3D Tulip Macaron Tutorial

We are officially in to spring! Whether you’re whipping up a batch for orders, Mother’s Day, or just for fun, these tulip macarons are a must try for a nature inspired design.

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These macarons implement a few different techniques beyond a basic batch. Today we’ll go over the no macaronage method, and also a multi color piping technique.

First off, you’ll need to prepare your macaron batter. Doing a multi color batch AND a no macaronage batch means you’ll have to do a bit of math! (Bare with me, it’s not too tricky)

Before you start adding any ingredients to your mixing bowl, you’ll need to weigh out the empty weight of the bowl in grams. Write it down somewhere so you won’t forget!

Prepare your meringue as usual in your electric mixer’s bowl. I will be basing my instructions off of my Basic French Macarons Recipe with the adjustments of the split color and no macaron techniques.

Next, split your sifted dry ingredients equally between two medium size mixing bowls.

Note: This tutorial is for a double sided 3D Tulip. If you want to have a flat shell on one side you’ll need to split your batch into 3 different bowls so you can have one bowl to fully macaronage as normal to pipe your backs. Today we’re focusing on the double sided so the directions will be given accordingly.

Color your meringue to your lighter shade using gel food coloring. For these tulips, I did 2 drops of Americolor Violet, and 2 drops Americolor Deep Pink.

Note: I was able to color the entire amount of meringue because both tones I used in the tulips were purple. If you want your tulips to be two separate colors you’ll need to wait to add your food coloring until after you’ve separated it into your bowls with the dry ingredients.

Weigh your mixing bowl with the meringue, and then subtract the bowls empty weight to find out how much your meringue weighs.

Weight of bowl with meringue – Weight of bowl empty = Weight of meringue

Once you know how much your meringue weighs, divide that number by two. Add that amount of meringue into ONE of your bowls with dry ingredients.

Next, return to your mixer, and add 3 additional drops of both gel food colors to your remaining meringue and mix until incorporated.

Add the darker half of the meringue to your other bowl of dry ingredients.

Fold each color separately JUST until your dry ingredients have been incorporated. Not a fold more! If you continue to fold, your batter will be too soft to hold it’s shape.

Lay out a piece of saran wrap and place one color of batter in a line. Roll it up and twist off the ends as shown below. Repeat for second color.

Place a large rose tip in a large piping bag. Prop up bag using a bag holder or a large clip. Twist off or clip the end of the piping bag so your batter won’t flow out of your tip while you load it.

Holding your two rolls of batter together, cut off the end of the saran wrap creating an opening.

Place rolls into piping bag, lining up the lighter color of batter closest to the small side of the piping tip.

Test out your batter and pipe a bit out until you begin to see both colors.

Pipe your tulips on to a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. I tried out a few different designs but landed on two favorites. See video below for piping technique.

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Rest macarons until the outer layer is COMPLETELY dry. I use a fan all the time thanks to the constant humidity of my area, but I think a fan would be beneficial regardless of where you live with this 3D technique. Make sure to rotate your tray every 5 minutes or so to make sure each side of the tulips gets adequate air flow from the fan.

Once macarons have formed a dry layer in every nook and cranny, bake as you normally would with maybe an extra minute or two tagged on to your bake time.

Fill, and enjoy! I hope this tutorial was helpful! I love all the possibilities the no macaronage method provides. I plan to experiment with more florals in the future. Thanks for stopping by!

3D Tulip Macaron Tutorial

Ingredients

• 130 grams Egg Whites (Approximately 4 Large Eggs)
• 120 grams Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
• 200 grams Almond Flour
• 200 grams Confectioner’s Sugar
• 1 Pinch of Salt (Optional)
• Violet Gel Food Coloring
• Pink Food Coloring

Instructions

1. Line two baking sheets with silicone mats.
2. Prep a large piping bag with a large rose tip. Pinch off the piping tip end with a clip, and place piping bag in a bag holder or large pitcher with the end of the bag held open so it’s ready to load your batter into.
3. Weigh your empty mixing bowl in grams and jot the number down somewhere.
4. Place egg whites, granulated sugar, and cream of tartar into your mixing bowl, and begin beating with a whisk attachment using either a handheld mixer or a stand mixer for 2 minutes on a medium low speed (Kitchen Aid Speed 4).
5. Turn up the mixer to a medium speed (Kitchen Aid Speed 6) and beat for an additional 2 minutes.
6. While meringue is mixing, split sifted almond flour and powdered sugar equally between two separate bowls. Make sure each bowl has been thoroughly mixed with a whisk, and set aside.
7. Turn mixer up to medium high speed (Kitchen Aid Speed 8) and beat for 3 more minutes, or until peaks are very stiff and the meringue clumps up in a ball in the center of the whisk. Test stiffness by removing whisk and pointing it upward. Once the peaks can hold their shape flipped upright, your meringue is ready.
8. Color the entire amount of meringue to your lighter shade. (2 drops violet, 2 drops pink)
9. Weigh the bowl WITH the meringue in grams, and then subtract the original empty bowl weight to find the weight of the meringue. Once you have your meringue weight, divide it by two.
10. Using a scale to measure, add exactly half of your meringue to one of your bowls with dry ingredients.
11. Color the rest of your meringue to your deeper color (3 additional drops of each color) and then add it to the second bowl of dry ingredients.
12. Fold each color separately JUST until your batter has no dry ingredients remaining. Do NOT continue folding as you would with regular macarons. Your batter should be stiff, but not have any dry ingredient streaks.
13. Lay out a piece of saran wrap and place one color of batter in a line. Roll the batter up and then twist off the ends. See photos in post for reference.
14. Cut off one end of each roll, and then place them both in the piping bag together with your lighter shade closest to the small part of the rose tip.
15. Pipe a small amount of batter back in to one of your mixing bowls until both colors of batter are showing.
16. Pipe tulips as shown in instructional video.
17. Begin preheating oven to 295 degrees.
18. Rest your macarons with a fan blowing on them until the outer layer is completely dry in every crevice. Rotate trays every 5 minutes or so to ensure even air flow to each side.
19. Bake one tray on the middle rack for 18 minutes.
20. Rotate tray and bake for an additional 2 minutes. Test doneness by gently tapping on the side of your tulip shells. If it wiggles, bake for another minute. Repeat until shells are no longer wiggly.
21. Once macarons are fully baked and set, remove from oven to cool completely. Repeat with second tray.
22. Fill macarons and mature in the fridge in an airtight container for 24 hours before eating for optimal texture.