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Me, I'm intimidated by them, and although I've made many tricky things (6 layer buttercream tortes with dacquoise, for example), I'm still not at the point of feeling confident about making them. I suspect the best recipes around the ones Lara Zarubin featured in an article in HG. She modified the Ladurée recipe for home cooks.

Still, macarons are tricky because being made of egg whites baked just-so, they are notoriously susceptable to levels of humidity. I've never had a good macaron outside of Paris, not even in Lyon.

Sorry not to be very encouraging...

I agree, mschatelaine; macarons are so tricky to make. Too tricky, it seems, to become the next cupcake (one of the reasons cupcakes were so popular was because not only could anyone buy them just about anywhere, anyone could make them--they were that easy and open to creative license! I still think whoopie pies (in all their possible incarnations) are a good meld of the sandwich-y aspects of a macaron and the ease and fun of a cupcake.

Even Dorie Greenspan, in her Paris Sweets book (fabulous, BTW), doesn't give a recipe for them (if memory serves), citing them as really, really tough to make.
But boy, are they amazing.

Okay, this is really, really weird. I've finally (after like 6 months) decided to make these this weekend, and then you go ahead and post this post! *crossing my fingers*

Funny, I too have plans to try them (was going to attempt over Thanksgiving but it never worked out). After consulting David Lebovitz's blog, among others, I have really low expectations I will be able to pull it off, but fingers crossed as well!

I made them several times with varying degrees of non-success, so I went to New York this summer and took a class devoted to making macarons at the ICE. Interestingly, most of the macarons made during the class also failed, but I've had much better luck since then.

While my macarons don't come close to what I've had in Paris, I think it's mostly due to the flavorings and/or recipes I've tried. Now that I've got the cookie part down, I can focus on finding better recipes.

I have actually attempted macarons two times with two difference recipes, including one translated from French! I became obsessed after having them (called Luxemburgerli) in Switzerland from Sprungli. A local chocolatier, La Burdick in Cambridge, MA also sells them (imported from Switzerland).

My first attempt was chocolate peanut butter (from the Food Network). Although very tasty, I could not get the "shell" perfect. Next I made chocolate (from the translated French recipe). The shells were better overall, but the filling was more of a ganache and pretty rich.

I am hoping to try a few more recipes again soon, so I can report my findings. They are a lot of work, but so good!

I've made macarons many times and gifted them these past two christmases. For thanksgiving I made pumpkin caramel macarons and mean to make some blackcurrant violet this christmas. Yes, they are tricky but one thing I've found that always worked for me is to age the egg whites - take them out two days before and leave at room temperature. Some recipes call for this and others don't, it sounds unsanitary I know but nobody has gotten sick so far. Supposedly I read the salmonella would be in the yolk but I need to research that more. After piping the rounds, rap the baking tray to release any extra air bubbles so the tops don't crack in baking. They don't stay good for very long and have so many little steps in the making that I don't think they will be as popular as cupcakes, though Boule, Paulette, Jin Patisserie, and Europane here in the L.A. area are certainly spreading the word. Cupcakes have more accessibility and a comfort factor, but macarons are certainly delicate, beautiful bites of sugary goodness well worth the effort, which is why I make them as gifts. Good luck!

These were a major obsession for me back in spring. Took me some trial and error, but I finally got them right.

Definitely age your egg whites and I would also recommend leaving the piped batter out for at least 1/2 hour before baking. Also, I found that baking them at 350 for the first 2 minutes and then propping the door open to finish baking works like a charm every time.

They really are a lot of fun to make and you can go crazy with different colors, flavorings and fillings.
Go for it!

Here's a sneaky tip--use the powdered egg whites. Before you all freak out, they really work ( and plenty of commercial patisseries use these). If anything, the macaron is a tich chewier than when made with fresh eggs. The ones from the carton don't really work.

You can also just leave the whole egg out for 24 hours, rather than separating the whites from the yolks.

Another trick is to make sure the piped rounds sit long enough to form a skin.

And don't forget Food Geek's Foolproof recipe. He uses an Italian merengue, which might be easier for some:

http://www.myfoodgeek.com/2007/06/08/almost-foolproof-macarons/

They're not as scary as you might think. I've used David Lebovitz's recipe, and the only challenge was piping the shells the right thinness so I'd end up with sandwhich cookies instead of golf balls. ;)

I got the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook - Baking and am loving it! There is a chapter for fancy cookies and it includes macarons. I haven't made them yet, but I did do the madelines and they were super-easy and turned out well.

There are chapters on quick, normal and rustic breads, including ciabatta. Another chapter handles making a wedding cake! I was dubious, but they had a month long schedule of what to do when.

I was pleased by the full range of recipes, from down home to downright yuppie.

Maybe I'll try the macarons this weekend.