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Blackberry Macarons

Today, I bring to you these sort of whimsical treats, my Blackberry Macarons.

Blackberry Macarons

These purple macarons were created because of those beautiful sprinkles I got at the store the other day.

The sprinkles I used are these sort of metallic purple nonpareils from Wilton. They came in a small cute lil bag. I couldn’t find the link on amazon to put here, but I did find a link for some purple nonpareils sprinkles by Wilton, and I will link them below also.

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Blackberry Macarons

When to put sprinkles on top of macarons?

This is a common question. Be very careful with what you put on top of your macarons, as it might weigh down on the shells, which are very delicate.

You typically want to put the sprinkles on the macarons right after piping them, so the macarons will still be wet and the sprinkles will stick to the macarons.

Be careful with using heavy sprinkles or too much of it, or might affect your shells.

Blackberry Macarons

What I loved the very most about these Blackberry macarons was the color, all the way!

These purple macarons have captivated my heart!

If you love colorful macarons, you might like some of these recipes:

Blackberry Macarons

My husband said these Blackberry Macarons reminded him of Grape Macarons because of the purple macaron shells.

And all I could think of when he said that was: Now I gotta add grape macarons to my list!

I’ve been tackling my list lately, and putting out some more macaron recipes. My latest one was these super delicious Samoa Cookie Macarons.

Blackberry Macarons

Anyway, let’s talk about the filling of these Blackberry Macarons.

I chose to go with an Almond Buttercream, and Blackberry Jam fillings.

Blackberry Macarons

First pipe a ring of the buttercream around the edges of the macaron.

TIP: By the way, you don’t have to use Almond Buttercream. If you want to stick to regular buttercream, simply replace the amount of almond flour in the buttercream recipe with powdered sugar. And use vanilla extract instead of almond. I just thought the almond and blackberry flavors really went well together.

Blackberry Macarons

Now get ready to fill the macarons with your Blackberry Jam.

Feel free to use jam from the store if you want to. If you want to make your own, simply follow the recipe below, it’s quick and easy.

Blackberry Macarons

And voila!

With macarons filled with jam, you may notice they start to get a bit soggy in the fridge after a few days. Which is why I don’t even recommend freezing macarons that have a jam filling.

I try to make the jam quite thick, in order to prevent, or reduce the moisture in the macaron shells, but it still happens, so this is my tip.

Blackberry Macarons

What is the shelf-life of homemade macarons?

If your macarons are filled with a cream filling, such as buttercream, cream cheese frosting, you are safe freezing it for up to 1 month. And in the fridge for up to 1 week.

However, if you fill your macarons with jam, I don’t recommend freezing them. And I recommend keeping it in the fridge for 4-7 days. That’s because, like I’ve explained above, the jam might make your macarons a bit soggy after sitting for too long.

Blackberry Macarons

Macaron Tip: Let your macarons mature in the fridge overnight before serving them, for optimal flavor and texture. Serve them after they’ve sat out of the fridge for a bit. When they come straight out of the fridge, sometimes they might be a tad hard.

If you are new to making macarons, check out my Matcha Macarons post, where I go over some main tips and techniques.  On my Raspberry Macarons post, I talk about Almond Flour, brands, sifting methods, etc. On my Espresso Macarons post, I answer common questions about making macarons. On my Lemon Macarons post, I talk about macaron shelf life and storage. Check them out! And also, there are tones of other resources online that can help you.

Blackberry Macarons

I hope you liked today’s recipe. If you want to check out more Macaron recipes, click HERE.

I have a tone of macaron recipes on my website, as well as tips and tricks on how to make macarons throughout my posts.

Making macarons is a journey, where you have to learn exactly what the batter is supposed to look and feel like at each stage, and what method you prefer to get to understand those things.

For me, what worked best was the Swiss Method. Do you bake macarons? What method works best for you?

Blackberry Macarons

I’ve been putting together a macaron E-book lately, and hopefully I can compile all of my most valuable tips and find the best, most educative way to show them to you all who want to master macarons!

These are the best gluten-free cookies of all!

Blackberry Macarons

Have a great day and thank you for stopping by!

Blackberry Macarons

Blackberry Macarons

Camila Hurst
Blackberry Macarons with an almond buttercream, and blackberry jam filling. This gluten-free cookie is sure to please anyone!
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 40 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Servings 26 macarons
Calories 90 kcal

Ingredients
  

Macaron Shells
  • 100 grams egg whites
  • 100 grams granulated sugar
  • 105 grams almond flour
  • 105 grams powdered sugar
  • A few drops of purple food coloring
Blackberry Jam
  • 1 cup blackberries fresh or frozen 283 grams, 10 oz
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup you can use granulated sugar, or other sweetener instead
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp cold water
Almond Buttercream
  • 1 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar sifted
  • 1/2 cup almond flour*
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter softened
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract

Instructions
 

Macaron Shells
  • Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare a large piping bag, fitted with a large round tip.
  • Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
  • Measure out all of the ingredients.
  • Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together. Set aside.
  • Place the egg whites and granulated sugar in a heat proof bowl or in a double boiler. Over a pan of barely simmering water, whisk the whites and sugar until frothy and the sugar is completely melted. It will take a couple of minutes. You can test by touching the mixture between your fingers, and if you feel any sugar granules just keep whisking the mixture over the water bath.
  • Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water.
  • Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer.
  • With the whisk attachment, start whisking mixture on low for about 30 seconds, then gradually start increasing speed to medium. Whisk on medium for one to two minutes, until the mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Raise the speed to high for a few minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Best way to check this is to keep your eye on the whites. Once they get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to stop.
  • Whisk until stiff peaks have formed. When you pull your whip up, the peak should be stiff and shooting straight up, with possibly a slight bend at the top, but not bending to the side.
  • Pour the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into the stiff meringue.
  • Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula.
  • Add the food coloring at this point, if using.
  • How to know when to stop folding the batter: It’s time to stop folding when the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency. There are several ways to test this.
  • First, pick up some batter with the spatula and try to draw a figure 8 with the batter that is dripping off the spatula. If you can form several 8 figures without the batter breaking up, that’s one indication that it might be ready.
  • There’s another test you can do. I call it the Teaspoon test.
  • Grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto the parchment paper or silicone mat. Wait a minute to see how it behaves.
  • If the batter stays stiff, forming a point and doesn’t spread out, fold a little bit more, about 3 folds. Test again.
  • Once the batter spreads out a bit and starts to look glossy and smooth on top, on the parchment paper, it's ready.
  • You don’t want your batter to be too runny either. So be careful not to overmix. It’s always best to undermix and test several times until the proper consistency has been achieved.
  • When you hold the spatula with batter on top of the bowl and the batter falls off the spatula slowly but effortlessly the batter is ready. The batter will keep flowing off the spatula non-stop, but not too quickly.
  • Transfer the batter to a piping bag.
  • Place the piping bag directly 90 degrees over the center of each macaron template. Apply gentle pressure and carefully pipe for about 3 seconds, and then quickly pull the bag up twisting slightly.
  • Once you’ve piped as many circles as you could, bang the trays against the counter a few times each. This will release air bubbles that are in the batter and prevent your macaron shells from cracking. Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles in the surface of the shells.
  • Let the trays sit for a while so the shells will dry out a little bit. I usually leave about 20-40 minutes, depending on how humid the day is. You’ll know they’re ready when you gently touch the surface of a macaron and it seems dry.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 300°F.
  • Bake one tray at a time.
  • Bake for 5 minutes, rotate tray.
  • Bake for 5 more minutes. Rotate again.
  • I bake each tray for about 15 to 20 minutes.When baked, the macarons will have a deeper color and formed feet. If you try to move a macaron, it shouldn’t feel jiggly. If the macaron is still jiggly, keep baking.
  • Remove from the oven and bake the other tray.
  • Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.
Blackberry Jam
  • Mix blackberries, maple syrup (or sweetener) and lemon juice in a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Use the spoon to break up the blackberries as you stir.
  • Mix cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl.
  • Once blackberries have boiled and reduced a bit, add cornstarch and water to the pan.
  • Bring back to a boil, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened.
  • Pour through a strainer, and keep on stirring the mixture to strain the jam. Make sure to press it through really well so you can get the most out of it, and just leave the seeds behind. If you like the seeds, just skip the straining. I never skip it.
  • Let jam cool. Cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge.
Almond Buttercream
  • Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together. Set aside.
  • Cream the butter at medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer for about 1 minute. With the mixer off, add all of the powdered sugar, almond flour, and milk in.
  • On low speed, beat the sugar and butter together. Once they are incorporated, turn speed to medium and cream for 1-2 minutes until very fluffy. Add almond extract beat for another 30-45 seconds.
How to assemble
  • Pipe a circle of buttercream around the edges of the macaron, in a way that you have a little hole in the middle. Fill the little hole with a bit of blackberry jam. Don’t overfill it. Place another shell on top.
Storage
  • These Blackberry Macarons will be at their best up to 4-7 days in the fridge.

Notes

If you don’t want to make your own jam, that’s ok. You can use store-bought. You will need about 1/4 cup of jam.
If you have leftover jam, keep it in the refrigerator and use it within 1-2 weeks. Spread it on some toast, or my favorite way is to add to a plain greek yogurt bowl, with some fresh fruit (and granola sometimes).
You don’t have to use the almond flour in the Buttercream. You can just use 1/2 cup of powdered sugar instead of the almond flour.
Food coloring: Make sure to use gel food coloring. I use Wilton Color Right Performance Food Coloring Set. If you are a beginner macaron baker, I recommend going easy on the food coloring, as it can alter your batter a lot, and it can take extra mixing time, specially if you continue to add the food coloring as you do the macaronage.
Scale: Please use a scale when measuring the ingredients for accuracy.
Macaron amount: it will vary greatly depending on how big you pipe the shells, and on how runny or thick the batter is.
Baking time/temperature: Baking time and temperature will vary according to your own oven. I recommend experimenting with your oven to find out the best time, temperature, position of the baking tray.
Oven thermometer: Make sure to have an oven thermometer to bake macarons. It’s one of the most important things about making macarons. Home ovens aren’t accurate at all at telling the temperature, and even a slight 5 degree difference can make or break your whole batch.
Tray rotation: Lots of bakers don’t have to rotate the trays 180 degrees in the oven every 5 minutes, but I do have to with my oven, or I will get lopsided macarons. Please adjust this according to your oven.
Storage: This is the container I use to store the macarons in the fridge or freezer.
Keyword blackberry, macarons

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11 Comments

  1. Hi! I love your macaron tutorials. Thank you! Did you recently change your recipes from number of egg whites and cups to grams? I feel like I’ve made them several times with a different conversion than now. I just tried twice with the grams and failed miserably 🤣😭. Could you by chance let me know the old conversions for the macaron cookie? I thought it was 4 egg whites, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup almond flour, and 1 cup powdered sugar. Is that correct?

    Thank you so much! You are so talented.

    1. the thing is that it doesn’t really convert to cups, the cups were inaccurate and caused a lot of failures for people, because it’s not consistent. for example, 1 cup of powdered sugar is supposed to be 125 grams, here I use 105 grams of powdered sugar, which means it’s not convertible to any cup measurement, whatever measurement in cups I tell you will be inaccurate and prone to issues.
      When making macarons a lot comes into play there are a lot of variables, which means that the things you have control over such as oven temperature (through an oven thermometer), ingredient amount (via using a scale), you should take advantage of that and use those tools.
      I stopped giving the recipe in cup measurements because I don’t want people to keep wasting ingredients when they make my recipe due to a inaccuracy in something so easy to control.
      That being said, 100 grams of egg whites equals to about 3 egg whites (but not always, it depends on the size of the eggs), 100 grams of sugar is 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 cup of almond flour is about 96 grams, so you’d need a bit of a heaping cup of almond flour, and for the powdered sugar, you’d need a scant cup of powdered sugar, but have in mind that those measurements won’t be precise. Specially because each time you fill a cup with sugar it will have a different measurement depending on how you scooped it, etc…
      Thank you so much!! Best of luck!!!

    1. it would be 26 full cookies. Have in mind that the amount of shells can vary a lot depending on the consistency of the batter, and how big you pipe them.

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