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    Home » Recipes » Macarons » Cranberry and White Chocolate Macarons

    Cranberry and White Chocolate Macarons

    Published: Dec 19, 2019 · Modified: Oct 28, 2020 by Erin · This post may contain affiliate links · 2 Comments

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    Cranberry and white chocolate macarons. French macaron shells are filled with white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and fresh cranberry sauce filling, for the perfect festive macaron. These gluten free treats are easy to make for a crowd.

    Cranberry and white chocolate macarons. French macaron shells are filled with white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and fresh cranberry sauce filling, for the perfect festive macaron. These gluten free treats are easy to make for a crowd.
    Cranberry and white chocolate macarons. French macaron shells are filled with white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and fresh cranberry sauce filling, for the perfect festive macaron. These gluten free treats are easy to make for a crowd.
    Cranberry and white chocolate macarons. French macaron shells are filled with white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and fresh cranberry sauce filling, for the perfect festive macaron. These gluten free treats are easy to make for a crowd.
    Cranberry and white chocolate macarons. French macaron shells are filled with white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and fresh cranberry sauce filling, for the perfect festive macaron. These gluten free treats are easy to make for a crowd.
    Cranberry and white chocolate macarons. French macaron shells are filled with white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and fresh cranberry sauce filling, for the perfect festive macaron. These gluten free treats are easy to make for a crowd.
    Cranberry and white chocolate macarons. French macaron shells are filled with white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and fresh cranberry sauce filling, for the perfect festive macaron. These gluten free treats are easy to make for a crowd.
    Cranberry and white chocolate macarons. French macaron shells are filled with white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and fresh cranberry sauce filling, for the perfect festive macaron. These gluten free treats are easy to make for a crowd.

    Hi hi! Happy Thursday! Last weekend Mike and I went to Jase’s house for a little holiday macaron collab situation! The original plan was to make a shaped macaron, but the weather wasn’t on our side for trying something tricky (macarons hate humidity) so we stuck to what we are good at, and went with these cranberry white chocolate babies, which turned out to be a great decision.

    I never used to think collaborating on something would be fun for me - I’m super picky, a bit of a control freak, and get stressed out when there are other people there when I am shooting, but it’s come to be something that is so fun, and an amazing way to hang out and get content at the same time! Jase, Mike and I had the best time (Jase and I bake together a lot and he just ignores my little stresses and then we laugh at me when I inevitably love the end product, every time), and I learnt loads from watching Mike shoot - spot the backlit photo in there! I can’t wait to play around with different setups a little more.

    In terms of the macarons, we went with our standard vanilla shell - we have found it is easiest to keep the shell the same, mixing up the colour and the sprinkles etc on the topping, and then to mix up the filling to give the macarons flavour. The shells can be temperamental at best, so it is best to just leave them the same in order to get consistent results. We then filled them with a white chocolate buttercream and a tangy cranberry filling in the middle, for a classic white chocolate and cranberry flavour. I am not usually a big fan of white chocolate, but paired with something a little tart such as cranberry or passionfruit, the sweetness of the chocolate plays off well with the filling. These are a perfect festive take on a macaron, but would be delicious any time of the year.

    A few wee tips:

    • All my macaron tips are here in this post!

    • We actually made two batches to get the colour variation - the recipe here is enough for one batch. We added sprinkles to some of the red.

    • You can make the cranberry filling ahead of time - it will just need a good stir before you use it!

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    Cranberry and White Chocolate Macarons

    ★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
    • Author: Erin
    • Prep Time: 45 minutes
    • Cook Time: 45 minutes
    • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes plus drying and chilling time
    • Yield: 24 Macarons 1x
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    Description

    French macaron shells are filled with white chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and fresh cranberry sauce filling, for the perfect festive macaron. These gluten free treats are easy to make for a crowd.


    Ingredients

    Scale

    Macaron Shells

    • 170g ground almonds
    • 300g powdered sugar
    • 180g egg whites, at room temperature
    • 160g sugar
    • A few drops of red gel food colouring (if using)
    • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
    • Sprinkles to finish

    Cranberry Filling

    • 1 12oz bag fresh cranberries
    • 200g Sugar
    • 120g water
    • pinch of salt

    White Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

    • 125g egg whites
    • 200g granulated sugar
    • ¼ tsp kosher salt
    • 455g (16oz, or four sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
    • 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
    • 250g white chocolate, melted and cooled.

    Instructions

    MACARON SHELLS

    1. Preheat oven to 300˚f / 150˚c, and position the oven rack in the centre of the oven. Using a round cookie cutter or the base of a large piping tip (something about 1.5 inches in diameter), draw a "template" for your macarons on a piece of parchment paper, leaving about ¾" between each circle.
    2. Combine the almond meal and powdered sugar together in a large bowl. Sift the mixture twice, to ensure there are no large lumps and that the mixture is properly aerated. Set aside.
    3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add the sugar, increase the mixer speed, and whip on high until the meringue starts to firm up. Add red yellow gel food colour a few drops at a time, until the desired colour is reached. Add vanilla and mix until incorporated. Continue to whip until the meringue forms stiff peaks (there is a good example here).
    4. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add half of the ground almond and powdered sugar mixture, and fold into the meringue. You want to deflate the meringue just a little at this stage, to combine the meringue and ground almond mixture.
    5. Add the remaining ground almond mixture, and stir lightly to combine. Now comes the important part - mixing the batter to the correct consistency. Again, this video does a good job of explaining it. Fold the mixture in a series of 'turns', deflating the batter by spreading it against the side of the bowl. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat the movement - scooping the batter from the bottom of the bowl, and spreading it against the side.
    6. Continuously check the consistency of the batter - you want it to flow like lava when you lift the spatula from the bowl, and you should be able to 'draw' a figure 8 with it, without the batter breaking (again, watch lots of videos to get an idea! They help so much). This step can take some practice until you know what it should feel and look like. If in doubt you are better to under mix them than over mix them - the process of putting the batter into the bag and piping out will help mix a little too.
    7. Fit a large pastry bag with a medium sized round tip, such as an ateco #805. Place the macaron template on a sheet pan, and place a second piece of parchment over it. Holding the piping bag at a 90˚ angle to the surface, pipe out the batter into blobs the size of the circles drawn on the template. Finish off each piped circle with a little "flick" of your wrist to minimise the batter forming a point (it will still form a small one, but we can get rid of this with banging). Remove the template from under the macarons.
    8. Hold the baking sheet in two hands, and carefully but firmly, evenly bang it against the bench. Repeat this a few more times - this will get rid of any air bubbles, remove points on the top, and help them to spread out slightly. Add sprinkles if using.
    9. Repeat the piping and banging process until you have used up all of the batter - I usually make three sheet pans worth.
    10. Allow the macarons to dry at room temperature for approximately 30 minutes, or until they form a skin that you can touch without your finger sticking to them. This time will drastically vary depending on the humidity.
    11. About fifteen minutes before you are going to bake the macarons, place a spare sheet pan in the oven to preheat - this is going to be used to place under the pan with the macarons on it, to double up, which should help with even baking. Bake the macarons one sheet at a time - place the sheet with the macarons on the preheated sheet, and place in the oven.
    12. Bake for approximately 18 minutes, rotating the pan once during the cooking process, and checking for doneness after 15 minutes. The macarons should develop a foot (the ruffled part on the bottom of the macaron), and bake without browning. To see if they are done - press down lightly on a shell. If the foot gives way, it needs a little longer, if it is stable, then it is close to being done.
    13. Test a macaron shell - if you can peel it away cleanly from the paper, they are done. If they are stable but cannot yet peel away cleanly, give them another minute or so. Again, this part takes a little trial and error depending on your oven. If they seem done but do not peel away cleanly, do not worry - there is a little trick for that!
    14. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool on the sheet pan for 10 minutes before peeling off the parchment paper and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat the baking with the remaining trays, using the same spare sheet pan to double up.
    15. If your macs do not peel away cleanly, place them, on the parchment paper, into the freezer for 5-10 minutes, then peel away from the paper.
    16. Store cooled macarons in an airtight container until ready to use.

    CRANBERRY FILLING

    • Place all the ingredients into a small pot. Place over med heat, bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes until cranberries burst and mixture is syrupy. Blend until smooth, then leave to cool.

    WHITE CHOCOLATE SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

    1. Place the egg whites, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer or a heat proof bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water, ensuring that the water does not touch the bowl. Heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture registers 160˚f / 70˚c on a thermometer and the sugar has dissolved.
    2. Carefully transfer the bowl to the mixer, and fit with the whisk attachment. Whip the egg whites on high until they are white and fluffy, and the mixture has cooled, 8-10 minutes. Add the butter one chunk at a time. The mixture may look curdled - but just keep mixing! Once all the butter is incorporated, mix on high for a further 10 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
    3. While the buttercream is mixing, melt the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl in 30 second increments in the microwave. Set aside to cool slightly.
    4. Once the buttercream has finished mixing, and is smooth and silky, add in the cooled chocolate. Mix for a further 2-3 minutes, then switch to the paddle attachment and mix on low for one minute to remove any air. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip.

    ASSEMBLY

    1. Place the shells on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, Place the cranberry filling into a small piping bag fitted with a round tip. Pair up each macaron shell with another of an equal size. Pipe a ring of buttercream on one half of the shell, then a blob of the filling in the middle.
    2. Place the second shell carefully on top. Repeat with the rest of the macarons. Macarons are best chilled overnight to allow the flavours to meld, but can also be eaten immediately.

    Keywords: macarons, gluten free, cranberry, white chocolate, french macaron

    Did you make this recipe?

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    Previous Post: « Milk Chocolate Christmas Mini Egg Magic Bars
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Saige Teague

      February 19, 2021 at 10:15 pm

      As far as the macaron shells go, this recipe is great. I've been experimenting with different shell recipes and this one takes the trophy. One fault, however is the sweetness of the cookie itself. BUT, the cranberry filling cuts out a bit of that sweetness. 9/10 recommended! Also as far as location goes,(which really matters) I live in Arkansas. 65% humidity today. Did not effect it at all.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Erin

        February 20, 2021 at 9:34 am

        Hi! Ahhh so happy you loved them! They are super sweet but that's just the nature of the beast really - I like filling them with zippy fillings to offset!

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Erin

    I am originally from New Zealand but moved to Brooklyn, New York, six years ago. I live in a little wee apartment with my husband Rich, far too many house plants, and often a foster kitten or five... more

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