Description
Delightful French Pistachio Macarons featuring delicate pistachio-flavored almond shells paired with a smooth and creamy Laduree-style pistachio buttercream filling. These elegant treats require precise technique for perfect texture and presentation.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For Pistachio Macaron Shells:
- 60 g fine almond flour
- 40 g fine pistachio flour
- 65 g powdered sugar
- 70 g egg whites at room temperature
- 75 g fine granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon green gel food coloring
For Laduree Pistachio Creme Filling:
- 65 g granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 egg yolks
- 55 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 20 g pure pistachio paste
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, Teflon sheet, or silicone mat to prepare for piping macarons.
- Prepare Dry Ingredients: Sift together almond flour, pistachio flour, and powdered sugar twice; discard any chunky bits left in the sifter to ensure smooth batter.
- Make Meringue: In a clean mixing bowl with a whisk attachment, combine egg whites, granulated sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form, approximately 30 to 40 minutes for full fluffy meringue.
- Add Coloring and Beat to Hard Peaks: Add a drop of green gel food coloring. Continue beating on medium-low speed until meringue holds hard peaks, indicated by sharp ribs and pointy tips on the whisk.
- Incorporate Dry Ingredients: Sift dry ingredients again into meringue. Using a silicone spatula, fold dry ingredients into the meringue carefully until fully incorporated and batter becomes runny enough to draw a figure eight without breaking.
- Test Batter Consistency: Drop a small amount of batter into the bowl; peaks should dissolve within about 10 seconds. If not, fold a few more times and retest. Avoid over-folding the batter to maintain proper texture.
- Pipe Macaron Shells: Transfer batter into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe 1.5-inch rounds spaced about 1 inch apart onto prepared baking sheets, using a macaron template for uniformity.
- Remove Air Bubbles and Rest: Tap the baking sheets firmly on the counter several times and use a toothpick to burst large air bubbles. Let the piped shells rest on the counter for 15 minutes to develop a skin.
- Bake Macarons: Bake one sheet at a time on the middle oven rack, placing an empty sheet on the top rack to prevent browning. Bake for 18 minutes. Test by gently touching; macarons should be firm with no wobble and bases should remain attached.
- Cool Shells: Cool macarons completely on baking mats before peeling off gently to avoid breaking.
- Prepare Pistachio Filling: In a small saucepan, combine sugar and water, stirring constantly over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Boil syrup until it reaches 250°F (120°C), about 5 minutes.
- Beat Egg Yolks: Meanwhile, beat egg yolks until doubled in size and pale, about 2 minutes. Slowly pour hot syrup into egg yolks while mixer runs on low speed, pouring down the side of the bowl to avoid splatter.
- Finish Filling: Increase mixer speed to medium-high and beat until mixture cools to 104°F (40°C), becoming smooth and white. Stir in butter and pistachio paste, beating until smooth and creamy. Transfer filling to a pastry bag with round tip.
- Assemble Macarons: Pair shells by size and arrange with shell bottoms facing up on a wire rack. Pipe filling onto bottom shells, sandwich with top shells, and press lightly to spread filling to edges.
- Mature and Serve: Store filled macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours to mature and soften flavors. Bring to room temperature about 30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Use super fine almond flour to ensure smooth tops; weigh ingredients before sifting.
- To make pistachio flour, pulse pistachios in a food processor and sift out fine flour; reprocess chunkier bits.
- Use commercial powdered sugar with cornstarch for better cookie texture.
- Fine granulated or caster sugar is important for smooth meringue because it dissolves quickly.
- Cream of tartar is optional but stabilizes egg whites and strengthens meringue.
- Store filled macarons in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months after maturing 24 hours refrigerated.
- For troubleshooting, monitor batter folding carefully and watch real-time macaronage technique videos.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 macarons
- Calories: 100 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 30 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated Fat: 3 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 10 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 30 mg
