Well, I had plans of posting pictures from my littlest sweetie’s second birthday party. A beach party with mermaid cupcakes topped with white chocolate sea stars. Only that party didn’t happen. Instead we spent a rainy weekend inside. Just the four of us eating a mini chocolate ganache cake and opening presents. And you know what? It was perfect. We love love love spending time with our amazing group of friends and their kids, but sometimes it’s a nice change to skip the production and just have simple family time. At 2 years old, L didn’t know the difference anyway.
B (4) is over-the-moon excited about Easter, and particularly about dying and decorating eggs. So I thought we would sweeten up the rainy day with some delicious and fun egg decorating.
The easiest, and in my opinion yummiest, filling for French macs is Nutella.
This turned out to be a great activity that kept B busy for an hour. She used clear decorating gel and then sprinkled on pastel sprinkles and sanding sugar.
Mummy’s favorite decoration?
Dreamy whites with a sprinkle of edible gold leaf of course! Edible gold leaf is available at Sur la Table. Warning: it’s not cheap, but it is fabulous.
1 1/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar 1 cup (4 ounces) finely ground sliced, blanched almonds 6 tablespoons fresh egg whites (from about 3 extra-large eggs) Pinch of salt 1/4 cup granulated sugar
Filling
1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread such as nutella
To make the macarons: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and ground almonds. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites with salt on medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar. Continue to whip until stiff glossy peaks form. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the confectioners’ sugar mixture until completely incorporated.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Fit a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch #4 round tip, and fill with batter. Pipe 2 inch egg shapes or ovals onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. The batter will spread a little. Let stand at room temperature until dry, and a soft skin forms on the tops of the macarons and the shiny surface turns dull, about 15 minutes.
Bake, with the door of the oven slightly ajar, until the surface of the macarons is completely dry, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet to a wire rack and let the macarons cool completely on the baking sheet. Gently peel off the parchment. Their tops are easily crushed, so take care when removing the macarons from the parchment. Use immediately or store in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
To fill the macarons: Fill a pastry bag with the filling. Turn macarons so their flat bottoms face up. On half of them, pipe about 1 teaspoon filling. With nutella, I like to pipe an outline at the edge as seen in photo above. Sandwich these with the remaining macarons, flat-side down, pressing slightly to spread the filling to the edges.
Your macarons are BEAUTIFUL, Marina!!! Yep, Gotta love Nutella:) Glad your family had a sweet birthday celebration despite all this rain, which I happen to love!
Oh my goodness, these are gorgeous! I've always wanted to try macaroons but have never built up the confidence to actually do it. You have inspired me 🙂 I'm gonna try these for Easter if I can find the time. I love the gold too.
Nice post! I really need to get back on the macaron train. I feel some inspiration flowing and I can't beleive Easter is coming upon us already… Take care,
What a fun thing to do with your daughter! And happy birthday! We just had a 2-year-old party for my little guy- and you're right, it's a lot of work and they don't even know it's for them!
These are so pretty and would wonderful at an Easter brunch. Thank you for this. I'm with Susan (above) I've heard macarons are extremely challenging to make. Should the amateur attempt these? Karen
Love these! My French husband is going to go crazy for these cookies as he can't eat gluten and adores nutella. Thanks for sharing such a fabulous recipe with all of us!
Yes! They're super easy – don't be afraid. This recipe doesn't even require a kitchen scale. Just follow the directions and use a pastry bag to pipe the circles and you'll do great.
Susan, seriously don't be scared. Just use this recipe that doesn't require a kitchen scale. It's super easy. Get some disposable pastry bags at the craft store if you don't have them already. Try them!
Wow do those look fantastic! What a beautiful post. Come visit us today. We are having a great giveaway. 3 wonderful charm bracelets from Cutey. We love them!
I have to admit it: I'm not a macaron person! BUT, these are so cute, I might actually have to try them. I do go into sugar-cookie overload at Easter time, so it's nice to have an alternative. Love the Nutella filling. A great (and easy) idea! Thanks, Marina.
I'm so glad you're here! I'm a busy mama to two sweet girls and a bunch of funny animals. I'm passionate about sharing the beauty of real food through plant based recipes. I hope you find many easy, nourishing, delicious recipes your family will love.
Your macarons are BEAUTIFUL, Marina!!! Yep, Gotta love Nutella:) Glad your family had a sweet birthday celebration despite all this rain, which I happen to love!
Oh my goodness, these are gorgeous! I've always wanted to try macaroons but have never built up the confidence to actually do it. You have inspired me 🙂 I'm gonna try these for Easter if I can find the time. I love the gold too.
so beautiful and pastelly and Eastery!
These are so cute! I just love it and the Nutella filling would be divine! I think the gold are my favorite! So fun! Have a wonderful week!
They are beautiful! What a nice idea to make them in a shape of eggs. I should definitely give macaroons second chance. Love them!
Incredibly Adorable!!! I love how festive they are.
These are the prettiest little macarons ever! Love it!
These look awesome! I'd never heard of the clear decorating gel. That's genius!!! What a fun recipe. Thanks Yummy Mummy.
Super cute and perfect for Easter – love these! 🙂
Lovely egg cookies! They also have gold dust available at Michael's Crafts in the cake decorating aisle. Isn't it lovely?
Happy Birthday to your little one!
I'd love to have you and your girls join my pedicure party next Monday the 26th!
So loving this!! How delicate and gorgeous. Your sweetie is a beauty!
Gorgeous, as always:) And I'm glad your family had a sweet celebration for L!
Nice post! I really need to get back on the macaron train. I feel some inspiration flowing and I can't beleive Easter is coming upon us already…
Take care,
Just perfection! The egg macaron's are so dainty and pretty and love the filling!
What a fun thing to do with your daughter! And happy birthday! We just had a 2-year-old party for my little guy- and you're right, it's a lot of work and they don't even know it's for them!
Marina, they're just beautiful! Tell me the truth. As a very amateur baker, I've been scared off even attempting a macaron. Thoughts?
These are adorable!
These are so pretty and would wonderful at an Easter brunch. Thank you for this. I'm with Susan (above) I've heard macarons are extremely challenging to make. Should the amateur attempt these?
Karen
Love these! My French husband is going to go crazy for these cookies as he can't eat gluten and adores nutella. Thanks for sharing such a fabulous recipe with all of us!
Making these for SURE!!!
Beautiful! So delicate and elegant.
Q: Would store bought almond “flour” work in place of the ground almonds? I don't know if that is the same thing?
Yes! I use Bob's Red Mill almond flour 🙂
Yes! They're super easy – don't be afraid. This recipe doesn't even require a kitchen scale. Just follow the directions and use a pastry bag to pipe the circles and you'll do great.
Susan, seriously don't be scared. Just use this recipe that doesn't require a kitchen scale. It's super easy. Get some disposable pastry bags at the craft store if you don't have them already. Try them!
What a creative idea for macarons – they're beautiful as ever and I love the concentration on B's face while she decorates 😉
What a wonderful cookie recipe! It's healthy and has peanut butter in it, you can't go wrong with that! I'm book marking this recipe!!
Delicious and beautiful! 🙂
Wow do those look fantastic! What a beautiful post. Come visit us today. We are having a great giveaway. 3 wonderful charm bracelets from Cutey. We love them!
I have to admit it: I'm not a macaron person! BUT, these are so cute, I might actually have to try them. I do go into sugar-cookie overload at Easter time, so it's nice to have an alternative. Love the Nutella filling. A great (and easy) idea! Thanks, Marina.
Gorgeous! I want to learn how to make macaron. Perhaps tomorrow? Lovely photos!!!
they look real nice got to make some
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These look stunning! So dainty and pretty! xo
Aw these are darling. Your little one is quite cute herself! I love this little cooking project! Pretty and delicious 🙂
Yum! I'm definitely making these for Easter!!
Delicioso y bellísima decoración por la hermosa niña,abrazos hugs,hugs.
Oh yumminess! I made macarons once and it didn't go so well. I'm building up my courage to try again 🙂
Hi there! I LOVE macarons, and your lovely post has been featured on my blog:
http://mijbilcreatures.blogspot.it/2012/04/easter-diy-tutorials-part-1.html
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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