These Beer Macarons are so fun to make. They are perfect for Father’s Day or any summer celebration!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword beer, macarons
Prep Time 2 hourshours
Cook Time 40 minutesminutes
Total Time 2 hourshours40 minutesminutes
Servings 15macarons
Calories 120kcal
Author Camila Hurst
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
4gramsegg white powder
100gramswhite granulated sugar
100gramsegg whites
105gramsalmond flour
105gramspowdered sugar
Food coloringI used gel yellow and white powder
Beer Buttercream
1 1/3cupsconfectioners’ sugarsifted
4tbspunsalted buttersoftened
2 to 4tbspbeer of your choice
1tspvanilla extract
Royal Icing
1cuppowdered sugar125 grams
2tspmeringue powder
1-3tbspwater
Instructions
Beer Macarons
Before you start, get all of the ingredients ready. Prepare two piping bags fitted with small round piping tips. I used a Wilton #4 for the white parts of the beer and Wilton #6 for the yellow part.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat, place the beer template underneath. You can find the template available for download on the post above. 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 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 two different bowls.
Work with one bowl at a time, leaving the other one covered meanwhile.
To the first batter add a little bit of gold and yellow 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 yellow batter achieves the perfect consistency, transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a #6 piping tip. 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. I added white powder food coloring to the batter, you can leave it plain without any food coloring, you can also use gel white food coloring instead. Then stir until the perfect consistency is achieved, like I’ve explained above.
Transfer the white batter to the piping bag fitted with a #4 piping tip. And secure the top with a tie.
Time to start piping! First pipe the yellow area by going around the edges of the template and then filling up the middle with batter.
Give the tray a couple of taps to help the batter spread out and smooth out.
Then use a toothpick to pop any remaining air bubbles.
Pipe the white foam and the mug handle using the white batter. Then tap against the counter or against the palm of your hand to release air bubbles, and again use a toothpick to help smooth out any bumpy areas.
Make sure to pipe the beers in reverse so they can match up later and form the cookie sandwich.
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 to 300ºF.
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.
Beer Buttercream
Beat the softened butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer off, add powdered sugar to the bowl, mix on low to combine and then add the beer.
Once you see no streaks of dry powdered sugar, beat mixture on medium high for one minute. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine.
If the frosting is too runny, add more powdered sugar as needed. And if the frosting is too stiff, add a teaspoon of water, milk, or beer to thin it out.
This frosting will store well in the fridge for up to 5 days, covered.
Make sure to always leave your frosting covered. Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap, because otherwise, the surface will dry out and get hard.
Royal Icing
Beat all ingredients together, except for the food coloring, for about 5 minutes on high speed.
You might need to add more water to adjust the consistency, or maybe even more sifted powdered sugar, if your icing is too thin. The consistency should be flowing but not too liquidy.
Place the icing in a piping bag and tie the end with a bag tie. Then snip the ends with scissors.
To assemble
Line a piping bag with a small round tip. Fill it with Beer Buttercream frosting.
Once the macarons have cooled down, simply pipe some of the Beer Buttercream on the bottom macaron shells. Top with another macaron cookie.
To decorate
Place the royal icing in a piping bag and pipe on top of the foam part of the beer.
Put some yellow food coloring in a small bowl, and then add a drop of water or so to dissolve it. Mix it with a brush to incorporate. Then use the brush to draw two lines in the center of the beer shell, and also use it to paint over the shell, creating a textured effect and pretty color.
Let the shells rest in the fridge until he royal icing has completely dried and the macarons have matured.
Macarons are best after they’ve matured in the fridge for a day or more.
Storage
Store the macarons in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
Colors: I used Americolor gel for the yellow color, and Master Elite white powder food coloring. 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. 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.