Ube French Macarons - Kim's Eatery | Food and Recipes (2024)

It was years ago that I fell in love with french macarons. I used to purchase them from local pastry shops for about $3 per macaron! Now that I think of it, that is pretty outrageous! I wanted to try making them myself, even though they are known to be super delicate and difficult to make.

It was trial and error for the first few times I tried making macarons. Sometimes they turned out too running, sometimes I could still see the stiff peak in the shell (I didn’t mix it enough). It’s an art to make them perfectly.

I have tried using a scale to measure out ingredients, but I found it works just as well measuring out with regular cups and teaspoons! Recently I have been making ube flavoured desserts, so I thought why not try ube macarons.

Before baking, I like to prepare my baking sheets. I cut out parchment paper to the EXACT size of the pan. When my batter is done, I put a drop on each corner to stick the paper to the tray. I don’t want any air underneath. Some people purchase macaroon stencils that have the macaron shape drawn in, so that they can ensure they are all evenly sized. I usually eyeball the size of my macarons, but these baking mats would make it so much easier!

It is better to use a flat cookie sheet pan vs a corrugated cookie sheet pan.Usually I like the corrugated pans for cookies (and my cookies always turn out perfect), but it does NOT work for macarons. This is the cookie sheet I use for cookies, which can be purchased from the Gourmet Warehouse or on Amazon. The corrugated surface provides a bit more air circulation which helps with more even baking and the perfect browning. For this recipe, I used a flat Nordic ware baking sheet. You can also use a jelly roll pan. Just ensure it is not a corrugated pan! You do not want the extra air circulating for the macaroons, as it will not rise as well.

I like to use certain ingredients when making my macaroons. Cream of tartar helps to stabilize your egg whites to create a sturdier meringue. This helps to ensure they don’t fall flat. To get the authentic ube flavour, I like to use ube extract.This one from amazon is a great deal! It has such a nice and strong ube flavour that is super nutty. Ube powder is also used in the shells. I like to add in the powder to really give it that ube flavour. Since macaroons are delicate, you do not want to add in too much liquid extracts, as that would change the consistency of the batter.

For the filling, I like to mix ube jam in with the cream cheese, and the filling will be a beautiful light purple colour.

**If you want other flavours, you can replace the ½ tsp ube extract with a different flavour. For example. if you want Green tea macaroons, take out ½ tsp almond flour and replace it with ½ tsp green tea powder and use 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

I like using this culinary grade matcha powder. For vanilla extract, get the real vanilla bean one, and not the fake artificial extract.