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I have to warn you: this is not a simple recipe. Macarons are one of the most delicate and finicky of baking adventures. The ingredients need to be precisely weighed with a scale and there is no room for improvisation. Having said that though, making this recipe is completely worth it! The pale pink pastry is crisp and elegant, sandwiching a velvety vanilla cream cheese filling. What a delicious way to celebrate Easter!
Pink Macarons Filled with Vanilla Cream Cheese for Easter
Makes about 16
Ingredients
- 100 g egg whites
- 50 g white sugar
- 200 g icing sugar
- 110 g ground almonds
- a few drops food colouring of your choice
- 125 g cream cheese, at room temperature
- 5 ml vanilla essence
- 30 ml whipping cream
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or if you don't have one, use parchment paper. Use a spray oil to grease the mat/paper.
- Sift confectioners' sugar and ground almonds in a bowl and set aside. It is very important to sift the ingredients first, as it removes lumps and evenly mixes the two ingredients together.
- Beat egg whites and food colouring in a bowl with an electric mixer until whites are foamy. Beat in white sugar and continue beating until egg whites are glossy, fluffy, and hold soft peaks. Fold the almond mixture into the egg whites, about 30 strokes.
- When batter is mixed, spoon into a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip, or an icing press, as pictured above. Pipe the batter onto the baking sheet in 3 cm rounds, leaving at least 2 cm between the disks. There will be more than 32 cookies, but this gives some room if there are any broken pieces later in the process. Let the piped cookies stand out at room temperature until they form a skin on top, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 285 F (140 C).
- Bake cookies until set but not browned, about 30 minutes. They must grow "feet" or a little frilled ruffle around their bottoms.
- Let cookies cool completely. Even better, let them dry overnight. This will help remove moisture so they are easier to work with and will hold up to the filling. The dry cookies will last unfilled for up to a week. Once filled however, they will get soft and soggy relatively quickly, so plan to serve them within 24 hours of filling them.
- To make the filling, mix together cream cheese, vanilla, and cream in a medium bowl with a spatula. Holding the macaron delicately by the edges, spread about one teaspoon of filling evenly on the flat side. Carefully top with second macaron and lightly twist to even out the vanilla cream cheese.
I can only handle very simple baking, so I’ll be sending this link to my baking enthusiast friend to whip up for me! They look beautiful!
Well maybe try them WITH your friend! That way it’s more fun and two bakers are better than one!
These are beautiful and the color alone makes you just want to touch and enjoy them. I have recently read that you can freeze macarons.
Yeah, freezing them sounds doable. They would just have to be delicately packed so they don’t break when you’re rummaging around in there.