If you've been following our blog, then you'd realize that we love to incorporate our Asian roots in our cooking, and make delicious fusion dishes! A couple of weeks ago, we made some Pandan Pancakes with Coconut Filling, and that turned out AMAZING. We cannot get over how well the Pandan and coconut flavours go together. It's like they were created to be together or something. So naturally, we must incorporate these Southeast Asian flavours in another dessert. And that's how we came up with the idea: Pandan French Macarons with Coconut Buttercream Filling! I never saw or taste macarons with these kinds of flavours, and OMG it's yummy. The flavours from the Pandan and coconut go really well with the textures of the macarons and the filling. We're in trouble guys, cause summer's coming and we wanna get our beach bodies, but we can't stop eating these!
Macarons are notorious for being a very technical, difficult dessert to make. And that might be true. But if you pay attention to the little details we listed below, then you'd be sure to end up with excellent results.
How to Make the Perfect French Macarons
- Sift the almond flour and the confectioner sugar in order to get smooth, uniform macarons.
- To mix the dry ingredients into the egg white mixture, use a rubber spatula and fold gently. Fold until everything is well incorporated and the batter falls slowly off the spatula. Do not overmix.
- After you're done piping circles with the batter on the baking sheet, tap the baking sheet onto the counter top to get rid of the air bubbles.
- Let the piped batter rest on the baking sheet for at least 30 minutes before putting it in the oven to bake. To make sure it is ready, gently touch one macaron batter disk with your finger, and there should not be any batter sticking to your finger.
To get that Pandan flavours, we used Pandan extract that we bought at a local Southeast Asian grocery store. It is hard to find though, but you can buy the pandan extract online
. We used coconut milk to make the coconut buttercream filling, since we absolutely love the flavours of coconut milk. This one is easier to find at your local grocery stores, and you can also buy it online.
This was literally TOO good. We love French macarons, and we love Southeast Asian flavours, and we can't believe we didn't think of this recipe idea sooner! Feel free to ask us any questions in the comment section and if you have any suggestions on other interesting French macaron flavours, we'd love to hear them! Hope you enjoy, and as usual, happy eating!
Our other Asian fusion recipes:
- Pandan Pancakes with Coconut Custard Filling
- Green Tea (Matcha) Cake with White Chocolate Frosting
- Apple Pie Spring Roll
- Sushi Tacos with Crispy Fried Seaweed Shells
- Korean Bulgogi Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
macarons:
- ¾ cup almond flour
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2 egg whites room temperature
- 1/8 cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp pandan extract
- ½ tsp green food colouring
coconut buttercream filing
- 8 tbsp coconut milk
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the almond flour and confectioner's sugar. Mix using a whisk and set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, beat the egg whites using a mixer. When the egg whites are foamy, add the granulated sugar. Continue mixing over high speed until soft peaks.
- Add half of the egg white mixture into the almond flour mixture and gently fold using a rubber spatula. Once the almond flour is well incorporated, add the rest of the almond flour mixture and fold until everything is well combined. Add the pandan extract and fold gently until the color is uniform in color. The batter should be able to drip and fall off the spatula slowly.
- With a piping bag, pipe batter into baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The diameter of each macaron should be about 1.5-2 inches, depending on your preferences. Once all the batter is piped out onto the baking sheet, tap the baking sheet onto the counter top a few times to get rid of the air bubbles. Let the piped batter rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, until there is no batter sticking to your finger when touched.
- Bake the macarons at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, for about 14-15 minutes, depending on the size of your macarons. Once they are done baking, remove from the oven and from the baking sheet, and let cool on a cooling rack.
- To make the coconut buttercream filling, combine the coconut milk, confectioner's sugar, and unsalted butter in a bowl using a mixer until well incorporated and creamy. Using a piping bag, pipe the coconut buttercream onto one macaron cookie, and close with another macaron cookie forming a sandwich. Make sure to use two macaron cookies that are similar in size.
Sandwiched between the French macaron shells is our Chinese traditional white lotus paste and salted egg yolk!
First time making macarons and the recipe was very simple and easy to follow. I swapped out the filling for chocolate ganache.