Coconut Dulce de Leche Macarons

These Coconut Dulce de Leche Macarons disappeared within moments after they were piped and ready to devour. After all - classic macaron shells surrounding coconut dulce de leche buttercream makes for the ultimate treat!

Coconut Dulce de Leche Buttercream

When it comes to buttercream, I am a die-hard fan of using swiss meringue. I find that the texture is incredibly smooth and velvety while the flavor is not overly sweet allowing the flavoring of your choosing to shine. Let's jump into how it's made!

Swiss Meringue Buttercream Process

To make dulce de leche buttercream, we start with making a basic swiss meringue buttercream. This tends to be composed of a 3-2-1 ratio of butter-sugar-egg whites.

First, add your sugar and egg whites to the bowl of your stand mixer and place over a saucepan of boiling water. Make sure that your bowl is not touching the hot water! Your goal is to simply whisk the egg whites and sugar together until the sugar has completely dissolved, then attach your bowl back to the standing mixer. The temperature should reach 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Start whisking the mixture at a low speed and gradually increase speed until medium peaks form. Continue mixing until the meringue has cooled, then switch to using the paddle attachment and start adding your softened butter bit by bit. When you've reached the point where the buttercream is glossy and smooth, turn the mixer speed back to low. Add the coconut dulce de leche, continuing to mix until completely combined.

Flavoring Buttercream

The flavoring for buttercream can be modified and adapted easily! Here's a few ideas to get you started:

Coconut Dulce de Leche

To fill our macarons, we will be using dulce de leche which is ever so creamy and packed with flavor. What more could you want? The recipe for making coconut dulce de leche is incredibly simple with only two steps... here's how it's made!

• Place all ingredients into a saucepan, whisking to combine all ingredients and heating on medium until the brown sugar has completely dissolved. 

• Bring the mixture to a boil and stir from time to time for at least an hour. Once the mixture has reduced to 1 cup, you know that the dulce de leche is complete.  Pour into a small container and allow to cool before using in the recipe, then store the leftovers in the fridge. 

COMMON MACARON SHELL  ISSUES

There are a number of reasons why these delicate little cookies could come out less than perfect. Here are some of the most common macaron shell issues to keep in mind during this process!

SHELLS ARE NOT PERFECT CIRCLES

Make sure to hold your piping bag pointed directly perpendicular to the parchment paper that you will be piping onto. If your batter is piped at an angle, the macaron shells will likely spread unevenly leaving you with shells that are not identical. You also want to make sure you are using a piping tip to ensure even, round circles.

HUMIDITY

It's tricky to make macarons in the midst of an incredibly humid day. High humidity prevents your shells from drying during their resting period, which is an essential part of the process. To combat this, place your shells near your oven while preheating - this has helped me during those days where it takes quite some time for the shells to dry.

NO FEET

The rest period that I mentioned above? This is going to help you create the feet that a macaron is known for. The dried tops of the shells trap in the heat at the base of your macaron and push the edges upward, creating the feet we know and love. Take the time to dry the tops of your shells otherwise, you won't get a distinguished macaron foot.

CRACKED TOPS

There's a number of reasons as to why this could be happening. We talked about how dried shells push the heat through the bottom of the macaron - when those shells are not dry, there is no barrier to prevent the air from exploding through the tops, causing cracks. Cracked tops could also be due to over-mixing your french meringue and potentially your batter as well, so make sure to be extra gentle during the mix!

BUMPY SHELLS

Make sure that you are taking the time to properly sift and mix the almond flour and powdered sugar mixture into your meringue. If there are chunky, unsifted dry bits in your batter that have not been mixed well, the tops of your shells will be quite bumpy and uneven. Make sure to also lightly tap your just-piped shells to release any air bubbles as well as to prevent those bumps.

HOLLOW SHELLS

If you find that your macaron shells are hollow, know that this could be due to many reasons. First, you may have over-mixed your meringue - the egg whites and sugar should not have been mixed for such a long duration of time. In addition, the heat from your oven could have been set too high - make sure to utilize an oven thermometer to ensure that you are not baking your shells at a higher temperature than 315 degrees Fahrenheit. Finally, make sure your macaron shells do not rest for too long - the shells should be dry within 20-45 minutes.

Maturation & Storing

Technically, allowing your completed macarons to sit overnight in the fridge allows for the best texture for consuming! If you have the patience, place your macarons in the fridge overnight and enjoy the following day. Macaron shells can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container for a month and still taste as good as new! Take the frozen macarons out of the freezer and let them sit for 10-15 minutes before enjoying, In the fridge, filled macarons should be stored in an airtight container for no more than 3 days.