NYE Macarons + A Step by Step Method for Foolproof Macarons

Ring in 2015 with these festive, gluten free French macarons!  These sophisticated black macarons are filled with shimmery buttercream and decked out with sprinkles, ready to help you celebrate the new year.

Yield: A Dozen
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 16 minutes plus resting time

NYE Macarons

Macarons are the perfect way to ring in the new year and these sophisticated babies are no exception.They're fun and festive with their sprinkled tops proclaiming the upcoming year and 'NYE' for New Year's Eve!

There's a hint of shimmer in the buttercream that fills each macaron and the shells have been dyed black with gel paste colour before getting the sprinkle treatment.

My macaron obsession is no secret and I regularly get asked tips for how to make macarons as they can be tricky. You're in luck! I'll be sharing a step-by-step process for how you can make foolproof macaron every single time.

Okay, are you guys ready to learn to make some macarons? First I'll give you the instructions in usual recipe format and then beneath, the step-by-step photos!

Ingredients:

For the macarons
2 egg whites
35 grams caster sugar
70 grams ground almonds
140 grams icing sugar or confectioner's sugar
vanilla buttercream dyed purple
black gel colour
edible glitter

For the macaron decoration
edible glue
round sprinkles or nonpareils

New Year's Eve Macarons

Instructions:

1. Sift the ground almonds and icing sugar together into a medium size bowl.
2. Whisk the egg whites with the caster sugar and some of the black dye until you form stiff peaks.
3.  Fold the dry ingredients into the egg whites and scoop into a piping bag.
4. Pipe onto parchment paper lined baking trays and allow to rest about 20 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 150C while the macarons rest.
6. Bake the macarons for 15 to 20 minutes until cooked through.
7. Add purple dye and edible glitter to vanilla buttercream while the macarons cook.
8. Once the macarons have been cooked, fill with the buttercream.
9. Paint '2015' and 'NYE' on the tops of alternate macarons and dip into sprinkles. Use a toothpick to straighten out the sprinkles so that the phrases are legible. 
10. Pop the macarons into the fridge for at least 4 hours to set before enjoying.

Step-by-Step Method for Foolproof Macarons

Making macarons isn't that difficult, with just a few tips, you'll be able to churn out patisserie-quality cookies in no time:

 Sift the ground almonds, being sure to get rid of any big bits of almond shell or skin.

These are the bits of almond shell or skin that you want to avoid. Including these bits into your macarons can cause them to crack,especially as almond skin contains natural oils (moisture).

Anyonita's Tip: Sift the icing/confectioner's sugar, too! Sifting the icing sugar helps to add more volume to the macaron shells.

 Whisk the egg whites for a few seconds until they start to foam.

 Anyonita's Tip: This is the point in the macaron making where you add the dye (like so) or any liquid flavouring you are using.

Continue whisking the egg whites with the dye.

Add the sugar to the dyed whites while you continue to whisk.

 Keep whisking until the whites begin to stiffen. Look out for ripples and ridges in the whites, that's when you know you're on the right track.

Once you have stiff peaks, knock all of the excess egg whites from the whisks, like so:

 Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites all in one go.

To achieve a really rich black hue, add more of the food colouring once the dry ingredients have been put in the bowl.

 Begin to incorporate the dry ingredients with the egg whites.

The technique for folding macarons is often the trickiest to master, but it makes the biggest difference. Anyonita's Tip: The macaron folding technique I use is to bring the spatula down through the middle of the bowl, then around the side of the bowl halfway. Then, turn the bowl halfway and repeat. Watch this GIF:

Once the batter has fully mixed, it should be thick, like this:

Let the batter rest while you prepare the piping bag. Alternatively, do this bit before you start making the macarons.

 You'll need a nozzle. I use a Wilton 10.

Take your piping bag and snip off a bit of the end.

 Insert the nozzle into the bag and coax it down by pushing.

The nozzle should extend just beyond the piping bag.

 Twist the end of the piping bag just above the nozzle.

Push the twisted bit into the nozzle to prevent any spills while you fill the bag.

Fold the top of the piping bag to make a cuff so that you can slip your fingers under.

 You want to be able to slip your fingers beneath the cuff of the bag. This way, you can open and close it like a puppet.

When you scoop the batter into the bag, use your fingers to grip the spatula and scrape the batter from it.

Once you've filled the bag, twist the top so that you are ready to pipe.

 Hold the piping bag so that it is perpendicular to the baking tray and apply gentle pressure and pipe out discs of macaron batter.

Pipe until there is no more space on the tray.

Lift the baking tray just a few inches above the counter and drop 5 or 6 times to pop the air bubbles in the batter. You'll notice little bubbles pop on the surface of the macarons. Keep banging the tray until there are no more bubbles.

Let the macarons rest at least 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 150C. Test that the macarons are ready to be baked by poking your finger on the side of one. You should have a slight indentation but no batter should be visible on your finger when they are ready for the oven.

Back the macarons, fill, decorate and enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Now that you've mastered macarons, try my other fun recipes:

Spooky Halloween Macarons

Lavender & Rose Macarons

& even more easy French macaron recipes!