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Dragon Fruit Macarons with a bicolor shell, pink and white, and with poppy seeds on top to resemble dragon fruit.

Dragon Fruit Macarons

These Dragon Fruit Macarons are super fun to make, they resemble a dragon fruit, and are filled with a delicious Dragon Fruit Buttercream made with dragon fruit powder.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword dragon fruit, macarons
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 40 minutes
Servings 20 macarons
Calories 130 kcal
Author camila

Ingredients

Macaron Shells

  • 4 grams egg white powder optional read notes
  • 100 grams egg whites
  • 100 grams granulated sugar
  • 105 grams almond flour
  • 105 grams powdered sugar
  • Food coloring I used mauve and burgundy
  • 3 tbsp poppy seeds

Dragon Fruit Buttercream

  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter softened 56 grams
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar sifted 187.5 grams
  • 1/3 cup dragon fruit powder I used Suncore
  • 2 to 4 tbsp milk or water as needed

Instructions

Macaron Shells

  1. Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare 2 piping bags fitted with 2 small round tips: I used a Wilton #10 for the pink batter and a Wilton #8 for the white batter.
  2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
  3. I use a baking mat with the macaron template already in it. You can make your own or print it from the internet, and just place it under the silicone mat, or parchment paper. I recommend using a silicon mat.
  4. Measure out all of your ingredients.
  5. Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour together.
  6. Set it aside.
  7. Whisk the sugar and the egg white powder (if using) in a bowl, and place it over a pan with barely simmering water. Add the egg whites to the sugar and whisk the mixture 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.
  8. Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water.
  9. Also, don’t overheat the sugar syrup, this may cause issues down the line, such as wrinkly macarons.
  10. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer.
  11. 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 mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Raise speed to medium or medium 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.
  12. Whisk until stiff peaks have formed. When you pull your whip up, the peak should form a bird’s beak shape, but shouldn’t be falling to the side, the peak should be stiff, shooting straight up.
  13. Pour the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into stiff whites.
  14. Fold the dry ingredients with the meringue until just incorporated. When you can’t see any more streaks of dry ingredients in the batter, separate the batter into two different bowls.
  15. Work with one bowl at a time, and keep the remaining one covered so the batter doesn’t dry out.
  16. Let’s begin by coloring the pink batter. Add some pink, or fuschia, or mauve, or burgundy food coloring, any pink tones will work. I used a mixture of burgundy and mauve. And then do the macaronage, folding until the proper consistency is achieved.
  17. What is the perfect consistency?
  18. 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.
  19. First, pick up some batter with my 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.
  20. There’s another test you can do. I call it the Teaspoon test.
  21. Grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto the parchment paper or silicon mat. Wait a minute to see how it behaves.
  22. If the batter stays stiff, forming a point and doesn’t spread out a bit, I start folding a little bit more, about 3 folds.
  23. Test again.
  24. Once the batter spreads out a bit and starts to look glossy and smooth on top, it’s ready to go.
  25. 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.
  26. The best way I can describe this stage being perfect is when you hold the spatula with batter on top of the bowl and the batter falls off the spatula slowly but effortlessly. The batter will continue to flow off the spatula non-stop, but not too quickly.
  27. Once you achieve the perfect consistency, transfer the batter to a piping bag with a small round tip (I used Wilton #10). Secure the top with an elastic or bag tie so the batter is not exposed and doesn’t dry.
  28. Set that bag aside.
  29. Move on to the other half of the batch. I didn’t add any food coloring, as this is going to be the middle of the dragon fruit macaron.
  30. Fold until the perfect consistency is achieved, look for the signs explained above.
  31. Transfer the batter to another piping bag fitted with a small round tip (I used Wilton #8)
  32. Anyway, once all the batters are ready, begin by piping the pink batter first.
  33. Place the piping bag with the pink batter directly 90 degrees over the center of each macaron template. Apply gentle pressure and carefully pipe for about 2 seconds, and then quickly pull the bag up twisting slightly. You don’t want to pipe all the way to the outline of the macaron template because we will add the white batter on top which will make the macaron expand even more.
  34. When making multi color shells like this, I often like to make one or two rows at a time. So first I’ll pipe one or two rows of pink batter.
  35. Then right after grab the white batter and position it directly 90 degrees over the center of the pink macaron batter. Apply gentle pressure for a few seconds to release some batter.
  36. Then pull the bag up twisting slightly at the top.
  37. Tap the tray against the counter to release any air bubbles, or against the palm of your hand.
  38. And use a toothpick to pop any remaining air bubbles.
  39. Immediately sprinkle some poppy seeds on top of each macaron, if using, to mimic the dragon fruit seeds.
  40. The reason why I like doing this a couple of rows at a time instead of the whole baking sheet at once, it’s because the batter may start to dry quickly, not giving you enough time to pipe the white batter on top of the pink and have both batters incorporate nicely, and also you may not be able to make the poppy seeds stick to the top of the macaron shell.
  41. I am speaking from experience because on my first attempt at these macarons, I piped the whole try with the pink color, then I did the white batter on top, by the time I started sprinkling the poppy seeds on top, the shells were dry enough that the seeds didn’t stick. It is a very dry weather right now where I am, so that is part of the reason why as well. Just some important things to have in mind.
  42. Now move on to the next couple of rows. Pipe the pink batter, then the white, and then tap the trays, pop the bubbles, and sprinkle poppy seeds on top.
  43. 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.
  44. Pre-heat the oven to 325ºF.
  45. Bake one tray at a time.
  46. Bake for 5 minutes, rotate tray.
  47. Bake for 5 more minutes. Rotate again.
  48. I bake each tray for about 15 to 20 minutes total. Baking time depends on your oven.
  49. 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.
  50. Remove from the oven and bake the other tray.
  51. Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.

Dragon Fruit Buttercream

  1. 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, the dragon fruit powder, and 2 tbsp of liquid (water or milk).
  2. On low speed, beat the ingredients together. Once they are incorporated, turn speed to medium and cream for 1-2 minutes until very fluffy.
  3. At this point you will be able to tell if the buttercream needs more liquid or not. You can add more water or milk to make the buttercream smooth and creamy.
  4. Sometimes you may find that the consistency of the buttercream is already perfect and doesn’t need any more liquid. If the buttercream seems too stiff, add a tiny bit of milk or water as necessary. If the buttercream seems too runny, add more sifted powdered sugar until you obtain a firm, but smooth and creamy consistency.
  5. Place the buttercream in a piping bag.

To assemble

  1. Pipe a small amount of buttercream on half of the shells. Top with another shell.
  2. Let the macarons mature overnight before serving.

Storage

  1. These Dragon Fruit Macarons will last for up to 5 days in the fridge, or up to 1 or 2 months in the freezer.

Recipe Notes

Dragon Fruit Powder: I used the Dragon Fruit Powder by Suncore Foods.

Vinegar: Before starting make sure to wipe down the bowls, whisks, silicone mats and everything you are going to use with vinegar, to avoid any grease particles of coming into contact with the meringue and batter.

Egg white powder: Egg White Powder is not the same as meringue powder. Egg White Powder is made of only egg whites. They help with getting fuller shells, and specially when adding a lot of food coloring to the batter, because they make the shells dry faster. I recommend experimenting with it if you can find it. I use 4 grams for each 100 grams of egg whites.

Food coloring: Make sure to use gel food coloring, not liquid. I used a mix of mauve and burgundy food coloring by Americolor. 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.

Nutrition Facts
Dragon Fruit Macarons
Amount Per Serving (1 macaron)
Calories 130
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.