Macarons Paperback – November 19, 2015

This book is great. I hear people comment that why does the recipes say to leave a small amount of the egg in but not stir and that it must be a typo.it's not a typo. There's a reason for this.When you leave a small portion of the whites unbeaten even to the paste portion (Italian or French methods) the final product gives more of a glossy shine on the cookie which is one of it's famous characteristics. So if you want to learn Macarons than learn from the best.The pictures are beautiful full page pictures of the final product.The recipes are clear and easy. Macarons are a tough cookie for any first timers. I did two classes before I understood the cookie and the two methods Italian and French methods. This books uses both. The choclate is French and others are Italian.Ifyou follow exactly the recipes they are great results. If you want the traditional Macarons this book is great,ifyou want some fancier more adventurous ones than its is it as well. The only bad comment i have is that there's a section of the more adventurous Macarons with some ingredients I d t know to much about and I am advance baker, not 2 year qualified but I know pastry well.It's a stunning book and a must for anyone who loves the chef or the Macarons. It's a wonderful gift or a wonderful recipe book.If you've never baked before or not good sit I would not recommend it since the Macarons is a cookie that you have to know the stages it goes through similar to bread, you can trust bake there's how do you know when it's ready. Still a great book. Also I would recommend it to any food photographers or stylists on knowing that's considered latest. These pictures are stunning simple.I've tied 3 recipes and followed them directly with successful results over and over with the same three.

I absolutely love this book! I used to make macarons using the French meringue method, but once I followed the step-by-step instructions at the beginning of the book I fell in love with the Italian meringue method and found the results to be foolproof, even in very humid weather. So far I have made the pistachio, vanilla, coffee, and raspberry macarons and they have all been delicious. I do make some subtle changes such as using pistachio flour for the pistachio macarons and flavored the raspberry macaron shells with freeze-dried raspberries, but I really like his method of making some of the fillings with white chocolate, and as I mentioned the Italian meringue method seems to really be foolproof. I don't understand some of the bad reviews. Yes, the measurements use the metric system, but these days it is easy to find thermometers that measure in both Celsius and Fahrenheit and a scale that converts to grams. so this is no big deal. Also, even though the English may not be what some native speakers are used to, it is still understandable (example: saying tip instead of pour). I'm just happy that Pierre Hermé is willing to share his fabulous recipes with us. I also substitute regular ingredients that I can find for some of the expensive ingredients that are not easy to find (example: using Ghirardelli chocolate instead of Valrhona), and I'm sure his are much better, but mine are still great, even without the fancy ingredients.

Not only are Pierre Herme's macarons visually appealing, but the instructions that come with this book are very well detailed. Before I bought this book, I've made macarons a handful of times already. But, the version of macarons I have been making were with a French meringue rather than an Italian meringue (which is the only type of meringue they use in this book). The French method requires NO cooking of the sugar, thus making it easier to make. Pierre Herme uses the Italian version which requires cooking the sugar and pouring it into your egg white mixture. I was a little apprehensive buying this book because of the version they use, but if you are even slightly familiar with making macarons the French way, I am pretty sure you can do it the Italian way. The difference - taste-wise - is that I feel the Italian meringue is a bit sweeter than the French meringue. BUT, I did notice that I've had better results using the Italian meringue more so than the French meringue. Also, if you love everything perfect with the measurements and temperatures, the Italian version is for you. You do need to buy a thermometer that can be placed in your pot as you cook the sugar to prevent overcooking. I recommend buying a digital thermometer so you can get the exact temperature rather than "guessing" on a candy thermometer.The only reason I am giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the ingredients they use in this book. Most of the ingredients used is of the HIGHEST quality. I mean spending more than $8 on a bar of chocolate and also very specific ingredients (e.g., 85% cacao). But, if you don't mind about the price, then by all means...this book is for you. Now you know why these little cookies are so expensive at bakeries (the time and money that goes into them). But for those of you who live on a budget (like I do), it's quite difficult finding an alternative, especially if you don't want to mess up the macaron by being cheap.If you do end up failing on making one of the hardest petit fours in the world, don't worry. This book may be expensive, but it's also a good coffee table book :)