Can you believe we’ve (almost) made it through another year?! I don’t know about you, but I feel like this year has just flown by. I have to say though, I am glad this year is almost done. It’s been a doozy. I’m ready to celebrate the end of the year with these champagne macarons!
Big celebrations for the new year aren’t really my thing, I prefer things to be low-key. Honestly, if I don’t have to stay up until midnight, I won’t. When it’s 4pm here, it’s midnight in England so I like the call that my new year. The West Coast is one of the last places in the world to ring in the new year so I just feel like if everyone else is already in the next year, that’s good enough for me.
These champagne macarons are basically my strawberries & champagne macarons without the strawberry champagne jam and with gold painted shells instead of shells with little messages.
All you need to paint the shells gold is some edible gold luster dust and a few drops of champagne or vodka. You want to create a consistency that’s slightly looser than paste, but not too liquidy. I first made these painted shells for my sister’s wedding a few weeks ago and loved how they turned out.
Gold feels like the perfect colour for celebrating the end of a year and it’s perfect for champagne.
The buttercream is simple, but filled with plenty of champagne flavour. We’re going to start with a cup of champagne and reduce it down to about two tablespoons. While that’s cooling, we cream the butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Then we add in our two tablespoons of reduced champagne and one tablespoon of champagne straight from the bottle. Mix it all together until it’s a nice pipable consistency and that’s it!
These are the perfect macarons to make to wow whoever you’re ringing in 2022 with!
Champagne Macarons
Ingredients
- Shells:
- 275g almond flour
- 250g powdered
- 210g sugar
- 210g egg whites
- Gold luster dust + champagne/vodka (optional)
- Champagne Buttercream:
- 1 cup + 1 tbsp. champagne
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Directions
- Step 1 Shells:
- Step 2 To start, put the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor and blend thoroughly. Sift into a bowl to ensure there are no lumps.
- Step 3 In the bowl of a stand mixer (make sure it’s clean and dry), beat the egg whites until foamy. Slowly add the sugar, about 2 tbsp at a time, beating on a medium speed. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase speed to medium high and beat until a thick glossy meringue forms. Add pink food colouring and beat to combine. The mixture should form stiff peaks and you should be able to tip the bowl over your head with none of the mixture coming out.
- Step 4 With a large, flat rubber spatula, gently fold 1/3 of almond flour/powdered sugar mixture into egg whites until combined. Repeat until all of the almond mixture has been added. Fold to combine until you see no streaks of almond flour in the batter. The batter should be pretty fluid, a lot of people describe as a lava-like consistency. It should run smoothly off the spatula when you pull it out. This part comes with practice. Once you know the consistency, you’ll just be able to feel when it’s ready.
- Step 5 Pipe the batter into circles onto parchment or silicone lined baking sheets. Bang the tray a few times on a table to remove air bubbles and allow to sit for about 30 minutes before baking. To see if they’re ready for baking, touch your finger to them. If you get batter on your finger, they need to rest longer.
- Step 6 While resting, preheat your oven to 300°F with a rack placed in the lower third of the oven. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 15-18 minutes (this depends on your oven, my old one was fine at 15 minutes, this one needs 17-18). The shells should cool completely before you remove them from the parchment/silicone.
- Step 7 Once the shells are cool and have been removed from the parchment, mix 1/2 tsp. gold luster dust with a few drops of champagne/vodka until it is a loose, paste-like consistency. Paint a stripe of gold on each shell and let dry.
- Step 8 Champagne Buttercream:
- Step 9 Place 1 cup of champagne in a small saucepan. Simmer until reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Transfer to a small bowl to cool.
- Step 10 In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, cream together the butter and powdered sugar until light, thick and fluffy. Pour in the reduced 2 tbsp. of champagne and add one tbsp. directly from the bottle. Mix well to combine.
- Step 11 Assembly:
- Step 12 Pair up shells. On one half of each pair, pipe the champagne buttercream, then top with the other shell. Refrigerate in an airtight container overnight to let the flavours develop.
