It’s been far too long since I made my last batch of macarons. There was a time I was making these every week or two. Fruity, chocolatey, burger-y (?)…you name it I was baking it. I tried making these strawberry lemonade macarons last year but couldn’t find the right balance of lemon and strawberry in the buttercream so they ended up being plain ol’ strawberry macarons. Delicious, but not what I was looking for.
The last time I made macarons was the end of June(!). Then, I made some lemon blueberry macarons and instead of trying to put both the flavours of both lemons and blueberries in the buttercream, I piped a ring of blueberry buttercream on a shell and filled it with a dollop of lemon curd.
Perfect.
I decided that was going to be the best way to achieve the strawberry lemonade flavour I was looking for and boy oh boy was I right!
You bite into the shells, getting a good dose of fresh strawberry buttercream and tart, bright lemon curd. It’s so good you guys! It tastes just like a little bite of summer.
I met a friend of mine for lunch last week and brought a few of these for her and her coworkers. I got a text from one of them saying they were better than any of the macarons he had in Paris.
Never having been to Paris I can’t tell you whether that’s true or not, but it’s absolutely a compliment I’m going to accept! {I have been to Paris since I first wrote this post, I dragged by best friend to Laduree and I can confirm they have incredible macarons. Mine are pretty good too, though ;)}
Go forth and conquer these strawberry lemonade macarons. You won’t be disappointed, I promise!
Strawberry Lemonade Macarons
Ingredients
- Macaron Shells:
- 275g almond flour
- 250g powdered sugar
- 210g sugar
- 210g egg whites
- Yellow gel food colouring (optional)
- Strawberry Buttercream:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup strawberries, chopped
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp. heavy cream
- Lemon Curd:
- 0.8 oz. lemon juice
- Zest of 1/2 lemon (optional)
- 1.3 oz. sugar
- 1/2 egg yolk
- 0.8 oz. egg
- 1 oz. butter
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. Add yellow food colouring and beat to combine. 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 Buttercream:
- Step 8 Puree the strawberries and set aside.
- Step 9 In a mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the pureed strawberries and powdered sugar and beat to combine. Mix in the heavy whipping cream.
- Step 10 Lemon Curd:
- Step 11 Heat the lemon juice in a saucepan. In a separate bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, eggs and sugar.
- Step 12 Once lemon juice is hot temper the eggs with it, pouring slowly and whisking constantly. Transfer back to a saucepan and cook until thick. Remove from heat, add butter, combine, and chill until ready to use.
- Step 13 Assembly:
- Step 14 Pair up shells. On one half of each pair, pipe a ring of buttercream along the outer edge of the shell. Fill buttercream ring with a dollop of lemon curd and sandwich together. Keep refrigerated in an airtight container.
omg your macarons are so cute!! I love that yours came out so nice and full! Every time I try to make macarons you can hear the hiss of their empty shells. ? I noticed you made them the… swiss meringue way? I think I used to just try to dump everything in the bowl because I’m lazy.
Maybe I should try? You’ve inspired me!
Thank you! I’ve definitely gone through my fair share of batches with hollow shells. These are tricky little guys! I’ve found that for me the Italian meringue method produces more consistent results. The French method is great too, I just think it can be a little fickle.
I’d love to hear how they turn out for you if you try them!