Raspberry Curd filling
Makes about 1½ cups
Ingredients
- 3 cups frozen raspberries
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 3 large egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons (24 grams) cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon (0.75 grams) kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, softened
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring raspberries, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer mixture to the container of a blender, and process until smooth. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve; discard solids. Return mixture to saucepan, and heat over medium heat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cornstarch, and salt. Add about ¼ cup hot raspberry mixture to eggs, whisking constantly. Add egg mixture to remaining hot raspberry mixture in pan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat, and add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking to combine after each addition.
- Let cool completely in refrigerator before using, at least 2 hours. (Curd will keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.)
Chocolate–Orange Ganache filling
Makes about 1 cup
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 orange, zested
- 1⅓ cups (227 grams) 66% cacao bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine cream and orange zest over medium-high heat. Bring to just below a boil; remove from heat. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve; discard solids. Return cream to saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
- Place chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl. Pour simmering cream over chocolate, and cover with plastic wrap for 5 minutes. Whisk together chocolate and cream until smooth. Let cool completely in refrigerator before using, 1 to 2 hours. (Chocolate should be pliable but not runny.)
Basic Buttercream filling
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups (360 grams) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat butter with a mixer at medium speed until creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and salt, beating until smooth.
Notes
Three Easy Buttercream Variations
Lemon: Add the zest and juice of 1 lemon.
Vanilla Bean: Add scraped seeds of half a vanilla bean.
Pistachio: Add ¼ cup (28 grams) finely ground pistachios, ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt, and 1 to 2 drops green food coloring.
Lemon: Add the zest and juice of 1 lemon.
Vanilla Bean: Add scraped seeds of half a vanilla bean.
Pistachio: Add ¼ cup (28 grams) finely ground pistachios, ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt, and 1 to 2 drops green food coloring.
so do you add the 1/4 of not-whipped egg whites to the sifted almond flour and confectioner sugar and not mix at all?
Hi Mariana, correct, you do not mix. If you mixed at this stage, it would turn into a paste that would not incorporate into the beaten egg white mixture later. You whisk together the confectioner’s sugar and flour, but only add the egg whites and food coloring to the bowl (no stirring). In Step 4, the contents of this bowl are then carefully folded into the beaten egg white mixture in thirds. Does that make sense?
The shells cracked in the oven no matter how long I left them to dry before baking. Some that didn’t crack developed uneven feet during baking. Any tips on what might have wrong here? Thanks!
Hey JC,
Thanks for reaching out! After speaking with our test kitchen, they mentioned the issue might lay in over-mixing your egg whites. Incorporating too much air into the egg whites will make the batter more susceptible to cracks. Another issue comes about when folding in your almond meal in with the egg whites. This delicate process, called macaronage, must be done so that the batter is still creamy but not too of full of air— a proper folded mixture will have the consistency of soft serve ice cream.
As for the uneven feet, this often occurs when transferring piped macarons from kitchen to oven. Any jostling or sudden movement can cause the macarons to slide slightly and become un-level.
We hope this has been helpful and that you give these macarons another shot. Happy baking!
Would you recommend baking these one pan at a time? Also, what should you do with the mixture remaining in the bowl or piping bag while the first batch is in the oven?
Abbie,
Thanks for reaching out! We recommend baking these all at once, to insure that the mixture remains fresh and at the proper temperature. If you feel more comfortable baking one pan at a time, that’s fine too! You can just leave the piping bag on the counter at room temperature.
Let us know if you have any other questions.
happy baking!
I have a copy of the magazine. The amounts in grams are 150g for the confectioners sugar, 150g for the almond flour and 150g for the granulated sugar. The recipe above gives different gram measurements. I have baked these twice and the flaws I have seen appear to be related to technique as opposed to amounts-maybe? My main error may be too much air in my final batter. I have also had the issue of batter dripping from my piping tip. I have to work quickly not to have a mess. I think I may stir at the end a little too long or didn’t get enough of a stiff peak when whipping the egg whites.
Hi Ellen,
Thanks for reaching out! Stirring at the end is a tricky rope to walk. There is a fine line between stirring too little and over-stirring. Can I recommend the Bob’s Red Mill Better Baking Academy lesson on Macarons? There is also an IGTV video to follow along. https://bakefromscratch.com/march-vanilla-bean-macarons-strawberry-buttercream/