Pistachio and strawberry macarons

Tangy, fruity macarons are a joy to eat and this is one of my favourite macaron flavour pairings.

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I haven’t made macarons in a while, so I felt the need to make a batch using pistachios rather than the usual almonds in the shells! And why not?

Whenever I fill macarons, I like to use what I have lying around: sometimes using up buttercream I had previously frozen; at other times I will defrost fruit before passing it through a sieve; jam; lemon curd; salted caramel……..basically whatever there is!

But my top trick is the use of melted chocolate beaten into any of the above: this acts as a stabiliser so that any liquid components of the filling such as fruit purees or alcohol won’t make everything curdle. It also ensures the filling sets enough and does not ooze out.

Pistachio and strawberry macarons

A fruit filling!

The filling for this batch is simply the ingredients below, beaten together until smooth before being piped onto the shells. Add the puree a little at a time. If it does start to split or curdle, simply beat in a little more cooled white chocolate:

• 50g very soft unsalted butter
• 50g icing sugar
• 50g melted and cooled white chocolate
• 5 tablespoons strawberry puree (I used strawberries I had previously frozen and passed them through a sieve)

Pistachio and strawberry macarons

Finishing off

I simply drizzled over some melted white chocolate and sprinkled over some dried strawberry pieces: one of my favourite ways to finish off macarons.

Pistachio and strawberry macarons

The recipe

My recipe for macarons, which has details for every step of the process, including top tips and troubleshooting pointers, can be found here.

For this shells for this batch, I used:

• 60g egg white
• 60g caster sugar
• 75g icing sugar
• 75g ground pistachios
• 1/4 teaspoon of powdered green food colouring

Other macaron flavours

blueberry & raspberry macarons

Pimms macarons

Tiramisu macarons

Some of my favourite macaron flavours include the following:

• Tiramisu macarons
• blueberry & raspberry macarons
• smoked salted caramel & bitter chocolate macarons
• Pimms macarons

But for a great savoury macaron:

• smoked salmon and horseradish macarons

smoked salmon & horseradish macarons

Don’t get at all put off by a savoury macaron. These smoked salmon and horseradish macarons are to die for, and always vanish quickly! They are not too sweet: the trick with them is to have an intensely savoury filling to balance the shells.

Author: Philip

Finalist on Britain’s Best Home Cook (BBC Television 2018). Published recipe writer with a love of growing fruit & veg, cooking, teaching and eating good food. View all posts by Philip