Copyright 2018-2024 by Lisa Maliga
Macaron Filling Ingredients
I’ve been experimenting with making more creative fillings. Let’s face it, the filling is what flavors the macarons. While some of the buttercreams contain a cup or two of confectioners’ sugar, in some recipes I was able to decrease the amount significantly. For the American buttercream filling, keep in mind that the better the butter, the better the filling!
♥ High quality butter [President, Kerrygold, Plugra or any fresh high fat non-GMO local butter]. Unsalted butter is recommended. Also, the butter should be at room temperature when you’re making the filling.
♥ High quality vanilla extract, vanilla beans, vanilla bean powder OR vanilla bean paste. Yes, it costs more but the flavor is worth it. Imitation vanilla extract is very inexpensive but it isn’t nearly as good. I recommend real vanilla beans, powder or paste as it’s flavorful and contains the tiny seeds. These types of vanilla are ideal for flavoring macaron shells.
♥ For a rich, flavorful buttercream, use organic heavy cream. High fat creams always taste better! You won’t need to use a lot.
♥ Cream cheese. When baking cupcakes I finally got around to using a cream cheese frosting. As it’s not quite as sweet as butter, it’s perfect for sugary macarons. And what better ingredient for a cheesecake flavored macaron?
♥ Mascarpone Cheese. This is a rich creamy additive to your macaron fillings. Mascarpone cheese is similar to ricotta except for the fact that it’s made from cream and not milk. I’d never used it before but was pleased with how easily it blended with butter when I put it in the mixer. My first recipe using this lovely Italian cheese also combines honey and fig jam.
♥ Jam filling. Use either a natural jam/fruit spread or fresh fruit. Making a filling with fresh fruit is a little more work, but the taste is a lot better.
♥ Extracts/flavor emulsions/essential oils. I used a coconut extract for my buttercream and it was a very good flavor. Not excellent, but I’d make it again as it seemed to be a nice interpretation of coconut.
Book link: https://www.lisamaliga.com/book-baking-macarons-the-swiss-meringue-method
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