Mrs Cad love pumpkin pie but is GF. She also loves French Macarons. I was thinking of making some for thanks giving with this plan: pour a thin sheet of pumpkin pie filling and cook in the oven, let it set then cut out to fit the cookies and blamo pumpkin pie macarons. So two questions
What is going to go wrong?
What other pie fillings should I try this with? I would love banana cream or French silk but those are poured into the crust hot then cooled. Can I let it cool then pipe it onto the cookies?
I think it will be too wet and custardy. Too much for the delicate cookies.
Why not make a whipped filling that tastes like pumpkin pie filling? It can’t be hard, it’s just in the spices.
My guess is that the filling won’t bake up to the consistency you want. I’d say it’ll be just too wet, and will make the macarons soggy if you have to hold them for any time before serving. And, if you bake the filling longer, it’ll end up chewy or spongy or otherwise unpleasantly textured.
Here’s a recipe with a pumpkin ganache which might be a better option: Francois Payard's Pumpkin Macaron Recipe | Glamour
Great question. She hates whipped cream. My alternative would be a pumpkin pie buttercream. But would a thin custard filling really be too soft after setting - maybe even overnight?
I don’t understand. You can get pre-made GF pie dough at the store if it’s a pain to make at home. The filling is already GF, so no changes needed there. Why not make a regular pumpkin pie?
She loves macarons so I thought I’d switch it up a bit.
I think it’s a lovely idea and if it were me, I’d definitely at least try the filling route to see what would happen, but I’d reserve a few TBSs of the unbaked filling and if things went south, I’d cream that with a little bit of butter and a lot of powdered sugar and make a pumpkin buttercream for the rest of the macarons.
Good luck! I’ve never had the macaron batter turn out nicely after I fold in the almond flour, myself but they look so adorable, I’d love to make them.
Hm. It sounds like you’re looking for the denser texture/flavor rather than a hint. The only other suggestion I would have in that case, is maybe a pumpkin bar type recipe would work better, the mixture would be firmer and less custardy. Try that spread thinly and see if you get something like a fruit-leather that can be cut and put between the cookies?