What if I... over whip my meringue? | EXPLORING MACARON FAILS

Over whipped meringue can easily lead to STRUCTURAL ISSUES in your macarons AND secondary issues like over mixing your batter! As you can see in my video, this often means fragile tops, overly-large gaps inside the shell, and larger than normal 'feet.'
To solve or prevent this issue--make sure to check that your meringue has a STIFF PEAK... but then STOP MIXING when you reach that point! When you lift your whisk out of the bowl, the meringue should look shiny and leave a pointy peak in the bowl AND result in a pointy peak on your whisk. If you shake your whisk, the meringue shouldn't really move! However, while you want the meringue to start balling up around the whisk, you need to be careful that you aren't whipping the meringue so much that all of the meringue is balled up in there.
IF you are concerned your meringue is over whipped--be EXTRA CAREFUL when you macaronage / fold in the dry ingredients so you don't end up over mixing too! Over whipped meringue will have waaayyyy more air bubbles to deflate (the purpose of the macaronage process) so even a slightly over whipped meringue will be harder / take longer to macaronage than a perfectly stiff meringue. If you think you might have over whipped your meringue, I recommend mixing less than you usually would just to be safe.
Macaron Shell | French Method
Whites 100g
Sugar 90g
*About 1/8 tsp of cream of tartar, mixed into the sugar if you want to add it
Almond Powder 130g
Powdered Sugar 130g
-- Sift the powdered sugar and almond powder together. You can mix them in a food processor first to get an extra fine mixture, though it is not absolutely necessary.
-Slowly add the sugar (and cream of tartar, if using) to the egg whites and whip to stiff peaks. If you are adding in a colorant, gel or powder, I recommend adding it in after you have added the sugar and before you have reached a stiff peak-about at 70% of the way done.
-Fold the dry ingredients into the meringue in several additions. Continue folding and scraping the batter against the sides of the bowl to finish the macaronage process. The standard macaron recipe calls for a “ribbon” stage, where it will look like the batter flows like a ribbon off your spatula when you lift it from the bowl.
-Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a circle piping tip (803-806 are the usual sizes most bakers prefer for this). Pipe onto a prepared baking tray--I prefer to pipe my macarons onto a silpat. Tap the trays to release any air bubbles and smooth the tops of the shells.
-After piping the macarons, rest for 15-40 minutes depending on your location/humidity and bake (my convection oven likes one tray -placed in the middle of the oven- at 300F for 16 minutes--18 minutes). Cool and match before filling.
I like AmeriColor gel food coloring and The Sugar Art powdered food coloring for making macarons!
www.americolor...
www.thesugarar...
**If you don't use or understand grams, please use an online measurement conversion tool! Personally I think that recipes should be measured the way they are created, and I prefer the precise nature of using gram measurement**
Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time!
Maddie
Filmed on my iPhone X and Sony a7iii
Edited in iMovie
Music from artlist.io
Find me on Instagram! @maddiebrehm - / maddiebrehm

[@Creed7502]

Watching this video for a second time! Really enjoying the knowledge.

[@ilyas-fan619]

This video and the under mix video i can Swear both are most useful videos you and all macrons master did in youtube...i Wish i can thank you enough 💜💜💜💜💜💜

[@MaddieBrehm]

Thank you so much!! I’m so happy they are helpful to you!

[@MrShinentwist]

I'm just starting my Mac journey and boy I appreciate how you teach and share

[@JennyKat25]

I'm glad you came out with the sequel so quickly! After the first video, I knew I was umderwhipping my meringue so I made a batch and definitely did not umderwhip it, but still my shells were hollow! I had intended to do some experimenting to see what happens the longer you whip but now I don't have to. Man, it is so difficult to find the sweet spot but I'm so glad I have your content to guide me along. Maybe I'll give it another go this week

[@JennyKat25]

Update: I finally got it right! Knowing what overwhipped looked like was essential. I played your part III how to make macarons tutorial while I was working to make sure I matched exactly what you did and finally my shells are not hollow!

[@quanitabarmania2456]

Thank you ! Your videos are so helpful!! I often struggle with bumpy looking shells that are not entirely smooth and shiny , despite blitzing my AF in the processor and sifting 3 times. Also, sometimes my batter stays pretty thick. I use swiss method. I would love to hear your thoughts on what I might be doing wrong.

[@MaddieBrehm]

I’m so happy you enjoyed it! My first thought would be to make sure you are processing the almond with the powdered sugar, and maybe try a different brand of almond flour if that’s still not working. I would also recommend trying the French and Italian methods to see if you get a different result that you might be happier with!

[@quanitabarmania2456]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond ! I took your advice and tried French method and while they had a tiny bit of a hollow , they were perfectly smooth, which makes me think it must be a meringue issue...perhaps heating my whites too much. But thank you again! I appreciate you 💕

[@kht2015]

Thank you for this wonderful and helpful tutorial/troubleshooting video. I didn’t know I have been over whipping my meringue until now. Love your videos, I am just sorry I only discovered until now. 🙏🥰🥰can I ask where you get your glass mixing bowl?

[@ngananh9728]

this was so helpful thank you so much 💓💓💓

[@MaddieBrehm]

I’m so happy to hear that! 🥰 thanks for watching!!

[@mercedesmercado3878]

Thank you for the video? Do you have any video for a good merengue? For French method? What number is your mixer when you start mixing and what speed is you mixer when you finish the process? Thank you in advance

[@MaddieBrehm]

I’m happy you enjoyed it! Nearly all of my other videos feature French method macarons, but probably the one that will show the most detail is my Macarons for Beginners video! Usually I start on low and then increase to medium or maybe medium high if it’s a very large batch :)

[@mercedesmercado3878]

Thank you.

[@ludmila3317]

How many minutes does it technically take to mix to perfect meringue?

[@MaddieBrehm]

You cannot go by minutes! The speed at which a perfect meringue forms depends on many variables - so even a rough estimate will vary depending on the kitchen / location / recipe / etc.

[@claudiabrown8718]

Love this video as it’s shows how it can go wrong. But would u use Italian meringue or French or even Swiss ? Does it make a difference just as I have always used Italian meringue for many years and always been told Italian meringue is better to use what do u think ?

[@MaddieBrehm]

Thank you so much! I usually use French meringue at home, but Italian if I’m making larger batches! :) I think the “best” method is what works in your kitchen/climate and with your tools and for your specific purpose, so I think it will be different for everybody!

[@AuntieTriza]

What is it about overwhipped whites that causes the baked macaron to be too moist? I think I may be overwhipping the whites as mine come out seemingly underbaked but when I leave them in a minute or two longer they get the browned tops. I think I need to figure out how to get them to not be so moist :)

[@MrShinentwist]

Now I still eat my mistakes LOL

[@elizabethshirali3820]

Hi, thanks for this video. This is exactly how mine came out last few times. Can oven temperature also cause this issue? Do you have a video that shows when to stop beating the meringue with hand mixer? Thanks

[@MaddieBrehm]

Thanks for watching! Yep, your oven or oven temperature can absolutely cause problems as well. You might want to try buying a thermometer to go inside your oven to make sure it’s really at the temperature you are setting, or play around with adjusting the temp you set! I do have several baking videos where I use a hand mixer- the videos I posted from France in spring of 2022 and the videos I posted from Portland in fall of 2021! :)

[@auraileanapopa7173]

Am facut macarons,sunt f frumosi cu piciorus, dar nu au si partea de jos. Unde greșesc? Mulțumesc!

[@user-bw6md7jk4x]

Gibt dise vidio auf germany?

[@brissamaldonado4788]

So does it mean if your macarons are super hollow and super fragile as soon as you touch them you over whipped the meringue? And it’s sticky from the bottom as well?

[@MaddieBrehm]

There are many, many other variables to consider, but that is one possibility!

[@corantvqoran156]

They looks good hhhhh