Mad About Macarons!: Make Macarons Like the French [Hardcover]

Jill Colonna (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2010

The best guide available for making Parisian macarons at home. Jill Colonna guides you simply yet precisely through each step in making perfect Parisian macarons every time.

Stylish and fun, this colorful book contains 37 tried-and-tested macaron recipes plus well over a hundred mouth-watering photos.

Classics contain rose or pistachio and also include a nut-free macaron. Be inspired with sticky toffee, chocolate-beetroot or pistachio-wasabi to giant coffee macarons with tiramisu cream. Stun your guests with mini Thai Green Curry Macarons, sensational either before or during dinner.

Beverage pairings are suggested for each gluten-free macaron recipe, along with decorative ideas for weddings, children's parties, gifts plus many other tips.

Note: Measurements are given in grams.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A work of meringue-sandwiched brilliance (Paris Patisseries)


"At last a dedicated Macaron book where the recipes actually work.This book not only provides a range of inspiring flavours to try and suggestions on service, but has a faultless basic recipe that is easy to follow and explains the secret method of macronnage. Follow the timings and you won t go wrong. --Sucre Coeur

A bubbly woman came up to me at the end of a recent meet-up here in Paris with a bag of homemade macarons and a book which she just published on the same subject. In the bag were the most lovely little macarons I ve seen in all of Paris, even in the fancy places that churn out a gazillion of these cookies annually. Macarons have gone rogue, leaving the confines of Paris and spreading across the globe. Mad About Macarons! by Jill Colonna is lavishly photographed with lots of clears steps of the process for how to make classic macarons as well as interesting and unusual variations (curry, chocolate-beet, and pistachio-wasabi to name a few). If you like macarons, it s likely you ll love this book. --David Lebovitz

A bubbly woman came up to me at the end of a recent meet-up here in Paris with a bag of homemade macarons and a book which she just published on the same subject. In the bag were the most lovely little macarons I ve seen in all of Paris, even in the fancy places that churn out a gazillion of these cookies annually. Macarons have gone rogue, leaving the confines of Paris and spreading across the globe. Mad About Macarons! by Jill Colonna is lavishly photographed with lots of clears steps of the process for how to make classic macarons as well as interesting and unusual variations (curry, chocolate-beet, and pistachio-wasabi to name a few). If you like macarons, it s likely you ll love this book. --David Lebovitz

From the Back Cover

The Parisian macaron is the stylishly light French confection tipped to be the new cupcake. The art of making macarons is highly respected in France—and they can be a challenge for the beginner—but the process is made fun and easy in this colorful new book. Learn how to make all the classic flavors, and some dazzlingly unusual ones too. Jill guides you simply and precisely through each step, and reveals some of her secrets so that you too can make macarons like the French.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Waverley Books Ltd; 1 edition (December 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1849340412
• ISBN-13: 978-1849340410
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.4 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,177 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Pastry
  • #55 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > French
  • #88 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Meals

More About the Author

Excited to share her macaron baking know-how in her debut cookbook, Jill Colonna cuts through readers' fears that macarons are difficult to make. In 'Mad About Macarons', she demystifies Parisian pâtisserie chic to make the recipes straightforward, attainable and just as delicious as those you find in Paris, bringing the famous French treat to your own kitchen.

Kirkus, the toughest reviewer in the business, said, "The author provides detailed and precise steps for readers looking to tackle everything from traditional flavors ... to more unusual and exhilirating combinations...Suggested wine and tea pairings for each recipe are also a nice touch, as are the author's suggestions for how to use all those pesky egg yolks you've discarded when creating your egg-white-only macaron masterpieces".

Born in Scotland, Jill lives outside Paris with her French husband and two children.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 66 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No more flubbed macaron shells! January 11, 2011

By Babs54

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've made at least 15 batches macarons from various recipes and none would turn out correctly. Once I tried Jill Colonna's method of just mix the hell out of the batter and then fold it towards the end to achieve the right consistency - my macarons came out perfect. I've made 8 batches of macarons using this method with great success each time. I won't be going back to the gently folding the batter until it looks like molten lava method. The flavor combinattions are great. There's a section just for chocolate! What I liked best is that at the end of the book Jill gives you an egg equivalent chart for any amount of leftover egg whites you have. This is a great resource. Her macarons are not as sweet as the other recipes also.

I highly recommend this book for anyone is starting to make macarons. It takes the frustration out of trying to make macarons. No more flubbed shells with this method!

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Macaron Book..... January 11, 2011

By Elizabeth Halko

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

When I went to Paris in 2009 I fell in love with macarons. Unfortunately finding them in the States is not that easy. When I found out that you could make them at home I tried, and trust me it was a mess. Some of the other books out there are not as exact!! Jill goes into just the right amount of detail. Just finished my first batch from the book, they turned out perfect!! If you are looking to try making macarons at home Mad about Macarons is the way to go!!

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy It Just for the Basic Recipe...It's a MUST! July 16, 2011

By A. Ko

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I initially bought Macarons by Cecile Cannone. Please see my review for that book. Although the taste was wonderful, the presentation was off. My shells would never look perfect. The feet would never be perfect across all batches. They weren't round. The list goes on. So I moved to an intermediate learner book called Mad about Macarons! Here is what I have learned:

Additional things I had to buy:
- medium sieve (Williams Sonoma does not sell one with large enough holes to work. I had to go to Sur La Table and get this strange looking thing. A big short cylindrical metal thing with a wire mesh attached to one side. It cost about $40)
- a hand spatula that is flat on one end and round on the other (again, only could find at Sur La Table. It cost $4)
- a digital scale (I got it at Williams Sonoma. I have a spring weighted scale but that is in ounces. This book is all in grams. The digital scale really helped on that end. Think I paid $50)
- bought a bigger Wilton frosting bag to put the shell batter in

Things I stopped doing (that I had to do with the other book)
- stopped having to put egg white powder in to take care of humidity problems. yay!
- stopped having to worry about how I mix the batter
- stopped having to put salt in the egg mix
- stopped having to refrigerate my leftover almond meal and then put it in the oven pre-mixing to get the humidity out. Thank God!

What is cool about this book:
* it firmly recommends you sift your sugars, powdered sugar (which she calls icing sugar by the way), almond meal, cocoa powder if using, etc). I like it! I throw out my big almond chunks and although I had some initial heart ache about wasting expensive stuff, it really makes the mix look so soft when you are dry mixing it with your whisk!
* in this book it states you can mix the liquid and dry mix together crazily and not worry about it. I was so scared of how to mix my batter before, I kind of like this method. Don't over mix though...I saw oil stains in my shells last time I did that.
* tells you how to get perfect round macarons. Follow what it says. Let your tip rest on the cookie sheet and then put pressure on to build a circle. It really works! Do this at a 45 degree angle. Previously, I was doing a 90 degree angle and my shells were uncontrollable and not perfectly circle. Totally bugged me!
* I like my new tools. They make everything easier. Love the hand spatula. Love the strange looking strainer. Love Love Love!
* No need to open the oven sporadically to let the humidity out.
* The recipe is better for the shell. I no longer have oil stains or cracked shells. My feet are perfect. I do not have to use two cookie sheets at once either (one to insulate the other). How do I do this? 1. my oven temp has to be at 300 degrees NO convection. The fan burns my shells on the side the airflow is going. 2. Cook for 10 minutes. Perfect.

What I kind of don't like about this book:
- where the heck do I get things like custard powder? It's in one of the recipes...still no clue how to find that easily. I think some other ingredients might be like this as well.
- it doesn't have a troubleshooting section like the Macarons book has. Hence, I'm glad I bought both.
- I would say that these recipes seem more like european desired flavors and the Macarons book is more the american flavor style. What I mean by that is the Macarons book has more things like chocolate coffee flavor, salty caramel on chocolate, etc. the flavors in this book seem more "exotic" but I haven't tried anything crazy yet because I needed to perfect my shells first.

It took me about five batches to get the shell perfect with this book, but I never could do that with the other. I got frustrated. So now I use this one for shells but I mix recipes with the other. I'm glad I bought both. I would say this one is an absolute must if you want your shells to not only taste perfect, but look perfect for giving.

Hope this helps!