Simple Ube Macarons

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These simple ube macarons are pretty, full of flavor, and most importantly not too sweet. A vibrant purple ube macaron shell is filled with a smooth and silky ube buttercream. In this blog post, learn all the tips and tricks on how to make these beautiful macarons including how you know your meringue is whipped enough and a foolproof way to know if your batter is mixed enough.

Prep Time15

Cook Time54

Resting Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Asian

Diet: Vegetarian

Keyword: ube macaron recipe, ube macarons

Servings: macarons

Calories: 95kcal

Author: Becca Du

Equipment

Ingredients

Ube Macaron Shells

Ube Buttercream

⅔ cup unsalted butter
1 ⅓ cup powdered sugar
1 pinch salt
4 drops ube extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepping the macaron shell batter

Combine 150 grams of almond flour and 200 grams of powdered sugar in a food processor. Pulse a few times until you see a fine powder. Sift into a bowl and set aside.
Add 4 egg whites and ⅛ tsp of cream of tartar to a stand mixer. Whip on medium speed (speed 6).
Once the mixture is foamy and there are small bubbles in the bowl, start adding 100 grams of granulated sugar. Add a tablespoon at a time so you don't deflate the mixture.
Once you've added all the sugar, increase the speed to 8 and whip until stiff peaks. One way to know if you've whipped the meringue enough is to invert the bowl and if the meringue doesn't fall out, you're good!
Add ⅛ tsp of ube extract to the meringue and whisk until combined.
Combine your wet ingredients with your dry ingredients. Sift 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the meringue and gently fold until combined. Sift the rest of the dry ingredients into the meringue and gently fold the mixture until the batter slowly falls off the spoon in a steady, unbroken stream like ribbons. You have mixed the batter enough once you can draw a figure 8 without the batter breaking. Another thing to look for is if the edges of the figure 8 soften and slowly absorb into the batter over the course of a minute. One last thing you can use as a test is to spoon a tablespoon of the batter onto a plate. As you lift up the spoon, a peak will be left over. If that peak settles into the batter over 10 seconds, it is done. This is such a crucial step, and one that is the most difficult to get right.
Add a round pastry tip to a pastry bag and snip the end. Spoon the batter into the pastry bag. I like to use a #10 round pastry tip.

Piping and baking the macaron shells

Prep 2 baking sheets by placing silicone mats onto the baking sheets.
Following the macaron template, pipe the batter onto the silicone mats. Slam each baking sheet on the counter twice.
Let the macaron shells dry for at least 40 minutes until you can run your finger over the top without batter getting on it. It can take up to 1 hour.
Move your oven rack into the top third of the oven. If your heat source is coming from the top, move the oven rack to the bottom third of the oven. This prevents the macaron shell from browning.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (149 degrees C).
Once the macarons have dried out, bake the macarons for 18-20 minutes. Bake 1 tray at a time. They're done if you gently push the macarons and the macarons are not loose. If they move a bit, bake them for another minute and check again.
Cool the macarons for at least 20 minutes on the baking sheet until completely cool.

Making the ube buttercream and putting it all together!

While the macarons are cooling, make the ube buttercream. Whisk together ⅔ cup of softened unsalted butter and 1 ⅓ cup of powdered sugar. Use a stand mixer for the best results.
Add 4 drops of ube extract and a pinch of salt to the mixture. Whisk until combined. Add the buttercream to a piping bag.
Now it's time to put it all together! Pair up the macaron shells by size. Not all your shells will be the same size so it helps to match up your shells by size before adding the filling.
Pipe the buttercream onto half the macaron shells. The amount of buttercream should be slightly smaller than the macaron shell. Place the second half on top.
You can enjoy right away, but for the best flavor, let the macarons mature in the fridge for 24 hours.

Notes

For all the tips and tricks, please refer to the blog post.
I tested this recipe with 1/8 tsp and 1/4 tsp of ube extract. They both work, but I ended up going with 1/8 tsp because it reduced the drying period after you pipe the macarons. With 1/4 tsp, my macarons took closer to 2 hours to dry out. It however led to a more purple color and better ube flavor. You can use either measurement!

Nutrition