Macarons and Humidity

Macarons are temperamental fellas, really they are! They are worse than menopausing women, you never know when they're going to explode, flacid or go all funny on you..There's a hundred and one reason why they don't always turn out well every batch and after more than a year of making them, I am still learning it the hard way. Trial and error. Pfft!

The biggest enemy of a macaron, is humidity. I've researched countless of articles and blogs on the net, figuring out if humidity vs macaron's failure is just a old folks tale. There're endless battlefields comments on the issue of humidity. Some say it's bullshit, and some swears that it plays a part. But if you must know, I am solemnly convinced that humidity is the make or break of making macarons.

For instance, if it is a rainy day, your macarons would most probably not dry. For those of you who have embarked on the macaron journey, you would know how essential it is to dry your macarons (to a point of being able to touch the top of the batter without it sticking to your hands) before popping them into the oven. The normal drying process takes about 15 minutes to 40 minutes ( largely depending of the humidity in the air, hence rainy day, longer drying time). If your macarons do not dry on the table top in the given time, you might as well toss the whole batch into the trashcan. They will NOT rise in the oven, trust me on that.

Drying process ( before they are popped into the oven)

Macarons on a humid day

Or like these...

Alas, there is little that we can do since macarons are not made for our weather, or can we? In Malaysia, we can never tell when it is going to rain. The mere wet wind that blows before a storm is enough to disrupt the chemistry of baking these babies.

My little secret is to foolproof your baking environment (even while mixing the batter). To ensure that your macarons will not turn soggy or look like a volcano crater, make sure you close all the doors and windows on a cloudy/rainy day. Turn on the air conditioner as the air is normally dryer than usual, which is ideal for macaron baking. That would do the trick most definitely, and the outcome will look just like these...

Now this is what i call... Happy feet!!!