Birthday Cake Macarons

You guys totally saw these coming didn’t you? With my love of anything birthday cake flavored and my new found macaroon obsession it was simply bound to happen. As a matter of fact, I’ve been just dying to make these since the very first batch! Since macarons are known to be a little tricky I thought I better make sure I had them down before tossing in some sprinkles. After many other macarons wins I decided this weekend it was time – so I tossed on some sprinkles and waiting patiently by the oven to see if they would be a win or fail. Much to my surprise the sprinkles didn’t effect them one bit – and I was one happy sprinkle loving baker.

Birthday cake, cake batter, funfetti, sprinkle filled – it doesn’t matter what you call it, I love it! There’s just something about that delicious blend of vanilla, butter, and sprinkles. For these Macarons I decided to flavor both the macarons shells and the buttercream like “birthday cake” since the shells have a much more subtle flavor. However, you could always switch it up by flavoring just the shells “birthday cake” then adding a traditional white buttercream in the middle as the icing on the cake. Either way you’ll love them! As I said yesterday, I was a little caught up in the kitchen this weekend and didn’t take any step by step pictures. However, I have a very detailed macaron recipe here with step by step photos it’s almost the same exact process (with the addition of sprinkles) and to make it up to you – I have a macarons 101 post coming up next week!

Here’s what you’re going to need:

Birthday Cake Macarons
4oz Almond Flour
8oz Powdered Sugar
5oz Egg Whites
2 1/2 Oz. Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp. Butter Extract
1/2 Tsp. Salt
Sprinkles

Birthday Cake Buttercream
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp. Butter Extract
1-2 Tsp. Milk

Makes approx. 48 macarons.

Step 1: Measure out all of your macaron ingredients first. This really makes it so much easier when working with treats like this.

Step 2: In the bowl of an electric mixer, pour in egg whites, salt, and sugar. (You can do this with a hand mixer it will just take a little more work and careful attention.) Set timer for 3 minutes and beat at a medium speed using the whisk attachment (4 on my KitchenAid). Once the 3 minutes are up turn it up about 3 notches to speed 7 and beat for another 3 minutes. Once those are up turn it all the way up on high and beat one last time for 3 minutes.

Step 3: While your meringue is beating sift your almond flour and powdered sugar into a bowl. Once all is sifted you should have some small bits of almond that were too large to pass through. If there is a tsp. or less you just leave them out, if there is more you will want to send them through a food processor to grind them up before pouring into the batter.

Step 4: Add in extracts then beat on high for about 30 seconds, stop and use a spatula to scrap all the unmixed meringue from the sides, then beat for 30 more seconds.

Here is where you really have to pay attention, you will need just the right consistency to get a good macaroon.

Step 5: Add in dry ingredients. Using a spatula “fold” the batter with about 25-28 turns of the spatula going around the bowl then across in a swooping pattern. By doing this you are deflating some of the extra air from the batter. Make sure to get everything off the bottom mixed in. At first it will seem really thick and clumpy but it will smooth out quick. You want a thickness that is still thick enough to hold a little shape but thin enough to fold back into itself. You can check this every few stirs by holding up your spatula with batter on it, the batter should “drop” off the spatula but then settle into the batter after a few moments. You don’t want to get TOO thin, you are not looking for runny here. (video will be coming next week)

Step 6: Using a small round tip (I used Wilton 10) and piping bag, pipe small 1-1.5 inch circles onto either a macaron mat or parchment paper. Again, I used a macaron mat and it REALLY made this process so easy. But you could simply pipe circles on to parchment paper and even pre-draw circles on the bottom as guides. Either way you need to remember you batter will spread a bit so you don’t want to pipe all the way to the sides or the circle. I find it best to pipe the circles by holding the tip straight up in the center and letting it “flow” out. You will have small peaks at first but the first tip should have already appeared after you’ve piped about 5 macarons. If not, you want to stick the batter back in the bag and deflate it a little more.

Step 7: Preheat the oven for 290-300 degrees (mine was perfect at 295 you may have to play with your temps a bit). Then set your piped macarons trays on the counter and set the timer for 25 minutes. DO NOT place the macarons in the oven right after piping. Do your dishes, read a book, create list of futre macaron flavors, but DO NOT place them in the oven. After about 25-30 minutes your macarons should have a slight “crust” over them. When you gently touch them they should not stick to your finger. Bake for 15-18 minutes, time will depend on size.

Step 8: After pulling tray from oven, carefully pull the baking mat OR parchment paper off the baking tray and on to the counter to cool. Let the cool COMPLETELY before attempting to remove.

While they are cooling you can whip up some yummy filling.

Step 9: In a large mixing bowl or bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until fluffy add in 1 tsp. butter and 1 tsp. vanilla extract, beat. Then add in powdered sugar and beat until fully combined. Add in milk 1 tsp. at a time or less beating in between until you get a smooth piping consistency.

Step 10: Using the same size tip and piping bag, pipe buttercream on one side of each macaron and then sandwich together.

Are you as crazy about birthday cake flavor as I am? How about checking out some of my other birthday cake treats!?

Birthday Cake Monkey Bread

Birthday Cake Oreo Truffles

Birthday Cake Fudge

And more you can find here!