Orange Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

⭐ Why You’ll Love This Recipe 

These delightfully delicious French macarons are the harmonious result of my adoration for all things citrus during the winter season. Delicate almond meringues are filled with a bright orange flavored ganache for a fun twist on my favorite kind of patisserie. Once you try this melt-in-your-mouth, fudge-filled treats, I’m certain you’ll feel the same - add some chocolate covered oranges on the side for the ultimate treat.

This foolproof macaron recipe is filled with step-by-step photos and a number of tips and tricks to ensure you have success! Macarons can be quite an intimidating pastry to perfect, but grab that apron, follow these steps and keep reminding yourself that you've got this!

If you're craving other variations of rich chocolate macarons, then you should try my Port Wine Ganache Macarons, White Chocolate Hibiscus macarons, and Pumpkin Butter and Dark Chocolate Macarons!

For more tips on making homemade foolproof macarons, check out my complete guide here! Then try your hand at making Vanilla Macarons, Coffee Macarons or Pumpkin Spice Macarons.

🍴Ingredients

Making citrus-forward Orange macarons takes fewer ingredients than you might think. Here’s everything you’ll need:

Macaron Shells

• Granulated Sugar - Regular or superfine sugar will do perfectly here. Please note that brown sugar has too much water content because of the additional molasses, so do not make the substitution. 
• Egg Whites - Separating eggs is easier when they are still cold from the fridge, but they should be room temperature for making your macaron shells. 
• Almond Flour - It might sound fussy, but opt for almond flour that has been blanched. This means the dark skins have been removed, which results in a smoother and prettier macaron shell.
• Confection’s Sugar - Also known as Powdered Sugar, this is an essential ingredient for getting the proper consistency in your macarons. If you don’t have any on hand, make your own using granulated sugar and cornstarch.
• Gel Food Coloring - While this is optional, I love coloring the macaron shells to match their fillings. Gel food coloring offers more pigment without adding too much moisture, which can happen with liquid food coloring.

Orange Dark Chocolate Ganache

• Orange Blossom Honey - I love the added orange blossom flavor in this honey, but you can easily substitute your favorite honey brand and add a teaspoon of orange blossom water in needed.
• Dark Chocolate - Since ganache is made with so few ingredients, you should be sure that they are high quality. Valhrona, Scharffen Berger, and Guittard are all very reputable brands to consider. You can also opt to use semi-sweet, milk, or even white chocolate if you prefer a different flavor profile.
• Grand Marnier - This French, orange flavored liqueur is made from a blend of Cognac brandy, distilled essence of bitter orange, and sugar.
• Infused Orange Cream - Allowing your heated cream to infused with a strip of orange zest helps to boost that beautiful orange flavor we know and love in this ganache!
• Orange Marmelade - The finale, a strip of orange marmelade is added to the ganache before topping with the final macaron half!

⚒️ Equipment

• Electric mixer with whisk attachment - If you have one, I highly recommend going the stand mixer route here; getting those elusive stiff peaks takes some time. In a pinch, a hand mixer will work, but you won’t be able to multitask as efficiently. 
• Food processor - Ensuring that your ingredients are finely processed means you have a much better chance of having perfectly smooth, perfect macarons. In a pinch, you can also use your high-powered blender.
• Mesh strainer  - Sifting is another step you don’t want to miss when you’re making these plum macarons; any large chunks that were missed in the food processor will not make it through the strainer, meaning you don’t have to worry about any unsightly bumps.
• Sheet pans - If you haven’t yet, I recommend investing in some good (read: unwarped) cookie trays. 
• Piping bags and tips - Part of the allure of French macarons is their appearance, and piping bags and tips ensure that they are flawless. In a pinch, use a zip top plastic bag with the corner cut off! 
• Immersion blender  - Getting the softest, silkiest ganache around is much easier with the help of a stick blender. They’re also great for puréeing homemade soups!

📖 Step by Step Instructions

I’m not going to lie here - this is a moderately difficult and somewhat lengthy recipe. Don’t lose faith, though! Simply follow along with the steps below and you’ll end up with a gorgeous plate of orange-chocolate flavored French macarons.

Make Macaron Shells

• As with many baking recipes, you’ll have both wet and dry ingredients to work with. Don’t try to rush or combine any of these steps.
• First, prep your materials. Line each baking sheet with your prepared parchment templates and prepare your piping bags along with your piping tips. I like to use a small, round piping tip for piping.
• Pro Tip: Use a tall glass to assist you in filling your piping bag.

Prepare Egg Whites and Dry Ingredients

• Place egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer and start whisking on medium speed. Once they start to foam, slowly add your sugar and bring up your speed to medium for about three to four minutes to whip for best results on the counter.
• While your meringue is whisking away in your mixing bowl, grind together your measured powdered sugar and almond flour using a food processor for one minute. Sift these dry ingredients into a medium bowl or a large bowl with a fine sieve, removing any large pieces and set aside. 
• Your meringue is complete when it holds stiff peaks - add desired orange gel food coloring and gently whisk for a few additional seconds to incorporate.

Macronage

• Now it’s time for the ever so important Macaronage! This is the act of mixing your dry ingredients into your French meringue - the trick is to fold it well enough without overmixing. 
• To start, pour your dry mixture onto the meringue and slowly start to fold with a spatula. While rotating the bowl, continue to fold ingredients together. Your mixing is done when the batter flows off your spatula rather slowly and smoothly. 
• You should see the batter that has dripped back into the bowl rest on top for a moment before slowly sinking back into the mixture. One too many folds and your batter could be over-mixed (which makes it impossible to work with), so be careful not to overmix!

Pipe and Rest

• Pour your macaron batter into the prepared piping bag or ziploc bag and pipe in circles or one inch rounds onto your templated parchment paper. 
• Tap your baking sheet firmly on a flat surface to remove air bubbles and ensure a smooth top. You can always use a toothpick to gently pop any extra air bubbles that you see hovering on top of your shells.
• Allow the shells to rest for approximately 30 minutes - this is non-negotiable. You want a sort of skin to form on the surface of the macarons; once the top of your shells are dry to the touch they are ready to bake! 

Bake

• Place your macarons in your oven that has been preheated to 310 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 9 minutes, then rotate the baking tray and bake for an additional 2 minutes. 
• When you gently touch the upper shell and it barely moves, and the developed foot of the macaron stays set to the parchment paper, the macarons are done. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing shells from the parchment paper.

Make Ahead Tip: Macaron shells that have been baked and fully cooled can be placed in an airtight container and frozen for up to a month with no discernible change in quality! Simply allow them to defrost for 10-15 minutes at room temperature before filling and eating.

Make Orange Dark Chocolate Ganache

• Add orange infused cream & Orange Blossom Honey to a saucepan and bring to a slight boil.  Remove from heat and pour over the finely chopped dark chocolate. Stir to combine as the warm cream starts to melt the chocolate.  Add the butter into your warm chocolate mixture and, using an immersion blender, blend ganache until the butter has fully incorporated and your mixture is smooth. Then, fold in the Grand Marnier. Allow mixture to cool until the chocolate ganache has cooled before assembly.

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips

Let’s break down a few tips to keep in mind in order to make a successful ganache, such as this Dark Chocolate Jasmine Ganache!

• Chop & Melt that Chocolate– taking a few moments to roughly chop your chocolate into small pieces will allow for the hot cream to easily melt your chocolate. This leads to a lovely ganache texture and mouthfeel that can be added to all kinds of macaron flavors (rose macarons and lavender macarons included) or even spiced orange chocolate mochas!
• Quality is Key – Since there are so few ingredients in ganache, I’d highly recommend using quality chocolate as the flavors and textures will shine through!
• Heat the Cream Thoroughly – The cream’s temperature needs to be hot enough to gently melt our chocolate. Your cream is ready to pour over chocolate when it comes to a slight boil!
• Softened Butter – Ensuring that the butter is at room temperature will help during the immersion process. If your butter has not been softened, it will be quite challenging to incorporate it into the chocolate & cream mixture.
• Immersion Blender – Using an immersion blender to make ganache will help to make sure that all the ingredients are properly mixed together!

💭 Recipe FAQs

❄️ How to store French macarons

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. In the fridge, filled macarons should be stored in an airtight container for no more than 3 days.

Can I Freeze Orange Macarons?

You sure can! Macaron shells or filled macarons 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.

Here are some other Macaron Recipes to try!