Madison residents might be surprised to learn the star chef next door earned his baking stripes before he learned long division.
Eleven-year-old Andrew Clark has been baking since he was 4 years old. He has already mastered many tedious French desserts such as chocolate eclairs and whipped mousse, but his creative and colorful macarons remain one of his more popular confections to purchase.
Macrons are brightly colored French sandwich cookies made from egg whites, sugar and almond powder and are usually filled with jam or ganache.
His secret to great macarons is that every batch starts with quality ingredients, patience and following the recipe.
“I don’t wing it,” Andrew said.
For ingredients, Andrew prefers Bob’s Red Mill almond flour, brown eggs and Celebakes Food Color Gel.
“I use gel food coloring because liquid can ruin the consistency,” he said.
It is also important everything is blended smoothly and each layer of the macaron is an even thickness and diameter.
He also likes to use a small fan to ensure the macarons dry evenly and on time.
Andrew is fearless when he experiments with flavors and colors, but the exacting chemistry required to bake macarons is nothing to play with.
It is tough for him to estimate how many batches of macarons he has baked to perfect his recipe, but he estimates he has made at least 500.
Andrew bakes out of his Madison home where he lives with his parents, Andy and Kristi Clark, and his little brother, Charlie Clark, 9. The Clarks also have a dog, a cat, and a bearded dragon. His father works in finance and Kristi is a stay-at-home mom.
Ever since he was a toddler, Andrew enjoyed watching the Food Network with his mother on Sundays while she looked for meal inspiration and wrote her weekly grocery list. When he was 4, he asked his mother if he could make a blueberry pie.
Kristi, who is a self-taught cook, was intimidated at first.
“I didn’t even know about creaming butter and sugar together, so we really had to start from the beginning,” Kristi said. “He really blossomed from there.”
She enjoyed preparing simple, healthy meals during the week, but baking was a science. They started small.
“I tried to find simple things that would be easy, then he fell in love with it and started to get pretty advanced,” Kristi said.
Kristi recognized his aptitude right away.
“I could just look at his face and tell he loved it,” Kristi said.
To accompany Andrew’s homeschool education with some hands-on chemistry and economics, Andrew started baking and selling his confections at the Madison Farmer’s Market.
Andrew’s products immediately garnered raves. He routinely sold out.
“It kind of snowballed and took off,” Kristi said.
Multiple people sent Krisi information about how Andrew could apply to be on a kid’s cooking show. Out of thousands of applicants, Andrew was a finalist for one of his favorite shows. This past December, he was featured on the ninth season of Food Network’s “Kids Baking Championship.”
Although he did not win, Andrew came home to a successful side-business and a backlog of orders.
Now that he is back at home after weeks of filming in Los Angeles, Andrew’s life is more predictable.
After the Clarks are finished with schoolwork, Kristi spends her afternoons catering to her two young children, taking them to lacrosse meets and taekwondo practice. She also manages Andrew’s growing number of baking orders.
One weekend in late March, Andrew was baking a large wedding cake. Cakes are his most popular orders, besides his macarons.
His best macaron customer, Kelly Olsh, buys his macarons at least once a month.
Olsh said she was shocked a child so young could make such high-quality macarons from scratch.
“They were so good,” Olsh said. “Frankly, I wasn’t expecting that (from an 11-year-old).”
Olsh is consistently impressed with each macaron's uniform quality and Andrew's creativity.
“(Andrew) puts care into each one… His passion for it is evident,” Olsh said. “Not only do they taste good, but they look good.”
Olsh said, above the macarons, she is always impressed by Andrew’s youth and professionalism.
“I hope he continues to grow and I think we will see exceptional things from him,” Olsh said.
RECIPE
Andrew’s Strawberry-Lemonade Macarons
Ingredients:
3 egg whites (room temperature)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp
1 cup almond flour
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp salt
3 Tbs dehydrated strawberries
1/2 tsp vanilla
Red Gel food coloring
Yellow gel food coloring
2 sticks of room temperature butter
4 cups of powdered sugar
Slash of heavy whipping cream
Red gel food coloring
Yellow food coloring
1 tsp Lemon juice
1/2 Tbs of Lemon zest
Powdered dehydrated Strawberries
Thin banana slices
Before you mix, clean the bowl you will use with a cut lemon and wipe out with a paper towel. Vinegar can also be used.
With a hand mixer, whip egg whites and salt until white and foamy.
Slowly add sugar in 3 batches while whipping as you add sugar
Mix until stiff peaks form (do not over whip)
In a food processor, combine almond flour, powdered sugar, strawberries, and salt and blend until soft and combined.
Sift into a bowl.
Separate the egg mixture into two bowls
Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to each egg mixture
Add yellow food color to one and red to the other
Fold in the dry ingredients with a spatula in 3 batches being careful not to over mix
Keep mixing until you can make a “figure 8” without breaking while it drips off the spatula
Fill piping bags; one with yellow, one with red. Drop both piping bags in a large bag with the “Wilton Round” tip in it
Pipe macarons onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, you can use a template or just pipe and hold for 2 counts
Once all piped out; gently tap try’s 2-3 times and rotate tapping again to pop any air bubbles.
Let pans of macarons sit until a “skin” forms; you will be able to gently rub your finger across the top of the shell
Bake for 17 minutes in a 300 degree oven.
Let macarons cool on the tray until they come off with ease.
For the Strawberry lemon Buttercream:
2 sticks of room temperature butter
4 cups of powdered sugar
Slash of heavy whipping cream
Red gel food coloring
Yellow food coloring
1 tsp Lemon juice
1/2 Tbls Lemon zest
Pulsed into powder dehydrated Strawberries
Banana slices
Cream the butter in a stand mixer until whiteish
Add sugar
Add a pinch of salt
Add heavy cream
Blend until white and creamy for at least 5 minutes.
Take out half of the buttercream and put it in a separate bowl.
The buttercream left in the bowl:
Add strawberry powder
Add drop red food coloring
Mix until the desired color
The buttercream in the separate bowl:
Add lemon juice and lemon zest
Add a drop of yellow gel
Mix until the desired color
Put the buttercream in separate piping bags and then into one large bag with a Wilton 1M tip
Pipe a circle around one side of a macaron shell leaving the center open
Place a banana slice in the center of the shell
Top with the second shell
