Macarons, the most important information.

[DomaP]

Hi
I have a question about macaroons.
Do you have any tips how to make them taste and look good?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hi
I have a question about macaroons.
Do you have any tips how to make them taste and look good?

Macaroons the coconut cookies, and not macaron the almond meringue sandwich cookie.

What is it you don’t like about the taste?

 

[retired baker]

Macaroons the coconut cookies, and not macaron the almond meringue sandwich cookie.

What is it you don’t like about the taste?

Almond macaroons are made from almond paste.
Coconut macaroon is made from etc etc...
macaron is the meringue version with almond flour.

Funny thing is if you translate french to english, macaron is macaroon.
Fr to Eng macaroon is macaroon.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Almond macaroons are made from almond paste.
Coconut macaroon is made from etc etc...
macaron is the meringue version with almond flour.

Funny thing is if you translate french to english, macaron is macaroon.
Fr to Eng macaroon is macaroon.

Yes. That‘s why I asked. In the US a macaroon is a coconut cookie. It’s a most associated with the Jewish Passover here since it is unleavened. But people also frequently get it confused with macaron since they are very popular here now. Personally, I prefer the coconut macaroons to the almond macarons. I find the macarons too sweet.

 

[retired baker]

Yes. That‘s why I asked. In the US a macaroon is a coconut cookie. It’s a most associated with the Jewish Passover here since it is unleavened. But people also frequently get it confused with macaron since they are very popular here now. Personally, I prefer the coconut macaroons to the almond macarons. I find the macarons too sweet.

I worked at a kosher catering operation, we made lots of almond macaroons,
later I always got requests for the same in my own bakery, never got orders for coconut anything, never made them.
Seems more like candy to my taste.

Funny thing is, they sell macarons at mac Donalds in Germany.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I worked at a kosher catering operation, we made lots of almond macaroons,
later I always got requests for the same in my own bakery, never got orders for coconut anything, never made them.
Seems more like candy to my taste.

Funny thing is, they sell macarons at mac Donalds in Germany.

That’s really interesting that you can buy a macaron in McDonald’s in German. Well I was curious so I looked up why Americans make macaroons with coconut instead of almond paste. Turns out in the 1800s a miller name Franklin Baker In Philadelphia found shredded coconut to be more affordable to ship then almond paste. It also had better shelf life They started marketing coconut macaroons to. Jewish families during the Passover. And they proved to be very popular because families could ship the product. Now people don’t know any other type of macaroon in the US.

interesting how it evolved into something completely different in the US.

 

[retired baker]

I played with macaroons before retiring, my brother makes them with sweet shred coconut and condensed milk.
Disgustingly sweet, all the sugar leaks out the bottom and pools up around the base, hard to eat unless you like fiberglass.

I found a recipe using "macaroon coconut" from the Philippines, its dried dessicated, not long shred, its unsweetened, easier to eat.
The long sweetened shred gave me stomache cramps.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I played with macaroons before retiring, my brother makes them with sweet shred coconut and condensed milk.
Disgustingly sweet, all the sugar leaks out the bottom and pools up around the base, hard to eat unless you like fiberglass.

I found a recipe using "macaroon coconut" from the Philippines, its dried dessicated, not long shred, its unsweetened, easier to eat.
The long sweetened shred gave me stomache cramps.

OMG Condensed milk I can’t imagine how anyone can eat those. Yeah in the US they tend to make them with the sweetened coconut as well. Which is really sweet. I’m with you on the desiccated coconut. Then drizzled with dark chocolate. Just sweet enough. I am a real fan of coconut and dark chocolate. When I was a kid my favorite candy bar was a coconut bar covered in dark chocolate.