Salted Caramel Buttercream Macarons (2024)

5 from 7 votes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: French

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 11 minutes minutes

Resting Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 26 minutes minutes

Author: Emily Laurae

Macarons

• ▢ 76 g (⅓ cup + 1 teaspoon ) Granulated Sugar
• ▢ 90 ml (About 3 egg whites) Room Temperature Egg Whites
• ▢ 80 g (¾ Cup + 1 Tbsp) Almond Flour, Blanched
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ Cup ) Powdered Sugar
• ▢ Gel Food Coloring, optional

Salted Caramel

• ▢ 250 g (1 ½ cups) Granulated Sugar
• ▢ 200 g (¾ cups) Heavy Cream
• ▢ 42 g (3 Tablespoons) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• ▢ 3 g (½ teaspoon) Sea Salt

Salted Caramel Buttercream

• ▢ 75 g (⅓ Cup) Egg Whites
• ▢ 150 g (¾ Cup ) Granulated Sugar
• ▢ 225 g (1 Cup) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• ▢ 100 g (½ Cup) Salted Caramel, cooled

Painting Macaron Shells

• ▢ 1 teaspoon Vodka
• ▢ Gel Food Coloring

Macarons

• Line each baking sheet with your prepared parchment templates and prepare your piping bags along with your piping tips.I like to use a small, round piping tips for piping.

• Pour your egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer and start whisking on medium speed. Once they start to foam, slowly add your sugar and bring up your speed to medium for about three to four minutes.

  76 g Granulated Sugar, 90 ml Room Temperature Egg Whites

• While your meringue is whisking away, grind together your measured powdered sugar and almond flour using a food processor for one minute. Sift these dry ingredients into a large bowl with a fine sieve and set aside.

  80 g Almond Flour, 150 g Powdered Sugar

• Your meringue is complete when it holds stiff peaks - add desired food coloring and gently whisk for a few additional seconds to incorporate,

  Gel Food Coloring

• Now it’s time for the ever so important Macaronage! This is the act of mixing your dry ingredients into your french meringue and folding these ingredients enough to allow for the perfect desired consistency. To start, pour your dry mixture onto the meringue and slowly start to fold with a spatula. While rotating the bowl, continue to fold ingredients together. Press mixture on the side of your bowl until the mixture of the batter flows off your spatula rather slowly and smoothly. You should see that the batter will drip off the spatula back into the bowl, and rest on top for a moment. Then, the batter from your spatula will slowly sink back into the mixture. One too many folds and your batter could be over mixed leading to it being impossible to work with, so be careful not to overmix!

• Pour your macaron batter into your prepared piping bag and pipe in circles onto your templated parchment paper. In order to get rid of any air bubbles within your piped shells and to even out your tops, tap your baking sheet firmly on a flat surface. You can always use a toothpick to gently pop any extra air bubbles that you see hovering on top of your shells.

• Allow the shells to rest for approximately 30 minutes. Once the top of your shells are dry to the touch they are ready to bake!

• Place your macarons in your oven that has been preheated to 310 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 9 minutes, then rotate the baking tray and bake for an additional 2 minutes.

• You will know that your macarons are ready to remove from the oven when you gently touch the upper shell, and it barely moves, while the developed foot of the macaron stays set to the parchment paper. Remove from the oven to cool completely before removing shells from the parchment paper.

Salted Caramel

• Pour the sugar into a saucepan, and over medium-high heat allow the sugar to slowly melt and eventually shift in color to a deep amber-brown color. Make sure you continue to stir the sugar every minute or so in order to prevent it from burning!

  250 g Granulated Sugar

• Add the cream and butter to the sugar – expect the ingredients to bubble and foam for about 30 seconds or so. Then, over low heat, continue to melt down any large bits of caramel. Do this until the mixture is completely fluid and smooth before removing it from heat and adding salt.

  42 g Unsalted Butter, 3 g Sea Salt, 200 g Heavy Cream

• Pour caramel into a glass container and allow to cool before adding to buttercream.

Salted Caramel Buttercream

• Add your sugar and egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer and place over a saucepan of boiling water. Make sure that your bowl is not touching the hot water! Your goal is to simply whisk the egg whites and sugar together over a gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved, then attach your bowl back to the standing mixer. The temperature of your egg whites and sugar should reach 170°F

  75 g Egg Whites, 150 g Granulated Sugar

• Whisk mixture starting at a low speed and gradually increase until soft peaks form and the mixture has cooled. Switch to using your paddle attachment, then start adding your butter bit by bit.

  225 g Unsalted Butter

• When you’ve reached the point where the buttercream is glossy and smooth, turn the mixer speed back to low.

• Add cooled salted caramel, and mix on low until combined to complete.

  100 g Salted Caramel

Painting Macaron Shells

• First off, you'll want to create the color you'd like to use for painting! Mix together your gel food coloring until you have the color of your choice.

  Gel Food Coloring

• Then, in a small cup or container, add a drop or two of vodka along with your desired paint color. You'll want to use alcohol because it evaporates really fast, whereas water or another liquid can make the shells soggy.

  1 teaspoon Vodka

• Add the paint to your cooled macaron shells then allow them to dry for the next ten minutes or so before filling the macarons!

Assembly

• Once cooled, the shells will peel easily off of your parchment paper. Find each shell’s matching half and pipe approximately two teaspoons of buttercream to the bottom shell, topping with the matching half.

Tips to make the best macarons

• Mise en place - Macarons are time-sensitive! Prepare your mise en place (meaning to set up your working space in preparation for an activity) before you get started so your ingredients and equipment are ready to go.
• Use a piping template - A foolproof way of making perfect macaron shells every time is to trace identical 1-inch diameter circles onto the parchment paper to use as your piping template.
• Use an oven thermometer - Baking the shells at the right temperature is important, so I highly recommend using an oven thermometer.

• Weigh the ingredients - While macarons only use 4 ingredients, if one isn’t measured correctly, your odds of macaron success are considerably lower. I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale so everything is precise!

• Storing your macarons -Technically, allowing your completed macarons to sit overnight in the fridge allows for the best texture for consuming! If you have the patience, place your macarons in the fridge overnight and enjoy the following day. Macaron shells can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container for a month and still taste as good as new! Take the frozen macarons out of the freezer and let them sit for 10-15 minutes before enjoying, In the fridge, filled macarons should be stored in an airtight container for no more than 3 days.
• Practice makes perfect - It’s no secret that making macarons can be tricky. Just keep practicing and experimenting with different macaron flavors, and you’ll be a pro in no time!