What can I say? I’m a sucker for key limes and macarons. So here we are. Key Lime Pie Macarons. They’re a bite-sized delicacy that you will want to eat over and over and over again. This idea came about after the absolute frenzy that my Key Lime Pie recipe caused. I had no idea that Key Lime Pie was so popular with the masses, but I kept hearing over and over again “Oh my gosh, you made key lime pie?! That’s my FAVORITE”. So I thought I’d give the people what they wanted, with just a little twist. I give you: key lime pie macarons, filled with key lime curd and a creamy lime buttercream. It’s one of the most kick-a** desserts I’ve ever made, and I hope you love it like I do!
Key Limes, lets talk about them…
You might be wondering what the difference between key limes and “regular” limes is. Well, key limes are smaller, and more yellow, and they have more seeds. You can see them in the first photograph to get an idea of just how tiny they are. Their flavor is said to be more aromatic and floral, whereas “regular”, or Persian limes are more acidic. In reality, from all of the material I have read up on, unless you are eating the pies side by side for comparison, you will not be able to tell what kind of limes are in your pie. Of course, people may swear by key limes. But the USA does not actually have enough key limes for all of the “key lime” pies that are sold every year. The Chicago Tribune wrote this article, outlining who uses the dang limes, and why it is improbable that any key lime pie you get is actually authentic to its name. Regardless of your thoughts on this, whether you use Key limes or Tahitian limes or Persian limes, your pie will be absolutely delicious. I pinky promise you.
Key Lime Pie Macarons
Ingredients
For the Macaron Shells:
- 3 Egg Whites (100 grams)
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar (100 grams)
- 1 cup Almond Flour (100 grams)
- ¾ cup Powdered Sugar (100 grams)
- Green Food Coloring
For the Key Lime Curd:
- 4 Egg Yolks
- 1 Egg
- 2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Key Lime Juice
- 1 tablespoon Key Lime Zest
- 3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
For the Key Lime Curd Buttercream:
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
- 1½ cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream
- ¼ cup Lime Curd
Instructions
For the Macarons:
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. For best accuracy, trace 1-inch circles onto the paper. Flip it over so the side that was drawn on is on the bottom and will not touch the food side.
- In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the almond flour and powdered sugar, set aside.
- In a small or medium sized bowl, combine the egg whites and granulated sugar. Place over a pot of boiling water to form a double boiler. Whisk the mixture until the sugar completely dissolves and the mixture is warm to the touch and frothy. This will take 4-6 minutes.
- Take off the heat and using a hand mixer, whip the egg whites until you achieve stiff peaks. This will take 4-10 minutes.
- Once you have stiff peaks, pour in the sifted almond flour and powdered sugar mixture and food coloring.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredients into the meringue in a “U” shaped motion. Continue folding until the batter becomes “drippy” and you can consecutively form a figure “8” in the batter. Youtube tutorials are very helpful for determining when your batter is just mixed enough, and when it is overmixed.
- Once the batter is totally mixed, fill a piping bag with the batter. The piping bag should have a ¼-inch circle tip, or something around there.
- Pipe macaron circles onto the parchment paper on the baking sheet. If you drew circles on it, follow the outline. If you did not, try your best to make them the same size.
- Once all of the macarons are piped, bang the tray on the tabletop hard. You want to make sure all of the air bubbles are out of the macaron shells, so you want to bang them at least 10 times to make sure there are no hidden bubbles.
- Once you have hit the air bubbles out of the batter, the tops should be fairly flat. Carefully pat down any points that might have resulted from piping them, but they will probably resolve themselves in the drying stage anyways.
- Next, preheat the oven to 300°F and allow the shells to dry for 20-40 minutes until the tops are not sticky when touched. While the shells are drying, you can make your curd and buttercream.
- After the shells have dried, bake the shells in the preheated oven. Rotate them after 5 minutes, of baking, and allow them to bake for a total of 13-15 minutes depending on your oven.
- Once the macarons are baked, take them out of the oven and allow them to cool before filling.
For the Key Lime Curd:
- Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.
- Pour into a small saucepan on the stove and heat over low heat until thickened. This will take 3-8 minutes.
- Once thick, remove from the stove, place in a heatproof container, and store in the freezer until cold.
For the Key Lime Buttercream:
- Cream the butter, powdered sugar, and heavy whipping cream together until smooth and fluffy. Add the key lime curd and beat until fully incorporated and fluffy.
Assembly:
- Find the macarons that fit best together and pair them up.
- Put the lime curd in a pastry bag with a ½ inch piping tip. On one macaron pipe a dollop of the curd on the center.
- Put the buttercream in a pastry bag with a ½ inch piping tip and pipe a circle around the lime curd dollop. Make sure to keep all of the filling on the macaron and do not get too close to the edge.
- Place the matching macaron on top of the filling and squish gently to stick the cookie to the filling. Repeat for all macarons until you run out.
- For the white chocolate drizzle, melt 2 oz of white chocolate and put it in a pastry bag with a tiny hole. Drizzle the white chocolate over the assembled macarons and sprinkle lime zest on top before the chocolate hardens. Allow to cool, and enjoy!
- Macarons last up to a week in the fridge and taste best after 2-3 days!
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