Smooth, creamy and bittersweet Vietnamese coffee buttercream sandwiched between two crisp and chewy macaron shells. These Vietnamese coffee macarons are a take on the traditional condensed milk Vietnamese coffee!

Jump to:

What is Vietnamese Coffee?
Condensed Milk Buttercream
Getting the Perfect Shell
The Guide to Perfect Macarons
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

I don't know about you, but I need my cup of coffee everyday. In fact I'm drinking an oat milk latte writing this up! But, I don't just drink coffee for that extra boost, I drink it for its flavour. There are so many different varieties and origins of beans as well as so many different ways to prepare a simple cup of coffee. Which brings us to Vietnamese coffee... and Vietnamese coffee macarons!

What is Vietnamese Coffee?

You might wonder why Vietnamese coffee is different to regular coffee. Traditionally made from Robusta beans their coffee is higher in caffeine and richer in flavour with a characteristic dark roast.

Moreover Vietnamese coffee is prepared with a stainless steel filter rather than a paper filter. The filter also lends to a much richer roast, so the resulting drip coffee is much more intense in flavour.

Another defining characteristic is the milk used to make Vietnamese coffee! Because the coffee is so strong sweetened condensed milk is the perfect pairing. The thick, sweet milk is usually served at the bottom of the glass and the coffee is poured over. The resulting coffee is sweet and delicious. The perfect flavour combination for a macaron 😉

Condensed Milk Buttercream

To recreate the Vietnamese coffee flavour I created a buttercream that is sweetened with condensed milk. As condensed milk is very sweet on its own there is no need for extra sugar.

Condensed milk is a great sweetener in buttercream as it has a thick and smooth consistency rather than the grainy texture that can come with sugars. When beating the condensed milk into the butter it will form a silky smooth buttercream that pairs perfectly with your macarons shells.

Here are a couple of tips to achieve silky buttercream:

Prepare and cool your coffee first: It is important to make sure your coffee is cooled before adding it to your buttercream. If it is still warm you can risk melting your butter and causing the buttercream to split or turn into a puddle.
Beat your buttercream for longer than you think: The trick to creating the creamiest fluffy buttercream is in the whipping. A lot of the time people will underwhip their buttercream causing it to be thick, dense and greasy. With just an extra 5 minutes or so of whipping you'll be surprised at how fluffy and silky your buttercream turns out
Use a paddle attachment to finish off: At the beginning you want to use the whisk attachment as this brings the most air into your buttercream. However after extended periods of whipping with the whisk it can cause large air pockets to form in your buttercream, which will appear when you pipe it into your shells. In the final 2 minutes of whipping change your whisk to a paddle attachment and mix on medium speed. This will smoothen out your buttercream for perfect piping.

Getting the Perfect Shell

Colouring the shells

To replicate the characteristic Vietnamese coffee look I used one coffee coloured and one white shell.

When it comes to colouring shells two colours you can risk over-mixing your batter. I like to give the batter a quick, rough, but thorough mix before splitting it into two and colouring. That way you have more control over the mixing when adding colour to the batter.

Perfectly round shape

If you want to achieve the perfect macaron shape one of the most important things is to pipe the shells on a flat surface. The batter is fluid so if it is on an angle it will flow that way.

The other tip to creating perfectly even shells is to use a template. This will ensure that all your shells are piped to the same size. All you need to do is place the printed template under your sheet of baking paper and pipe away.

I have a macaron template available on my PERFECT macaron post

The Guide to Perfect 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 get that perfect macaron!

It also includes 6 exclusive recipes with detailed instructions to impress 😉

Click here to check out my ebook

Let's Get Baking

If you haven't had Vietnamese coffee yet this is your chance! These macarons would go perfectly with a bittersweet coffee.

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 and hashtag #cattycakes 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 baking!

📖 Recipe

Vietnamese Coffee Macarons

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

Smooth, creamy and bittersweet Vietnamese coffee buttercream sandwiched between two crisp and chewy macaron shells. A take on the classic Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk in a macaron!

Author: Catherine Zhang
Prep Time: 30
Cook Time: 15
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 12 1x
Category: Cookie
Method: Intermediate
Cuisine: Asian Fusion

Ingredients

Scale

Macaron Shells

50 g Almond meal
45 g Icing sugar
37 g Egg whites
37 g White sugar
Brown gel food colouring

Coffee Buttercream

80g Unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp Instant coffee powder
2 tbsp Boiling water
100g Condensed milk

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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
Fold the sieved almond meal and powdered sugar into the meringue in 2 additions, scraping around the bowl and down the centre
Once just folded in, split the batter into two portion
Add brown food colouring to one half
Press the batter around the bowl and before folding it into the centre
Continue until you notice that the lines that form when the batter falls back into the bowl slowly start to disappear
Repeat with the uncoloured batter
Transfer to two piping bags with a round tip and pipe out 1.5inch circles
Allow to dry for 1-2 hours
Bake in a preheated oven at 140°C for 10-15 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

Coffee Buttercream

Combine water and instant coffee powder, mix until dissolved and cool
Add butter and condensed milk to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium-high for 5 minutes until light and silky
Add the cooled coffee mix and beat for a further 2 minutes
Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip
Match similar sized macaron shells with each other
On the flat side of one shell pipe a blob of buttercream
Top with a matching shell of the opposite colour
Place in airtight container in the fridge for a day to mature (gives deeper flavour and chewy texture!)

Keywords: coffee, vietnamese, macaron, buttercream, condensed milk, gluten free