Heart Shaped Macarons (video + template)

Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare one large piping bag, fitted with a round tip, I like to use a Wilton 8 or 10 to pipe hearts, you will need a small round tip. If you desire to make more colors from one batch, prepare as many bags as you will need later.

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.

Add the food coloring at this point, if using. For the red macarons, I simply added red gel food coloring, you will need quite a bit of it to obtain a deep color, but if you are a beginner, it's not recommended to add a lot of food coloring, because it will greatly affect the consistency of the batter.

How to know when to stop folding the batter: It’s time to stop folding when the batter is glossy and has a thick and flowing consistency. There are several ways to test this.

First, pick up some batter with the spatula and try to draw a figure 8 with the batter that is dripping off the spatula. If you can form several 8 figures without the batter breaking up, that’s one indication that it might be ready.

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.

When you hold the spatula with batter on top of the bowl and the batter falls off the spatula slowly but effortlessly the batter is ready. The batter will keep flowing off the spatula non-stop, but not too quickly.

Transfer the batter to the piping bag.

Follow all instructions above up to the stiff meringue.

Pour the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour into the stiff meringue.

I also added a bit of burgundy food coloring to make a light pink batter, which will be the base batter.

Start folding gently forming a letter J with a spatula.

As soon as you see no more dry ingredients in the meringue, stop stirring. Divide the batter between four different bowls (or however many colors as you want to make).

Work with one bowl at a time, leaving the other ones covered meanwhile.

To the first batter add more burgundy 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 are other cues to look for to see if the batter should be done folding, you can read them on the instructions above.

Once the first batter achieves the perfect consistency, transfer it to one of the prepared piping bags. 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 added a different amount of burgundy food coloring to the second batter, to make it a different tone. After adding food coloring, stir until the perfect consistency is achieved, like I’ve explained above.

Transfer the batter to another piping bag. And secure the top with a tie.

Do this as many times as needed until you are done with all the batter.

Place the piping bag at a 90 degree angle, at the top left side of the heart template. Apply pressure as you slide the bag down to the center in a diagonal, also make sure to release less batter at the bottom than at the top, because you need the batter at the bottom to be thinner in order to obtain a nice pointy tip.

Now place the piping bag on the top right corner of the heart, and apply pressure as you slide the bag down to the center in a diagonal.

After piping a few hearts, use a toothpick to help spread the batter to the edges of the heart template. Make sure to form a point at the bottom, because as they bake, the macarons will round up a little bit and if you don't form a define point at the bottom, your heart will have a rounded bottom.

Tap the trays against the counter or against the palm of your hand to release any air bubbles.

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. Drying time will also depend on the consistency of the meringue, on how much you've folded the batter, and on how much food coloring you've added.

You’ll know they’re ready when you gently touch the surface of a macaron and it seems dry, and doesn't stick to your finger.

Pre-heat the oven to 325F.

Bake one tray at a time.

Bake for 5 minutes, rotate tray.

Bake for 5 more minutes. Rotate again.

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.

Sift the powdered sugar. Set aside.

Add the cream cheese and butter to an electric mixer bowl. Cream on medium high speed for 2 minutes.

Turn the mixer off and add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract to the bowl.

Mix on low until the powdered sugar is incorporated.

Raise the speed to medium high and cream for another minute until the mixture is creamy and fluffy. If the mixture is dry or stiff, add the milk to make the frosting come together. Start by adding the smaller amount of 1/2 tablespoon, and increase it and add a bit more as necessary. If the frosting is too runny, add more sifted powdered sugar.

Place the Cream Cheese Frosting in a piping bag fitted with a small piping tip. Pipe some frosting on top of half of the shells. Top with another shell.

Let macarons mature in the fridge overnight before serving.

Store macarons in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months, in an air tight container.