Caramel Apple Macarons
These caramel apple macarons are filled with caramel buttercream and apple jelly and are decorated with a delicious caramel drizzle made from soft caramel candies.
Servings: 18 macarons
Calories: 130kcal
Equipment
- Kitchen scale
- Strainer
- Whisk
- Stand mixer
- Two spatulas
- One 16 inch pastry bag
- Three 8 inch pastry bags
- Round piping tip (I used the Ateco 10)
- Two silicone mats
- Two half sheet pans
- Oven thermometer
- Two small glass bowls
- Apple template (download via link in post)
Ingredients
- 90 grams powdered sugar
- 80 grams almond flour
- 70 grams egg whites (room temperature)
- 70 grams granulated sugar
- 2 grams egg white powder (optional)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 6 drops red gel food coloring
- 1 drop brown gel food coloring
Caramel buttercream
- ¼ cup salted butter (½ stick)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 4 soft caramel candies
- ½ tbsp milk
Apple jelly filling
- ¼ cup apple jelly
Caramel drizzle
- 8 soft caramel candies
- 1 tbsp milk
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 and place the apple templates under the 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 see small bubbles (this can take as little as 15 seconds sometimes).
- Slowly add 3 tbsp of granulated sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, waiting about 10 seconds between each tbsp.
- 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 and add the vanilla.
- Whisk for about 5 more minutes, or until stiff peaks.
Combine ingredients
- Add in the powdered sugar and almond flour mixture in three parts, 1/3 at a time, folding each part until fully combined.
- Once the meringue and dry ingredients are fully combined, stop folding.
- Scoop out about a tablespoon of batter and place it in a bowl. This will be for the brown stems.
- Add 6 drops of red gel food coloring to the mixing bowl and continue folding until the color is mixed in.
- 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.
- Repeat the process of smearing some of the batter on the side of the bowl and folding until the batter looks smooth and glossy and runs down the spatula slowly in ribbons.
- You can test the consistency by lifting the spatula and letting the batter run down. If it falls in ribbons and sinks back into itself within 30 seconds, the batter is ready.
- Transfer the red batter to the 16 inch pastry bag and set aside.
- Take the small bowl with the batter for the stems, add 1 drop of brown gel food coloring, and repeat the steps of folding and deflating the batter.
- Transfer the brown batter to an 8 inch pastry bag and set aside.
Pipe the apple shaped macarons
- Take the pastry bag with the red batter and, holding the bag at a 90° angle, pipe the macarons into apple shapes according to the template, starting at the middle and guiding the batter to the edges.
- Pop any air bubbles with a scribe or a toothpick. Don't tap the tray against the counter because the macarons might spread out and lose their shape.
- When you have piped all of the apple shapes and the batter has started to dry, take the pastry bag with the brown batter, cut a small opening at the tip and pipe the stems.
- Remove the template from under the silicone mats.
- 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.
- Let the macaron shells cool for at least 15-20 minutes before piping the caramel drizzle.
Caramel drizzle
- In a small bowl, place 8 soft caramel candies and milk, and microwave for 1 minute. Stir with a spoon until all candies are fully melted. If needed, microwave the candies for a few more seconds, being careful not to burn the caramel.
- Transfer the caramel immediately to an 8 inch pastry bag, cut a ¼ inch opening at the tip and drizzle on half of the macaron shells. The caramel will start to harden as it cools so you need to work quickly.
- Let the caramel drizzle dry while you prepare the buttercream and fill the macarons.
Caramel buttercream
- In a medium bowl, using the stand mixer, whisk the butter until smooth.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and whisk until fully combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and whisk until combined.
- In a small bowl, place 4 soft caramel candies and milk, and microwave for 40 seconds. Stir until melted and let cool for about a minute.
- Add to the buttercream and whisk until fully combined.
Assemble the macarons
- Fill an 8 inch pastry bag with the buttercream and cut a ¼ inch opening at the tip of the bag.
- Pipe the buttercream around the outer edge of half of the macarons, leaving a space in the middle for the apple jelly.
- Fill another 8 inch pastry bag with ½ cup apple jelly and cut a ¼ inch opening at the tip. Fill the center of the macarons with the jelly.
- Top the filled macaron shells with the drizzled shells and refrigerate for at least 24 hours so that the macarons can mature.
- When ready to eat, remove the macarons from the refrigerator at least 20-30 minutes before and let come to room temperature before eating.
Notes
All ovens are different so temperature and baking times should only be used as a guide
Mixing bowl should be clean and grease free
Weigh all ingredients in grams for accuracy
Use room temperature egg whites (to bring eggs to room temperature quickly, put them in a bowl filled with hot water for about 5 minutes)
Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar together because almond flour is moist and doesn't sift well alone
Mix the egg white powder and the granulated sugar before adding to the egg whites to fully dissolve the egg white powder
Whisk the meringue until you have stiff peaks
Let macarons dry before baking so they don't crack
*Calories reflected are for macaron shells only