Several years ago, I got this recipe from a family friend. However, they weren’t willing to fully reveal the entire recipe, thus I’ve had to experiment many, many times before I finally figured out the correct portions and oven temperature. I love this recipe because it’s simple and inexpensive to make. Since this is a single-serving, you can bake this in your toaster oven.
This is also a gluten-free recipe for all my friends who have gluten allergies.
crème caramel
Ingredients
4 tbsp fine sugar
1 large egg
110 mL whole milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp water
Directions
On medium-low heat, warm up milk in a small saucepan. Slowly add 2 tbsp of sugar and stir until the sugar has melted. Remove from heat. (DO NOT BOIL THE MILK.)
In another small saucepan, cook 2 tbsp of sugar with 3/4 tsp of water. The water will evaporate and the sugar will eventually burn and melt into a thick, golden brown caramel. Quickly pour the caramel into a 10 oz ramekin.
In a small bowl, gently beat the egg and vanilla extract until well blended (about 10 seconds). Remove excess foam with a tea strainer.
Pour the cooled milk into the egg mixture and stir gently.
Pour the milk and egg mixture into the ramekin, over the hardened caramel.
Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 275°F and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from heat. Once the crème caramel has cooled to room temperature, place it in the fridge overnight and serve chilled. Remember that the caramel sauce is hidden at the bottom of the ramekin.
I have a confession to make… I hate making my own caramel sauce.
So, I use the store-bought caramel sauce because it’s cheap and convenient. I don’t think it makes sense to make a mess in my kitchen to make something that I can buy easily. I did the math in my head and realized that it costs about the same to buy caramel sauce vs. making it at home.
I’m not sharing a recipe this time as there are plenty of great salted caramel french macaron recipes available on the interwebs. I just want to say that there’s no shame in cheating when it comes to baking. It’s all about the noms and these macarons are mega noms.
Whoever originally came up with the pineapple-coconut pairing is a freakin’ genius. I’m usually not a huge fan of coconut, but I love coconut when it’s paired with pineapple or banana.
This time, I decided to try making tiny one-bite macarons. With this recipe, you can make lots of tiny macarons so you’ll need three large baking sheets. I piped very small rounds of macaron batter that are about the size of a quarter. They’re so cute when they’re tiny! They’re also less messy to eat too.
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Ingredients:
Macaron shells
1 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup ground almonds
4 tsp shredded coconut
2 large egg whites
3 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
Filling
2 1/2 tsp crushed canned pineapple (drained)
2 tsp finely shredded coconut
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 icing sugar
Directions:
Macaron shells
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a food processor, process ground almonds, shredded coconut, and icing sugar for about a minute. Scrape along the inside of the food processor in between to ensure that there aren’t any large clumps and that the ingredients are mixed well.
In a medium bowl, sift the almond mixture.
In a small bowl (be sure to use a bowl that’s not too shallow), whisk the egg whites with a handmixer on medium-low speed for about a minute until light and fluffy.
Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to whisk the egg whites until medium-stiff for about 2 minutes. (If you turn the bowl upside-down, the egg whites don’t slide out.)
Gradually add granulated sugar to the egg whites while continuing to whisk on medium-high speed for another 2 minutes to achieve medium-stiff peaks.
Gradually fold the egg mixture into the almond mixture, adding only about 1/3 of the egg mixture at a time.
Transfer the batter into a piping bag. (Or if you’re frugal like me, you can use a medium sandwich bag instead and just cut a tiny corner of the bag to pipe.)
Pipe batter onto baking sheets. (If you’re making bite-sized macarons, pipe very small rounds that are about the size of a quarter and at least 1/2 inch apart.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Let the batter sit at room temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 300°F and put the baking sheets into the oven for 7 minutes.
Rotate the baking sheets and bake for 8 minutes.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow the macaron shells to cool.
Filling
In a small bowl, cream the icing sugar and butter. (I use a single whisk attachment on my handmixer and whisk on low speed.)
Ahh… The refreshing tart taste of lemon! I made a large batch of lemon macarons for family and friends, and everyone loved them. Compared to the strawberry matcha macarons recipe that I’ve already shared, this lemon macaron recipe is a little less intimidating for the beginner macaron baker.
First of all, I love anything citrus. I think I’ll eventually change up this recipe to become a Citrus Blend Macaron recipe, with hints of grapefruit, lime, and orange. But for now, let’s just go with a simple lemon macaron recipe. Lemon is a very powerful fruit so you won’t need a lot of it for this recipe.
large lemon
lemon zest
dry ingredients
macaron batter
food coloring
in the oven
freshly baked
lemon macarons
Ingredients:
Macaron shells
1 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup ground almonds
2 large egg whites
3 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
lemon zest from one large lemon
3 to 4 drops yellow food coloring
Lemon icing
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 icing sugar
1 1/2 to 2 tsp lemon juice
Directions:
Macaron shells
Line two medium baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a food processor, process ground almonds and icing sugar for about a minute. Scrape along the inside of the food processor in between to ensure that there aren’t any large clumps and that the two ingredients are mixed well.
In a medium bowl, sift the almond mixture.
In a small bowl (be sure to use a bowl that’s not too shallow), whisk the egg whites with a handmixer on medium-low speed for about a minute until light and fluffy.
Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to whisk the egg whites until medium-stiff for about 2 minutes. (If you turn the bowl upside-down, the egg whites don’t slide out.)
Gradually add granulated sugar to the egg whites while continuing to whisk on medium-high speed for another 2 minutes.
Gradually fold the egg mixture into the almond mixture, adding only about 1/3 of the egg mixture at a time.
Add lemon zest and fold.
Add yellow food coloring and fold again. (I use liquid food coloring, but most people recommend gel or powder-based food coloring. You should use whatever you’re comfortable with.)
Transfer the batter into a piping bag. (Or if you’re frugal like me, you can use a medium sandwich bag instead and just cut a tiny corner of the bag to pipe.)
Pipe batter onto baking sheets. Try to pipe small rounds that are just under 1 inch wide and at least 1/2 inch apart.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Let the batter sit at room temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 300°F and put the baking sheets into the oven for 7 minutes.
Rotate the baking sheets and bake for 8 minutes.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow the macaron shells to cool.
Delectable Arts 
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