In case you weren’t already aware, and you probably are, macarons are my favourite baked good of all time. Favourite thing to bake, favourite thing to eat. I’m all macarons, all the time.
I’m also borderline obsessed with citrus and I’m so, so, so happy that blood orange season is here! I mean, is there anything more satisfying than slicing the orange in half and being greeted with deep red fruit?
No. No there isn’t.
These macarons have the seal of approval from everyone in my office that was able to get their hands on them before they disappeared. I wasn’t eating sugar when I made these so I couldn’t try them and when you work in an office with 45 doctors, you’re never short of taste-testers.
I’ve actually bred cookie monsters. I get asked if I’ve brought cookies EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK.
These macarons disappeared in no time and every now and then someone would walk past my office with half a macaron in their mouth telling me how much they liked them.
Winners for sure.
You can fill these with either blood orange buttercream or blood orange curd. I went with a blood orange buttercream because I found I could control the orange flavour more that way, but blood orange curd is delicious. Maybe just eat it by the spoonful.
Blood oranges can turn whatever you put the juice into anything from a deep orange, to pink, to deep red. It just depends how red the inside of the orange is. Mine turned everything a lovely pale pink and I made the buttercream again this past weekend and it was a much deeper pink. I love both!
Pink shells and pink sprinkles because Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. And life is better with sprinkles.
Happy baking, friends! I hope you love these macarons as much as my coworkers did 🙂
Blood Orange Macarons
Ingredients
- Macaron Shells:
- 275g almond flour
- 250g powdered sugar
- 210g sugar
- 210g egg whites
- Pink gel food colouring (optional)
- Pink sprinkles (optional)
- Blood Orange Buttercream:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- Juice from 3-4 blood oranges
Directions
- Step 1 Macaron Shells:
- Step 2 To start, put the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and blend thoroughly. Sift into a bowl to ensure there are no lumps.
- Step 3 In the bowl of a stand mixer (make sure it’s clean and dry), beat the egg whites until foamy. Slowly add the sugar, about 2 tbsp at a time, beating on a medium speed. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase speed to medium high and beat until a thick glossy meringue forms (if adding food colouring, add it now). The mixture should form stiff peaks and you should be able to tip the bowl over your head with none of the mixture coming out.
- Step 4 With a large, flat rubber spatula, gently fold 1/3 of almond flour/powdered sugar mixture into egg whites until combined. Repeat until all of the almond mixture has been added. Fold to combine until you see no streaks of almond flour in the batter. The batter should be pretty fluid, a lot of people describe as a lava-like consistency. It should run smoothly off the spatula when you pull it out. This part comes with practice. Once you know the consistency, you’ll just be able to feel when it’s ready.
- Step 5 Pipe the batter into circles onto parchment or silicone lined baking sheets. Bang the tray a few times on a table to remove air bubbles (if adding sprinkles, add them after banging the trays) and allow to sit for about 30 minutes before baking. To see if they’re ready for baking, touch your finger to them. If you get batter on your finger, they need to rest longer.
- Step 6 While resting, preheat your oven to 300°F with a rack placed in the lower third of the oven. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 15-18 minutes (this depends on your oven, my old one was fine at 15 minutes, this one needs 17-18). The shells should cool completely before you remove them from the parchment/silicone.
- Step 7 Blood Orange Buttercream:
- Step 8 In a mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the blood orange juice and 2-3 cups powdered sugar and beat to combine, adding more sugar as needed until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Step 9 Assembly:
- Step 10 Pipe the blood orange frosting onto one half of each macaron pair. Sandwich gently together. Macarons should be refrigerated until ready to eat. They are best if they have been out of the fridge for 30 minutes before eating. Refrigerating helps the flavours build and letting it sit out a bit before eating will mean you are enjoying it at the ideal macaron texture.
