These blueberry macarons have a perfectly crisp exterior with a chewy interior. Paired with a pear and earl grey filling, they’re impressive and delicious and totally worth the extra effort.
Once you start making macarons you will never want to stop which is where my Chocolate Macarons with Blackberry Filling and Cake Batter Macarons come in handy for some delicious variety!
This week has been a draining onslaught of madness, excitement, and schedule derailments. Hello back to school, you slightly suck. Or maybe I do.
Okay, I’m willing to assume 50% of the responsibility, the other 50% will be pinned to the next person walking in front of me. Of course I say that knowing Matt is not home and the next person walking in front of me will be the neighbor on the other side of the window walking his dog. A person who has never exchanged a word with me despite my genuine “hellos and how are you”.
And while I’m on a roll, Matt convinced me to be the team mom for the little guy’s baseball team. Whaaa. . . ?? Last time I was team mom that played out like the movie Mr. Mom for Matt. Gotta love him for his confidence in me.
As for back to school, the first day of first grade happened this week and the little guy was eager, excited and a little nervous. Normal. We gave him his space and didn’t hover. Our quick good-byes were later returned with “Your son threw up, please come get him”.
Again, what? He never throws up. As it turns out he threw up in his mouth. That’s not even real and I told him so. Along with that, I dryly explained to him, “Pounding your chocolate milk then chasing it with a full juice box is like slamming a gin and tonic then chasing it with a pint of beer.” Okay, so maybe the latter was a silent mental flashback, but you get the idea.
As for schedule derailments- that’s a common theme, but the beginning of this school year seems to be especially fraught with constant and panicked glances at the clock with mental pop reminders of all kinds of other things that were overdue. Sigh.
But the best flub of the week goes to packing my little guy a mayonnaise sandwich for lunch. Yes, in my haste I forgot to add the turkey to his turkey sandwich. And if I’m being honest, maybe that’s what caused him to throw up in his mouth.
So per my usual pattern of behavior when such guilt-causing failings happen, I baked up one of the little guy’s favorite treats: blueberry macarons. A favorite minus the filling and that’s not because of the taste, but because he doesn’t do filling of any sort. So in the absence of his endorsement on the fully-assembled maracron, I can assure you – the pear and earl grey filling makes this!
And he’s getting into the smash food action too, so we had some fun smashing a few cookies for that last picture.
Top Tips for the Best Results.
- For the dried blueberries I used Trader Joe’s. Before measuring it out, make sure to process it to a fine grind and sift it through a fine mesh sieve (do not skip the sifting!).
- For the Earl Grey tea I used Twinings Tea.
- For the purple coloring, I used Americolor’s Electric Purple.
- The macarons can be made at least two – three days in advance and kept refrigerated in a tightly sealed container until ready to use.
- The filling should be made the day of assembly. Fully assembled macaron are best consumed within 1-2 days.
- You can skip making the pear filling for pear jam, but that’s not easily sourced, so I created the pear filling using pears from baby food. Yes, baby food because it’s simply pureed pears with no additives or anything else and it’s smoother than if I pureed pears in my KitchenAid food processor or Blendtec blender. The gelatin is added to firm up the filling or else as is, it would just spill and squirt out the sides once bitten into.
- As for parchment vs silpats for macarons. I always use parchment. I’m not going to say one is better than the other, but I will say, silpats always seem to retain the odor of what was baked before so I avoid using them.
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Blueberry Macarons with Pear & Earl Grey Filling
These blueberry macarons have a perfectly crisp exterior with a chewy interior. Paired with a pear and earl grey filling, they're impressive and delicious and totally worth the extra effort.
Ingredients
Blueberry Macarons
- 135g egg whites
- 45g granulated sugar
- 25g finely ground dried blueberries
- 215g powdered sugar
- 125g almond meal
Pear and Tea Filling
- 330g of pureed pear
- 1 teaspoon loose leaf earl grey tea
- 55g granulated sugar
- 29g water
- 1 envelope of plain gelatin
Instructions
Preparation: Heat oven to 300 degrees F.
To make macaron cookie
- Trace out 1 inch circles on parchment and set this aside as a “master copy”. Reserve two extra sheets of parchment and set aside.
- Place egg whites and sugar in a stand mixer bowl and fit mixer with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium low speed until egg whites start to form loose translucent bubbles. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until meringue turns foamy and white and starts to resemble well lathered shampoo, about 2 minutes. Increase mixer to high and beat until meringue holds glossy stiff peaks, about another 2-3 minutes. Add two drops of purple food coloring and give the mixer two quick runs to incorporate the color. Turn off mixer and set aside.
- In another bowl add finely ground dried blueberries, powdered sugar and almond meal and whisk to combine, then push mixture through a fine mesh sieve to sift.
- Add dry ingredients to meringue. Using a sturdy spatula, fold and smash dry mixture into meringue against the bowl’s side for about 20-25 folds. Don’t worry about being gentle, the idea is to knock the air out of it. The batter should hold its shape when spooned on itself and start to slowly flatten out after about 15-20 seconds. Start checking the batter after 20 folds for readiness.
- Place master copy of drawn circles on a bake sheet and then place a sheet of parchment on top. Fill a pastry bag with batter and pipe until batter reaches edge of circle. Remove master copy from underneath piped layer and place on second bake sheet and pipe remaining batter (remove master copy and save for future use).Take hold of each pan and give it quick hard tap against the counter, turn the pan 90 degrees and give it another quick hard tap. This will deflate any bubbles and prevent cracked shells.
- Bake for about 18-22 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Leave shells to cool completely on pan. Shells will cleanly peel away from parchment when ready about 30 minutes.
To make pear and earl grey filling
- Place tea in a coffee grinder or blender and process until loose leaf is a fine grind. Add finely ground tea to pureed pears and fold to combine; set aside
- Place water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stir until sugar is melted. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool, about 15 - 20 minutes. Once cooled, sprinkle gelatin on top and leave untouched for 1-2 minutes for gelatin to bloom. Return pan to stove top and over low heat stir the mixture until the gelatin bloom melts and mixture resembles the consistency of maple syrup. Remove from heat and stir gelatin mixture into pear mixture. Transfer to refrigerator to chill for about 10-15 minutes or until filling becomes thick and slightly sets.
Assembly
- Transfer filling to pastry bag fitted with a round tip and pipe on bottom side of one macaron cookie and place a second macaron on top with bottom side down. Transfer fully assembled macarons to refrigerator to chill for another 30-40 minutes for the filling to finish setting. Finished macaron will have a filling consistency that will not spill or squirt out of the side when bitten into.
I love the unusual combination of blueberry and pear. Never heard of that before. And I lve that your measurements are in g which means I can try some more or your recipes easier!
There few places with earl grey macarons, I’m sure your’s are just as good! Everytime I travel I always seek out the best macaron shops…
Phi – I am the same way. The earl grey ones are one of my favs!
These are stunning – and so unique! Love it!
I love the filling in these. I normally it is really hard to find good fruit fillings but your looks great! What a combo blueberry and pear, very creative.
Good luck to your little guy. I sure you and him will be great team members!
These are beautiful. I love the flavour combination, especially the Earl Grey. I love using it in my baking, such a delicate flavour. Hope you little chap’s feeling better x
Poor little guy! I bet he was embarrassed that he got sick at school. That is one of my biggest fears is I will get a call from school that my kid threw up. I can handle an injury – but throwing up no way.
I still have yet to perfect my macarons. I can get feet but hollow shells. One day I will perfect them!
Such honesty! We can relate to the whirlwind that is getting involved in the back to school routine. Sigh.
And I think I’d have no problem forgiving a mayo sandwich (!) if I had these for my back to school treat.
Completely sold on the pear filling.
I love your smashed food pictures!
Early Grey is easily one of my favvourite flavours. These look faaantastic.
I adore these flavors, gorgeous macs! Hope the whirlwind settles down!
Please forgive me for prying but are you saying you’re afraid of the embarrassment for your child or are you saying you’re afraid of the throwing up? If it’s the former, I totally get it but if it’s the latter, I may have to call you my new best friend. Embarrassing as it is to admit this, I have a phobia about the whole throwing up thing–and *my* kid (who has reflux tendencies also) has been a frequent victim. I’m surviving though.
OMGosh do these look gorgeously edible. I’ll be right over to help you with those smooshed ones. (I think seeing the unexpected reveal of the crispy creamy interior pushed your photos to a whole new level of taste-bud tease! 😉
love it! this sounds so delicious and it is really genius….
Yeah, back to school sucks. I always try to decide which is worse – kids home craziness, or kids in school craziness. Still haven’t decided.
BUT your macs look amazing! You. are. a. genius. Totally going to give these a try, I need more practice making macs. I think I’ll try it with dried raspberries since that’s what I’ve already got in my cupboard.
macs macs macs macs!! I need all of these!
Lovely blueberry macarons, girl! Love that you paired them with a pear and Earl Grey filling. So creative. The new school year was despised by my mother. She HATED it and would rather have us around. All of the snafus are completely normal…even if they don’t feel normal. We’re only human. And, you’re a good mom for not “hovering”. xo
Oh man, that is a week and jeez, is is only Wednesday! I really hope it gets a little easier for you! If not, just bake more. That always helps! Or better yet, smash up some more of your amazing baked goods and photograph them. I LOVE those smashed photos!
Oh and the Macaroons are gorgeous! I love the blueberry!
Such beautiful photography!!
These are beautiful! I can’t wait to try the filling on my next macaron experiment. Question: what’s your best advice in your experience for avoiding hollow shells? I’ve been studying macaron baking for about a year and a half, always discovering new things about them, and want to check this issue off the list! Thanks for your help, can’t wait to see more delicious posts! – Lauren
Just gorgeous!
I am loving the flavour combinations here!
Gorgeous, again!! And I bet these taste amazing… I’m kind of obsessed with this unusual color combination!
The mayonnaise sandwich is hilarious! But I shouldn’t laugh. Poor kid. My niece eats ketchup sandwiches which makes me gag. 😛 Anyways, I’ve never made macarons before but I’ve been wanting to try this recipe since you mentioned it on Instagram! They sound delicious.
My little one is the same – doesn’t do filling. His favourite dessert is Apple tart minus the apple… gotta love them. The baby pear puree got me thinking – so so clever. Smashed food images fabulous as always 🙂
These are beautiful Naomi- and you are not alone in the frazzled mom department.
Oh you are so sweet to make macs for the little guy. They sure look stunning.
You are a great mom, we all go through craziness with school and schedules.
These sound fabulous! I’m a huge earl grey fan & I think paring it with the blueberry & pear flavors would be a delicious combination.
As for the silpat vs parchment paper for baking macarons, I’ve had major troubles recently with baking macarons on silpats, so I’m firmly in the parchment paper camp!
Very seductive macarons 😉
FANTASTIC! LOVES THESE!
Wow! Now I’m craving macarons. You do that to me.
As for the type of week you’re having, I’d say you’re Mom of the year. You work full-time, you blog full-time, plus you’re a wife and Mom. Geez, when is the award show for THAT?
xo
Gorgeous macarons! Love that filling, too!
My daughter begs me to make her mayo sandwiches for school. “I want a turkey sandwich. But no turkey. And no pickles. Just mayonnaise.” Also, don’t blaspheme the silpat. As long as you’re only using it for sweets, there shouldn’t be any flavor carryover.
Is there any substitute for the almonds? I am deathly allergic to ALL nuts :-/
Yamickco253 – I’m working on developing one now — it’s still be tested. Stay tuned, once it’s good to go, I will post it here on the blog.
So sorry to ask for this… but is there a way you can provide conversions for these measurements? I tried to look it up, but things were exact and I know macarons… you need exact measurements!
Thanks!
Good morning.
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Wow, these look lovely. I especially like the inside color of the macaron.
OMG I thought i’m the only parent who’s got a phobia of puking!! And the worst thing is – i’m like standing a mile from him if he’s puking in the toilet and i have to try VERY VERY hard to pat him on the back with my arm OUTSTRETCHED. My hubby is the one who has to comfort the puking child… poor kid. He can bleed or break his bones and i’ll be there in a minute but if he pukes, I’m like – “pls call me when you’re done”…
Oooh this looks amaazing!
Hi, am I able to use fresh blueberries? 🙂
I’m making these right now. I followed the directions exactly, used a digital scale, and I’ve made successful macarons many times before, but my first sheet came out of the oven spongy and with no feet. The second sheet is in the oven right now, and they’re looking about the same. Do you age your egg whites? I didn’t this time because the recipe didn’t say anything about it. Is that my problem?
Hi Naomi – your blog is gorgeous! I wouldn’t think you’re a self-taught baker at all.
1. For the AmeriColor electric purple, please let me know how many drops you used?
2. Would you also be kind enough to tell me how many grams is your envelope of gelatin, or do they look like these? I’m in Canada, so not sure if one packet is the same as what you have? 28 grams – 4 packets in one box.
Thanks so much!
You and Leslie.. you guys said this so long ago but that fear is a good ole fear to have. I found someone else with that as well. I am glad I decided not to have kids though, I work at a school and it seems they do it a lot.
Hi! How many eggs are 135g of eggwhites? Thank you!