Finally a new baking project!!! It feels like it’s been so long since I’ve done one of these! We’ve been working like crazy on our apartment (mainly the kitchen), so I haven’t had the space to bake up something fun until now! If you follow along on our Insta stories adventures, you’ll have seen that we went to Dana’s Bakery a few weeks ago for a macaron making class. We all had a blast and Kyle and I successfully made macarons together for the second time ever! It was so rewarding to finally make them right (there have been A LOT of attempts on my part), so we wanted to try our hands at making them at home on our own, and were inspired by these to make our macarons look like cacti!!! I still have a long way to go to get perfect looking shells, BUT I think this was pretty good for our first try after learning all of the tricks! 😉 How many of you have mastered the macaron?!
1 1/4 cups of almond flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 aged egg whites
Green food coloring
White sprinkles
Sugar flowers (here)
Graham crackers
White buttercream
Piping bag
3/8″ round piping tip
1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the almond flour, and powdered sugar in a bowl. (Note: we skipped running them through a food processor so we could get that grainy texture on the outside of our macarons to more closely resemble a cactus) If you want smoother macarons, process the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor until they are very fine.
2. Combine your egg whites and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on high until the egg whites form a stiff peak for your meringue. Add in the green food coloring, we used around 4 drops for ours.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the meringue and gently fold them in with a spatula. Repeat until all of the dry ingredients have combined. Place the batter in a piping bag with a 3/8″ round tip.
4. Using a silicone mat or parchment paper on a baking sheet, pipe three different sized macaron shells. If you want to add sprinkles, quickly add them to the top of the shells before the macarons form a skin.
5. Tap your baking sheet onto a hard surface multiple times to release any air bubbles. Allow the shells to sit out for about 5 minutes or until the tops can be touched without batter transferring to your finger.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through your bake. Let the shells cool completely before removing them from the parchment paper. Pipe buttercream onto the shells and use the buttercream to stick multiple macarons together to form the cactus shape. Do the same with any flowers or decoration.
7. Crush up graham crackers and place them in a mini pot. Stick the macarons to the top of the crushed graham cracker using a toothpick or buttercream and enjoy!
There you have it! If you’re not about to delve into the world of making finicky macarons, you could always buy green macarons and assemble them to look like a cactus too! These would make great little party favors for guests to take home and enjoy. We also made cactus donuts over here for a whole cactus-themed party that doesn’t succ. *wink wink, nudge nudge*
5 Responses
Yay!!! I’ve noticed you mention a few times that macarons have been a huge pain for you, and I’m so happy that the class you took has helped you improve! That gives me hope that I will one day be able to make macarons that don’t crack as well! We can only hope 😂
Indya || The Small Adventurer
Macarons have always been a challenge for me. I wish I could take that class too. 🙂 You did well on these ones and they look absolutely cute SAM! Also, I hope Kyle shares some of his recipes here too. Been loving the Insta stories.
ANNE | Anne’s Scribbles and Doodles
These are super cute!! I am definitely going to have to attempt to make them.