Beach Macarons

Hello friends! Today I will show you how to make these super fun and beautiful Beach Macarons! This set has 4 different designs, and on my video I show you exactly how to achieve each design.

The Beach Macarons are filled with Shortbread Buttercream, and they are delicious!

Which beach macaron design is your favorite?

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colorful macarons, pink, blue, teal, yellow.
colorful macarons, pink, blue, teal, yellow.

The first design for the beach macarons that we approach on the video is the yellow/light blue colored shells.

I made those macarons from the same batch, by splitting the batter into two different bowls as soon as the dry ingredients got incorporated with the meringue.

And then colored each bowl a different color. For the blue I used sky blue mixed with wedgewood, both gel food colorings by Americolor.

Now for the yellow I used gold gel food coloring also by Americolor.

blue and yellow macarons.

The second design is the darker one, with blue and emerald color shell.

For the blue I used French blue powder by The Sugar Art, I was actually going for a super soft tone, but the food coloring caught me off guard, I only used a little bit, or what I thought was a little bit. That stuff is potent, only use a tiny little bit.

And with time, the color will develop and deepen even more. So always be mindful of that when using powder food coloring.

For the emerald color, I was using Hawaiian blue, and it also didn’t turn out as I had wanted at first, but I ended up really liking the bold colors to come out of these macarons. I was going for softer pastel colors, such as the colors of the other macarons in the beach macaron set, but it’s all good, it worked great in the end, don’t you think?

These macarons really make me think of the beach, or of a pool day.

blue and teal macarons.

The next design we will make is my personal favorite, it’s the blue, pink, and coral color shells!

For the pink I used a touch of Lilac powder, for the blue I used French blue (but way less than before), and coral powder all from The Sugar Art.

The process was the same as the previous two designs, but instead of having two colors, we had three this time, so the batter had to be divided between three different bowls instead of just two.

pink, orange, and blue macarons.

Tips for making multiple color macaron shells

  • Stir the batter just until incorporated before splitting into different bowls, if you stir too long, you run the risk of over mixing the batter once you add the individual colors and finish the macaronage.
  • You can use separate piping bags, or spread the different color batters on a piece of plastic wrap, roll it into a log and then place it in the piping bag. The second method described will yield more blended colors, whereas the first method will yield more defined colors.
  • When piping the batter, apply even pressure around the piping bag, so both batters come out at the same time and with the same intensity.
  • Always watch videos on Youtube to see the different methods teachers use for this technique, watching videos makes it so much easier to understand.
colorful macarons, pink, blue, teal, yellow.

And now we’ve arrived to our final Beach Macarons design, this one doesn’t require different color batters.

The batter was dyed with wedgewood gel food coloring by Americolor. And before transferring the batter to the piping bag, I brushed the sides of the piping bag with lines of blue gel food coloring.

blue macarons with painted shells.

A few tips for doing this technique:

  • Don’t go overboard with the food coloring that you brush along the sides of the bag, it might make the shells crack if it’s too much of it.
  • You may benefit from letting your shells dry, even if you don’t usually rest your macarons. Try without resting if you’re used to doing it that way, but if they crack, you’ll know you need to rest them next time.
  • Keep the base color of the shell light, so the color of the brush can shine through.
colorful macarons, pink, blue, teal, yellow.

On my video you can also see how different my two ovens are when baking macarons.

My large oven is very inconsistent and has lots of hot spots. It has a tendency of spiking the temperature up and then dropping down. Because of these inconsistencies, I haven’t been able to do no-rest method in it, even with the air bake tray.

And that’s why I ended up placing pizza stones on the bottom of the oven to help stabilize the temperature. The pizza stone acts like a radiator and emanates heat, which keeps the internal temperature of the oven a bit more consistent, and prevents huge spikes or drops.

Another thing I do is pre-heat my oven for a really long time. This also helps the oven with the temperature fluctuations, as it gives it time to settle on an average temperature and stop spiking up and down.

Also, back at my old house, with my old oven, I could bake my macarons at 325ºF. However, with my current oven that seems to be too high, as it makes the macarons crack or come out lopsided, and the oven seems to always shoot the temperature up to 350ºF if I try to set it up higher than 310ºF.

The best temperature for me to bake my macarons right now is around 300 to 310ºF on my large oven, after drying the macarons, which can take sometime because I live in humid Florida now.

And this is the baking tray I use, which doesn’t have any tall rims, which allows the heat to be distributed evenly throughout all the shells.

colorful macarons, pink, blue, teal, yellow.

Now, my little countertop oven, as you can see on the video, is a Ninja Foodi 10-in-1, and I am loving it.

I use the following baking sheets with this small oven:

And these are the mats I use:

I should highlight that I do bake with the tray flipped upside down, this way the tall rims aren’t affecting the heat distribution.

colorful macarons, pink, blue, teal, yellow.

For more macaron recipes, visit this page: Macaron Recipes.

And to learn more about macarons, tips on how to make them, the science behind macarons, troubleshooting guides, and much more, visit Macaron School.

colorful macarons, pink, blue, teal, yellow.
colorful macarons, pink, blue, teal, yellow.

Beach Macarons

Camila Hurst
Today I will show you how to make four different designs for these amazing Beach Macarons. They are filled with a delicious Shortbread Buttercream.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 40 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American, French
Servings 20 macarons
Calories 80 kcal

Ingredients
  

Macaron Shells
  • 4 grams egg white powder
  • 100 grams white granulated sugar
  • 100 grams egg whites
  • 105 grams almond flour
  • 105 grams powdered sugar
  • The Sugar Art powder lilac, French blue, Hawaiian blue, coral
  • Americolor gel food coloring sky blue, wedgewood
Shortbread Buttercream
  • 113 grams unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup shortbread crumbs
  • 187 grams powdered sugar or more for consistency
  • 1 to 2 tbsp milk
To assemble
  • 1/2 cup shortbread crumbs to sprinkle on top of the filling

Instructions
 

Macaron Shells
  • Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare one large piping bag, fitted with a round tip, I used a 1/4” diameter tip. Also leave 2 piping bags set aside, without the ends cut. Set aside.
  • Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat.
  • Measure out all of the ingredients.
  • Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour. Set it aside.
  • Whisk the sugar and the egg white powder (if using) in a bowl, and place it over a pan with barely simmering water.
  • Add the egg whites to the sugar and whisk the mixture until frothy and the sugar is completely melted. It will take a couple of minutes. You can test by touching the mixture between your fingers, and if you feel any sugar granules just keep whisking the mixture over the water bath.
  • Make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the simmering water because you don’t want the whites to cook.
  • Also, don’t overheat the sugar syrup, this may cause issues down the line, such as wrinkly macarons.
  • Transfer the syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer.
  • With the whisk attachment, start whisking the syrup on low (speed 2 KitchenAid) for about 30 seconds.
  • After 30 seconds I’ll increase the speed to 4 and let the meringue whip for another couple of minutes here. Now I will finish whipping my meringue on speed 6 for about 10 minutes or so. Some people like to whip their meringue at a higher speed, and some people like it to be at a slower speed. I know of people who whip their meringue for a long time on speed 4, which can take a little while. And others like a faster speed. It all depends. Experiment with different speeds to find out how it affects your meringue. Generally, a faster speed will add lots of air bubbles to the meringue way too fast, which can create an unstable meringue, or hollow shells. Which is why I like to stay at a medium speed for the most part.
  • Continue to watch the meringue whip to avoid over whipping.
  • Once the whites get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to start checking.
  • Whip until stiff peaks have formed. When you pull your whisk up, the peak should be stiff and shooting straight up, with possibly a slight bend at the top, but not bending down to the side.
  • Pour the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into the stiff meringue.
  • Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula.
  • Fold the dry ingredients with the meringue just until you see no more dry ingredients in the meringue.
  • As soon as you see no more dry ingredients in the meringue, stop stirring. Divide the batter between two different bowls, or between as many different colors as you’d like to make. I made 4 different batches for the macarons here, and each batch was colored a certain way.
  • First batch: sky blue, wedgewood and gold gel food coloring by Americolor
  • Second batch: French blue and Hawaiian blue powder by The Sugar Art.
  • Third batch colors: lilac, French blue, and coral powders by The Sugar Art.
  • Fourth batch: wedgewood gel food coloring by Americolor with dark blue food coloring streaks (Brush the inside of the piping bag with gel food coloring and then add the batter in. Watch my video where I show this in detail)
  • When you divide the batter between the amount of colors you want to obtain, work with one bowl at a time, leaving the other bowls covered meanwhile.
  • To the first batter add gel food coloring and stir until the perfect consistency is achieved. The batter should be flowing slowly and effortlessly off the spatula, you should be able to pick up some batter with the spatula and draw several figure 8s with the batter that’s flowing, without having the batter break up. And even after the batter breaks up, it should still continue to flow off the spatula slowly.
  • There’s another test you can do. I call it the Teaspoon test.
  • Grab a teaspoon of batter and spoon onto the parchment paper or silicon mat. Wait a minute to see how it behaves.
  • If the batter stays stiff, forming a point and doesn’t spread out, fold a little bit more, about 3 folds.
  • Test again.
  • Once the batter spreads out a bit and starts to look glossy and smooth on top, on the parchment paper, it’s ready.
  • You don’t want your batter to be too runny either. So be careful not to over mix. It’s always best to under mix and test several times until the proper consistency has been achieved.
  • Once the first batter achieves the perfect consistency, transfer it to the piping bag. Secure the top with a tie, so the batter doesn’t scape while piping, and to keep the batter from drying out while you work with the remaining batter. Set the piping bag aside.
  • Now, it’s time to work with the second batter. Color it whatever color you’d like to make the second batter. After adding food coloring, stir until the perfect consistency is achieved, like I’ve explained above.
  • Transfer the batter to the piping bag. And secure the top with a tie.
  • Place the large piping bag fitted with the round tip (I used a 1/4” piping tip) in a cup, so this way the bag will be held open.
  • Using a pair of scissors, snip the ends of each piping bag that contains the colorful batters.
  • Place the two bags inside the large piping bag. I really recommend watching my video to see how to do this, it’s very easy to understand once you watch the video.
  • Now position the piping bag over the center of the circle template, and start applying gentle pressure to release the batter. Then pull the bag up twisting slightly at the top.
  • Once you’ve piped as many circles as you could, bang the trays against the counter.
  • Use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles on the surface of the shells.
  • Let the trays sit for a while so the shells will dry out a little bit. I usually leave about 20-40 minutes, depending on how humid the day is, how much food coloring you have added, and on the consistency of the batter. You’ll know the macarons are ready to be baked. when you gently touch the surface of a macaron and it seems dry, and doesn’t stick to your finger.
  • Pre-heat the oven. I used to use a 325ºF temperature but now I use 310ºF on my large oven, and 285-290ºF on my countertop oven. Also, the macarons baked on my countertop oven do not have to rest, they can be baked straight after piping.
  • Bake one tray at a time.
  • Bake for 5 minutes, rotate the tray in the oven to bake evenly on all sides. And then continue baking.
  • I bake each tray for about 15 to 20 minutes.
  • When baked, the macarons will have a deeper color and formed feet. If you try to move a macaron, it shouldn’t feel jiggly. If the macaron is still jiggly, keep baking.
  • Remove from the oven and bake the other tray.
  • Let the macarons cool down before proceeding with the filling.
Shortbread Buttercream
  • Place about 1 cup of shortbread cookies in a small food processor or blender, and process until you obtain fine crumbs, before the mixture becomes a paste.
  • Beat the butter at medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer for about 1 minute. With the mixer off, add 1/3 cup of the shortbread cookie crumbles.
  • On low speed, beat the butter and shortbread crumbs together. Once they are incorporated, stop the mixer, add the powdered sugar and mix to combine.
  • Add 2 tbsp of liquid (water or milk) only if necessary, if the buttercream seems dry or stiff.
  • Sometimes you may find that the consistency of the buttercream is already perfect and doesn’t need any more liquid. If the buttercream seems too runny, add more sifted powdered sugar until you obtain a firm, but smooth and creamy consistency.
  • Place the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip.
To assemble
  • Pipe some of the Shortbread Buttercream on the bottom shells of the macarons. Sprinkle some crumbled shortbread cookies on top.
  • Top with another shell.
  • Let the macarons sit in the fridge overnight before serving.
Storage
  • Store the macarons in the fridge for up to 4-5 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month though they can get soggy in the freezer because of the curd filling.

Notes

Vinegar: Before starting make sure to wipe down the bowls, whisks, silicone mats and everything you are going to use with vinegar, to avoid any grease particles of coming into contact with the meringue and batter.
Egg white powder: Egg White Powder is not the same as meringue powder. Egg White Powder is made of only egg whites. They help with getting fuller shells, and specially when adding a lot of food coloring to the batter, because they make the shells dry faster. I recommend experimenting with it if you can find it. I use 4 grams for each 100 grams of egg whites.
Food coloring: Make sure to use gel or powder food coloring, not liquid. For the colors here I used Americolor and The Sugar Art.
Scale: Please use a scale when measuring the ingredients for accuracy.
Macaron amount: it will vary greatly depending on how big you pipe the shells, and on how runny or thick the batter is.
Baking time/temperature: Baking time and temperature will vary according to your own oven. I recommend experimenting with your oven to find out the best time, temperature, position of the baking tray.
Oven thermometer: Make sure to have an oven thermometer to bake macarons. It’s one of the most important things about making macarons. Home ovens aren’t accurate at all at telling the temperature, and even a slight 5 degree difference can make or break your whole batch.
Tray rotation: Lots of bakers don’t have to rotate the trays 180 degrees in the oven after 5 minutes, but I do have to with my oven, or I will get lopsided macarons. Please adjust this according to your oven.
Keyword beach, macarons

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