How. Freaking. Cute. Are. These?!?! These macarons are my first attempt at “character” macarons, and I could not help but start with the adorable Baby Yoda. With delicious matcha buttercream filling, these macarons are sure to delight your tastebuds, and they’re super cute to boot!
I really got into baking a lot more seriously when I attempted my very first macaron. It was for a DIY high tea get-together with some of my friends (yes, extra, I know). I honestly got beginner’s luck and they came out pretty decent, but it got me obsessed with baking more macarons. Well, as any macaron-baker would know, these almond cookies are super finicky, and any little thing can ruin it. Let’s just say, I baked A LOT of macarons and shed A LOT of tears because of my then 50% success rate.
When I moved to my new place, I found out the oven is really old and the temperature is unreliable. I ended up buying an internal oven thermometer, and because of the inconsistent temp changes I was seeing during any given bake, I stopped baking macarons for a while. Enter Katrina from Sugar Devotion. She makes the most adorable character macarons, and I have stalked her amazing Instagram page for a while. Macarons are already hard enough to make plain, but to make character macarons??? I was awed by her talent.
When I was finally ready to start baking macarons again, I’d figure I’d start with her Baby Yoda template since I would only really need two different colors and would be simpler. I did not have to go the extra mile she does with using icing sugar and fondant for decorations, because honestly, I would have been able to give it justice. I reached out to her via IG and she was kind enough to share her template with me.
The Colors
I divided up my macaron batter into two smaller bowls, with 2/3 of it in one, and the other 1/3 of it in the other. In the bowl with the 2/3 batter, I added some food coloring gel to make it look tan. This will really depend on the brand and color you use, but for me, I use Cake Craft’s food coloring gel. For the tan, I used two drops of java brown, 1 drop of sunset orange, and 1 drop of sunset yellow.
In the 1/3 batter bowl, I used 2 drops of rustic green and 1 drop of sunset yellow. I like this brand because a little goes a long way. We use more batter for the tan one because the bottom shell of the macaron will just be all brown. You only really need Baby Yoda’s face and body to be distinguishable on the top half of the macaron.
Alternatively, you can also just make regular, round macaron shells.
The Meringue
For the uninitiated, there are different meringue styles one can use for macarons. When I first started, I used the French meringue method because it’s the simplest, especially for beginners. However, it’s the most unstable. Since I found that I could never make successful macarons using this method with my current oven, I did a lot of research to what might work best, especially with character macarons. Watching lots of YouTube videos on character macarons led me to trying out the Swiss meringue method.
Tools you’ll need
Ingredients
Macaron shells
- 112 g egg whites
- 105 g caster sugar (or regular granulated sugar will do)
- 119 g powdered sugar
- 133 g almond flour
Matcha buttercream filling
- 100 g unsalted butter (softened)
- 250 g powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 g matcha powder
- 2 tbsp milk (optional)
Instructions
- Boil water in a small pot. Place your egg whites and caster sugar in a mixing bowl and place it on top of the pot, making sure the boiling water does not touch the bottom of the bowl. This is called a double boiler, making sure you're cooking the egg whites low and slow. Keep whisking until the egg white-sugar mixture reaches 130°F.
- Pulse the almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor until there are no significant lumps left. Be careful to not process it so much that it turns into a paste. About 5-7 pulses should do the trick.
- In a stand mixer, mix the cooked egg white-sugar mixture on medium low (4 on the KitchenAid stand mixer) until it gets foamy. Then mix on medium (6 on KA) until soft peaks form. Turn it up to medium high (8 on KA) until stiff peaks.
- Add the almond flour and powdered sugar mixture into the stand mixer bowl and mix on the lowest setting, just enough to incorporate the dry ingredients in.
- At this point, you can either choose to make plain, round macaron shells, or attempt to make Baby Yoda macaron shells. If you choose plain, you can skip to step #7. If you go with Baby Yoda, divide up your macaron batter into two smaller bowls, with 2/3 of it in one, and the other 1/3 of it in the other.
- In the bowl with the 2/3 batter, add some food coloring gel to make it look tan. This will really depend on the brand and color you use, but for me, I use Cake Craft's food coloring gel. For the tan, I used two drops of java brown, 1 drop of sunset orange, and 1 drop of sunset yellow. In the 1/3 batter bowl, add some food coloring gel to make it look green. I used 2 drops of rustic green and 1 drop of sunset yellow. I like this brand because a little goes a long way. We use more batter for the tan one because the bottom shell of the macaron will just be all brown. You only really need Baby Yoda's face and body to be distinguishable on the top half of the macaron.
- With a rubber spatula, fold the macaron batter until it reaches a lava-like consistency.
- Pipe the batter into a lined baking sheet. I highly recommend using a template. Even when I do plain, round macaron shells, I always use a template because my piping is not very stable. Let it rest for at least 40 minutes until it forms a bit of skin on the top.
- Preheat your oven to 300°F.
- Bake the macarons for 15 minutes.
- While your macaron shells bake, mix the softened unsalted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and matcha powder in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to make your buttercream filling. If the buttercream is too stiff, add milk 1 tbsp at a time. Chill until you're ready to fill your macarons.
- Before filling, make sure your macaron shells are cool, otherwise your buttercream might melt. If the macaron shells are ready, pipe the buttercream on to half of the shells (or all your designated bottom shells) and top with another shell. Enjoy!
There’s not really a golden ratio for the macaron shells. However, I did end up stumbling upon a ratio of the ingredients that works for me, specifically for the Swiss meringue method. Feel free to use the calculator below (coded with the mentioned ratio) by entering the weight of your egg whites in grams. It will then provide you with the weight in grams for the almond flour, caster sugar, and powdered sugar.
// ON THE SCENE
- Bottom backdrop: Replica Surfaces — Biscotti Linen
- Props: safety grater, bucket, dried flowers