These guava macarons are filled with a delicious fruity guava buttercream made with guava paste. If you’re a fan of guava, you need to try these! If you love fruity macarons, you should also try my mango macarons which are made with fruit paste as well and are delicious!
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Macaron Tools
- Kitchen scale – I recommend weighing your ingredients for accuracy.
- Strainer – sift the powdered sugar and almond flour to get rid of any little clumps. I only sift once but make sure to sift them together because almond flour has moisture and doesn’t sift well on its own.
- Whisk – helps to break down any little clumps when sifting.
- Stand Mixer – I would recommend using a stand mixer instead of a hand held mixer because meringue can sometimes take a while to make.
- Spatula – to fold the batter (known as macaronage).
- Pastry bag – 16′ inch bag works for this recipe.
- Round piping tip – I like using a medium piping tip.
- Silicone baking mat – I prefer using silicone mats because the macaron shells come out perfectly round. I’ve used parchment paper before but the shells can sometimes come out misshapen.
- Half sheet pan – this is my favorite pan to use because it’s sturdy and doesn’t warp.
- Oven thermometer – using an oven thermometer is important when making macarons because oven displays aren’t always accurate.
Macaron Ingredients
- Powdered sugar – also known as confectioner’s sugar.
- Almond Flour – use finely sifted, blanched almond flour so you don’t get any brown bits in your batter.
- Egg whites – no need to age them but they should be at room temperature.
- Granulated sugar – you can also use caster sugar which is a bit finer.
- Powdered egg whites – if you have difficulty getting a strong meringue, I recommend using powdered egg whites.
- Vanilla extract – adds a nice vanilla flavor to the shells.
- Gel food coloring – use gel food coloring because liquid food coloring adds more moisture to the batter which can affect the texture of the macarons.
Guava Macarons Recipe
- Prepare the dry ingredients – Weigh and sift the almond flour and powdered sugar using a whisk to break down any little clumps.
- Make the meringue – Using the stand mixer, whisk the egg whites, granulated sugar, powdered egg whites, vanilla and gel food color until you have stiff peaks. Be careful not to over beat the egg whites. They should clump up in the whisk, but not separate.
- Combine dry ingredients and meringue – Fold the dry ingredients into the meringue in three parts, making sure that the dry ingredients are fully incorporated each time before adding the rest.
- Pipe shells – Pipe the macarons in 3/4 inch circles about an inch apart.
- Tap baking sheet – Tap the baking sheet against the counter about 8 times to remove any air bubbles. If you see air bubbles come up to the top, you can pop them with a scribe or a toothpick.
- Rest macarons – You need to rest the macarons until they are no longer sticky so that they don’t crack in the oven. Depending on the humidity level in your kitchen, this can take as little as 20 minutes or sometimes as long as an hour.
- Bake macarons – Bake between 300F-310F for 14-16 minutes.
- Make the buttercream – Whisk the salted butter, powdered sugar, cubed guava paste, and heavy cream until creamy. The guava paste will not fully dissolve so you’ll be left with little bits of delicious guava in the buttercream.
- Fill the macarons – Pipe the buttercream on half of the shells and top with the remaining half.
- Refrigerate – Refrigerate overnight so the macarons can mature and get chewy.
What is Guava Paste?
Guava paste comes in solid form but is soft and jelly-like. The paste is made by cooking down guava and sugar until you’re left with a thick puree which solidifies. You can eat it as is or melt it and make it into a sauce.
Fruit paste is great to use in buttercream because it doesn’t add moisture which can make the buttercream runny.
Guava Buttercream
- Powdered sugar
- Salted butter
- Heavy whipping cream
- Guava paste
Cut the guava paste into very small cubes and add it to the mixing bowl together with the salted butter. Whisk for a few minutes until the guava and butter are combined. The guava won’t fully dissolve into the butter, you’ll be left with a few guava bits. Add the powdered sugar in two parts and whisk until fully combined. Add the heavy cream a little at a time until the buttercream is smooth and creamy.
How to Store Macarons
Guava macarons can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Can You Freeze Macarons?
You can freeze guava macarons for up to 2 months. The guava buttercream freezes very well. If you plan on making the macarons ahead of time and freezing them, you can bake and fill the macarons and refrigerate them for a day, let them mature, and then freeze them.
The day before you plan on eating them, move them from the freezer to the fridge so they have a few hours to defrost. Remove them from the fridge and let them come to room temperature, about 20-30 minutes, before eating.
Why Did My Macarons Crack?
If you’re having issues with cracked macarons, this can be due to several reasons. The shells may not have dried enough to form a skin before baking. Always test the shells by touching the batter. If it’s sticky, they are not ready yet.
Another reason for cracked macarons may be too much air in the batter. Tap the baking sheet several times on the counter to make sure you get rid of any air bubbles.
More fruit macarons to try
- Pineapple Macarons
- Mango Macarons
- Passion Fruit Macarons
- Orange Macarons
- Strawberry Cheesecake Macarons
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Macarons
- Peach Macarons
Macaron resources
Guava Macarons
Equipment
- Kitchen scale
- Strainer
- Whisk
- Stand mixer
- Spatula
- One 16 inch pastry bag
- One 8 inch pastry bag
- Round piping tip (Wilton 12)
- Two silicone baking mats
- Two half sheet pans
- Oven thermometer
Ingredients
Macaron shells
- 90 grams powdered sugar
- 80 grams almond flour
- 70 grams egg whites
- 70 grams granulated sugar
- 2 grams egg white powder (optional)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 5 drops green gel food coloring
Guava buttercream
- 2 oz guava paste (cubed)
- ¼ cup salted butter (½ stick)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Prepare dry ingredients
- Sift powdered sugar and almond flour using a whisk to break down any clumps. Set aside.
- Line sheet pans with silicone mats.
- Insert the piping tip into the 16 inch pastry bag.
Make the meringue
- Whisk the egg whites on medium speed (speed 4) until you start to see small bubbles (this can take as little as 15 seconds sometimes).
- Slowly add 3 tbsp of granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time.
- Whisk until you start to see tracks in the meringue.
- Increase speed to 6 and continue slowly adding the remainder of the granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until you’ve added all the sugar.
- Once you have soft peaks, stop the mixer, scrape the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla.
- Whisk for about 2 minutes, or until medium peaks, and add 5 drops of gel food coloring.
- Whisk for another 5 minutes or until stiff peaks.
Combine ingredients
- Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the meringue and fold the batter until you can't see any of the dry ingredients.
- When folding the batter, slide the spatula under the batter, lift it in a U motion, go over the top of the batter, and slide it under again. This way you make sure to get the batter at the bottom of the bowl.
- Once fully combined, add in another 1/3 of the dry ingredients and repeat the process of folding.
- Add in the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients and fold until fully combined.
- Once all of the powdered sugar/almond flour mixture has been added, continue folding a few more times to make sure all the ingredients are combined well.
- Now you need to deflate some of the air in the batter by taking the spatula and smearing the batter on the sides of the bowl two or three times, and then folding once or twice.
- Continue this process of smearing some of the batter on the side of the bowl and folding once or twice until the batter starts to run off the spatula in ribbons.
- You can test the consistency by lifting the spatula and letting the batter run down. If it falls in ribbons and sinks into itself within 30 seconds, it's ready.
Pipe the shells
- Transfer the batter to the 16 inch pastry bag.
- Holding the pastry bag at a 90° angle, pipe the macarons into ¾ inch circles about 1 inch apart.
- Tap the tray against the counter about 8 times to release any air bubbles.
- Let the macarons rest until they form a skin and are no longer sticky.
- While the macarons are resting, preheat the oven to 310°F.
- Bake the macarons for 14-16 minutes.
- Macarons are ready when they no longer shift if you touch the tops.
Guava Buttercream
- Cut the guava paste into ¼ inch cubes.
- Using the stand mixer, whisk the butter and guava until smooth. There will be some guava bits left.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and whisk until fully combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and whisk until you no longer see any sugar.
- Add the cream and continue to whisk until the buttercream looks smooth and creamy.
Assemble the macarons
- Fill the 8 inch pastry bag with the buttercream and cut a ½ inch opening at the bottom of the bag.
- Pipe the filling in the center of half of the macarons and top with the remaining halves.
This is the first macaron recipe that’s worked for me! And it was delicious! Thank you!!!
I happened to have both guava paste and almond flour leftover from other recipes so I was looking for a way to use up both. This was my first time making macarons and they turned are fantastic!! I thought the instructions were very clear. I was nervous about the deflating the batter step but in the end the consistency was just right.
Hi Lauren! Thanks so much for your comment! I’m so glad my recipe was helpful and that you had success your first time making them. =)
Lovely recipe, easy to follow and the result was great! I did think that both the macarons and the buttercream filling were far too sweet. I think next time I’ll reduce the sugar, add a pinch of salt to the batter, and use a lot more guava paste or butter for a more intense flavor. I’m also going to try the making the buttercream with a different preserve like apricot or passiflora!