Crisp and slightly chewy macaron shells filled with a light and creamy ube buttercream. These purple yam flavoured macarons are a mix between Filipino and French cuisine!
I'm back again with another ube flavoured dessert, and this time we're making macarons! With the growing popularity of ube all around the world, this macaron is the perfect representation of Asian and European fusion!
What is Ube?
If you aren't familiar with ube, it is a purple root vegetable originating in the Philippines. It has a sweet, slightly nutty, vanilla-y taste and is commonly used in desserts.
Ube is often confused with taro and purple sweet potato. Taro is not as vibrant in colour and sweetness, and is used more often in savoury dishes. On the other hand purple sweet potato has a more intense purple colour and sweetness. If you can't find ube, purple sweet potato is often a great alternative.
How to use ube in desserts?
There are a couple of different ways to incorporate ube into your desserts. At the Asian grocery store you will find ube in several different forms: fresh, powdered, frozen, grated, jam and extract. Fresh, powdered, frozen and grated ube are all ube in their natural form. Unlike ube jam and extract these need to be prepared before used in desserts.
The most common method to use ube in desserts is to prepare a jam, aka ube halaya. This is essentially ube, various milks/creams and sugar cooked together to form a thick, sweet jam. You can make this yourself at home with fresh or frozen ube, or you can find it pre-made in jars.
As there is often a lot of work that goes into making desserts I don't find the need to make it myself- so store bought ube halaya works for me!
The other most common form of ube used in desserts is ube extract, a super concentrated little bottle of ube flavour. A couple of drops will transform your batter or cream into an explosion of fragrant, bright purple ube. This is by far the easiest way to incorporate ube as it won't impact the texture of your baked goods as mashed ube would, while giving you as much flavour as you could possibly want!
Tips to Perfecting Macarons
Throughout my macaron posts on this blog I have covered a lot of different topics. This time I'll be covering the ingredients needed to create perfect macarons and which ones are best.
For other topics see...
- Crucial points when making macarons: Perfect macarons with salted milk tea caramel
- Frequently asked macaron questions and trouble shooting tips: Earl grey macarons
- Colouring macarons: Carrot cake macarons
- Creating character macarons: Tiktok frog macarons
- Creating macaron designs: Carrot cake macarons
If you are looking for a definitive guide to help you master your macarons I have an ebook which outlines the steps to make French and Italian macarons in detail. It includes photographic steps as well as a guide to the best ingredients and equipment needed to create that perfect macaron!
It also includes 6 exclusive recipes with detailed instructions to impress 😉
Let's Get Cooking
If you liked this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to know how you went. Also don't forget to tag me on Instagram @catherine.desserts so I can see and share your desserts.
Follow me on facebook, pinterest, youtube and tiktok for more of my baking creations and updates! Until next time... happy caking!
Print📖 Recipe
Ube Macarons
Crisp and slightly chewy macaron shells filled with a light and creamy ube buttercream. These purple yam flavoured macarons are a mix between Filipino and French cuisine!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 macarons 1x
- Category: Cookie
- Method: Intermediate
- Cuisine: French, Filipino
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
- 50 g Almond meal
- 45 g Icing sugar
- 37 g Egg whites
- 37 g White sugar
- ¼ tsp Ube extract
- Purple powdered or gel food colouring
Ube Buttercream
- 100g Unsalted butter, room temperature
- 65g Cream cheese, room temperature
- 50g Ube halaya (If you can't find any feel free to use ½ teaspoon ube extract and 20g icing sugar instead)
- ¼ tsp Ube extract
Instructions
Macaron Shells
- In a medium sized bowl sieve the almond meal and powdered sugar together
- If there are large chunks of almond meal remaining in the sieve dispose of them
- In a large clean bowl add the egg whites, and using an electric mixer beat until foamy
- Slowly add the sugar and beat until stiff peaks
- Add the ube extract and purple food colouring and continue to mix until the color is evenly distributed
- Fold the sieved almond meal and powdered sugar into the meringue in 2 additions, scraping around the bowl and down the centre
- Continue until you notice that the lines that form when the batter falls back into the bowl slowly start to disappear
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a round tip and pipe out 1.5inch circles
- Allow to dry for 1-2 hours, or until the surface is matte and dry
- Bake in a preheated oven at 140°C for 13-15 minutes (I find that it's usually done at 13, but it depends on your oven so make sure to check! If you give your macarons a wiggle they shouldn't be moving, that's when they're ready)
- Remove from oven and let cool
Ube Buttercream
- Whisk butter, cream cheese and ube halaya together until light and fluffy
- Add ube extract and mix until well combined
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a round tip
- Match similar sized macaron shells with each other
- On the flat side of one shell pipe a large dollop of buttercream
- Top with a matching shell
- Place in airtight container in the fridge for a day to mature (gives deeper flavour and chewy texture!)
Related Recipes
Maryam
Hi thank for this beautiful recipe I was wondering can I freeze it
?
Thank u
Catherine Zhang
Hi Maryam, yes! Macarons freeze beautifully, simply freeze and thaw when you're ready to eat.
Kristina
Hi, where did you get the purple color powder? Thank you.
Catherine Zhang
I use both ube extract and a bit of coloring. In got mine from my local cake decorating specialist store. You can search online, there are heaps of options!
Chloe
Hi, can I use almond flour instead of almond meal?
Thank you!
Catherine Zhang
Yes they are the same thing 🥰
Lyli
Hi Catherine!
Can I use regular flour ? Thanks in advance ♥️
Catherine Zhang
Unfortunately, these will only work with almond meal! 😊
kelly
How many macarons can this recipe make?
Catherine Zhang
This makes 12 macarons 🥰
Olivia
Hi! I was wondering what brand you use for your ube extract?
Catherine Zhang
I use the butterfly brand 🙂
Cris Birnbaum
I have frozen halaya. Is that what you call “jam”? Can I thaw and use it? Too much moisture ? Is there a difference between Ube food color and Ube extract? Thanks! I can’t wait to try this.
Catherine Zhang
Yes that is ube jam! You can use that in the recipe. Ube extract as both color and flavor in it, I've never tried ube food color, but if it also has ube flavoring in it it'll work too