Confession: I’m not a big cake fan. Don’t get me wrong, cake is delicious, there are just other sweet treats I would rather treat myself to, like vanilla sprinkle macarons!
August is a double birthday month for my family — my brother’s birthday is at the beginning of the month and my birthday was a week ago. A combination of two birthdays and a slight disinterest in cake as a celebration treat led to these vanilla sprinkle macarons!
It probably doesn’t surprise you that I made birthday-themed macarons, does it?
I first made these a few years ago and brought them to a birthday week dinner my friends wanted to do with me and they were a hit! Perfect after some of my kale and mushroom risotto and some wine.
The shells are just a regular old macaron shell. When I first made them they were purple, this time they’re turquoise. You can make them whatever colour you want! I topped them with non-pareil sprinkles because why not?
We all know no birthday is complete without lots of sprinkles.
The filling is a sweet birthday cake inspired vanilla buttercream with sprinkles mixed in. If you’re going to sprinkle, you have to really sprinkle. Be bold. Be colourful.
Vanilla Sprinkle Macarons
Ingredients
- Macaron Shells:
- 275g almond flour
- 250g powdered sugar
- 210g sugar
- 210g egg whites
- 1 vanilla bean
- Gel food colouring (optional)
- Rainbow sprinkles
- Funfetti Buttercream:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp. heavy cream
- 1/3 cup rainbow nonpareils
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 in vanilla bean seeds and food colouring, beating 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 Buttercream:
- Step 8 Beat the butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until incorporated. Pour in vanilla extract and heavy cream, stirring to combine. Finally, add sprinkles and combine again.
- Step 9 Pipe the buttercream onto one half of each macaron pair.Place other half on top and sandwich together slightly.
- Step 10 Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Let come to room temperature before eating.
