{"id":407,"date":"2020-12-29T16:24:27","date_gmt":"2020-12-29T16:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heritagecookies.net\/?p=407"},"modified":"2022-12-14T14:32:28","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T14:32:28","slug":"five-5-macaroons-renaissance-recipes-for-the-modern-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heritagecookies.net\/index.php\/2020\/12\/29\/five-5-macaroons-renaissance-recipes-for-the-modern-world\/","title":{"rendered":"FIVE (5!) MACAROONS – Renaissance recipes for the modern world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s hard to get more \u201cheritage\u201d than the early Renaissance, and that\u2019s what we have here: four famous cookies that grew into maturity along with the likes of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, Botticelli (with whom Leonardo supposedly founded a restaurant<\/a>), Verrocchio, Raphael, and the rest of them. And Columbus for that matter. What can inspire artistic brilliance more than a really good cookie? The answer is obvious: Nothing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re talking about classic macaroons, a cookie dating back to the trade boom that followed the Black Death\u2019s destruction of medieval civilization. Arab traders introduced a variety of products to eager consumers in the trade centers of Italy and Spain. Two main ones in turn led to the creation of macaroons: refined sugar and marzipan a\/k\/a almond paste. Yes, those ingredients had been around forever, but they\u2019d never been cheap enough to turn into everyday treats. Now they suddenly were, and Renaissance Europe was ready to adopt new ideas their grandparents would have scorned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Italian and Spanish cooks started the process by incorporating the new ingredients into quick and easy baked goods using methods known since antiquity. The basic formula couldn\u2019t be simpler. First whip some egg whites with sugar to make a meringue, using a more generous amount of sugar than before since it was now more affordable. Fold in some imported almond paste, and then bake. And there you have it! The first macaroons, commonly known as \u201cMarzipanetti in Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matters evolved from there, with bakers slowly adopting the regional variations that eventually hardened into recipes. We have now worked up four versions of that basic recipe, distinguished by relatively small changes in the way they\u2019re flavored and presented. Here is a table to more-or-less compare the four recipes, normalized to an even one pound of almonds. [NOTE: The different egg sizes occur because those recipes start from a different amount of almonds].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Ancient Macaroons<\/a><\/u><\/strong>

* 450 g almond meal

* 300 g sugar

* 3 XL egg whites

* No zest

* \u00bd-1 tsp. almond extract

* 350\u00b0 for \u2248 10 minutes<\/td>		Ricciarelli<\/a><\/u><\/strong>


* 450 g almond meal

* 300 g sugar or 150 g honey
* 2 egg whites + 1 yolk
* Orange zest

* 2 tsp. almond & vanilla

* 350\u00b0 for \u2248 12-13 minutes<\/td>		Alemandrados<\/a><\/u><\/strong>


* 450 g almond meal

* 265 g sugar

* 1 jumbo egg

* Lemon zest

* \u00bd tsp. almond extract

* 350\u00b0 for 8-10 minutes<\/td>		Amaretti<\/a><\/u><\/strong>


* 450 g almond meal

* 290 g sugar

* 4 egg whites

* No zest

* 9 tsp. almond extract

* 350\u00b0 for \u2248 12 minutes<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
See also the Walnut Macaroon Orehovki<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Not a lot of differences, are there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n