Funfetti Cookie Dough Macarons

     Life is crazy as a sophomore.  I can't even spell "sophomore" without spell check helping me.  Since when was there an "o" in there? Since when was I in tenth grade? Someone transport me back to freshman year, please. 

      I'm stressed out sometimes.  Looking at pictures of sprinkles and macarons makes me happier, though. 

   I know my photography isn't that great, but that was nice.  Too bad the macarons are all gone now.  

   Here's how you can make them.

Make a basic vanilla macaron batter. 

Pipe it on parchment lined baking sheets and sprinkle sprinkles on top. Let rest, then bake.

Make cookie dough. Subtract eggs. Add sprinkles and chocolate shavings (optional).

Fill macaron shells, then roll around in sprinkles. 

Enjoy!

P.S. Here's something else I made with sprinkles. I'll try to post the recipe soon.

Everything's okay when you have macarons.

Funfetti Cookie Dough Macarons

makes 20

adapted from Love and Olive Oil

Ingredients

For the Shells:

85 grams almond flour or finely ground almonds

150 grams powdered sugar

90 grams egg whites (from about 3 large eggs), room temperature

55 grams superfine sugar (or granulated sugar processed in a blender)

sprinkles

For Cookie Dough Filling:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

3/8 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 to 2 tablespoon heavy cream (or as needed)

grated chocolate and sprinkles (optional)

Sprinkles, for rolling

Directions:

1. Sift together almond flour and powdered sugar.
2. Place egg whites in a large bowl. Mix on medium speed until frothy, then slowly add superfine sugar, a little bit at a time with the mixer on medium speed, scraping down the side of the bowl periodically. When all the sugar has been added, increase speed to medium high and whip until meringue is firm and glossy and forms medium-stiff peaks.
3. Pour half of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and stir, folding and scraping a few times until no dry flour remains. Add the remaining flour and mix, folding and spreading the batter against the sides of the bowl just until the meringue and flour are incorporated and the batter falls off the spatula in thick ribbons.
4. Transfer the batter to a large piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip. Pipe small circles onto a parchment or silicone-mat-lined baking sheet, leaving about 1-inch of space between them.
5. Rap the baking sheet firmly on the counter, then smack the bottom of the baking sheet multiple times with your hand to remove any remaining air bubbles. If any pointy 'tips' still remain, you can gently press them down with a lightly moistened fingertip. Sprinkle with sprinkles, and set aside until the tops are dry.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, keeping an eye on them to make sure they do not brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack, then gently remove from baking sheets.
7. To prepare filling, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Mix in flour, salt, vanilla, and almond extract on low speed until incorporated. Add cream and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes, adding more cream if necessary to achieve desired consistency. Stir in grated chocolate. Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip. Gently pipe about a teaspoon of filling onto underside of half of the cooled cookies, then top with remaining cookies. Roll edges of macarons in sprinkles.
8. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to three days.

Confetti Cake from Scratch with Strawberry Buttercream

Cake before being decorated with fondant

     Back in the days before I'd ever had a home-made from-scratch birthday cake, my favorite cake was the Funfetti cake I helped my mom make from the box mix.  As my taste for box mix faded, however, one thing remained: my absolute love for sprinkles.

   I love sprinkles.  They come in every shape, size, color, and even flavor.  When I go to the grocery store and the bakery section sets out a couple of tubs of sprinkles for a dollar, I immediately grab them. (Here's something you may not know: the bakery section in your grocery store will probably sell you some sprinkles for cheap if you ask. Also, you can make your own sprinkles or buy really fun shapes like dinosaur sprinkles online.) For the cake, regular rainbow jimmies work best because they stay in the batter better and their colors spread into little bubbles of joy.

   Yes, I have a weakness for sprinkles.  So for my brother's birthday cake, I wanted to give him something fun and colorful: Funfetti cake.  Only instead of using mix, I made it from scratch, which is a million times better, trust me.  It also lacks all those bad artificial flavors and preservatives. I adapted the recipe from a standard vanilla cake recipe, and I added sprinkles and a bit of almond extract. It turned out delicious.

    This was my favorite part: dumping all the sprinkles in.  I used all the rainbow jimmies I had, and I was debating whether or not to use all of them. I ended up dumping them all in.

YES

Prepared pan

    I really like how the buttercream turned out.  Smooth, creamy, and with a very nice strawberry flavor.  It's like strawberry ice cream that doesn't melt.  Also, it goes perfectly with the cake.

Strawberry Buttercream

Frosting the Cake

   This post is all about the inside cake.  If you want to see the finished, decorated cake, check the next post.
Here's the recipe, enjoy!

Confetti Cake from Scratch

Makes one 8" 2 layer cake

adapted from Sweetapolita

Ingredients

5 large egg whites (150g), room temperature

1c whole milk (237 ml), room temperature

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

3 cups (345 g) cake flour, sifted

1 3/4 cups (350 g) sugar

1 tbs + 1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks, 170g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes and at room temperature

Rainbow Jimmies (I used 1 1/2 small bottles, 175g or 2.6oz.)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F and grease two 8" pans with butter and dust with flour.  Then add a circle of parchment paper to the bottom and butter and flour that.  Tap out excess flour.
2. In a large bowl, add sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Whisk or mix with a mixer on low until well combined and fluffy.
3. In a small bowl, mix egg whites with extracts and 1/4 cup of the milk.
4. Add cubed butter and remaining 3/4 cups milk to the dry ingredients. Mix until moistened. With a mixer on medium speed, mix for about 1.5 minutes.
5. Scraping the bowl, add the egg mixture in 3 batches. Mix for 20 seconds after each addition.
6. Add sprinkles and mix until combined.
7. Spread batter evenly among the pans. Bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Then let cool on a wire rack 10-20 minutes.
8. Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a spatula. Invert onto a wire rack and flip so it's top is facing up. Let cool completely, then wrap with plastic wrap and place in a refrigerator or freeze for 30 min before frosting.
9. Trim the tops of the cake so the layers are even.  Frost with buttercream (recipe below). Decorate if desired.
10. The cake is best eaten on the same day. (Since it's a butter cake, it can get dry if not stored properly.) Wrap with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze up to 2 months.  Enjoy!

Strawberry Buttercream

makes enough to frost and fill one cake or frost 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

4 sticks butter (1lb), at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cups (7 oz) strawberry preserves 

pinch of salt

4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

Directions

1. Beat butter for 3 minutes until fluffy.
2. Add strawberry preserves, vanilla, and pinch of salt and beat until well combined.
3. Gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy and desired consistency is reached.