Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Pinched Orange Macaroons, Four Seasons Recipe

"This recipe, one of Martha's favorites, is courtesy of Patrick Lemble, executive pastry chef at the Four Seasons restaurant, in New York City." MSL, December 2009

My take: Not too many ingredients in this delightful treat which is always nice when creating a tasty, nicely textured cookie. Recipe calls for one pound of almond paste. Tubes and cans were not sold in a way to neatly accommodate this measurement. I had to buy three tubes of 7 ounce size Odense Almond Paste and put remaining 5 ounces in a sealed bag in the freezer. I did not wish to do the math to reduce the other ingredients to balance only 14 ounces of Almond paste. The recipe makes a big batch but the Almond Paste alone ($4.99 a tube x three) makes cookie an expensive luxury. I guess it makes sense they serve these at the Four Seasons New York.

Difference between marzipan and almond paste.

Tips: pay close attention to thickness and baking time. Texture - the right chewiness - is very important for the macaroons. Slightly chewy but not tough and binding to gum consistency in the mouth should be the goal of the finished product. Dough is sticky so dust rolling surface with powdered sugar. A dough cutter works better than a nice when dividing into individual cookies.

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