How to Make a Tiered Macaron Cake
Combine almond meal and powdered sugar., Beat the egg whites., Add the salt, cream of tartar, and sugar., Drop in your food coloring., Combine the flour and sugar mixture to your egg white mixture., Spoon your batter into a pastry bag., Hold your...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Combine almond meal and powdered sugar.
After you’ve mixed the two ingredients together, you should run it through a sieve.
Dump a few spoonfuls into the sieve at a time, stirring it as it runs through the sieve.
This will ensure that your mixture is incredibly powdery, which will made the top of your macarons very smooth.
Otherwise, your macarons might be bumpy or cracked.You’ll be left with a sieve full of almond bits.
You can pour those back into the almond meal bag, or snack on them while you work! -
Step 2: Beat the egg whites.
First and foremost, make sure that you are using room temperature eggs.
Either pull them out of the refrigerator in advance, or submerge refrigerated eggs into warm water.
Remove the egg yolk with a spoon or even with your hand, being careful not to break the yolk.
Pour the egg whites in your mixer with the whisk attachment and begin whisking them until they are foamy., As you continue to beat your egg whites in the mixer, sprinkle in your salt and add your cream of tartar.
Let those get fully blended into your egg whites.
Then, pour in the sugar slowly.
It’s important to slowly sprinkle the sugar in, rather than dumping it in all at once.
This will help make sure the egg whites remain fluffy and light., Add more food coloring than you may think you need, so that the color of your mixture is actually a bit darker than you want your finished macarons to be.
The color will fade as the macarons bake in the oven, and you want to make sure that the color doesn’t end up too light., Do not over mix it! This step is very critical.
You need to find a happy medium, because over-mixing can result in flat macarons, and under-mixing can result in cracking.
The batter should become smooth, but it should still feel fluffy.
When you lift up your spoon, batter should drip off of it.This step might take a little bit of practice. , First, line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
Then, transfer your batter into a pastry bag with a tip that is half an inch in diameter.
You can purchase pastry bags at your local grocery store.
After your batter is transferred, you can start piping it onto your sheets., Pipe from the side, creating one solid mound.
When you release the bag, lift your bag over the macaron, so that if any icing drips, it will drip onto you mound.
Carefully pipe out mounds of batter that are one inch wide.
All of your macarons should be the same size.
Once you’ve filled your baking sheets, carefully pick up the tray from either side and hit it onto your countertop.
This will release air left in the batter, and you’ll notice your mounds start to flatten out.
You’ll even see air bubbles popping on the surface. , This step is extremely important.
When you let your macarons sit out on your counter before baking, they will become a bit more solid and tacky.
This will prevent them from spreading out and getting flat in the oven.
Let them sit on your countertop for about 20 or 30 minutes before popping them in the oven., Set the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, or 150 degrees Celsius.
To ensure your macarons bake evenly, it’s best to only bake one tray at a time.
This might make the process take longer, but you will be rewarded with smooth, even macarons.
As you bake one tray, let the other trays sit out and get even more solid.
This will only benefit your results!, Soften the butter to room temperature.
After it feels soft, place it in the mixer and flip it on to a medium speed.
Let it mix for about three to five minutes, or until it’s completely creamy., Once the butter is completely creamed, add the cane sugar.
Pour it in slowly to help it blend more evenly into the butter.
Increase the speed of the mixer from medium to high.
Keep beating the butter and sugar together until it looks fluffy.
This will take anywhere from five to seven minutes., Pour 1/4 a cup (59 mL) of milk into the saucepan, saving the rest of the milk.
Add the flour and the vanilla extract, and whisk the mixture together.
Make sure that everything is thoroughly mixed and there are no clumps.
Turn the stovetop to medium heat, and pour in the rest of the milk gradually as it heats up.
Don’t stop whisking this entire time.Continue heating until the mixture begins to boil.
As soon as it begins boiling, turn the heat down to low.
On low heat, keep whisking the mixture.
Gradually, the mixture will start to thicken. , After you’ve noticed your milk mixture thickening up, turn off the stove.
Keep whisking even after it’s off the direct heat, because the heat from the saucepan will cause it to continue cooking for a few minutes.
It’s important that you don’t let the mixture sit, or it can get lumpy and difficult to work with.After your mixture is smooth and thick, you can stop stirring and set it to the side.
You will need to let it cool to room temperature before proceeding. , Once the milk has cooled, it’s time to combine it with the butter and sugar mixture.
Carefully pour it into the mixer, which should be set on low speed.
Once you’ve poured all of the milk mixture in, increase the speed to medium.
Let it keep running until it looks fluffy again, which should take anywhere from three to five minutes., The final step in your vanilla buttercream filling is – naturally – the vanilla! Once the filling in your mixture looks fully blended and fluffy, pour in the vanilla extract.
Let the mixer keep running on medium speed for about a minute as it incorporates the vanilla.
Turn off the mixer and you’re done!, After you’ve finished making the vanilla buttercream filling, it’s time to actually construct the macarons.
Spoon the frosting into a pastry bag with a smaller tip (1/4 inch).
With this tip, you’ll be creating smaller mounds on the finished macarons., Flip your finished macaron pieces over so that the flat sides are up.
Carefully create mounds of filling on the flat side.
Leave space around the edges of the macaron so that the icing can spread.
Place the second macaron piece on top of the filling, applying a bit of pressure so the filling will flatten a bit., These are key to creating the look of a tiered cake.
You can purchase a macaron stand online.
Unlike other pastry stands, these are specially made to fit macarons and create that beautiful tiered look.
A quick Google search will pull up options – you can find versions for closer to $10 and others for closer to $100.
Explore your options! Each stand will also inform you how many macarons the stand will hold, so you will know how many to make.
You can find these tiered macaron stands on sites like Amazon, Etsy, bakery websites, and eBay.
It’s helpful to check out reviews before making a purchase. , If you’ve made several different colors, you can alternate colors on each tier.
Otherwise, simply start inserting the macarons on their sides into the different levels.
The advantage to using a macaron stand is that you only have to worry about creating the outside, visible row, rather than making enough macarons to fill the entire “cake.”, This part is optional, because a filled macaron stand is beautiful on its own.
However, if you’re making this macaron cake for a wedding or other special event, it can be fun to add even more decoration.
Add a few flowers around the base and top of the stand.
You can even stick a few individual flowers in gaps between macarons, to add floral touches throughout the tiers., In order to keep your tiered macaron cake looking beautiful and full, it’s helpful to replenish the cake with new macarons as people eat.
Keep a box of macarons nearby, and just pop new ones in any gaps.
You’ll eventually run out, but that’s okay – it just means your macarons are a hit! -
Step 3: Add the salt
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Step 4: cream of tartar
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Step 5: and sugar.
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Step 6: Drop in your food coloring.
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Step 7: Combine the flour and sugar mixture to your egg white mixture.
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Step 8: Spoon your batter into a pastry bag.
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Step 9: Hold your pastry bag at an angle.
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Step 10: Let your macarons sit out.
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Step 11: Bake your macarons for 20 minutes.
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Step 12: Cream the butter in the mixer.
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Step 13: Add the sugar.
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Step 14: Combine milk
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Step 15: and vanilla extract in a saucepan.
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Step 16: Remove the milk from the stovetop.
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Step 17: Pour the milk mixture into the mixer.
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Step 18: Add vanilla.
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Step 19: Transfer your filling into a pastry bag.
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Step 20: Fill your macarons.
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Step 21: Purchase a tiered macaron stand.
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Step 22: Carefully place the macarons on each tier.
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Step 23: Decorate your tiered macaron cake.
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Step 24: Replenish macarons as they’re eaten.
Detailed Guide
After you’ve mixed the two ingredients together, you should run it through a sieve.
Dump a few spoonfuls into the sieve at a time, stirring it as it runs through the sieve.
This will ensure that your mixture is incredibly powdery, which will made the top of your macarons very smooth.
Otherwise, your macarons might be bumpy or cracked.You’ll be left with a sieve full of almond bits.
You can pour those back into the almond meal bag, or snack on them while you work!
First and foremost, make sure that you are using room temperature eggs.
Either pull them out of the refrigerator in advance, or submerge refrigerated eggs into warm water.
Remove the egg yolk with a spoon or even with your hand, being careful not to break the yolk.
Pour the egg whites in your mixer with the whisk attachment and begin whisking them until they are foamy., As you continue to beat your egg whites in the mixer, sprinkle in your salt and add your cream of tartar.
Let those get fully blended into your egg whites.
Then, pour in the sugar slowly.
It’s important to slowly sprinkle the sugar in, rather than dumping it in all at once.
This will help make sure the egg whites remain fluffy and light., Add more food coloring than you may think you need, so that the color of your mixture is actually a bit darker than you want your finished macarons to be.
The color will fade as the macarons bake in the oven, and you want to make sure that the color doesn’t end up too light., Do not over mix it! This step is very critical.
You need to find a happy medium, because over-mixing can result in flat macarons, and under-mixing can result in cracking.
The batter should become smooth, but it should still feel fluffy.
When you lift up your spoon, batter should drip off of it.This step might take a little bit of practice. , First, line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
Then, transfer your batter into a pastry bag with a tip that is half an inch in diameter.
You can purchase pastry bags at your local grocery store.
After your batter is transferred, you can start piping it onto your sheets., Pipe from the side, creating one solid mound.
When you release the bag, lift your bag over the macaron, so that if any icing drips, it will drip onto you mound.
Carefully pipe out mounds of batter that are one inch wide.
All of your macarons should be the same size.
Once you’ve filled your baking sheets, carefully pick up the tray from either side and hit it onto your countertop.
This will release air left in the batter, and you’ll notice your mounds start to flatten out.
You’ll even see air bubbles popping on the surface. , This step is extremely important.
When you let your macarons sit out on your counter before baking, they will become a bit more solid and tacky.
This will prevent them from spreading out and getting flat in the oven.
Let them sit on your countertop for about 20 or 30 minutes before popping them in the oven., Set the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, or 150 degrees Celsius.
To ensure your macarons bake evenly, it’s best to only bake one tray at a time.
This might make the process take longer, but you will be rewarded with smooth, even macarons.
As you bake one tray, let the other trays sit out and get even more solid.
This will only benefit your results!, Soften the butter to room temperature.
After it feels soft, place it in the mixer and flip it on to a medium speed.
Let it mix for about three to five minutes, or until it’s completely creamy., Once the butter is completely creamed, add the cane sugar.
Pour it in slowly to help it blend more evenly into the butter.
Increase the speed of the mixer from medium to high.
Keep beating the butter and sugar together until it looks fluffy.
This will take anywhere from five to seven minutes., Pour 1/4 a cup (59 mL) of milk into the saucepan, saving the rest of the milk.
Add the flour and the vanilla extract, and whisk the mixture together.
Make sure that everything is thoroughly mixed and there are no clumps.
Turn the stovetop to medium heat, and pour in the rest of the milk gradually as it heats up.
Don’t stop whisking this entire time.Continue heating until the mixture begins to boil.
As soon as it begins boiling, turn the heat down to low.
On low heat, keep whisking the mixture.
Gradually, the mixture will start to thicken. , After you’ve noticed your milk mixture thickening up, turn off the stove.
Keep whisking even after it’s off the direct heat, because the heat from the saucepan will cause it to continue cooking for a few minutes.
It’s important that you don’t let the mixture sit, or it can get lumpy and difficult to work with.After your mixture is smooth and thick, you can stop stirring and set it to the side.
You will need to let it cool to room temperature before proceeding. , Once the milk has cooled, it’s time to combine it with the butter and sugar mixture.
Carefully pour it into the mixer, which should be set on low speed.
Once you’ve poured all of the milk mixture in, increase the speed to medium.
Let it keep running until it looks fluffy again, which should take anywhere from three to five minutes., The final step in your vanilla buttercream filling is – naturally – the vanilla! Once the filling in your mixture looks fully blended and fluffy, pour in the vanilla extract.
Let the mixer keep running on medium speed for about a minute as it incorporates the vanilla.
Turn off the mixer and you’re done!, After you’ve finished making the vanilla buttercream filling, it’s time to actually construct the macarons.
Spoon the frosting into a pastry bag with a smaller tip (1/4 inch).
With this tip, you’ll be creating smaller mounds on the finished macarons., Flip your finished macaron pieces over so that the flat sides are up.
Carefully create mounds of filling on the flat side.
Leave space around the edges of the macaron so that the icing can spread.
Place the second macaron piece on top of the filling, applying a bit of pressure so the filling will flatten a bit., These are key to creating the look of a tiered cake.
You can purchase a macaron stand online.
Unlike other pastry stands, these are specially made to fit macarons and create that beautiful tiered look.
A quick Google search will pull up options – you can find versions for closer to $10 and others for closer to $100.
Explore your options! Each stand will also inform you how many macarons the stand will hold, so you will know how many to make.
You can find these tiered macaron stands on sites like Amazon, Etsy, bakery websites, and eBay.
It’s helpful to check out reviews before making a purchase. , If you’ve made several different colors, you can alternate colors on each tier.
Otherwise, simply start inserting the macarons on their sides into the different levels.
The advantage to using a macaron stand is that you only have to worry about creating the outside, visible row, rather than making enough macarons to fill the entire “cake.”, This part is optional, because a filled macaron stand is beautiful on its own.
However, if you’re making this macaron cake for a wedding or other special event, it can be fun to add even more decoration.
Add a few flowers around the base and top of the stand.
You can even stick a few individual flowers in gaps between macarons, to add floral touches throughout the tiers., In order to keep your tiered macaron cake looking beautiful and full, it’s helpful to replenish the cake with new macarons as people eat.
Keep a box of macarons nearby, and just pop new ones in any gaps.
You’ll eventually run out, but that’s okay – it just means your macarons are a hit!
About the Author
Diana Miller
Brings years of experience writing about lifestyle and related subjects.
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