Raspberry Macarons with a Raspberry Ganache Filling

These raspberry macarons are everything you want and more in a French classic. It’s visually stunning with a pink shell stuffed with an amazing raspberry white chocolate ganache. Once you bite into this delicate beauty it’s heavenly light, chewy, soft, and not overly sweet. My fiancé says these raspberry macarons taste just like ice cream….let’s just say these macarons are pretty fantastic!

Macarons are an amazing addition to your next event! But, I must warn you…all great things take time. To make these macarons you’ll need to start the process at least 1-3 days prior to making this French cookie. And you’ll have to wait 1-3 days before enjoying the amazing French cookie. Why so much time is needed is all explained below.

Macaron Story Time

My obsession with macarons started about a month ago. I’ve watched endless videos from master classes to professional French pastry chefs. I took very detail notes during my month of studying… it felt like I was back in school. My excitement level was through the roof! After a month of research, it was finally time to make macarons. In my pantry, I already had freeze-dry raspberries, as well as frozen raspberries. So I decided to make that flavor first. The very first time I made these amazing French cookies..I made three mistakes. First mistake, I did not use a toothpick to remove any air bubbles from the macarons. Second mistake, was folding the macaronage too long for a figure-8 ribbon. Which led to an undesirable hollow shell. Final mistake made was under baking the macarons. Which caused majority of my macarons to stick to the silicon mat….terrible.

I’m sharing my mistakes with hopes that the same does not happen to you. It was truly a learning experience and after correcting those 3 errors….I’m proud to present to you the amazing raspberry macarons 🙂

The Steps to Raspberry Macarons

1. Using a food processor crush up the freeze-dry raspberries. Next, add the powdered sugar and almond flour to the food processor. Pulse a few times, but not too long. Because the almond flour can start transitioning to a nut butter.
2. Next strain the dry ingredients into a large clean bowl. Discard any large lumps, do not try to push the ingredients through the strainer.
3. Divide the aged egg whites equally. Add half of the eggs to the dry ingredients. Mix vigorously, add in red food gel at this time as well. (Do not over mix, once everything is incorporated stop.) Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside.
4. Over medium heat add the caster sugar and water to a small pot. Using a candy thermometer periodically check the temperature of the sugar. Once 230 degrees F is reached, start whipping the other half of the egg whites on medium-high speed. When the sugar syrup reaches 244 degrees F remove from the heat. Turn down the speed of the electric mixer, and slowly start pouring in the sugar syrup (in a steady stream).
5. Increase the speed of the mixer once all sugar syrup is added. Allow it to mix until the bowl is slightly cool to the touch.
6. Next it’s time to make the macaronage. Fold in the Italian meringue (sugar syrup and egg whites made in step 4-5) to the almond flour, egg whites, raspberry powder, and powdered sugar. Continue mixing all of these ingredients together until a glossy shine appears.

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Preparing & Baking the Macarons

1. Place a macaron silicon mat or parchment paper (with pre-traced 1.5 inch circles) onto a large cookie sheet. Fill the piping bag fitted with a medium size round tip such as the Wilton Number 12 with the macaron batter. Pipe the macarons onto the tray, pipe straight up about a fourth of an inch away from the tray. Squeeze the piping bag until the batter covers about three-fourths of the circle.
2. Tap the tray on the counter to smooth out the surface of the macaron shells. Basically, lift up the tray about 4-5 inches from the counter-top and drop it, repeat this step at least 2-3 times. If any bubbles remain, use a toothpick to remove them.
3. Leave the macaron shells for 15-30 minutes, or until the shells are no longer sticky to the touch.
4. Bake at 300 degrees F for 12 to 16 minutes. Time varies depending on the oven.
5. Add the filling to half the macaron shells. Next, sandwich the shells together. Transfer the raspberry macarons to an air tight container and refrigerate for at least 1 day before serving.

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Tips for Successful Raspberry Macarons

• Use room temperature egg whites, but for the best results use aged egg whites. Aged egg whites are simply separated from the yolk 1-3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator until macaron day. Using aged egg whites leads to more firm and stable meringue, because the egg whites are dehydrated.
• Sift or double-sift all dry ingredients. This will lead to a smooth macaron shell and prevent any clumps.
• Weigh out all the ingredients using a scale. The ultimate key to a stellar macaron is the correct measurements.
• Wipe down the inside of your mixing bowl and attachment with vinegar, this is to remove any excess grease or fat from previous baking. Also, this step helps create that beautiful meringue.
• Always use food gel to color the macarons. Normal liquid food coloring will mess up the texture of the macaron.
• Be patient and work slowly. Some of the steps to macarons can be a little stressful and time consuming, but just be patient and take your time. And your macarons will come out great every time!
• Allow the macarons to mature. Once sandwiching the macarons together with your incredible filling. They should be refrigerated for 1-3 days to mature. Maturing the macarons helps the flavors develop and softens up the macaron. So when you finally eat the macaron you hear a hard crunch noise, but the inside is delicately soft and chewy.

The Raspberry Ganache Filling

Let’s briefly discuss the filling to these amazing raspberry macarons. But, any filling will work for macarons such as chocolate or fruit preserves or even American buttercream. The choice is yours….

To make the raspberry ganache filling you’ll need the following ingredients: white chocolate, raspberry extract, raspberries (fresh or frozen), freeze-dried raspberries, caster sugar, red food gel, and heavy whipping cream. To make the ganache first, grind up the freeze-dried raspberries into a fine powder using a food processor. Then, sift the powdered raspberries to remove the seeds. Next, add the fresh or frozen raspberries, along with granulated sugar to a small pot over medium heat. Once the mixture starts to boil, decrease the temperature and allow to cook for 5-8 minutes. During this process the mixture begins to thicken. Next, remove the raspberry syrup from the heat and strain the mixture to remove the seeds.

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Now, add the heavy whipping cream and white chocolate to a small saucepan. Give the mixture a quick stir and add in the strained raspberry syrup, the raspberry extract, the raspberry powder, and the red food gel. Continue to stir the mixture until all the chocolate melts. Then, remove from the heat and transfer to a container. Allow the raspberry ganache to stiffen up in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours prior to use.

Interested in more cookies?

Check out our brown butter chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin cookie recipes! Just simply click on the bold words to view those recipes.