready.
  6. Using a pastry bag with a round nozzle or just cut off the tip, to form blanks of macronage on a special rug made of silicone or parchment. Their diameter should be within 3-4 cm. Let the shelled shells stand for 30-60 minutes at room temperature so that a non-sticky smooth film forms.
  7. After that, heat the oven to 140-150 degrees and put the baking tray with cookies at an average level. After 15-17 minutes, the macarons will start with a slight prying, just bounce off the parchment and they need to be removed from the oven and together with the parchment transferred to the grate.
  8. At the end, the shells are combined in pairs, lubricated with custard, fruit jam, confiture, ganache or other filling. They store the dessert in the refrigerator, and you can start tasting it in a day, when the tastes of all the components have time to unite.

Chocolate Ganache Recipe

The world famous French confectionery chain Ladurée has also contributed to the dessert recipe. It was her confectioners who were the first to use chocolate ganache for gluing two halves of cookies and dyes to give color to baked goods.

To make chocolate pasta, for the protein-sugar component you will need:

  • 107 g protein;
  • 300 g of sugar;
  • 78 ml of water.

Chocolate almond dough is prepared from:

  • 110 g almond flour;
  • 15 g of cocoa powder;
  • 125 g of powdered sugar;
  • 42 g of protein.

For a layer of chocolate ganache you need:

  • 50 g of dark chocolate;
  • 50 ml fatty (33% or home cream).

Working process:

  1. Sift all the ingredients of the almond-chocolate dough thoroughly and mix with egg white until smooth.
  2. Make Italian meringue using a technology similar to the classic pasta recipe. For a more saturated chocolate color, a couple of drops of food coloring can be introduced into the meringue.
  3. Stir the meringue into the dough and put the pasta. After the rounds of cookies stand on the kitchen table and wind up, bake them until cooked at 150 degrees.
  4. Melt chocolate and cream in a single vessel in a steam bath or using a microwave oven. Stir the ganache until smooth and let it cool completely. Fasten the halves of the cookies.

Lemon Flavored

Pasta shells alone are meringues. To many, such pastries seem too sweet, so their sugaryness can be perfectly diluted with citrus notes. So, many people consider the Macaron cookies with lemon flavor to be ideal.

Proportions of products for nut dough:

  • 167 g of almond flour;
  • 167 g of powdered sugar;
  • 60 g protein of chicken eggs;
  • 10 g of very finely grated fresh lemon peel.

The ratio of meringue components will be as follows:

  • 150 g of sugar;
  • 50 ml of water;
  • 60 g of protein;
  • 2-3 drops of lemon helium dye.

To prepare the Kurd for the lemon layer, you will need:

  • 4 yolks;
  • 57 g of sugar;
  • 48 ml of lemon juice;
  • 74 g of butter;
  • 9 g of corn starch mixed with 20 ml of water;
  • 5-10 g of lemon peel.

Cooking Technology:

  1. The procedure for kneading and baking the cookie halves is identical to the classic pasta recipe, with the only difference that during the cooking of the syrup, you need to add a couple of drops of dye to it, and small lemon zest in the almond dough.
  2. For the filling, all the components of the Kurd (except oil) are collected in a saucepan, stir with a whisk in a smooth mixture and sent to medium heat.
  3. With continuous stirring, boil the Kurd until thick, remove from the stove, put the diced butter, mix until it is completely dissolved. Cool the cream by covering it with cling film. Then connect the halves of the cookies together.

Using the same technology, you can cook pasta with other citrus flavors - lime or orange.

Colored cookies "Macarons" with strawberries

Stuffings for pasta is a separate topic for conversation. They are so diverse that you can at least every day create a new masterpiece using various options of berry cream (custard, chocolate-based, butter or cheese).

To cook bright pink Macarons cookies with strawberry filling, for 30-35 ready cookies you need to take for shells:

  • 110 g of protein;
  • 40 ml of water;
  • 150 g of almond flour;
  • 150 g of powdered sugar;
  • 150 g of sugar;
  • pink dye used for food.

The composition of the strawberry filling will be as follows:

  • 175 g strawberries fresh or frozen;
  • 2 yolks;
  • 65 g of sugar;
  • 28 g of starch;
  • 87 g of butter.

The sequence of actions:

  1. Combine thawed or just washed fresh strawberries with half sugar and boil on fire for 5-7 minutes after boiling. Then grind it in mashed potatoes.
  2. Foam the yolks with a mixer to the state of a light lush cream along with sugar and starch, add to them, which did not have time to cool the strawberry puree, return the cream to the fire and boil until thick.
  3. When the custard berry base has cooled, you need to beat it, gradually adding soft butter. The cream is ready and can be stored in the refrigerator.
  4. For macronage, mix half the protein with sifted icing sugar and almond flour. From sugar and water tinted with food coloring, boil the syrup. When its temperature reaches 110 degrees, pour it in a thin stream into the second half of a well-beaten protein;
  5. Combine the almond component and the meringue. From the resulting mass, put off the lids, which they leave at room temperature so that they ventilate. Then bake at 150 degrees until slightly behind parchment.
  6. Put cream on half cooled almond shells, not reaching the edges a little, and cover with second halves. The cream layer should be 2-4 mm.

According to the same recipe, you can cook other types of pasta with fruit and berry fillings, using raspberries, blueberries, cherries, black currants and others instead of strawberries.

How to make with mint

A slightly different technology based on the Swiss meringue is given in the recipe for mint pasta, which will require:

  • 160 g of powdered sugar;
  • 85 g of almond flour;
  • 90 g of egg white;
  • 325 g of sugar (including 200 g for cream);
  • 55 ml of water;
  • 50 g butter;
  • 60 g mint;
  • mint color food color.

How to make pasta with a refreshing mint flavor:

  1. Pour half the proteins into the sifted flour with powder and stir until smooth.
  2. The remaining proteins along with sugar are sent to a steam bath, where we warm up to 60 degrees. Next, beat the mass in the bath for 10 minutes, remove and beat for another 10 minutes with a mixer.
  3. Proteins are painted in mint color and mixed with almond mass. Next, we plant, dry and bake shells in the same way as in the classic recipe.
  4. Grind fresh mint to a pasty consistency in a blender, then transfer to a saucepan, where to pour sugar and add water. Boil the mixture and boil for 10 minutes. Ready syrup completely cool and strain.
  5. Whisk the soft butter, adding mint syrup one tablespoon each.Then we form the pasta, connecting the shell halves in pairs with a cream.

Almond flour at home

The main ingredient in macarons is almond flour. It is not as common a product as wheat or rye, but it is very easy to cook at home, because it is, in fact, ground almond kernels.

More materials:almond flour

The technology of making flour from almonds:

  1. Whole almond kernels in the amount required by prescription should be immersed in boiling water and left for at least ten minutes. During this time, the peel will have time to swell well and it can be easily removed.
  2. White cores without a peel need to be dried. If you need flour of a lighter color, then it is better to do it naturally, spending 5-7 days on drying at room temperature. Dry oven will help speed up the process
  3. pan or microwave. But in this case, the flour will turn out to be cream colored.
  4. Next, you need to grind the almonds into flour using a blender or coffee grinder. This should be done with short pulses no more than 5 seconds, so that oil does not stand out, and the mass does not stray into a lump. If flour is needed for pasta, then you can grind it immediately with icing sugar. This will also prevent clumping.
  5. The finished flour must be sieved through a sieve and dried a little in the oven. If after sifting large pieces of almonds remain, they must again be ground.

Cooking with Coconut

French macaron macaron is often confused with American coconut macaroon. In fact, these are two cookies, the basis of which is protein meringue, only in the first case the surface of the cookie should be perfectly smooth and must have a “skirt”, and in the second case there are not such strict requirements for the appearance of baking or for the recipe.

So, for coconut macaroons you need to take:

  • 200 g coconut flakes;
  • 200 g of condensed milk;
  • 2-3 protein eggs;
  • 10 g of corn starch;
  • 2-3 g of vanillin powder.

Cooking:

  1. Sift the starch into a bowl with coconut flakes, mix. Then pour everything with condensed milk and mix again. Leave the resulting mass for an hour, covering with a film, so that the pod becomes softer.
  2. After the specified time, beat the egg whites with a mixer until soft peaks and carefully mix with the coconut mass. Spread the dough on a greased baking sheet and spoon into the oven.
  3. Macaroons are baked at 165 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Quickly put hot cookies on the wire rack for cooling. If desired, you can pour it with chocolate icing.

Calorie ready desserts

Macaroni cookies, like many other desserts, are quite a high-calorie treat, but their calorie content is largely dependent on the cream that connects both halves.

This can be easily seen by comparing the calories of the above formulations:

  • shells macarons without filling - 367.2 kcal / 100 g;
  • with chocolate ganache filling - 422.8 kcal / 100 g;
  • with lemon Kurd - 369.7 kcal / 100 g;
  • with a layer of strawberry cream - 327.3 kcal / 100 g;
  • with mint flavor - 361.9 kcal / 100 g.

As for coconut macaroons, their caloric value without chocolate icing and any cream will be 421.6 kcal / 100 g.

But no calories can kill the interest and love of the sweet tooth (and not only) to this treat. Confectioners continue their experiments with different tastes, and dessert with the taste of olives, cheese and even chili pepper is already gaining popularity.

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