Thursday, August 30, 2007

Your advice, s'il vous plait!

I am thoroughly embarrassed and hope that some kind soul reading this post will shed some light on my recent catastrophe.

You see, I would have photos to share with you had I not thrown all of the evidence promptly in the garbage (except for the yolks which I made into a lovely dill mayonnaise).

Here's the rub. I wanted to duplicate those luscious macaroons from Laduree and went about using a recipe I found here and was met with some sad news. Yes folks, while I find it tough to admit defeat, my whites simply would not come to a soft nor anything resembling a stiff peak.

Yes, I added sugar after first breaking the whites. Yes I used a proper mixer. Yes I beat them for ample time (30 minutes and all I had to show was a lovely looking creamy mix of egg whites and sugar).

My only ideas are that either the whites were still too cold or they were too fresh. I bought them from the farmer only 2 days ago which might mean they are relatively new to this earth.

Can anyone please help this baker in training? I already tread lightly around measuring cups or anything requiring an oven timer. I don't want this to be my last expedition in adventurous baking...

Hope to hear from you!

7 comments:

Amanda Jean said...

I wish I could help you. But I have no idea. :(

Lindsay Blau Portnoy said...

Thank you Amanda!
I'm trying again now, my little macaroons in progress are enjoying a nap before they hit the oven. Please wish me luck lest I desert dessert forever!!!

Anonymous said...

seems as thou you figured out that the combination of sugar first and over-beating could have been the problem. a touch of acid (lemon juice, vinegar etc) helps. you are correct about the way too fresh eggs thou i don't know why. oh and forget the deserting dessert...it must come first after all..check w/ur mom on this one! x vera

Lindsay Blau Portnoy said...

Hey Vera.

The eggs were left out over night and did in fact peak this a.m. Pictures to follow, though I do need to finally post London and Paris.

Stay tuned!

Linds

Helene said...

Sorry it did not work on the first try. My suggestion would be to make sure your bowl and whisk were clean and dry and that you whip the eggs to a foam first before adding the sugar. Hope you have better luck next time.

Lindsay Blau Portnoy said...

Hello Tartelette.
Thank you for your advice. I think you are right and I added the sugar before the eggs had foamed enough. Thank you for your advice, maybe next time you will drop by and help me perfect my recipe to look more like yours? Pretty please?
All the best.
Lindsay

Joe said...

Looks like you fixed your issue! I would agree that it was probably the coldness of the eggs - moreso than the sugar, as I've whipped eggs before without it.