I love macarons! That's probably not too surprising if you've seen my other blog posts, but I really have fun making them (in the Italian style) and trying out different fillings. These are my first summer batch, filled with a simple but effective blueberry buttercream.
For the first time, I tried using liquid egg whites instead of separating the eggs themselves (they were on offer in my local supermarket, and I had no use for egg yolks). The macarons turned out just as well as when I separated my own egg whites, and it meant I could easily measure the volume of egg whites I needed :)
Makes around 24 macarons (48 shells)
Ingredients:
For the blueberry jam:
- 45g (3 tbsp) caster sugar
- 200g (2 cups) frozen blueberries
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
For the macarons:
- 160g (1 & 1/4 cups) ground almonds
- 175g (1 & 1/2 cups) icing sugar
- 4 (125ml/1/2 cup) medium egg whites
- 165g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 50ml (3 tbsp and 1 tsp) water
Method:
1. Place the ground almonds and icing sugar in a food processor (or high power blender) and blitz for 2-3 second bursts, until the mixture is very fine. Don't over blend the mixture as the almonds will start to turn to almond butter.
2. Sieve the almonds/icing sugar into a large bowl. Add 2 (60ml/1/4 cup) of the egg whites, and beat until a smooth paste is formed.
3. Heat the granulated sugar and water in a saucepan, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Then stop stirring and place a sugar thermometer in the pan. In a grease-free bowl, add the remaining two egg whites. Once the sugar/water has reached 112C, start whisking the egg whites at a medium speed (I used a stand mixer and found this required less of my attention than a handheld).
4. Once the sugar/water syrup has reached 118C, the egg whites should be white and frothy (like shaving foam). Turn the stand mixer down to a low speed, then carefully pour the syrup onto the egg whites, whisking constantly. Be very careful not to touch the syrup as it is super hot! Once all of the syrup has been added, turn up the speed of the mixer to high and keep whisking until the mixture is shiny and forms peaks when the whisk is lifted from the mixture (this should take between 5 and 7 minutes).
5. Dip a toothpick into the violet food colouring and then dip into the meringue mixture. Whisk briefly. Add more food colouring until you have the desired purple colour.
6. Use a metal spoon to fold a third of the egg white mixture into the almond/sugar paste. Once incorporated, gently fold in the remaining egg whites.
7. Fill a piping bag with the macaron mixture, and cut off 1cm from the end (or use a large round nozzle). Grease and line four baking trays with parchment paper and hold the piping bag vertically above where you want to pipe. Pipe directly down onto the tray until you have a circle 3cm wide (or whatever shape you like - I also like making rectangles so that they look like mini eclairs). Repeat across the trays, leaving about a 1&1/2cm gap between each macaron shell.
8. Tap the tray on the surface a few times, then leave at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, until a "skin" has formed on the macarons - this means that when you gently touch the macaron, no mixture goes on your finger.
9. Whilst waiting to bake the macarons, make the blueberry jam by pouring the frozen blueberries, sugar and lemon juice into a saucepan. Place on a low-medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring regularly.
10. Boil the mixture for around 5 minutes, pressing the blueberries against the sides of the pan to break them down. After 5 minutes the mixture should have thickened slightly. Set aside to cool.
11. Once at room temperature, pour the jam into a blender and blitz briefly. This will give a nice thick jam.
12. Preheat the oven to 170c (150c fan)/ 340F/ gas mark 3. Before you place the baking trays into the oven, tap the trays against the surface again. This gives the perfect "foot" of macarons. Bake the macarons for 10-12 minutes - keep an eye on them after 8 minutes in case they are browning too much. Remove the macarons from the oven and transfer the macarons (with the baking paper still attached) to a wire rack to cool.
13. To make the filling, cream the butter against the sides of a mixing bowl until it is very soft and spreadable. Add half of the icing sugar and beat in.
14. Add the remaining icing sugar and 2-3 tbsp of the blueberry jam. Start beating the mixture. If the mixture is very stiff, add a splash of milk to loosen the mix. The buttercream needs to be thick enough that it holds it's shape when lifted from the bowl, but not so thick that it requires muscle power to move the buttercream around the bowl.
15. When the macaron shells have completely cooled, flip half of them over. Fill a piping bag with the blueberry buttercream and pipe about a teaspoon of buttercream on each flipped shell.
16. Top each covered macaron shell with an uncovered shell and press down lightly.
17. These are best to eat at least 24 hours after sandwiching as the shells go very soft. However, they are still delicious straight after assembly! They should keep in an airtight container for around a week (they will get softer as time progresses).
18. Enjoy!
If you liked these, here are my other macaron recipes :)
- Mega mocha macarons
- Mint chocolate macarons
- Chocolate, peanut butter and salted caramel macarons eclairs
- Chocolate and raspberry macarons
- Festive spiced macarons
- Cocoa gingerbread macarons
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