Peach Macarons with Peach Italian Meringue Buttercream and Peach Puree Center

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

4 large (baseball-sized) peaches to get approximately 5 cups of slices (907g without pits or skins)
1 Tbsp (16g) lemon juice, freshly squeezed
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
1½ tsp (5g) tapioca flour
⅛ tsp (1g) vanilla extract (optional)

Begin by making an ice bath (i.e., a large bowl of water and ice). Set the bowl aside.
To peel peaches, bring a pot of water (e.g., medium saucepan) to boiling. Make sure there is enough water in the pot to cover the peaches. While the water is heating, use a knife to cut an “X” in the top and bottom of the peach. This will help release the skins from the peach flesh.
Gently place the peaches into the boiling water (I like to use a slotted spoon for this) and cook for 1 minute. Immediately remove the peaches from the pot with a slotted spoon and place the peaches in the ice bath. This will stop the cooking process.
Use a paring knife to remove the skins. It’s easiest to pull the peach skin starting at the corners of the “X”.

Cut the peaches into small chunks and place into a medium-sized bowl. Pour the sugar and lemon juice over the peaches and mix to combine. Allow the peaches to macerate for 30 minutes.

Pour the peach pieces and juice into a blender. Puree until smooth.
Pour the peach puree through a fine mesh strainer into a medium saucepan. This will strain out any “stringy” bits from the puree.
Add tapioca flour and cook the mixture over medium heat for approximately 30 minutes. Stir frequently using a whisk to ensure the mixture does not burn and the tapioca flour is broken up and completely incorporated.
The peach puree should thicken² and reduce to 1¾ cups.
Pour the peach puree into a container and cover with a piece of plastic wrap touching the surface to avoid a skin forming. Place in the fridge for a minimum of one hour (or up to 4 days).

Combine the Italian Meringue Buttercream with 3 Tbsp – ⅓ cup (50-75g) of peach puree (to taste). Mix until completely combined. Avoid adding more than 75g of peach puree because the buttercream will have a higher likelihood of curdling. If it curdles, it's due to too much liquid in the mixture. Just add a little more buttercream and mix thoroughly. It should smooth back out.
If you're looking for an easier version of this recipe, feel free to buy a good quality peach jam and use it in place of the peach puree.

Place ¼ cup (80g) of peach puree into a piping bag fitted with a coupler and a #3 piping tip.
Place the peach buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a coupler and a #18 piping tip.³
Flip half of the macaron shells upside down and pipe a ring of buttercream around the outside of the macaron (i.e., on the flat part of the cookie).
Fill the center of the buttercream ring with peach puree.
Place the other half of the cookie on the filling and gently press to push the filling to the edge of the cookie.

You might want to add a few more drops for a deeper color. The color always fades a little when the meringue is folded into the flour mixture. To get vibrant colored cookies, it is best to add powdered food coloring, which doesn’t change the moisture content of the macaron shells.
I used tapioca flour as the thickening agent in this recipe. You could also use cornstarch if you don’t have tapioca flour. If using cornstarch, use half the tapioca flour amount (i.e., ¾ tsp or 2.5g cornstarch). I tend to prefer the flavor of tapioca flour over cornstarch. You can typically find it in the gluten-free or health food aisle in the grocery store.
If you don’t have piping tips, you can just cut the tip off the piping bag before piping.