From now on, reader questions that I receive in private will be answered here. Since I receive a lot of requests for personal help, I have decided to publish the questions and answers publicly so that others can benefit from it as well.
Please take a look through these questions and the resources I listed if you need help. If you have a question for me, please leave a comment on a corresponding blog post instead of through email or private message. This will allow me to make better use of my time so I can continue to create content that will be of use to you. Thanks so much for understanding and for your support of my work. XOXO, Mimi
P.S. These posts will be of help to you. Please take a look at them to get immediate answers to frequently asked questions:
- Macaron Troubleshooting Guide
- Mimi's Best Macaron Recipe
- How to Make Meringue for Perfect Macarons
- How to Age Eggs for Perfect Macarons
- Macaron fillings - all the different types to use
- What Causes Hollow Macarons
A: Thank you! The buttercream recipe for piping the flower blossom macarons are here.
A: You can try using peach gel color (or a mix of orange and pink) in the meringue. Once the macaron is finished baking and cooled off, brush it with some gold pearl dust.
A: I always use silicone mats to help retail the shape. If using my recipe, I recommend keeping the meringue stiff and don't over fold. Your batter might be too runny.
xoxo,
Mimi
A: You can try to let it dry even longer. I have heard another baker let hers dry for several hours. However, if you are only piping round shapes and your batter is correct, you do not need to rest them at all. It's just extra insurance for weaker batters or macaron art with use of several colors.
A: Hi! Thank you! The answer I can give you is very similar to the one above. You can try to let the macaron batter rest longer. I have heard another baker let hers dry for several hours. However, if you are only piping round shapes and your batter is correct, you do not need to rest them at all. It's just extra insurance for weaker batters or macaron art with use of several colors.
A: You might be overwhipping with your kitchaid mixer. I discuss this issue in this post about hollow macarons.
A: Here is an article I wrote all about hollow macarons. btw, do ask the original recipe writer about how to deal with their particular recipe. XOXO, Mimi
A: Hi, Yes you can double and even quadruple!
A: I learned from a french pastry chef who ran a bakery. You can learn to make them at Bon Macaron in Vancouver. Good luck!
A: Hi, you don't necessarily need a skin to form for baking. If you really can't get the skin to develop, bake them anyways. Resting is just extra insurance for them not to crack. If you beat your meringue to a much stiffer consistency, they do dry better.
A: I use Americolor's Super Red and I use about 5 big drops. You can add a bit of dark purple to up the intensity.
A: Hi, No I don't have any tips, I have heard that my recipe works at high altitudes. I don't have any personal experience with high altitudes so I don't have any info for you. Sorry 🙁
A: Hi, it's usually not the recipe's fault if there are hollows, mostly its due to the techniques. Since you've tried so many different recipes, it's another indicator that there is something wrong with your technique. Here is a post which will discuss hollow macarons and how to to overcome it.
A: Thank you! I've added it to my Mimi's Macaron Friends post.
A: Wonderful results! These are absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sending it to me.
A: Yes I do freeze sometimes if I have extras and I want to save some as extra treats for myself. Just make them when it's convenient for you and put them inside air tight containers in the fridge or freezer. Make sure to place a parchment paper in between each layer to prevent them from sticking.
A: It is from Rainbow Dust 🙂
A: Yes you can definitely wait longer until they are completely dry. Yes, too little heat can cause hollows. Read here how to prevent hollows.
A: I would recommend Amazon and only buy the original SILPAT brand.
I would start again. I think your batter has been compromised already. Watch out for these issues: don't over whip meringue, weigh the almond flour properly, make sure gel colours are new and not expired.
A: Thank you! You should watch out that your temperature is not too high and that you have not over folded.
A: Wow! It looks wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing with me!! I bet they were delicious. XOXO, Mimi
A: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you are getting better results now. The possibilities are endless once you learn how to make them.
A: Yes you can! Just make them when it's convenient for you and put them inside air tight containers in the fridge or freezer. Make sure to place a parchment paper in between each layer to prevent them from sticking.
A: Please read my troubleshooting guide. It will address that issue under blotchy tops.
A: You can try piping them smaller, don't over beat the meringue and using a bit more heat.
A: Thank you so much! Keep baking! XOXO, Mimi
A: I haven't tried shipping macarons before... if I were to do it, I'd package them each individually in clear bags and them lay bubble wrap in between each layer of macarons with the cooling pads next to it. I'd also fill the entire box with of bubble wrap or foam so that the macarons don't shuffle around which can cause them to break.
A: I use 2 different kinds. You can find it on my SHOP
A: I think it looks GREAT! I really don't see anything wrong with them.
A: I have a home oven that is a dual compartment oven. Here is the link to the answer I gave another reader. Please look at the comment published on March 30th, 2018. Your oven might be the culprit if it doesn't have a consistent temperature. It's not the biggest issue. If your batter is correctly prepared, it should only affect it by causing cracking (if too hot but easy fix) or giving you hollows (since the temperature might be dropping). If your macarons look much worse than what I'm describing, I would work on your batter first.
A: I make a large batch of batter and just pipe them all at the same time. I wouldn't make multiple batters unless they were different colored. The batter can last for a while in the piping bag if it's sealed.
A: Yes, it's OK to add cornflour/cornstarch to your dry mix. There is corn starch in most powdered sugar brands. Just check the ingredients on the package. I have heard that adding it can make the macarons less hollow.
A: Hi, with my recipe, they should be firm and sticky on the inside immediately when they come out of the oven and once they cool off, they should be crisp. Only after filling and maturing, do them "soften" up. If the meringue is not fully baked, it will collapse after cooling causing hollow macarons.
A: Thank you! Yes you can put it into the dry mix of almonds and sugar. Keep in mind, almonds are not naturally white, the shells will always be a bit ivory regardless of how much white you put in. One more thing I want to add is that in the last few years, I read articles about the health effects of inhaling titanium dioxide. You might want to look into a bit more before handling it for use in your baked goods.
XOXO,
Mimi
A: I do not make any sugar free macarons. However, all macarons are gluten-free by their simple composition of sugar, almonds and egg whites.
A: I use Americolor Black. It works really well. You can also add some black powder colour to make it more intense.
A: You can keep the shells in an air tight container in the freezer or in the fridge until you are ready to fill them. Either one is fine. I would not keep them on the counter.
Q: Yes I do have an individual question for you - I hope you'll answer for me. 🙂 I use a commercial convection oven (blodgett) for macarons - still struggling with hollow shells 8 yrs later. What temp setting do you use on yours? I have been baking at about 265F for ~16 min in total. Thanks so much! M******le
A: I don't have experience using a commercial oven. For my regular home oven I have had great success with these two temperatures: Big regular sized oven: 325F for 12-14 minutes. Small Dual Compartment Oven: 275F for 16-18 minutes.
You might want to look at this new post I wrote about all the different ways to combat hollow macarons.
Q: I have used your recipe but although they are completely full, they sink. You can see that the dome is not curve, and the feet has really spread, which I’m pretty sure that it is due to the temp, I know I can lower it, and increase the time but, I could avoid them sinking. At the time I took the picture, they were a little toasted, but they were actually chewy when I took’em out of the oven. I baked 330, for 21 min, using silpats in a conventional oven.
A: I don't think temperature is your main issue as 330 is a pretty descent number (if your temp is accurate). It looks like your meringue was not beaten stiff enough. Try beating it a bit firmer. XOXO, Mimi
Q: Hi Mimi, As someone with more experience I’m hoping you can help me. I purchased a silicone mat for baking my macarons because I’m so annoyed by the crinkling of the parchment paper. Well they’re expensive lol. And it didn’t work out for me! So I recently saw someone using teflon sheets so I got some and was so excited for a cheaper solution to get round smooth bottomed macarons! Well every time I’ve used them they crack/explode out the top. I have even piped ½ a batch on parchment and the other ½ on the teflon sheet. The parchment ones came out perfect (with the exception of the wrinkly bottoms from the parchment) and the teflon ones exploded out the tops. They went in immediately after I took out the first tray and the oven temp was the same and it was the same batch. I have no idea why. I’m assuming they conduct heat differently? I’ve tried turning the oven down and that doesn’t seem to do the trick either. So, I’m sorry for the novel of a back story, but do you have any suggestions or could you offer any help? I would so appreciate it!! Thanks in advance! ❤ K****a
A: I understand your situation. Different mats/paper do conduct heat differently. In this case, the Teflon is allowing a lot of heat to reach your mac shells. I would let them dry much longer so they are strong enough to withstand the heat that is reaching it. Turning down the heat also helps even though you did mention you have already tried that. XOXO,
Mimi
A: Yes! Definitely too much folding!
A: Wow! Wonderful tie-dye effect! I wish I could make a cake like that too!
A: Wow! I love the pretty little feet and how nice and bright they are!
A: Hi. It's definitely hard for all of us. You're not the only one. I have a huge planner 🙂
I used to use a combination of mobile To-Do-Lists and Calendars (a single app just doesn't cut it!) but my phone screen is so tiny that it just wasn't effective for seeing everything all together at once. I finally decided to go old-school and bought myself a small pen/paper agenda. It was pretty nice to write everything down and have a good bird's eye view of everything. But after a month, I realized that it was still too small so I took the plunge and just got a huge planner from BANDO. It's 3X thicker than my laptop. Talk about going back to the stone age LOL. However, it has changed everything about the way I organize my time.
Here's how I use it:
Monthly Calendar View for Publishing& Appointments:
Monthly Goals:
Daily To Do List:
Long Term Projects:
Receipts/Loose Paper:
I continue to use 3 mobile apps for organization since I can't always carry out such a big planner. I keep track of my appointments on GOOGLE CALENDAR so when I need to make an appointment, I can quickly refer to my phone to see if I'm available. This can be accessed on desktop as well which is so useful.
I use TO DO-IST to keep a simple clean shopping list. I keep this as a widget on my home screen so it's easily accessible, especially handy when you're in a rush at the grocery store or mall.
Last is a precious new app I discovered called LIST: Daily Checklist. It is the app I have been waiting for all my life 🙂 It is a list that resets itself daily which makes it so convenient for tracking tasks that you need to do everyday like drink 8 cups of water, excercise, take vitamins etc...
Hope this helps.
XOXO,
Mimi
A: You can use a combination of Black gel color from Americolor and black powder color together.
A: Hi, I'm glad you found my tutorials useful. For this bear, I would wait until a thin skin develops before piping the next part and then wait until it dries completely. Like very dry! before placing in the oven. The full tutorial for batter on batter macarons here. From the photo you showed me of your macaron, I would watch out now to over-whip the meringue to avoid hollow macarons. Whip until its firm enough not to slip around when you turn the bowl over.
A: Hi, try to beat the meringue stiffer and turn on an overhead fan for them to dry out. If your batter is at the correct consistency, you don't even need to rest your batter and it can go straight into the oven. XO, Mimi
Q: Hi! I made your recipe today! from: [email protected]
A: Wow! these are soo nice! I'm glad you were able to use my Over the Rainbow Macaron tutorial to make this. It looks fabulous.
Q: Hi Mimi!!!
I hope you read this message 😳.
I’ve besen using your macaron recipe and it worked for me wells I was trying to improve my meringue because they were hollow sometimes. But today happened something crazy. From: [email protected]***C***S
A: You may not have whipped the meringue stiff enough. Also watch out for the colours you put in. Make sure you shake them well and is at the right consistency. Older gel colours can break your meringue.
Q: Thanks for the idea! Love your hard work. From: [email protected]_macarons_creations
A: WOW! these are so cool! I love them so much!! You made them just in time for Valentine's Day. Thanks for showing them to me. XOXO, Mimi
Newsletter Subscribers can download macaron template for free here:
Q: I made these Neopolitan Macarons with Strawberry Buttercream and chocolate fudge center today using your recipe!! Thank you!! IG:@catrina.rittenhouse
A: Wow! They look amazing! I'm so impressed with them. Thanks for your note. XOXO, Mimi
Q: Hi Mimi, I've been following and reading your blog. New baker to macaroons. I tried your recipe to a tee but I ended up with swollen cracked tops. Not sure what caused that. I baked at 300 degrees. Any advise would be helpful and appreciated. [email protected]***3**2
A: Your meringue should be strong and stiff before folding. Make sure you are allowing your macaron shells to dry completely before placing them in the oven. XOXO, Mimi
Q: Hi Mimi! I stumbled upon your blog a week ago and used your basic macaron recipe to make my first ever batch of macarons! I was completely surprised my macarons turned out near perfect especially since i never made macarons before and it was pretty much my first time piping out anything from a pastry bag! Loved all the macaron tips you posted on your blog. They were all super helpful! Can't wait to try more of your macaron recipes in the future! From: [email protected]*****k**n
A: Thank you so much! I really appreciate the love!
Q: Hi mimi! I'm writing to ask how I could fix my Macaron as I can't really find in your guide what is wrong with my Macaron. It seems a mix of "no feet" and "cracked". Would you be able to advise what went wrong with these photos attached? My oven has only fan force function, which I can't fix that. From: [email protected]*****81
A: Your oven most likely not the culprit in this case. You'll need to beat your meringue much stiffer and also wait until the shells completely dry before baking. XOXO, Mimi
Jules says
Hi Mimi! I love your blog and have been practicing making macarons for a little over a year now and getting better! I was wondering if you had any tips for making a white chocolate ganache look more smooth? I have followed your white chocolate ganache recipes to a tee but they keep turning out very grainy and lumpy or very runny/doesn’t set. This doesn’t happen when I use dark chocolate though, turns out smooth and pipeable every time. I have tried all kinds and many different brands of white chocolate and I get the same results every time. Is there a specific brand of white chocolate you use or do you have any tips to improve the consistency or is it supposed to look lumpy/grainy?
Thank you! 🙂
Mimi says
Hi Jules,
No, it should not be lumpy 🙂 It sounds like the chocolate hasn't fully melted. You can place the mixture over a pot of boiling water (don't let it touch the water) and stir until the chocolate is melted and becomes smooth. Hope it helps.
XOXO,
Mimi