Orange Cream Macarons

Once you've mastered making macarons, it's fun to experiment with new flavors and colors.

My niece Maya has been requesting for some time an orange macaron so here it is, my newest creation — Orange Cream Macarons.

To make them, I made a basic macaron batter and added orange coloring.

For the filling, I made a reduction of fresh squeezed orange juice, zest, sugar and a touch of orange extract and added it to whipped butter and cream cheese. I finished it off with a touch of vanilla extract.

Here's the recipe:


Orange Cream Macarons

180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted
150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar
orange food coloring

Line four heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and set aside. 

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts.  Towards the end of mixing, add the food coloring.

Egg white mixture with the orange coloring.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 
Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small quarter sized rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Piped macarons.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch.

While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable. 

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 12 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.
Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with Orange Cream Filling

Macarons ready to be filled.

Orange Cream Filling
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
zest of 1 orange
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan, combine orange juice, orange zest, sugar and orange extract. Over medium heat, reduce mixture by half until it is a thick syrup. Be sure to watch closely and stir frequently. This takes about 7 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. You may put the syrup in the fridge to speed up the cooling process.

The zest of one orange. Be sure to use an organic orange and rinse it before zesting.

Reducing the orange juice, zest, sugar and orange extract.

The finished orange reduction.

In a large bowl, whip the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla and whip again.
Add cooled orange mixture and whip again.

Put the filling into a piping bag and fill macarons.

Refrigerate macarons and bring to room temperature before serving. Macarons taste best after two days in the fridge.

Wrapped macarons for my sweet niece Maya.