
recipe notes
step-by-step method
recipe card
Here we are at our second installment of macaron recipes! Exciting? You bet. Except this brings me to a bit of a dilemma in how to give you the best content here at Devil’s Food Kitchen. Early on I promised all of you loyal pastry fiends that I’d give you every damn recipe I can. I plan to keep that promise, but I don’t want to repeat myself every time I post a similar recipe with a different flavor profile or only a slight variation. This macaron recipe is a good example because really the shell recipe and method will always be the same.
So I’ve made an executive decision and decided to leave the bulk of the method and notes in my first post on the basics of making (and my base recipe for) macaron. In this post I’ll go step by step through the new filling and also highlight any changes in this recipe from the basic. Cool? I hope so!
With that out of the way, let’s get to today’s recipe. We go through a hell of a lot of different flavors of macs during the year at the hotel, always in keeping with the local season. Right now we are getting some beautiful mangos, and mango macs have been a feature on our summer tea menu for the last few weeks, so I thought it would be the perfect time to share them with you.
Obviously the star of the show is the mango filling. We all know mangos are bright, sweet and totally distinct in flavor, and I wanted to keep all of that profile in the filling. That can be a little tough since a lot of macaron fillings are fatty and that kills all of the best parts of mango flavor. So I’ve put together a sort of gel filling that uses pectin and gelatin to stabilize the fruit and helps to keep all of the intense fresh mango flavor intact.
recipe notes
This recipe calls for low methoxyl (LM) pectin. This is a different variety from what you’re probably used to – high methoxyl or apple pectin, which is the common variety to use for jam and jelly. There are several differences between the two varieties, but the most important for this recipe is that low methoxyl pectin doesn’t need the large quantities of sugar that high methoxyl pectin does. Mango is plenty sweet enough on its own, so extra sugar isn’t really what we want. LM pectin will also gel into a texture that holds nicely for a macaron filling.
Speaking of the filling, like so many of my recipes, this is a good base recipe to use and by simply switching out the fruit puree and adjusting the sugar a bit you have an all-around great stiff fruit gel.
As far as the macaron shell goes, the only change we’re making today is the color. I use a gel color for this, which is intense in hue and doesn’t add a lot of unstable water to the recipe like a grocery store food color will.
mango macaron
mango shell
The recipe for this macaron shell is exactly the same as the DFK base recipe, just with the addition of some color. For a single batch, I add 5g of yellow gel color and 6 drops or orange gel color. Add this color to the almond and egg whites mixture before you incorporate your Italian meringue.
mango gel ingredients
250g mango puree
40g sugar
3g gelatin 160 bloom
10g pectin low methoxyl
7g lemon juice
mango gel method
Making mango puree couldn’t be easier. Get yourself some nice, ripe mangoes then cut ’em up and blend the hell out of them! That’s it.





Hydrate the gelatin in cold water.

Combine the sugar and pectin, mixing them together really well to prevent the pectin from gelling into lumps.


Add the sugar/pectin mixture into the cold mango puree, just a little at a time, whisking well with each addition to fully incorporate it.

Heat the mixture over medium low heat, bringing it up to a boil while whisking. Because of the thickness of the puree and the high sugar content, it’s very important to whisk continuously to prevent the puree from burning.

Don’t expect the mango mix to bubble like crazy. You’ll only see slow, thick bubbles here and there. Don’t stop whisking!
Let the mixture boil, while whisking, for 3 minutes. Remove the mix from the heat and add the gelatin and lemon juice, whisking well to homogenize.


Pour the mix into a heat safe container and place plastic wrap over the gel to touch. Let the gel set in the fridge.


When you’re ready to fill your shells, start by prepping a disposable piping bag with an 8mm round tip (or whatever round piping tip you have).

Pipe mango gel onto one half of each pair of shells. I always eyeball the quantity but I also know it’s about 8g of filling per macaron.



After the macs are filled, it’s time to spray them (if you want)! I use a Paasche air compressor and a Paasche Talon airbrush. For color, I use colored cocoa butter. Some people spray their macaron with water-based color but I prefer cocoa butter because there’s no risk of making the shell soggy.
Simply microwave the cocoa butter until it’s fully melted (ideally you should heat or cool it to between 86F/30C and 90F/32C) and spray away! I like to place my macaron on a paper towel because it absorbs overspray so well.

A little cocoa butter before melting.
I always start with red and finish with green, applying just a small amount of green and making sure it’s blended into the red color. For a finer spray, turn your air compressor up to about 35 psi and for a more speckled finish work with 25 psi. Finito!


There you have it, a few tweaks of the base recipe and you have a brand new flavor of macaron!

- 250 g almond flour
- 250 g powdered sugar
- 93 g egg whites A
- 93 g egg whites B
- 65 g water
- 250 g sugar
- 10 g yellow gel color
- 1 g orange gel color
- 250 g mango puree
- 40 g sugar
- 3 g gelatin 160 bloom
- 10 g pectin low methoxyl
- 7 g lemon juice
- Combine the almond flour and powdered sugar and pulse in a food processor (or sift) until homogenized.
- Add egg whites (A) to a stand mixer mixing bowl fitted with a whip attachment. Place the egg whites (B) in a mixing bowl.
- Combine the sugar and water in a sauce pot over high heat. Gently stir the mixture while it heats up to fully dissolve the sugar. Bring the syrup to a boil, and cook it to 121C.
- While the sugar syrup cooks, begin to whip the first scaling of egg whites in the stand mixer with a whip attachment on medium speed.
- Once the syrup reaches 121C, turn the egg whites in the stand mixer on high speed. Carefully pour the syrup over the whipping egg whites in a steady stream.
- Let the mixture whip on high for 20 seconds then turn the speed down to medium and whisk meringue until it has reached the soft peak stage.
- While the meringue whips, add the almond flour mixture to the egg whites in the mixing bowl in two additions, mixing thoroughly until a paste is formed.
- Add the meringue to the almond paste in two additions, mixing until thoroughly combined.
- Mix the batter to the proper consistency and transfer to a piping bag with an 11mm round piping tip.
- Pipe the macaron on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat.
- Bake: convection oven; 157C/320F; 12-14min
- Hydrate the gelatin in cold water.
- Combine and mix the pectin and sugar.
- Add the pectin mixture into the cold mango puree, whisking well to avoid lumps.
- Bring the puree up to a boil, whisking continuously, cooking for 3min.
- Squeeze excess water from the hydrated gelatin. Remove the mixture from the heat and add the gelatin.
- Add the lemon juice and mix well.
- Pour the mango filling into a heat safe container and cover in plastic wrap to touch. Let the filling set in the cooler.
- Pair the baked macaron shells in matching pairs of two.
- Using a disposable piping bag and 8mm round piping tip, pipe mango filling on one half of each pair of macaron shells.
- With an air compressor and airbrush, spray the sandwiched macaron with red cocoa butter followed by green cocoa butter to mimic the skin of a mango.
Dear Chef,
If I use yellow pectine how many grams of pectine and sugar should I have to add?
Many thanks !
Nice Day
Dear chef,
If I use powder gelatin ( I didn’t wanted to use pork product) , would a 1/3 of a packet of powder (knox) be ok?
Thanks
Amber
Hi Amber,
Powder-to-sheet gelatin conversion is always a tricky thing. Generally, 1/3T(5g) of powdered gelatin = 1 sheets of gelatin, so I would weigh the powdered gelatin with a gram scale and start from there. You’ll need 5g of powdered gelatin for the recipe as it is written. Good luck with your macaron!
Cheers – Chef Scott
Hello Chef,
Thank you for the tip. I tried it and although the taste was amazing, the filling made the macaron so wet it melted them from within. What do you think went wrong? I melted the the 5 grams gelatin powder with 133ml hot water.
Amber.
Hi Chef, will these hold in the freezer well? Or not… because of the gelatin in the filling? Also, could I substitute the same amount of passion puree to make passion filling?
Hi Eirene,
These will definitely hold in the freezer, provided you keep them well wrapped! I wouldn’t substitute the full amount of passion puree for mango. Passion puree is very thin and very acidic compared to mango. I would try something like 60% mango 40% passion fruit. Hope you give them a try!
Cheers – Chef Scott