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These hand painted floral macarons are an elegant DIY technique to decorate french macarons, especially for spring or for a celebration like bridal showers or weddings!
Flowers and Spring. Macarons and Elegance. Some things are just made for each other.
Macarons and I have a love affair of sorts. Having a macaron from Laduree and walking down the streets of Paris is hands down one of my favorite memories from my trip to Paris, now more than 5 years ago.
There’s nothing that screams elegance more than a macaron.
In the last year or so I’ve made countless batches of this elusive French cookie. It has challenged me, made me smile, and even brought me to tears. I have compiled all my best tips to make your best macarons here!
Over time, after testing an umpteen number of combinations, I’ve finally gotten a hang of these. Now there are fewer errors, and “bad” batches. So naturally, it’s time for the next next challenge.
Enter: These hand painted floral macarons.
Decorating macarons takes an already elegant cookie but a notch. It adds an edible art element to the french macarons. If you’re looking for more ways to decorate macarons, check them out here!
Hand painting macarons of course seemed like the natural next step for such an elegant cookie. And with spring coming up, is there anything more beautiful than the sight of flowers?
If you’re looking for more easy tutorials for hand painted macarons, check out:
- Painted Leaf Green & Rose Gold Macarons
- Paint Splatter Macarons for Valentine’s Day
- Monochrome Purple Splatter Macarons
How to Paint on Macarons?
This is a super easy project for how much it adds to the macarons. I failed art as a child (yes, it’s true), so if I can do it, you can too!
Since this was my first attempt, I kept the macarons basic, leaving them white, and tried only a few colors with a basic design.
Tools and Materials for Painted Macarons
Here are all the things you’ll need to recreate this look:
Baked and Cooled White Macarons shells: You can either make these yourself, or even buy plain macarons from your favorite bakery and paint on those!
Edible food markers: These Wilton food writers with a fine tip was perfect to draw on the branches!
Food dedicated brushes: This set of Wilton brushes comes in handy for such projects. I used three different sizes to create this look.
Gel Food Color: I use Americolor gel food color at the moment, and love how vibrant the colors are.
Almond extract or vodka: You can thin out the gel food color to create the shade you want. Almond extract or vodka is best as it dries fairly quickly. But try to use as little as possible, as macarons don’t like moisture!
Tutorial for Hand painted Floral Macarons:
ONE: bake and cools shells completely
If you are baking them, I’d even recommend baking them a day before, if you can.
If you’re looking for tips to perfect the macaron, find all my tips here.
And if you’re not at all feeling like dealing with the emotional challenge of macarons, just buy them from your favorite bakery!
TWO: Set up your work station
Set up your macarons on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
On a clean plate, mix one drop of deep pink, leaf green, and violet each with a tiny amount of almond extract. These are the three colors you will use to paint the macarons.
I used Americolor gel food color for this project, and I love how vibrant the colors are.
THREE: Draw branches with food safe markers
Use the food writer in the color brown to draw branches.
FOUR: Paint the Leaves
Using an angled food brush, paint the leaf green paint on the branches. I painted these on alternating branches, to leave space for the flowers. Top left macaron of the photo above.
FIVE: Dab on the Pink floral buds
Using a round brush, dab the deep pink food paint to draw your buds, and let dry for at least 10-15 minutes.
SIX: Add accents with purple or a darker pink
Using a fine tip brush, add a few strokes of the violet color to create dimension and depth on the flowers.
SEVEN: Let Dry
Let the macarons dry for at least 3 hours before filling. Once filled, wait for a few more hours before packaging to avoid smudging the paint.
Tips for Hand Painted floral macarons
Cool shells completely before starting to paint.
Don’t dilute the colors too much. Macarons don’t like moisture. If you use too much moisture, they may start to disintegrate.
Test your strokes on a piece of parchment paper before painting on the macarons, so you get the color and look you want.
Add accents by varying the pressure and deeper shades for a more realistic look.
Experiment with different looks. Recreate this look for your favorite flowers.
If you enjoyed these, make sure to check out my post about other ways to decorate French Macarons.
Follow me on Instagram @sprinklesandscribbles for more baking inspiration!
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