Say hello to your new favourite summer macaron: strawberry cheesecake macarons!
I’m not even kidding when I call these the best summer macaron. They’re SO GOOD. I mean, they literally taste like summer. There’s a good chance I’ll just keep these all to myself and not share them with anyone. You’re just going to have to make them for yourself.
Like any good cheesecake, these macarons have plenty of cream cheese and a light sprinkling of graham crackers.
Technically, the white chocolate drizzle and graham cracker crumbs on top are options, but I’d definitely recommend doing it. It really brings the whole cheesecake thing home.
For me, making these strawberry cheesecake macarons was a lesson in patience. Not because they were difficult or because they were time consuming to make. Most of the time I used to make these was just waiting around.
Here’s what I don’t suggest: making these on days with really high humidity. Usually, once I’ve piped out the shells, they’ve dried out enough to put in the oven after 30 minutes to an hour.
Not this time, friends.
It literally took 4+ hours for these to dry out, and that was with some assistance from my trusty fan.
Turns out, the humidity inside my house was 87%, which was actually slightly less than the humidity outside. And you know what a macaron’s worst enemy is? Humidity. Needless to say, I scrapped my plans for a second batch of macarons because it took so long for these to dry out.
Good thing they taste so good. I’d have been seriously pissed off if I’d waited that long and they’d been gross.
Really though, you can’t go wrong when the filling is a strawberry cream cheese frosting. I’m not even kidding when I say I was eating it by the spoonful.
You can make your own strawberry jam for this or use something store-bought. I did make my own, but honestly with the way my knee feels right now, I wish I’d used some I have in my pantry.
Live and learn, that’s what they say, right?
Right now, I’d say if there was one macaron you have to make this summer it would be this one. Just try to avoid making them on days with crazy high humidity unless you really love waiting around for shells to dry.
Hope you love them!
Strawberry Cheesecake Macarons
Ingredients
- Macaron Shells:
- 275g almond flour
- 250g powdered sugar
- 210g sugar
- 210g egg whites
- Pink gel food colouring (optional)
- White chocolate, for drizzling (optional)
- Crushed graham crackers (optional)
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup strawberry preserves
- 2 1/2 - 3 cups powdered sugar
Directions
- Step 1 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 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 Filling:
- Step 8 Cream the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.
- Step 9 Add in the vanilla extract and strawberry preserves, beating to combine.
- Step 10 Slowly add in the powdered sugar and beat to desired consistency.
- Step 11 Assembly:
- Step 12 Match up shells. On one half of each pair, drizzle some white chocolate on top and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs.
- Step 13 On the other half, pipe some of the filling and sandwich the two shells together.
- Step 14 Macarons should be refrigerated until ready to eat. They will have the best consistency if they are taken out of the fridge 30 minutes before eating.
