Pomegranate Raspberry Macarons

A bottle of Pomegranate Raspberry preserves from St. Dalfour, the company that makes my favorite Black Currant preserves, is what inspired me to create these colorful and flavorful macarons.

I noticed the preserves at my neighborhood grocery store and couldn't resist buying them. What I love best about preserves from St. Dalfour is that they are not too sweet. There's no cane sugar used in making them and instead the preserves are sweetened with fruit juice concentrate.

To make the buttercream filling, all I did was whip the preserves into unsalted butter and add a pinch of sea salt. It really couldn't be any easier and the tartness of the pomegranate really comes through and helps contrast the sweetness of the almond shells.

For interest, I painted the inside of my pastry bags with stripes of red gel coloring for a marbling effect. I like this technique a lot but it also kind of stresses me because I'm not in complete control over how the design will turn out. There's no way to know what's going to come out of the pastry bag until you start piping. The color of these luckily turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

Here's how I made them:
Pomegranate Raspberry 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
Red gel 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.

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.

Using a small brush, paint some stripes of red gel coloring on the inside of the piping bags. Get the color all the way down to the tip but don't go crazy and use too much or you will have a mess. A little goes a long way.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands to close the piping bags.

One of my filled piping bags, now I just have to clip the tip and start piping macarons.

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.

The macarons resting before baking.

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 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.

The macarons after baking.

Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife or spatula to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with Pomegranate Raspberry Buttercream.

Sorted macarons ready to be filled.

Pomegranate Raspberry Buttercream
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup Pomegranate Raspberry preserves (I used St. Dalfour brand)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Red gel coloring (optional)

Whip the butter until it is light and smooth. Add the preserves and sea salt.

Whip this together until the filling is light and creamy. When you first start whipping the ingredients together, it will look like a curdled mess, but don't panic. The filling will eventually come together and be beautiful. Just whip it and whip it good! Tint the buttercream with red gel coloring if desired.

Filling the macarons.

I'm really pleased with how these turned out but am already planning my next macaron creation. There just are so many flavor/color combinations that I want to try. Stay tuned.....

Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Macarons

A generous dose of cinnamon makes these macarons warm, comforting, spicy, fragrant and the perfect partner for a filling of dark chocolate buttercream.

Fall and my affinity for Moonstruck's Mexican Hot Chocolate were my inspirations for making these.

Baking them made my house smell heavenly and I really like the look of the cinnamon flecked throughout the macaron shells. These are natural beauties and now one of my favorite flavors. The cinnamon shells would also be great with fillings of pumpkin and apple so please stay tuned for those. I'm feeling inspired!

Here's the recipe:

Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Macarons
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar

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 cinnamon and set aside.

The almond meal, powdered sugar and cinnamon before sifting.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts.

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.

Closeup of the piped macarons.

The macarons need to set for about 30 minutes before baking.

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

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 

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 11 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.

The baked cinnamon macarons.

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 them into pairs and fill with dark chocolate buttercream.

Dark Chocolate Buttercream
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Whip together all of the ingredients until they are smooth and light. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag for the filling of the macarons. Keep the macarons stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

Sorted macarons that are ready to be filling.

Filling the macarons.

All done!

Mini Pistachio Macarons

There are two thoughts on making pistachio macarons.

One is to make the macaron shells with ground pistachios in addition to making a pistachio filling. And the other is to keep the shells classic almond and just add a flavorful pistachio filling. My preference is the latter. 

I feel that the flavor of the almond shells is neutral enough to not muddle the taste of a rich pistachio filling and I prefer sticking with my tried and true recipe for macaron shells because then I have some reassurance they'll turn out. Macaron ingredients are not cheap and I don't want to risk having them wasted.

The secret ingredient of these Mini Pistachio Macarons is the decadent filling, made with toasted and ground pistachios, pure pistachio extract, unsalted butter, powdered sugar and a pinch of sea salt. The result is rich, lightly sweet and very pistachio-y. It's just perfect!

Two necessary ingredients for a great pistachio filling.

Here's the recipe:

Mini Pistachio Macarons
(makes 75 quarter-sized 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
moss green gel coloring

lemon yellow gel coloring

Line five 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 gel colorings to achieve a deep pistachio green. The color of macarons lighten after baking so be sure to color the meringue more intensely than you want the macarons to turn out.

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 nickel sized rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Piped macarons resting before baking.

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 8 to 11 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 Pistachio Filling

Sorted macarons ready for some filling.

Pistachio Filling
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
pinch sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pure pistachio extract
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup pistachio meats
moss gel coloring (optional)

Lay the pistachio meats on a parchment lined baking sheet and toast them in a 350-degree oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until toasted and golden brown.

Pistachio meats ready to be toasted.

Grind the pistachios in a food processor until they are a fine powder. Add the powdered sugar and pulse to combine.

The toasted pistachio meats in the food processor.

Grind the meats to a fine powder.

Add powdered sugar.

The pistachio mixture is ready to be whipped into the butter and enhanced with pistachio extract and sea salt.

Place the pistachio mixture in a mixing bowl with the butter, sea salt and pistachio extract. Whip on high speed until light and creamy. Tint with coloring if desired.

Transfer the mixture to a piping bag for the filling of the macarons.

The finished filling. I tinted it with a bit of moss green gel coloring.

Filled Mini Pistachio Macarons. Keep the macarons chilled until you are ready to serve them.

Vanilla Coconut Macarons

The flavor of vanilla and coconut go great together and making the flavorful filling for these macarons really couldn't be easier because I used extracts. 

The filling is just unsalted butter, vanilla extract, coconut extract, a bit of powdered sugar and a pinch of sea salt whipped together until light and creamy. This would also be a great frosting for a coconut cake.

For macarons, I always aim for lightly sweet fillings because the shells are plenty sweet enough. I think this one is perfect and I hope you do too.

Here's the recipe:
Vanilla Coconut 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

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.

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.

The 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.

The macarons after baking.

Sort the macarons into pairs and fill with Vanilla Coconut Filling.  After filling, refrigerate the macarons until you are ready to serve.

Vanilla Coconut Filling
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Combine all of the ingredients in a stand mixer and whip until light and creamy. This takes a good 5 to 7 minutes. At first it will look like a gloppy mess, but don't worry, just keep whipping and it will come together.

A filled macaron.

 

Rose Macarons

Getting the perfect amount of rose water in the buttercream filling of these Rose Macarons is the real challenge in making them. You want the rose flavor to be distinguishable but you also want it to be fresh and light and not taste like a mouthful of perfume. Done correctly, the flavor is wonderful.

It's also essential that you be sure to use culinary rose water which most commonly used in Persian and Middle Eastern sweets can be found in ethnic markets and some grocery stores. I've tried a few brands and my favorite is Cortas.

These pretty macarons are for my dear friend Iris' graduation celebration. I hope she likes them.

Here's the recipe:
Rose 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
Pink 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. Add the coloring which lightens after baking so tint them a bit darker than how you want them to turn out.

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.

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

The piped macarons resting before baking.

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 9 to 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 Rose Buttercream.


Rose Buttercream
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup powdered sugar
pinch of sea salt
1 1/2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons rose water

In a stand mixer combine the butter, sugar and sea salt. Whip until smooth and light, this takes about 5 minutes. Add the rose water, 1 1/2 teaspoons at first and then taste and add more if desired.

Raspberry Macarons

I love the modern and monochromatic look of these deep pink raspberry macarons.

To get the colors, I used Wilton Rose gel coloring and just a touch of AmeriColor Electric Blue gel coloring to tint the meringue for the shells, but the filling color came about naturally — It's just Crofter's Raspberry Spread whipped with butter and a few drops of LorAnn Oils Raspberry Flavor.

The filling really couldn't be easier to make and is "very raspberry" without being overly sweet. It's the perfect partner for the sweet macaron shells.

Here's the recipe:

Raspberry 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
Wilton Rose gel coloring
AmeriColor Electric Blue gel 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. Add the coloring. I added a pea-sized drop of the rose coloring and just a touch of the blue (I dipped a toothpick into the blue coloring and just touched the meringue with it).

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.

The shells resting before baking.

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 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.

The shells after baking. Be sure to let them cool before trying to remove them from the parchment.

After cooling, you should be able to lift the shells off the parchment. If this doesn't work, you may need to gently slide a long thin knife or spatula underneath the shells to help release them. You can see the spatula I sometimes need to use on the counter behind the tray of shells.

Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife or spatula to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with Raspberry Filling.

Filling the shells.

After assembling the macarons, store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them. Macarons are best served at room temperature so take them out about 30 minutes before you are ready to serve.

Raspberry Filling
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup Crofter's Raspberry Spread or another high-quality low-sugar raspberry preserve
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Just 3 drops of Raspberry Flavor (I used LorAnn brand)

Whip the butter until it is light and smooth. Add the jam, sea salt and raspberry flavor.

Whip this together until the filling is light and creamy. When you first start whipping the ingredients together, it will look like a curdled mess, but don't panic. The filling will eventually come together and be beautiful. Just whip it and whip it good!

The spread and flavoring I used.

The finished smooth and creamy filling.

Morello Cherry Macarons

When I want to make macarons but need some flavor inspiration, I just need to take a walk to my neighborhood New Season's grocery store and head for the jam isle. I'm always amazed at the local company's wide selection of low-sugar, pure fruit spreads and pleased that they just need to be whipped with softened unsalted butter for a quick and flavorful macaron filling.

On a recent trip to the store, I had a hard time choosing between a jar of Crofter's Morello Cherry Spread and Bonne Maman French Rhubarb Jam. In the end, the deciding factor was that the cherry spread was on sale and that's how these cute Morello Cherry Macarons came about.

Here's the recipe:

Morello Cherry 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
 Red 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. Add the coloring. Be sure to add enough coloring since macarons lighten during baking. Make the batter darker than you want the macarons to turn out.

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 that need to rest at room temperature before baking.

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.

The macarons after baking.

 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 Morello Cherry Filling.

Filling the macarons.

Morello Cherry Filling
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup Morello Cherry Spread (I used Crofter's brand)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract (a touch of almond extract always enhances a cherry dessert)


Whip all of the ingredients together until the buttercream is light and smooth.

Coffee Salted Caramel Macarons

These Coffee Salted Caramel Macarons are cute, delicious and easy to make. The filling is just butter, salted caramel, espresso powder dissolved in a bit of water and an extra dash of sea salt whipped together.

After her first taste, my daughter Eleanor gave me a big smile and said "Mom, the kids at my school would go crazy for these because they taste just like a Starbuck's caramel frappuccino."

The macaron batter is colored with a bit of fuschia and violet gel paste but the filling is au natural.

The color of the macaron batter before baking.

Here's a side by side comparison of the baked and unbaked macarons. The color of the batter always lightens after baking so you need to color the batter darker than the color you want.

I really like the look and taste of these and I'm anxious to see what others think when I serve them this Saturday at the Leonard Cohen Alternative Liturgy at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.

If you'd like a taste, please join us. Here are the details about the Liturgy which is a fundraiser for Trinity's hunger ministries which supports The Wednesday Community Meal and the recipe:

LEONARD COHEN LITURGY
Saturday, November 15, 6:00 p.m., Kempton Hall. Join Trinity for an alternative liturgy set to the songs of popular music’s saint of solitude, prophet of the heart and brother of mercy. From “Hallelujah” to “Tower of Song,” Leonard Cohen stands with Bob Dylan as one of the world’s most fascinating and prophetic songwriters. But this Alt.Liturgy will show that he also stands with David in the Psalms, constantly asking, “Can you hear my song?” A freewill offering will benefit Trinity’s hunger ministries.

Coffee Salted Caramel 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
fuschia gel coloring (optional)
violet gel coloring (optional)

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. Add the coloring if desired and mix well.

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.

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 them 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 Coffee Salted Caramel Buttercream.

Coffee Salted Caramel Buttercream
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup salted caramel sauce
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons espresso powder dissolved in 2 teaspoons of hot water, cooled

Whip the butter until it is smooth and light. Add the caramel sauce, dissolved espresso mixture and salt and whip again until light and creamy. 

Filling the macarons.