Have I ever told you about the cream pie that changed my life? Not kidding. This particular banana cream pie will always be deep in my heart as my absolute favorite. There is a little town called Veyo, just North East of St. George Utah. It was there that I had my very first (and absolute favorite) Banana Cream pie. All of the pies at Veyo Pies are absolutely delicious, but it was the banana that won my heart. Ask me if I filled up a whole punch card worth of pies that weekend? Absolutely. And did I eat them all? YOU BET!
We can mac that pie!
Cream pies come in so many different flavors, and all of them are delicious so we aimed for the best copy-cat recipe of our favorite spot. There’s Coconut Cream Pie, Banana Cream Pie, and Chocolate Cream Pie; we’ll give you all the ways to modify these Cream Pies into macarons for this holiday season.
Adapting the Basic Cream Pie Recipe
Make up a batch of our American Buttercream, and add flavor to modify your mac fillings.
Flavors:
- Banana Cream
- Coconut Cream
- Chocolate Cream
Banana Cream
The first modification we make to our buttercream recipe is to add 1/2 -1 tsp banana extract to the basic recipe. We have tried both LorAnn and McCormick. Both are tasty. The McCormick brand is found at Walmart. LorAnn we find at our favorite spot: Orson Gygi (use the code sweetmacshop for 10% off). Next, we swap out the heavy whipping cream in the buttercream recipe for Cold Stone Ice Cream Creamer. The extra sweet cream flavor really makes the Banana Cream Pie Macaron amazing. We add our Pie Crust Crumble to make this complete.
Coconut Cream
Coconut Cream will look a lot like Banana Cream. We add 1/2-1 tsp of coconut extract (McCormick or LorAnn) to our traditional buttercream and we also add in the Cold Stone Ice Cream creamer instead of using heavy whipping cream. This is the one difference. To our Pie Crust Crumble, we add in 1-2 tsp of toasted coconut (we also find this at Orson Gygi).
Chocolate Cream
Chocolate Cream pie is smooth rich chocolatey goodness. We use Callebaut Milk Chocolate Mousse Mix from (you guessed it) Orson Gygi. For every batch of American Buttercream, we add 2-4 Tbsp., but it is based on how strong you like the flavor (start with the least amount and add to your liking). We also top this with our Pie Crust Crumble for a true Pie-in-a-Macaron experience.
Cream Pie Macarons
Equipment
- BASIC EQUIPMENT NEEDED
- baker's half sheet pans: high quality baking sheets with rimmed edges
- KitchenAid stand mixer
- parchment paper or silpat baking mats (with macaron template)
- oven thermometer
- piping bag
- Wilton Piping Tip #12
- food scale that will measure in grams or ounces
- scribe (a sharp, pointed tool), or a toothpick
- digital minute timer
Ingredients
Ingredients for SweetMacShop Macaron Shells
- 160 grams egg whites room temperature
- 88 grams granulated sugar
- 256 grams powdered sugar
- 205 grams almond flour
- 1 tsp. clear vanilla extract
Ingredients for Pie Crust Crumble
- 240 grams flour (1 1/2 cups)
- 18 grams sugar 2 Tbls.
- 3 grams kosher salt (3/4 teaspoon)
- 115 grams butter, melted (8 Tbls or 1 stick)
- 20 grams water (1 1/2 Tbls.)
Ingredients for American Buttercream
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter Let sit on counter for 30 minutes.
- 250 grams powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp. clear vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Instructions for SweetMacShop Macaron Shells
- Preheat oven to 285 for steel pans, or 300 for aluminum pans. Preheat for at least 10 minutes.
- Measure out your granulated sugar in a small bowl; set aside.
- Measure powdered sugar and almond flour together, then use a sifter to combine. This will make them smooth and lump-free. Set aside.
- Place your bowl on the surface of your food scale. Hit “tare” button to zero out the weight of the bowl. Now measure the room temperature egg whites into the bowl of your KitchenAid stand mixer.
- Add the clear vanilla extract.
- Place bowl on mixer stand (this recipe is for the KitchenAid mixer), and attach the wire whisk beater. Set timer for one minute. Turn mixer to Speed 4, and slowly add sugar to egg whites, shaking it in a little at a time during that first minute.
- When timer goes off, set mixer to Speed 6, and set timer for 2 minutes.
- When timer goes off, set mixer to Speed 8, and set timer for 1 and 1/2 minutes (90 seconds). Coloring may be added just before this last mixing. Egg whites should look silky, yet stiff enough to hold the peak.
- Now we’ll make the macronage: blend in dry ingredients, by moving a flexible spatula around the bowl, then cutting down through the middle, making sure to scrape the bottom for the flour and incorporate it into the meringue. You know you are done when the batter rolls off the spatula in a continuous ribbon. Batter will be thick…but can flow like a ribbon.
- BAKER’S NOTE: I have several videos of making macronage in my Instagram Highlights.
- Insert Wilton #12 tip into the small opening of your piping bag. Scoop the macronage into the bag, filling only half-way full, leaving room to twist the top closed in order to keep the batter from spilling out the top. Pipe the macrons by applying pressure until the batter flows out and just reaches the inner rim of the marked circle on your mat. Immediately release pressure and swirl tip to incorporate point back into the center of the cookie. See my tips on Instagram Highlights.
- NOTE: if you will be using parchment paper — search for online — then download a template of circles and place underneath your parchment paper. You’ll remove this before baking.
- Once the full pan is piped, gently (or aggressively–no judgement here) bang the pan down onto the counter to release air bubbles. I usually place a towel on the counter before banging the pan. Use your scribe or toothpick to pop any large bubbles, in order to create smooth shells.
- PREP FOR BAKING, METHOD ONE: Place your parchment paper or silpat mat on the bottom of an upside-down baker’s half sheet. Pipe your circles. Let rest about 5 minutes, bang (see above) then place them to bake in a pre-heated oven.
- PREP FOR BAKING, METHOD TWO: Place your parchment paper or silpat mat on the inside of a baker’s half sheet (like normal). Pipe your circles. Let rest until your finger can glide across the top of the mac without stickiness, often up to 30 minutes. Bang (see above), then place them to bake in a pre-heated oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Once out of the oven, DO NOT — I repeat — do not remove from pan until they are completely cooled.
- This recipe yields 36-42 completed cookies (about 72-84 shells).
Instructions for Pie Crust Crumble–make ahead
- Heat oven to 350F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle beater, combine the flour, sugar and salt on low speed until well mixed.
- Add the butter and water and mis on low speed until the mixture starts to come together in small clusters.
- Spread the mixtures on a parchment lined (or Silpat lined) sheet pan. Bake for 25 minutes, breaking them up occasionally. The crumbs should be golden brown and still slightly moist to the touch; they will dry and harden as they cool.
- Let the crumbs cool completely before using in a recipe or eating. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. For storage up to one month, store in the refrigerator or the freezer.
Instructions for American Buttercream
- Place butter in bowl of mixer, and attach paddle flat beater. Mix on medium speed until butter breaks up and is starting to look smooth.
- Add vanilla and salt; mix for 30 seconds until combined.
- Add in heavy whipping cream.
- Measure powdered sugar on scale. Slowly add to the mixer, 1 cup at a time. PRO TIP: Start the mixer speed back up slowly after adding the cup of powdered sugar, otherwise, pull out the mop.
- Once ingredients are all mixed, turn the mixer to medium high and set timer for five minutes.
- Flavor or color the buttercream to your preference. We make a huge batch of plain, then add flavor and color depending on the amount of buttercream we need. Making one large batch saves time in the long run.
- NOTE: American Buttercream will keep up to two weeks in the fridge, and one day at room temperature.
Ruby says
hi Barb, just curious why the granulated sugar in your recipe is small in proportion to the rest of the ingredients?
sweetmacshop says
If you are used to equal parts you are probably using a Swiss Macaron recipe. This recipe is using the french method 🙂