These Nut Free Raspberry Truffle Macarons have a raspberry buttercream filling with a chocolate ganache center. They are gluten free French macarons with the flavors of a raspberry truffle.
My oldest daughter was having a birthday sleepover with friends, so I let her pick the treat. She and her younger sister came up with the flavor combination of raspberry and chocolate. I was reminded of these Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cupcakes.
We settled on a Nut Free French Macaron with a raspberry buttercream dam and a chocolate ganache center.
These macarons were amazing! My girls went crazy for them.
They loved the raspberry buttercream so much that they want me to make some with just the buttercream filling. They are also brainstorming cake ideas for the raspberry buttercream!
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Supplies
Other than the ingredients, you will need:
- Small wire strainer
- Small wire whisk
- Round tip like #12
- Plastic tip coupler
- Disposable piping bags
- Piping bag holders
- Digital kitchen scale
- 2 macarons mats
- 2 half sheet pans
- Pink food coloring gel, such as Chefmaster
- White food coloring gel, optional
Optional decorations:
- Paint palette dedicated to food
- Clear alcohol, like Everclear or vodka
- Disposable transfer pipette
- Edible pink luster dust
- Edible pink glitter
- Food safe paintbrushes
Prepare the Raspberry Puree
The raspberry puree that will be used to make the buttercream must be simmered and then chilled, so I started with that. I followed Preppy Kitchen's recipe for raspberry buttercream.
I used frozen raspberries since it was winter, but fresh raspberries work perfectly too.
The raspberries are simmered with fresh lemon juice in a small saucepan.
Once the mixture thickens and gets jam-like, it's ready to strain.
The easiest way to strain seeds from a berry mixture, in my experience, is to whisk it through a fine mesh sieve. I learned this the hard way when making Blackberry Vanilla Cupcakes.
This takes some effort, but when finished, you will have a smooth raspberry puree. Chill the puree in the refrigerator.
The seeds and larger pieces of pulp will remain in the strainer and can be discarded.
Make the Batter
Before starting to make the batter, I like to set up all of my supplies.
Fit a medium round piping tip, like a #12, in a disposable piping bag. I use a plastic tip coupler so the tip stays in place. Twist a small binder clip to close the bag just above the tip. This will prevent the macaron batter from flowing out of the tip while you're filling the bag.
You can place the bag in a tall drinking glass or use a piping bag holder to keep it open and ready to fill.
I use macaron mats on top of baking sheets that I turn upside down so they lay completely flat.
You can use parchment paper if you don't have the mats.
Next, get all of your ingredients ready.
Sift together the powdered sugar and oat flour. I do this by whisking the ingredients through a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl.
The sifted ingredients should be whisked together to combine fully.
Next, weigh the egg whites on a digital kitchen scale.
Whisk the egg whites in a stand mixer until frothy, then add the cream of tartar, followed by the granulated sugar by the spoonful.
Next, add the vanilla extract and food coloring gel.
I used clear vanilla extract and just a small amount of pink food coloring gel. I wanted a pale pink for these, but I actually should have added more color. My shells ended up paler than I wanted. I added some white gel too to help offset the tan color of the oat flour.
Once the meringue reaches stiff peak stage, it's ready for the dry ingredients to be folded in, a process called "macaronage."
First, ⅓ of the dry ingredients are folded in, followed by the remaining ⅔. For typical almond flour macarons, you want to fold until the batter reaches the "figure 8" stage. For oat flour macarons, you actually want to stop before this stage. The oat batter can go from under mixed to too runny quickly.
I recommend two resources with visuals as to when the batter is ready to be piped: America's Test Kitchen and Le Cordon Bleu, but keep in mind you want to stop folding sooner with this oat flour batter.
The prepared batter is then transferred to the piping bag.
Pipe circles of batter on both mats. Slam the trays on the counter to bring any bubbles to the surface. Use a toothpick or scribe tool to pop any bubbles and smooth the batter over the hole created by the bubble popping.
Rest the batter for about 40 minutes, or until the surface has dried enough that if you gently touch your fingertip to it, the batter will not stick.
Bake the shells, rotating half way through the baking time. Only bake one tray at a time.
Cool the shells on the mat before carefully removing.
Make the Raspberry Buttercream
While the macaron shells are resting, it's a good time to start on the buttercream and ganache.
Beat the butter in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment until smooth. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and mix until completely combined.
Beat in the raspberry puree. You can start by adding a small amount and scaling up as long as the mixture isn't too thin. You can also add some pink or red food coloring at this point if you want the color to be deeper or brighter.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside until you're ready to fill the macarons. If the buttercream is too soft, you can transfer it to an airtight container and pop it in the refrigerator to thicken it.
Make the Ganache
For the ganache, I turned to my favorite ganache recipe from the Almost Fudge Gateau that I also use for the Bailey's Irish Cream Mini Cheesecakes.
This recipe starts with melting the chocolate. I use 60% cacao Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips.
Normally, chocolate chips are not recommended for ganache since they can contain stabilizers and anti-caking agents, but I get excellent results with this brand.
Warmed heavy cream is poured over the chocolate. Stir the mixture gently. It will take a few minutes to come together, but be patient.
The result is a super smooth, velvety ganache. I omitted the corn syrup this time. It just makes the ganache shiner, which does not matter when using it as a filling.
Allow the ganache to cool at room temperature, stirring occasionally.
Decorate the Shells
Because I made my shells a lighter pink that I intended, I wanted to add some pink luster dust to brighten the color but also add some sparkle. I usually dust my macaron shells with some kind of edible luster dust.
This step is completely optional.
To do this, I mix up pink luster dust and pink edible glitter in the well of a food dedicated paint palette with some Everclear. Any clear alcohol or extract will work.
I use a food grade paintbrush to apply the luster to the tops and sides of the shells.
Once all of the shells have been painted, they are ready to be filled.
Fill the Macarons
To fill the macarons, I added the raspberry buttercream to a disposable piping bag fitted with a medium round #12 piping tip attached with a plastic coupler.
I filled a second disposable piping bag with the chocolate ganache. For this bag, I just snipped the tip off since it's just a filling to be piped in the center.
I paired up all of the shells by size, matching the top and bottom most closely to each other.
Then, I piped a border around the the perimeter of each bottom shell.
Next, I piped ganache into the center of each bottom shell.
Lastly, I picked up the top shell by the edges and carefully placed it on top of the filling, pressing down just slightly to adhere it.
Once all of the macarons were filled, I chilled them in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Leftover ganache can be used to make Chocolate Truffles Raspberries.
Decorating Idea
My daughter wanted me to make some snowflakes on top of some of the macarons, like I did previously for these Nut Free Winter Snowflake Macarons.
She requested gold snowflakes. I have only ever painted royal icing, fondant, or macaron shells with a gold luster dust suspension, never buttercream, but I didn't want to mix up a batch of royal icing just for this.
I decided to see if I could paint buttercream by first chilling it so it would harden.
To my delight, it worked!
I started by piping a snowflake pattern in raspberry buttercream on the top shell and placing a pink sugar pearl in the center.
I chilled the shells and then painted them with a food grade paintbrush using a gold luster dust suspension in Everclear.
The key is to make sure the excess suspension runs off the brush bristles before applying it to the buttercream so that it stays in place.
The result is a beautiful gold design that is soft like buttercream and doesn't require making another kind of icing.
Storage
Macarons should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours before enjoying to mature and improve in texture.
Allow the cookies to come to room temperature before serving so the buttercream and ganache can soften.
Gluten Free Option
These cookies are naturally gluten free if you use a certified gluten free brand of oat flour. I like Bob's Red Mill brand of gluten free oat flour.
📖 Recipe
Nut Free Raspberry Truffle Macarons
Equipment
- 1 small wire whisk
- 1 small wire strainer
- 1 digital kitchen scale
- 2 macarons mats optional
- 2 half baking sheets
- disposable piping bags
- Piping bag holder optional
- medium round tip such as #12
- 1 food dedicated paint palette optional
- 1 disposable transfer pipette
- 1 food-safe paintbrush
Ingredients
For the Raspberry Buttercream:
- 1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 16 tablespoon butter (at room temperature)
- 1 dash table salt
For the Ganache:
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (coarsely chopped)
- ½ cup heavy cream
For the Macaron Shells:
- 126 grams oat flour
- 126 grams powdered sugar
- 100 grams egg whites (see note)
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 90 grams granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (see note)
- pink and white food coloring gel
Decorations (optional):
- pink edible glitter or luster dust
- clear alcohol (such as Everclear or vodka)
Instructions
Make the Raspberry Puree:
- Add the raspberries and lemon juice to a saucepan over medium heat.
- After the mixture heats up for a few minutes, mash the raspberries then allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes so it reduces and thickens.
- Strain the mixture into a bowl through a fine mesh sieve, and discard any solids. Cover the raspberry mixture and chill until cold, about 2 hours.
Prepare the Macaron Batter:
- Place a macaron mat on each of 2 baking sheets. You can also use parchment paper with 1-inch circles drawn on underneath. Set these aside.
- Place a medium round tip, like a #12, in a disposable piping bag with a plastic tip coupler to keep it in place. Twist the bag just above the tip and secure with a small binder clip. Fold over the top of the bag and place it in a tall glass or in a piping bag holder so it will be easy to fill with the batter. Set this aside.
- Sift together the oat flour and the powdered sugar in a medium-sized bowl, then whisk to combine them completely. Set this bowl aside.
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high until frothy. Add the cream of tartar, then slowly add the granulated sugar, one spoonful at a time, with the mixer still running.
- Once soft peaks form, add the vanilla extract and food coloring gel and continue to beat the mixture until the meringue forms stiff peaks. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
- Using a silicone spatula, carefully fold ⅓ of the flour/powdered sugar mixture into the meringue. Then, add the remaining ⅔ of the flour mixture and continue folding until just before reaching the figure 8 stage. See note.
- Once the batter is the proper consistency, transfer it to the prepared piping bag.
- Remove the small clip to allow the batter to flow into the piping tip. Pipe 1-inch circles of batter onto the first macaron mat.
- Slam the tray down hard on the counter or a table several times to force any air bubbles to the surface. If desired, take a toothpick or scribe tool and pop large bubbles then smooth out the hole left after the bubble pops.
- Pipe the batter onto the second macaron mat. You will not fill the entire mat.
- Allow the batter to dry at room temperature for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300°F and make the buttercream and ganache.
Make the Raspberry Buttercream:
- Cream the room temperature butter with the salt for a few minutes on medium speed with an electric or stand mixer. If you are using unsalted butter, you may want to use more salt.
- Gradually beat in the powdered sugar while mixing on low speed.
- Add the raspberry reduction 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired color and consistency are reached. Cover the bowl until ready to fill macarons.
Make the Ganache:
- Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler and melt above simmering water (or use microwave to melt, being careful to heat on 50% power and for short amounts of time, stirring often). The chocolate should be just melted and only warm, not hot.
- Bring the cream just to a boil in a small saucepan. As soon as it boils, remove from heat and pour the hot cream over the chocolate.
- Stir very gently with a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth and shiny.
- Allow the ganache to cool at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until it is a pipable consistency.
Bake the Macaron Shells:
- Bake the macaron shells for 12-15 minutes, rotating the pan once about 7 minutes into the bake. Only bake one pan at at time.
- Allow the shells to cool completely on the mats before removing them. To remove more easily, push up on the mat from underneath to help them pop off. If you have trouble with them sticking, that may mean they are underbaked. Some of the shells in the center of the tray may have a little bit of sticking. Very carefully use a stiff metal spatula to pry them off the mat, taking care not to rip the shell.
- The cooled shells can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer, or you can fill them immediately.
Paint the Shells (optional):
- Mix edible pink luster dust and edible pink glitter in the well of a food dedicated paint palette with clear alcohol, such as Everclear or vodka.
- Dip the paintbrush into the liquid and then quickly brush across the surface and sides of the macaron shells. Sprinkle the shells with edible pink glitter for extra sparkle, if desired.
Assemble the Macarons:
- Because the macarons will be sandwiched, pair up the shells by size. You want the top and bottom of the sandwich cookie to match as closely as possible.
- Add the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip, like a #12. Add the ganache to a piping bag with the tip cut off.
- Pipe the buttercream as a border around the flat side of each of the bottom shells.
- Fill the center with ganache.
- Pick up the top shell by the edges and carefully place on top, pressing down very gently to adhere. Repeat with all macarons.
- You will have leftover raspberry buttercream and ganache. The ganache can be piped into washed raspberries.
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