Originally these little guys were going to be strawberry lemonade macarons because the weather in Portland has been rainy and cloudy the last few days and I felt the need for some summer in my life.
I couldn’t get the lemon balance right in the buttercream though, so these became strawberry macarons and I’m pretty sure the world is a better place for it.
The shells are yellow because I had thought I’d be able to get the lemon flavour to work out, but you can totally leave them plain or use a pink/red to match the strawberry filling.
I also put some pink sugar crystals on top because why not? It makes them look totally adorable.
I used fresh strawberries and crushed them into a puree to make the buttercream and it was so good. If you can use fresh strawberries you should, it gives the buttercream so much more flavour.
My kitchen ended up looking like I’d had a serious food fight with someone, but these macarons were so worth it.
Strawberry Macarons
Ingredients
- Macaron Shells:
- 275g almond meal
- 250g powdered sugar
- 210g egg whites
- 210g sugar
- Gel/Powder food coloring (optional)
- Sugar crystals (optional)
- Buttercream:
- 1/2 cup chopped strawberries
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
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 the food colouring, if using, 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 Once you have it at a consistency you like, pipe onto one half of each macaron pair and sandwich together.
3 thoughts on “Strawberry Macarons”
Comments are closed.