I've recently started making macarons using the Italian meringue method. I got this recipe from a macaron class I attended at the Waitrose Cooking School (in the UK). When I made them at my class, they were perfect, but I can't say the same for making them at home.
I don't think there is anything wrong with my mixture but rather with my oven that is making my macarons either lop-sided, or spew their "guts" out.
The meringue is glossy/shiny and gooey when I remove it from the mixer. The paste is firm. After mixing the meringue into the paste it's the right consistency i.e not runny and not firm that its doesn't fall off the spatula. It looks a bit like ice-cream if you keep mixing for lack of a better description.
Piping them, they keep their shape and size and have the "nipple" on top. Banging them on the counter sets/smooths them and they look ready to go.
The recipe said to have the oven on 145 degrees Celsius (with fan) (293°F) for 14 minutes.
I have one tray in the middle of the oven and my first batch cracked. I left the next batch to set for a few minutes before putting them in and this solved my cracking issue.
Now however, they just spew out the sides and are lop-sided. What could be causing this?
I started trying different temperatures, fan off and on, double tray, putting the tray higher up but nothing really fixed it.
Is the oven not ventilated enough?
Is it too hot?
Too much moisture? (it's quite humid today and rainy)
I have an electrical single oven (top and bottom elements).
The best result seemed to be 125 degrees Celsius (257°F) with fan, in the middle with a double tray. No cracks and spillages but just lop-sided (only one side had "feet"). I tried piping as straight as I could but this didn't seem to help either.
Does anyone have any ideas? I really want these to work :(