Hi everyone! I have made macarons for the first time! I think shells look fine although i guess there is some room for improvement too. But my concern is fillings. I have tried 2 fillings- buttercream with peppermint flavor and White chocolate ganache with raspberry and sour raspberry jelly in the middle.
The buttercream was sweet, tasted like butter and peppermint flavor made it too artificial i didnt like it and havent used it. Maybe they would have tasted better with real mint leaves? Idk (if you have made one with mint flavor i would like to know opinion about that too)
White chocolate ganache is disgustingly sweet.. Like i dont even understand how it is so popular. I have mixed it with raspberry pure and have made some sour raspberry jellies but it doesnt help! Its just disgustingly sweet! 😫I mean i dont like it at all.
I remember tasting my first macaron it was neutral sweet with almond notes, it was so so good.
Please help me- how to make a filling that is neutral sweet (maybe with fruits or berries) ? Because i literally cant take this awful sweetness of white ganache 😞
by L0k17
14 Comments
Have you tried whipped dark chocolate ganache? I made that with my last batch and I got a comment that they weren’t too sweet! Still sweet but I would think they’re not as sweet as white chocolate. I also did a pistachio buttercream and I think the nuttiness of the pistachio cut down the sweetness of the buttercream!
agree with u on the white chocolate. ive never understood why people liked it. tastes like pure sugar. granted ive never liked chocolate anything tho
I gravitate towards lemon curd fillings, or raspberry preserves.
DULCE DE LECHE GANACHE
Yield: 30-40 macarons
Resting time: 8 hours
200g white chocolate
60 g heavy whipping cream
60g dulce de leche
10 g inverted sugar
Pinch of salt
1.Melt the chocolate in the microwave.
2.In a small pot, bring the heavy cream, dulce de leche and inverted sugar to simmer. Turn off heat as soon as it starts simmering.
3. Pour the hot mix over the chocolate in 3 parts. With the help of a rubber spatula keep mixing fast and pressing down as you add the liquids.
4.Once the mix is well incorporated, pour it into a deep container, add salt, and emulsify with a hand blender.
5.Once the ganache has emulsified (when it appears silky and smooth), transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to contact. Let set for at least 8 hours at room temperature.
dark chocolate ganache. 60-70% dark choc + heavy cream and do not add any sugar.
cream cheese/heavy cream/butter combo whipped but with minimal added sugar. can infuse the cream with flavours, or add powders in like freeze dried fruit, matcha, cocoa etc.
i tend to significantly under sweeten my fillings cause the shells are basically pure sugar
I like a very dark chocolate ganache with no added sugar and when I make white chocolate ganache I use a high quality couverture white chocolate like Guittard or Valrhona. It will be sweet but more like a creamy vanilla flavor not the super sweet from white chocolate chips you can buy at the store. I like Swiss buttercream as it less sweet than American style. I also love whipped caramel as a filling because the aeration from the whipping makes the caramel lighter and a little less sweet.
The flavor of peppermint extract varies a lot by brand- I agree some are gross and artificial tasting. I like the Nielsen Massey one, I think it has a pure, clean mint flavor.
I am serious, please try ermine buttercream. I was reluctant at first but the texture came out just like Swiss or Italian buttercream but almost without any sweetness, because you can decide how much sugar you want to add into the buttercream.
Another suggestion is to use a jam and curd in the middle to cut the sweetness of the shells and buttercream/ganache. But only if the flavor of ur buttercream/ganaches matches well. For example, chocolate ganache + raspberry jam or + blueberry buttercream + lemon curd. The key is that when you make ur curd/jam, add as little sugar as possible. It’s gonna taste sour on its own but perfect to add to macarons
What type of buttercream did you make? I find Swiss meringue buttercream to be less sweet than American. I’d echo what other comments are saying about using dark chocolate ganache for something more bitter or a fruit curd for something tangy.
German or French buttercream
Curd – I have made grapefruit, lemon, and lime curds. People who don’t like overpowering sweets really love them.
What type of white chocolate did you use? If you use couverture chocolate with higher percentage of fat, you can add less chocolate and more cream, therefore it will be less sweet. I add around 100 g of chocolate, 120-140 g of 36% cream, 20 g of butter, and 20-25 g of powdered freeze-dried raspberries. But keep in mind that different brands have different amounts of sugar.
What type of buttercream were you using? They vary significantly in sweetness. If you were using American (powder sugar + butter), try a different type like one of the meringue buttercreams.
I actually use whipped cream and then fold in mascarpone because it’s allows me to control sugar exactly, also I’ve never been a fan of butter cream so it works out well for me 🙂 (it works well for tea flavoured fillings but only fold the mascarpone in at end slowly, too much working will make it separate)
Do a whipped ganache. Uses less chocolate and more cream so its much less sweet. That said, if all your tasting is sugar, your flavors are too weak.