Strawberry Champagne Buttercream Macarons
This is not my first food blog. And I’d be remiss to write my first post about macarons and not mention my first “food blog.” When I was a pre-journalism school sophomore in college, I took inspiration from my recent trip to Paris to name a new blog venture. I was obsessed with French macarons after spending most of my time and money indulging in chocolate and café macarons during the trip. And thus, The Macaron Queen was born. It was first a place to track my macaron baking. But overtime, it turned into a beauty and lifestyle blog that outgrew basic Wordpress and was eventually renamed and moved to a custom site called Speckled Blog. I miss those days. I used my blog as a way to vent. I didn’t have any readers and I really didn’t even care. It was just a place to call my own on the big, scary internet.
This blog is sort of the same—It’s a respite for me in a sea of professional baking blogs as I bake my way through recipes and attempt to create treats I’ve only seen made on Food Network. This recipe, though? I’ve made macarons many times before, so I didn’t go in with as much intimidation as I have with other recipes. Where I struggled was with the buttercream. I’ve included some advice on what to do if your buttercream breaks (hint: my buttercream broke).
The inspiration for these macarons came from my love of strawberry jam and my appreciation for good champagne. What happens when you combine them into a cookie? Strawberry champagne buttercream macarons, of course.
This recipe uses beetroot powder as an alternative way to dye the shells. Long story short: I bought a big bag of beetroot powder when I was making a pink cake for my pregnant friend and now I’m finding creative ways to keep using it up. But the world could also do with a little less Red 40 in it!
Beware the Broken Buttercream!
When I went all in on the buttercream portion of this recipe, I quickly learned that ingredients that are too cold or too hot can impact the fat molecules in the buttercream. When I added refrigerated and highly mineralized champagne to my buttercream, it broke. It immediately separated and curdled.
If you run into a similar problem, don’t freak out. You simply need to heat up the bowl you’re mixing in to bring it back together. I chose to use a hair dryer. But on TV shows, I’ve also seen them use a kitchen torch. A quick minute of heat and the buttercream fixed itself.
If you have the opposite problem, a.k.a. your buttercream is too warm and gets runny, you can stick the bowl with the buttercream in the fridge to cool and harden it before proceeding with the mixing process.
Another note: I don’t think I used nearly enough strawberry jam. It really depends on your preference of champagne to strawberry ratio, but I really do feel like the hint of strawberry wasn’t enough. Experiment with 2 tablespoons at first and then add more from there if you’re feeling the same way.
I hope you enjoy this little culinary trip to Paris. They instantly brought me back to the days of The Macaron Queen and even better days running through the streets of the 16th arrondissement in Paris.
Ingredients
1 cup double-sifted almond flour
1 and 2/3 cup double-sifted powdered sugar for shells and 1 cup for buttercream
1-2 tsp beetroot powder (depending on how pink you want the shells)
3 egg whites, room temp
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/3-1/2 cup softened butter
2 tbsp champagne, room temp
2 tbsp strawberry jam (or more!)
Directions
For macaron shells:
Double sift the dry ingredients and set aside. (If using beetroot powder, you won’t be able to taste the beet because of the powdered sugar so add as little or much as you’d like for color.)
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg whites with cream of tartar.
Gradually add sugar a tablespoon at a time and beat on medium until stiff peaks (5-7 minutes).
Fold dry into wet 1/3 at a time until batter ribbons off the spatula (do not overmix!).
Add batter to a piping bag with a round tip and pipe macaron rounds onto a baking tray with a silicone mat.
Let shells harden for 30-60 minutes until tops are dry to touch.
Slam tray 2-3 times against counter.
Bake at 300 for 14-16 minutes.
Remove from oven and let shells sit on baking mat to dry.
For strawberry champagne buttercream:
Beat softened butter for 1 minute.
Add 1 cup powdered sugar a little at a time until combined.
Add room temp champagne and strawberry jam and whip until smooth.
Add buttercream filling to a macaron shell and add a similar sized top.