Galaxy Macarons

Hello friends! Today I will show you how to make these beautiful, whimsical Galaxy Macarons!

These Galaxy Macarons are black, blue and purple, with a silver shimmer sparkle! They are perfect for a celebration, because they are super special and pretty!

Check out the video on this page or on YouTube showing you how to make these Galaxy Macarons. The recipe is thoroughly explained below, however, watching the video will make it so much easier to visualize each step.

I’ve been wanting to make these space macarons for a long time, and decided to make them to celebrate the New Year 🎉 in great style.

They are probably one of the prettiest macarons I’ve ever made! I hope you like them too!

To make these Galaxy Macarons, we are making just one batch of the macaron batter.

I use this technique in several macaron flavors. Basically you make the meringue, then add the dry ingredients (almond flour and powdered sugar) to the meringue and stir just until you see no more streaks of dry ingredients. When that happens, stop stirring!

Divide the batter between three different bowls (or however many colors you’d like to make the batter), and work with one batter at a time, while keeping the remaining ones covered, so they don’t dry out.

Then color the batter you are working with, and fold until the perfect consistency is achieved. On my YouTube videos you can see exactly what that looks like, and I also explain in detail down below on the recipe.

After the batters are colored and ready, you can either pour it all in the piping bag, which will make the colors kind of mix together, and blend, or you can do my favorite way, which is to keep the batter in separate piping bags, then snip the ends of the piping bags and insert them in a larger piping bag, so when you pipe the batter, the different colors will come out together and will blend in a beautiful and defined swirl.

If you mix the batters together in the piping bag, or pour them in a piece of plastic wrap and roll it into a log, then insert it in a large piping bag, the batters will mix and blend together, and won’t come out with such a defined swirl.

So that’s my advice for the technique.

I’ve used this technique in several different recipes like I’ve said before, here are some of them:

• Cinnamon Roll Macarons
• Mint Chocolate Macarons
• Blood Orange Macarons
• Apple Macarons
• Lemon Macarons

This is a super cool way to make fun macaron shells.

And of course, I did the same with the frosting. I made a simple Vanilla American Buttercream, and separated it into 3 different bowls, colored each bowl a different color, spread the colors on a piece of plastic wrap, rolled it into a log, inserted inside of a piping tip, and begin to pipe away.

In the case of the buttercream, the three colors won’t blend when mixed together in the piping bag because the buttercream is way sturdier and thicker than the macaron batter.

If you like these Galaxy Macarons, make sure to check out my other recipes for festive macarons as well:

• Black Macarons
• Champagne Macarons
• Guinness Macarons
• Hazelnut Macarons
• Red Velvet Macarons
• Creme Brûlée Macarons

To find out more information about macaron troubleshooting, macaron tips, the science behind macarons, visit Macaron School, a space where I share all of my knowledge about the best tools that can help you learn macarons.

And if you make this recipe tag me on instagram or leave a comment below, it means the world to me!

Thank you so much for reading!

Just a quick note, this is the Silver Luster Dust that I used to sprinkle on top of the shells before baking.

Galaxy Macarons

Camila Hurst

These beautiful Galaxy Macarons are black, blue, and purple, with a silver shimmer! They are fun to make and absolutely gorgeous!

5 from 4 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 2 hours hrs

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

0 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, French

Servings 22 macarons

Calories 120 kcal

Ingredients

  

Macaron Shells

• 4 grams egg white powder optional read notes
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 100 grams egg whites
• 105 grams almond flour
• 105 grams powdered sugar
• Food coloring I used black purple, and blue food coloring
• Silver luster dust

Vanilla Buttercream

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter softened 85 grams
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups confectioners’ sugar sifted 187 to 240 grams
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 -1 tbsp milk as necessary

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 3 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 for about 30 seconds, then gradually start increasing speed to medium. Whisk on medium for one to two minutes, until the mixture is white and starting to become fluffy. Raise the speed to high, or medium-high and whisk for a few minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Best way to check this is to keep your eye on the whites. Once they get glossy and you start seeing streaks formed by the whisk, it might be time to stop.
• 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 three different bowls.
• Work with one bowl at a time, leaving the other ones covered meanwhile.
• To the first batter add black 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 one of the piping bags that doesn’t have the end cut. 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 batters. Set the piping bag aside.
• Now, it’s time to work with the second batter. I colored the second batter purple. After adding food coloring, stir until the perfect consistency is achieved, like I’ve explained above.
• Transfer the purple batter to another piping bag, also without the end cut. And secure the top with a tie.
• Now finally work with the final batter, I chose to color it blue. Add food coloring, fold until the perfect consistency is achieved and transfer it to a 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 three 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, while making a circle motion. This motion will make the swirl. The size of the circle should be about 1.25” in diameter, or slightly smaller than the circle template. Again, you can watch the video to see exactly how to do this technique.
• 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. This batter took me a bit longer to dry because of all the black food coloring. 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.
• Before baking, I also used a brush to scoop some silver luster dust and sprinkled it on top of the macaron shells.
• Pre-heat the oven to 300ºF.
• Bake one tray at a time.
• Bake for 5 minutes, rotate tray.
• 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.

Vanilla Buttercream

• Cream the butter at medium speed in the bowl of an electric mixer for about 1 minute. With the mixer off, add all of the powdered sugar.
• On low speed, beat the sugar and butter together. Once they are incorporated, turn speed to medium and cream for 1-2 minutes until very fluffy.
• Add the vanilla beat for another 30-45 seconds.
• If necessary, add the milk. Only add 1/2 tablespoon of milk at first. 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 stiff, add a bit more of milk as necessary. If the buttercream seems too runny, add more sifted powdered sugar until you obtain a firm, but smooth and creamy consistency.
• Now you can color the frosting any color you want, or pipe as it is.
• I divided my frosting between 3 different bowls. One bowl I colored purple, the other black, and the last one blue.
• Then lay out a piece of plastic wrap on the counter. Spread each color frosting next to each other.
• Roll the plastic wrap into a log.
• Line a large piping bag with the tip of your choice. I used a 6B.
• Insert the frosting log inside the piping bag.

To assemble

• Pipe the frosting on the bottom macaron shells.
• Top with another shell.
• Let the macarons sit in the fridge overnight before serving.

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 food coloring, not liquid. For all the colors here I used Americolor. For the black color specifically, I used Americolor Super Black. If you are a beginner macaron baker, I recommend going easy on the food coloring, as it can alter your batter a lot, and it can take extra mixing time, specially if you continue to add the food coloring as you do the macaronage.

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 every 5 minutes, but I do have to with my oven, or I will get lopsided macarons. Please adjust this according to your oven.

Silver luster dust: This is the Silver Luster Dust I used to sprinkle on top of the macarons before baking them.

Keyword galaxy, macarons