Thursday, February 11, 2010

What's the difference? Macaron vs. Macaroon

Ok, let me get this straight! I love macarons and not macaroons, yes just with the one(1) 'o'.

So, what is the difference?

For a start, macaron is a meringue based. Made from a mixture of egg whites (or you can alternate this with egg white powder), almond flour, granulated sugar (caster sugar will do the trick) and icing sugar.
The perfect macaron has a smooth, domed top and within 5(five) minutes in the oven it should have the little feet popping out at the bottom. Any longer and you still do not see those little feet, you can forget all about it.
Typically, a macaron is filled with cream ganache, simply made of chocolate, heavy cream and unsalted butter.

70% Excellence Delice (Macaron) from Lindt 

Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of macaroon to show you all the difference (never bake or buy one before). However, if you google search for macaroons you can find images, recipes and even blogs that are dedicated to them.
Most macaroon recipes call for egg whites, coconut (almond as an alternative) and caster sugar. Similar ingredients used in baking macarons, however the method/preparation is entirely different. The texture of a macaroon is more like a soft cookie, light and fluffy. 

Hopefully this mini entry clarifies your confusion =)

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