This post may contain Affiliate Links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something. Please check our Disclosure Policy for more details.
These Birthday Cake macarons are a fun twist on the classic French Macaron. The macarons are made with a plain shell topped with sprinkles, then filled with a birthday cake batter buttercream filling!
May is my birthday month! For most of my life, I have loved celebrating my birthday!
After turning 30 last year, birthdays seem a little less important. I guess if I don’t celebrate them, then I can stay 30 forever?
But then the downside to all this would be to give up birthday cake or birthday desserts. And that is not a commitment I’m willing to make.
This year, I celebrated with a birthday cake topped with these birthday cake macarons! If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen these macarons.
If you’re been around here before, you know that I love macarons in all shapes, colors, and flavors. These birthday cake macarons remind me of the classic grocery store birthday cake, with lots of imitation vanilla, and super sweet frosting.
I’m all for gourmet desserts but those grocery store birthday cakes are still what I expect birthday cake to taste like!
If you’re looking for more fun macaron flavors, some of my favorites to date are:
- Froot Loops Cereal Macarons
- Hot Chocolate Macarons
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Macarons
- Ras Malai Macarons
- Masala Chai Macarons / Tea Latte Macarons
And if you’re still perfecting your macaron technique, here are some tips to help you get here!
TOOLS & INGREDIENTS
For these fun Birthday Cake Macarons you’ll need a few tools and ingredients. These are some of my favorites:
- Almond Flour – I’m currently using Kirkland Almond Flour, which I usually get from Amazon.
- Digital Kitchen Scale and Oven Thermometer – Macarons can be finicky. I highly recommend these two tools for the precision and accuracy necessary in making macarons.
- Piping Tip like the Wilton #12 – This is the preferred piping tip that I attach to a piping bag.
- Gel Food Color – I typically use Chef Master Gel food color. For these macarons, I used 2 drops of Baker’s Rose.
- Silicone Mats – I prefer silicone baking mats, but you can also use parchment paper.
HOW TO MAKE BIRTHDAY CAKE MACARONS
STEP #1: MACARON SHELLS
These macarons use my basic macaron shell recipe, which I’ve used in several macaron recipes like Ras Malai Macarons or these Froot Loops Cereal Macarons. I use a French meringue-based macaron recipe!
I highly recommend that the ingredients for the macaron shells are weighed to be as precise as possible. I use this scale for accuracy, but any kitchen scale will work. If you’d like more tips on macarons, check out this post on Macaron Tips!
COMBINE THE DRY INGREDIENTS:
Start by sifting the almond flour and icing/powdered sugar together a few times to remove clumps. The sifting process helps make the smoothest possible macaron sheets.
I typically sift the almond flour and icing sugar at least twice. This is the sieve that I use to make sure no clumps remain!
MAKE THE MERINGUE:
Next, make the meringue, by beating together egg whites, granulated sugar, and a pinch of cream of tartar.
You can do this part on a stand mixer or a hand mixer. For smaller batches of macarons, I prefer to use my Kitchenaid hand mixer.
MACARONAGE
Once your meringue has reached stiff peaks, add all the dry ingredients (almond flour and icing sugar mixture) into the meringue (egg white mixture) and start the macaronage (folding process).
Stop folding when the batter flows off the spatula in a ribbon.
PIPE ONTO BAKING TRAY:
Once you’re satisfied with the batter, it’s time to pipe it on the tray.
Prepare a baking sheet with a cloud template, then lay on top of it parchment paper or silicone baking mat. I like using these silicone baking mats. But you can experiment with parchment paper as well!
Transfer your batter to a piping bag, fitted with a round tip. I prefer to use this Wilton #12 round decorating tip.
Pipe into circles using following the template on the silicone baking mats. Use a toothpick or cookie scribe to pop any bubbles.
While the macaron batter is still wet, sprinkle on the rainbow nonpareils.
REST, THEN BAKE
Rest the batter until it is no longer tacky to the touch. It takes about 30 minutes in my kitchen. Once the shells have rested, bake them in a pre-heated oven at 300ºF.
STEP #2: BIRTHDAY CAKE BATTER FILLING
This recipe uses an American buttercream frosting base with added heat-treated flour. The cake batter filling
- To heat treat flour, place the flour in a bowl, and microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between each interval. Make sure to heat until an instant-read thermometer registers at 165ºF. Set aside to cool. (Note: Ensure to properly heat treat the flour to make sure it is safe to consume!)
- Beat room temperature butter until light and fluffy.
- Add in icing sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing between each addition.
- Beat until incorporated and frosting is light and fluffy.
- Add in the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
STEP #3: FILL, AND MATURE
- Fill the macarons: Pipe the frosting onto half the cookies, and sandwich them together.
- Mature: Macarons taste best when they’ve had some time to rest and mature in the fridge. So these macarons can easily be made ahead of time!
TIPS FOR THE BIRTHDAY CAKE BATTER MACARONS
- The recipe below for the Birthday Cake macarons makes 24 macarons. It can easily be halved or doubled for the number of macarons that you need. (I would recommend making more!)
MACARON SHELLS
- Make sure to weigh the ingredients with a scale. This is the scale I have, and it has really helped me make better macarons!
- It is important for your oven to be at the correct temperature when baking macarons! I can’t imagine baking macarons anymore without this oven thermometer.
- Make sure to cool the macaron shells completely before filling them.
- If you need more tips on making macaron shells, check out my in-depth post on tips to make the perfect macarons.
FOR THE BIRTHDAY CAKE FILLING:
- Any base buttercream recipe can work, but I think American Buttercream is faster and tastes most like birthday cake!
- Make sure to heat-treated flour to make sure the flour is safe to consume. Raw flour can make you sick.
Follow me on Instagram @sprinklesandscribbles for more baking inspiration!
Birthday Cake Macarons
Equipment
- Measuring scale
- Sifter
- Oven thermometer
- Stand mixer or Hand mixer
- Pastry bag
- #12 round tip (optional)
- 2 aluminum baking sheets with silicone mats or Silpat
- Ingredients
Ingredients
Macaron shells
- 135 grams almond flour
- 125 grams icing sugar
- 100 grams egg whites About 3 large egg whites
- 88 grams granulated sugar
- pinch cream of tartar
- 2 teaspoons rainbow non pareils sprinkles
Birthday Cake Batter Filling
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup heat treated flour see instructions
- 1-2 tablespoons milk optional
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Macarons Shells
- Pre-heat oven to 300ºF.
- Separate the eggs from the egg whites (if using fresh eggs). Measure out 100 g (about 3 large eggs).
- In a separate bowl, sift the icing sugar and almond flour together
- Repeat the sifting process to ensure there are no clumps. If there are any clumps, discard them.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the egg whites and a pinch cream of tartar. Beat on high until foamy.
- Once the egg whites are foamy, turn the mixer down to the lowest setting possible, and slowly add in the granulated sugar. Be sure to incorporate all the sugar into the egg whites.
- Turn up the mixer again on high, and keep beating egg whites until peaks form. DO NOT OVER BEAT.
- Once done, pour all the almond flour and icing sugar mixture into the egg whites.
- With a rubber spatula, fold the dry mixture into the egg whites, until the paste flows like a ribbon.
- Prepare a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat with a macaron template.
- Fit a pastry bag with a #12 round tip, if using, and trim the bottom as appropriate.
- Pour batter into the bag.
- Pipe circles onto the prepared baking sheet. You should get about 40-60 circles
- Once piped, rap the sheet on the counter to release all the air bubbles.
- Rest for 30 minutes, until the shells have formed a skin, and are no longer tacky to the touch.
- Bake in the oven, at 300°F for 12-13 minutes.
- Check for doneness, by wiggling the shell. Shells are done when they don’t move from the feet. If it wiggles from the feet, then bake for another minute, and check again.
- Cool the shells in the tray.
Cake Batter Filling
- To heat treat flour, place the flour in a bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between each interval. Make sure to heat until an instant read thermometer registers at 165ºF. Set aside to cool.
- Beat room temperature butter until light and fluffy.
- Add in icing sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing between each addition.
- Beat until incorporated and frosting is light and fluffy.
- Add in the vanilla and mix until incorporated.
- If frosting is too soft, add in more icing sugar (2 tablespoons at a time), if the frosting is too stiff, add a little milk (1 teaspoon at a time).
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag.
Assembly & Decorate
- Once cool, remove macaron shells from the baking tray and pair similar-sized shells together to form the cookie sandwiches.
- Pipe in about a teaspoon of birthday cake filling onto half the shells.
- Carefully sandwich the cookie with its pair. Repeat to assemble all the cookies
- Macarons taste best when they've rested in the fridge for a day. Once all the cookies are assembled, store the macarons in the fridge for at least 24 hours to mature. Remove from fridge 20 minutes before serving.
- Enjoy your hard work!
Leave a Reply