Have you heard of red velvet macarons yet? I did, and I decided to make them this time! This weekend I was discovering the red velvet cake. I know that everyone just loves a piece of fresh and tasty red velvet, so I decided to make it.. and then I just thought why not to try to make macarons with this theme? Below you will see my version of the red velvet macarons. Also as promised, I made flavoured shell this time!..and believe me there will be more.

By the way, I am very happy as I finally managed to get consistency in my macarons, and each time I make them I know for sure that everything will go well and I will get perfect macaron shell. I will be sharing my findings soon, to help you to get your macarons right!.. for now, lets enjoy the red velvet macs👇🏻💖

Red velvet macarons by AdB

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Prep time: 45 minutes                                                  Sitting & cooling: up to 1 hour

Baking time: 15 minutes per tray                               Yield: 15-20 macarons

Your tools:

• 2 big bowls and 1 small
• Sieve
• Spatula
• 2 piping bag (or 1 if you put the filling with spoon)
• baking paper
• baking tray
• creativity and motivation
• a pinch of patience is key element here 🤓

Below are a couple affiliate links for products that you can use to make your own macs at home:

Ingredients for the shells

• 2 aged egg whites (around 65gr)
• 50 gr caster sugar
• 70 gr ground almonds
• 130 gr icing sugar
• Red colouring powder (optional)
• 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder
• Sprinkles or sugar bits for decoration

As always, I suggest that you prepare your ingredients in advance, in order to be able to focus on the different stages of your macaron making process. All is ready? Then off we go!

Method for shells

• Preheat your oven to 150 degree C and prepare your baking trays and silicone mats.
• Combine almonds with icing sugar and cocoa powder, and sieve everything well. You can also put your almond-icing mix through food processor to ensure that there are no small bits of almond in it. All pieces that can’t be used you can save for later (if you plan to make an almond cake, for instance).
• Pour your egg whites (at the room temperature) into a clean and dry bowl. Start mixing your aged egg whites for a few seconds. Then add sugar. Mix again until your egg whites are well mixed together and are not falling down, if you turn the bowl.
• You can start the macaronage process now. Prepare your spatula and add first half of your almond-sugar mix in the meringue. Then mix it from sides inside and divide the batter in two halves. Do it couple of times, but stop when it looks more incorporated. Add the other half and repeat again. Then add the colouring powder and continue mixing. However, be careful not to overmix your batter. Macaron batter can be really picky and gentle, so it is important not to overdo it. You will know that your batter is ready, when it slowly floats back into the mixing bowl when you lift spatula. If you are not sure check out my video on Instagram (Video 1 and Video 2).

• Pop your batter in the piping bags and start piping small macaron shells on the silicone mats. Leave some space between your macarons, so that they do not stick all together.

• Now you need to tap the air out of your macarons. Carefully tap your baking tray. Ensure you do it on all sides. You will see how some air pops out and your macarons get into better shape. If you still spot some of the air bubbles in the macarons, then just use tooth pick to remove them. Check out video on my Instagram to know how to deal with air.

• Now just leave your macaron to sit for around 30 minutes to 1 hour. Batter should dry and not stick to your finger. Add some decorations on your macaron shells (for instances some sprinkles or sugar bits on top of it). I have used some of the cake decoration elements I found in the local supermarket. This is how my macarons looked like:

• When your macarons developed a “skin” and has been beautifully decorated you are all set and ready to start the baking process. Bake your shells tray by tray. Baking time is 15 minutes. I usually bake my macarons for 10 minutes, then turn the tray and bake for another 5 minutes. Sometimes I rotate the tray every 5 minutes, if I see that some sides baked better than the other. My oven has some hot spots, so to avoid overcooked tops I do this trick. Your macs are ready when you touch them from the side and they do not move!
• Let your macarons cool down for a few minutes. Do not try to stick them off when they are still warm, it might damage your shell. Macaron shell that is ready will easily fall off the silicone mat or baking paper and have nice bottom.

The filling for your lovely macaron shells

Basically, I decided not to use very complicated filling for this type of macaron as it already has some cocoa powder in it. So you can just make some whipped cream (100ml) with vanilla or some sugar, and it will taste very well with those macs. If you are a chocolate fan, you can add some chocolate ganache in the middle. Just be sure that your chocolate ganache is not too warm to melt the cream.

• To make chocolate ganache follow this recipe:

Put on the low heat 50 ml of double cream. Ones it is at the point that it is not boiling yet, but is warm enough to melt the chocolate, remove it from the heat. Pour warm cream over the chocolate (50gr). Wait a few minutes and then mix it with spatula. You can use more chocolate if you want to get more thick texture.

Tip: if you want your ganache to taste a bit more interesting, try adding cinnamon or nutmeg into it (when you are warming up the cream). The taste will be more rich and exciting.

Alternatively you can use any of those fillings:

• Cream cheese buttercream
• Mango & blackberry cream cheese  (just add cocoa powder instead of the fruits puree)
• Mascarpone buttercream

Let me know which cream you tried and what you though of it!

The macaron creation

This is my favourite part! Take macaron shell and add some filling on it, then put other macaron shell on top and turn the shell clockwise. Repeat until all macarons have been build up. Leave your macarons in the fridge for a few hours, so that the cream is absorbed by the macaron shell for better eating experience.

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Any troubles during creation time? Check out my recent post on top-10 tips for macarons baking process, and solve your issues right away! If you still struggle, send me a message and I will help you out, see below for my contact points!

🗣Did you try out this recipe? Please share your results and tag @macaron_adb on Instagram with the hashtag #macaronadb to show your creations! And as always: any questions? Contact me via website, Instagram or Facebook. I also recently got an email address: contact@macaronadb.com so please feel free to drop a message.

Sweet times!

AdB