Bribing a Toddler with Strawberries and Cream Macarons

Guys.  I made strawberries and cream macarons.  It's been a good 3 or 4 years since I've made them and I'm glad I still haven't lost the method!  It was like riding a bike.   I wasn't sure if I should post these or not because this blog focuses on healthy recipes.  Thinking about it some more I thought why not.  Macarons are a big part of our life right now because it's the treat my daughter gets when she goes to potty.  Yup.  It was the only treat that would consistently get her to use the potty and now she is out of diapers, but going through our money by buying her all the macarons. Her uncle even sent her some via FedEx from New York!

Last week it was a rainy week in the Bay Area and we stayed home a lot because of this yucky flu that has been going around.  So I decided - let's make some macarons!  I asked my daughter what she wanted to make and she said strawberry and lucky enough we were at Trader Joe's last week and had some freeze dried strawberries.

5 Tips on how to make Successful Macarons

I learned how to make macarons successfully from attending a Sur La Table class.  These are the tips the instructor she gave me that I still remember to this day:

1.  Always use a macaron recipe that has weight in the recipe not cups or spoons.  The ratios of almond flour/egg/sugar are very important, so invest in a scale and weigh out the ingredients.
2. You don't need to age your eggs.
3. Sift your almond flour and powdered sugar twice.
4. Make sure your egg whites are very stiff before adding in the granulated sugar.
5. The last step in making a macaron is called the macaroonage where you scrape the batter on the side of the bowl to loosen it up.  Many recipes tell you to do it 20 times.  Don't do that.  After each scrape check the consistency of the batter.  If it starts doing that slow drip off the spatula like molten lava it's ready to go.  Some times it only takes one swipe depending on the humidity of your kitchen.

I have to say they did turn out pretty good.  Oh and the ones I gave my daughter had a plain coco whip filling with out the champagne.

Strawberries and Cream Macarons with Champagne Filling

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

1x2x3x

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Servings: 20 Macarons

Author: Rezel Kealoha

Ingredients

Strawberries and Cream Shells

• ▢ 3 Egg Whites
• ▢ 55 g Superfine Sugar
• ▢ 200 g Powdered Sugar
• ▢ 90 g Amond Flour
• ▢ 25 g Freeze Dried Strawberries

Champane Filling

• ▢ ½ Cup Simple Mills Vanilla Icining
• ▢ ¼ Cup Room Temperature Champane

Garnishes

• ▢ Dried Rose Petals
• ▢ Pink Sprinkles

Equipment

• ▢ 2 Sheet Pans
• ▢ 2 Silpat Sheets
• ▢ 1 Piping Bag
• ▢ 1 ½ Inch Piping Tip
• ▢ Food Scale
• ▢ Coffee Grinder
• ▢ Food Processor
• ▢ Stand Mixer or Hand Held Mixer
• ▢ Mesh Strainer
• ▢ Spatula

Instructions

Make the Strawberry Powder

• Using a coffee grinder place freeze dried strawberries in batches in the grinder and grind until it's fine powder.  Set aside 25g of the powder.
  

Make the Strawberries and Cream Shells

• Place the almond flour, powdered sugar and strawberry powder in the food processor and process for 30 seconds to mix.  Seive the strawberry mixture through the trainer using a wooden spoon to push through the strainer.  Do this two times.  Set aside.
  
• In a stand mixer whip the egg whites until they are stiff and add in the superfine sugar and whip until the egg whites are stiff and shinny and it no longer feels grainy when you rub it in between your fingers.
  
• Take the bow out of the stand mixer and scrape down the sides careful.  In 3 batches add in the strawberry mixture.  At this stage carefully fold in each batch until fully incorporated keeping the volume of the eggs intact. 
  
• Once the strawberry mixture has been folded in using the spatula press the batter against the side of the bowl to flatten out the batter.  Do it once and check the flow of the batter.  Keep repeating and checking until the batter is slowly dripping down the spatula. 
  
• Place in a piping bag with the ½ inch piping tube and pipe into 1 ½ inch circles on your silpat making sure they are 1 inch apart.
  
• Once you finish piping bang the trays on the counter to take out any bubbles and let sit to dry for 30 minutes.  Top with the dried rose petals and/or the sprinkles.
• While it's drying pre-heat the oven to 280 degrees F.
  
• The macarons are ready to back when you tap the top of the shell and no batter sticks to your finger. 
  
• Bake the macarons for 15 minutes.  To check if the are done they should peel off the silpat easily.  Leave the shells to dry on the tray completely. 
  

Champagne Filling

• While they are drying make the filling by placing the icing and champagne in a bowl and whip together until it's fully incorporated. 
  

To assemble

• Pair up a shell and fill one side with the champagne filling and top with another shell.  Repeat until all have been filled.
  

Did you enjoy making it? I would love to see it! Tag me on Instagram @rezelkealoha with the #rezelkealoha!