This recipe was influenced by a dinner party experience I had in which one of the guests was concerned about food that contained food colouring. Before eating each dessert item, he asked diligently if it contained any food colouring. Unfortunately, I had indeed used some food colouring in the macaron shells so he couldn’t have any due to his concern in regards to it. It really got me thinking. Yes, brightly colored baked goods are so cute and too darn photogenic for their own good but not everyone may feel comfortable ingesting it. So I created this new recipe which is naturally flavoured and colored. Today I present to you this Matcha Green Tea Macaron filled with Strawberry Swiss Buttercream.
The last recipe I wrote using Matcha, I included the addition of a few drops of Americolor’s Avocado gel color to give the shells the typical vibrant green color one comes to expect in their macarons. This time, I left out the Avo green gel color and let the natural colors of the matcha come through. As you can see, the result is a more muted and mossy green. As for the strawberry buttercream, the pink color derives solely from the real strawberries used in the recipe. I quite admire this natural colour combo and believe you can take great pride in letting your guests know that this macaron is naturally colored and flavoured from raw ingredients. It also tastes absolutely delicious – a winning combo!
I’m proud to have this new recipe in my recipe box and I hope you will be too.
Happy Baking!
XOXO,
Mimi
- 65 grams almond flour
- 65 grams icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon matcha green tea powder
- 45 grams castor sugar/granulated sugar
- 50 grams AGED egg whites
- 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
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Sift the almond flour and icing sugar. Discard the larger almond pieces that cannot be sifted. Compensate with more almond flour for the discarded amount.
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Sift the matcha green tea powder into the mixture.
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Follow my BEST MACARON RECIPE to continue making the shells. Link below.
- 350 grams fresh organic strawberries
- 6 tsp granulated sugar
- 65 grams egg whites
- 130 grams granulated sugar
- 195 grams room temperature butter
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1-1 1/2 tsp strawberry extract (optional)
- Wash strawberry and remove stem and a bit of the surrounding white flesh with a paring knife. Dry it with paper towels.
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Place the strawberries and sugar in a small pot, boil on LOW heat for approx 30 minutes.
- It will start to break down by itself. Occasionally, stir the mixture so the sugars and juices come together.
- Using a heat proof spatula, occasionally press down on the fruit very gently to help break it down. If it is still hard, just let it break down by itself until its soft enough to push down on it with the spatula.
- It will reduce into a very thick, chunky compote that is not runny. Take off heat after appr. 30 min. (Watch accompanying video to see the proper consistency. You may need to keep it on the heat some more if it is still runny.)
- Pour the compote into a food processor or blender and blend for a minute or two until the fruit is all broken down.
- Pour through a sieve into a heat proof cup. The mixture is thick so use a spoon to push it through. If the consistency is correct, you should have about 3 tablespoons of puree. Set puree aside.
- Cut up butter and let it come to room temperature as you measure out other ingredients.
- Add sugar and egg whites into a heat proof mixing bowl. Stainless steel is light and safe.
- Place over a pot of boiling water.
- Whisk the whites & sugar mix over the boiling water.
- Pay attention to whisking the mixture when it starts getting hot, you don’t want to cook the eggs.
- Whisk the mixture until the temperature reaches 160F. This temperature is generally accepted to be able to kill salmonella in eggs.
- Pour the mixture into the Kitchenaid mixer and whisk on low with the balloon whisk, then turn it up to medium.
- Once the mixture is thick and glossy, and the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch, stop mixer. Change the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment.
- Add butter a little bit at a time while beating with the paddle attachment on medium speed.
- The mixture might look curdled or separated for a while but keep mixing. It will all come together.
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Add strawberry puree a tea-spoonful at a time to a max of 3 tablespoons which is equal to 15 teaspoons. Beat until incorporated.
- Add strawberry extract if desired and incorporate.
More Macaron Recipes by Mimi
Christmas Macaron Bear Tutorial with Template
October 25th, 2015
Savoury Macarons - Rose Cream & Duck Apricot Pâté
May 18th, 2017
Scrumptious Salted Caramel Chocolate Macaron Recipe on the Radio
March 27th, 2017
The Best Swiss Meringue Buttercream for Macarons, Cakes and More
April 4th, 2018
Lemon Macarons Made with a Sturdy "Macaron-Friendly" Lemon Curd Center
September 14th, 2017
clara says
I failed the macaron shells by substituting granulated sugar by sweetener, is that the reason the shell didnt work out :(?
Mimi says
Hi Clara ,
I’m not quite sure as I have never tried using a sweetener instead. I don’t recommend substituting any of the ingredients in the shell for novice macaron bakers. Once you have tried baking them normally and have no problems, it will be easier to pinpoint where you went wrong when you try new ingredients. Please let me know how it goes 🙂
XOXO,
Mimi
Anna says
Hello – I just wanted to confirm the amount of sugar in the strawberry puree… should it be 6 TBSP or 6 TSP. I only ask because I currently have 350 g of fresh strawberries in 6 TBSP of sugar and it sure is taking a long time to reduce… then I thought I’d compare your strawberry basil puree recipe and that one says 6 TSP of sugar. So it made me wonder if it was a typo …
Love your macaron recipes!! 🙂
Thanks!!
Mimi says
Hi Anna,
Yes, that is 6 tsp, this recipe is a derivative of that one. Oh my goodness. I am sorry for the confusion. I hope you were able to work it out! I will fix it right now. XOXO, Mimi
Jane says
Hi Mimi,
I baked macaron successfully using your recipe. But I try to use freeze dried fruit powder to replace food Colouring, like raspberry powder. I failed. Should I reduce the icing sugar or almond flour when I add 1 tbsp raspberry powder?
Thank you for sharing your awesome recipe.
Jane
Mimi says
I would reduce the sugar. Watch out for how much you add. Not only that the acidity of your powder may affect the outcome of your macarons too. XOXO, Mimi
Jane says
Thanks Mimi for your reply.
I forgot about the acidity. It may be not a good way to use fruit powder for macaron.
Again thank you for your reply.
Jane
Thi says
Hi Mimi, thank you so much for the perfect recipe. I finally made perfect macaron shells just by following all your steps. I want to make pistachio macaron shells with real pistachio flour, what should i do? You have any suggestions? Thank you!
Mimi says
Hi Thi,
I’m so happy to hear that! You can make pistachio macarons by subbing in half of the almond with the pistachio.
XOXO,
Mimi
Nancy says
Hi, can I use egg whites from the carton? Like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-100-Liquid-Egg-Whites-32-oz/13925176
Thank you!!
Mimi says
Hi Nancy,
I have heard that you can. Although if you’re new to making macarons, I’d start with real eggs first just to make sure that is not the variable causing any failures.
Xoxo,
mimi
Natalie says
Hi! do you have any recommendations for a filling that doesn’t use any dairy? Looking to start selling my Macarons in the Farmers Market but I will have to eliminate all dairy out of my fillings.
Mimi says
You can make a ganache with butter (mixed with some shortening) or soy creamer. Marshmallow Fluff, American Buttercream without the milk. Curd without the eggs.
Xoxo,
Mimi
Timi says
So happy you’re sharing this. I’m in quest for natural food coloring that works with macaron shells because the farmer’s market I want tot join asked for it. If you have any more suggestions it would be more than welcome!
Mimi says
Awe Thanks so much Timi!
I’m so glad to hear that this recipe works exactly for your needs. I have been trying to experiment with more natural combos. Here’s another recipe that is naturally colored and flavoured. Salted Caramel Chocolate Macarons Recipe
Here’s Earl Grey and Lemon Macaron Recipe. Just leave out the purple color. It will look natural and have nice tea speckles in the shells.
Here’s a chocolate orange flavour. You’ll have to leave out the orange color though.
Xoxo,
Mimi
Timi says
Thank you so much for all the great tips! I’m gonna start trying them out. I always get back to your blog whenever I’m screwed. Thanks for sharing all you experience!
Mimi says
Aww! Thanks Timi, it’s so nice to receive a simple note of thanks! Really warms my heart.
Xoxo,
Mimi
Mimi says
in addition to the recipe flavors, as for the coloring, you can look into: beetroot powder for red, tumeric for yellow,
But keep in mind the flavour it will add into the macaron shells.
xoxo,
Mimi