No matter what I do my shells are hollow. It feels like I’ve tried just about everything. This is my recipe. 120 AF, 120 powdered sugar, 100 egg white, 100 sugar. Ive tried temps between 280 and 330 lol. Literally like every temp. I’m positive my meringue is strong and stiff. Macaronage I’ve tried less and more. It just seems like no matter what I do they are always hollow. Sad part is I think they are beautiful looking macarons, but every time I go to check the inside I get disappointed. Also yes, after maturing they are still delicious, but I would just like to figure out the problem. Anyone have any advice? I will attach some pics of my macarons.

I know I’m late to the party, but I just started using Master Elite powder coloring and I’m loving it. The color doesn’t fade like my gel colors do and I won’t have to worry about the extra liquid added by the gels.

This is 1/8 tsp of French Blue. Gorgeous color! Forgot to take a picture of the centers.

Hi! I’ve been baking macarons for a couple years while now and have only ever used the French method. I am coming to terms with the fact that I think to achieve what I want I may need to try another method.

With French (and my very unstable oven), I find that I have to bake at a low temp to get nice feet but then I get hollows. If I bake at a high heat, I get nice full shells but I HATE the feet I get.

So here we are. The internet has lead me to believe that the stability of the Italian method is most likely to get me both nice full shells and tall feet.

For people who have switched: do you find that your baking temps transfer from one method to the next? Or is it an entirely different experience? Ie: should I keep my high temps or should I try to go low like recipes recommend?

For people who use Italian in general: any tips?

Final got full shells! My new convection oven keeps blowing my shells over (lopsided) even with the fan off (even when the fan is on “0” the fan still pulses). This was on the top rack, out of the direction fan air stream.

The magic numbers:

Convection oven - “1” fan speed (can do 0, 1, 2)
294F preheat
294F for 13 minutes
2 min oven shower

Hi!! This is my second time trying the swiss method. These are all from the same batch. I baked the mini ones first since they needed less rest time.

Baked the mini ones at 310 F for 15 minutes (although my oven runs a little hotter) and the regular size one baked at 295 F because at 310 F my oven was at 330 F.. and thought that was too hot.

Well.. the mini ones were not hollow which I was so excited about until the regular ones came out on the oven. They were extremely hollow. 😩

Could it be because of the temperature change ? Also, what causes this gap in the feet ?

I lot of trial and error. I had to back down my original plan two notches because, while they were beautiful deep greens, they dyed teeth and tongues too much.

Here’s the formula I landed on:
Color Art Art Master Elite powder - Emerald; triple batch of Italian method macarons per each shade

1st/ top tier = no color

2nd tier = 1/32 tsp Emerald

3rd tier = 1/16 tsp Emerald

4th tier = 1/8 tsp Emerald

5th tier = 1/4 tsp Emerald

6th tier = 1/2 tsp Emerald

7th/bottom tier = 1 tsp Emerald

It is normally a ten tier tower, but the couple used the 8 inch tier for their groom cake and then the top two tiers were removed. My husband made the tower for me.

If I was using all 10 tiers, I would have done two rows of 5 colors, either the deepest 5 hues or the 5 lightest hues.

Fillings: Lemon crème ah la Laduree macaron cookbook; pistachio white chocolate ganache; salted caramel American buttercream, and raspberry jam center and American Buttercream surround.

I didn’t get a solo pic of the Big Bird one!!

Flavors were cookies and cream and vanilla 😋

I’ve been at this about a year and am getting bored of plain Macs. I often do tie dye but for Christmas I was wanting to do snowmen. I want to make the eyes/carrot nose on the tops. Would yall use melting chocolate? Do people use edible paints? I see the craziest intricate designs on here.

hi!! i was so excited to make these, especially since the baker in the video said this recipe never failed her. and i didn’t seem to be too complicated or to have so many weird/extra steps.

these are my first-ever macarons, and obviously something went wrong 😭 they cracked all over, spread quite flat, stuck badly to the parchment paper, and developed no feet. the texture also looks very grainy.
recipe i followed (scaled down to one egg white):
33 g egg white
40 g almond flour
40 g icing sugar
7 g unsweetened cocoa powder
40 g granulated sugar

mixed the almond flour, icing sugar and cocoa powder, then sifted everything together.
tried whipping the egg white in my stand mixer, but it barely whipped such a small quantity, even after 10 minutes. switched to a handheld electric mixer and eventually got a foam/meringue.
gradually added the granulated sugar and whipped until the meringue looked reasonably firm and glossy.
folded in the dry ingredients by hand using a spatula. tried macaronage, scraping and pressing the batter against the sides of the bowl, but it never really reached the smooth, flowing ribbon stage. it stayed somewhere between a blob and a thick ribbon, although it did slowly settle.
piped the shells onto parchment paper, tapped the tray, and baked at 150°C conventional heat for around 25 minutes.

what i suspect:
could my almond flour have been too coarse? although I sifted it, the batter still looked very grainy. i wonder whether i should grind it more finely next time.
could my meringue have been insufficiently whipped because of the tiny quantity?
Did i under-macaronage or over-macaronage? the batter never reached the ribbon consistency shown in tutorials, and i couldn’t tell when to stop.
Could the oven temperature or insufficient resting time explain the cracks and lack of feet?
Is sticking to parchment paper normal before the shells have cooled completely?
I’d really appreciate advice on what most likely went wrong and what I should change for my next attempt. I know macarons are tricky, but the recipe video claimed they were practically foolproof, so I’m a little humbled right now 😂

video here : https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGdCrX1Mn/

The filling is apple butter in the center, and a german buttercream with some apple butter mixed in (mostly just cinnamon/vanilla flavored which is why I added the extra apple butter in the middle)

I get the feet; they taste amazing. I measure everything, bring ingredients to room temp, food-process, dry the almond flour, and hold the bags in place when piping it out. I honestly don't know where its going wrong. Below is the recipe i follow. https://youtu.be/Z6isOA9Calo?is=6_Gt1mAR_luhRGdy

I’m still working on perfecting the cookie and am making a few batches for a party. (Trying Swiss method first time tomorrow).
Last time I served them at a party, the buttercream fillings got very soft sitting at room temp for a few hours.
Any more stable recipes? I’d prefer not to use shortening, I know that would work though.

Hi all,

I’m a home baker and sell my macarons but one of the laws around NY state home processing is that buttercream can’t have any dairy or eggs in it. For a time, I was using Violife plant butter which was the closest to real butter I could get. I started using Country Crock but it’s a little soft even at room temperature so I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions for good vegan butters or alternatives that will work with macarons.

Another note: I tried margarine a while back and the results weren’t great.

They turned out super pretty, but they only ended up tasting like vanilla. If I make these again, I might have to try soaking the cereal in the milk for the buttercream longer, or heat it, or something.

Hi Guys!
Mi have my first paid for order Friday and i am curious if i should follow up to see if everything tasted okay. I’m not sure if this is annoying?

What do you think? Are we doing a follow up after purchases and if so what kind of message are we sending?
Photos for reference. My nerves are getting the best of me

Hello, I am planning on selling macarons soon. I am still very new at this and haven’t started advertising yet. I have a few questions:
1. How much do homemade macarons sell for?
2. What is the smallest package of macarons that would still be profitable to sell?
3. Is only taking set number preorders per week the smart way to start?

My plan was to sell a pack of 4 or 6, now considering pack of 12 as well. Firstly was considering $3/macaron so $18 for 6, my husband thinks that’s on the expensive end.

Any help with ideas on packaging, pricing, thank you card/ menu cards, marketing is highly appreciated.

TIA :)

100 egg white
100 granulated sugar
145 almond flour
145 powder sugar

Baked at 275

Any idea why it’s happening? :(

I’d love to be able to bake more than one tray of shells at a time, but I have a conventional oven. Do I have to get a convection oven instead to be able to do multiple trays? What about a countertop model?