Dessert is never a bad idea. You name it: cookies, cake, or pie. But every now and then, something a bit fancier is needed for a little change. This is where gold macarons come to play. At first, they may appear difficult to make. But with this simple guide, you can become an expert on this recipe.
The thing that we love the most about Macarons is that you can customize them as per your desire. If you want a different variety, you can use a different food coloring. If you want a different taste of frosting, you can add a lavender extract, give it a blueberry taste, or even chocolaty oreo overtone will leave you obsessing. Likewise, today’s Gold Macarons recipe is a breathtaking variation. With just one taste, you’ll feel like you’re in Paris.
What’s special about Gold Macarons
This Gold macaron is ideal for any special occasion or celebration, such as a birthday, a wedding, Christmas, or New Year’s Eve. These are festive French macarons with a delicious natural nutty flavor owing to the hazelnut paste. Filled with caramelized white chocolate coupled with a perfect deep caramel undertone, this recipe is neither dull nor overly sweet. The gold macarons are embellished using an uncomplicated technique that involves painting gold glitter on them.
Important Things to Remember Before Starting
- It is recommended not to use Egg White Powder during the dry season. That is because once you pipe the macarons they will immediately dry out.
- We suggest that before using bowls, whisks, macaron pans, and silicone mats for macarons, you should wipe down each and every utensil with vinegar. This will prevent greasy particles from interfering with the meringue and the batter of our recipe.
- It is preferable to use gel food coloring over liquid alternatives. Beginners should use a minute amount of food coloring because it can change the quality of the batter. More food coloring will result in extra mixing time. Avoid airbrush food coloring. Use gel Gold food coloring or Yellow food coloring for this recipe.
- There is no standard baking temperature and time. We recommend that you first test out your oven’s settings and the optimal position of the baking tray
- It is a must to use an oven thermometer. This is because even a slight 3 degrees difference can ruin the texture of the macarons. Since the home oven’s accuracy in displaying actual temperature is not reliable, an oven thermometer is necessary.
- To avoid lopsided macarons, it is important that your baking tray is rotating constantly. If your oven does not function that way, you must rotate the baking tray 180 degrees every 5 minutes.
- The key to perfect whisking is that when the white material starts getting glossy and streaks appear, it is time to stop. When you lift your whip up, the peak should be rigid and straight up, with a tiny bend at the top but not bending to the side.
- The quality of white chocolate being used is another determining factor. We recommend using Callebaut which you can easily buy on Amazon. It has 28% cocoa butter whereas most white chocolate bars have only 20% cocoa butter.
Ingredient Notes For Gold Macarons
Almond/ Hazelnut flour
For the golden macrons, the principle is to use 50% almond flour and 50% hazelnut flour. However, if it is difficult for you to find hazelnut flour, you can use almond flour. You can also make the almond flour at home by processing them in a nut processor, but do not overdo it as the almonds may start releasing oil.
Food color
In many recipes, a golden dust luster is used to create the golden top of the Macarons. But it requires alcohol to mix it, as water may make the top soggy. However, if you want to avoid any alcoholic ingredients, you can use golden gel-based food color.
Sugar
To set the almond and hazelnut base, use icing sugar which also has some quantity of corn starch.
To make the meringue, use fine sugar which is somewhat in between the powdered sugar and granulated sugar. It supports the egg whites while beating.
For the sugar syrup, use the usual granulated sugar.
Egg white
White means only egg whites and not a yolk. If you accidentally add even a drop of yolk, dispose of the mixture and start it again. the addition of yolk will not make the meringue the desired texture and the recipe may fail. Make sure you use fresh eggs at room temperature.
Gold Macarons Storage Tips
- If you have any leftover macarons, you should store them in an airtight container. Be sure that the kid is tightly closed and no air enters the container or the macarons will get dry faster than they usually do.
- Macarons should be placed in a refrigerator especially if they have a buttercream filling, or else the cream might go rancid. However, if they are ganache macarons need not be stored in a refrigerator. Macarons can remain fresh in a Refrigerator for a maximum of 14 days.
- Another good suggestion for storing macarons in the refrigerator is to only store the shells without the filling. Shells remain fresh without filling for 4 to 6 days.
- Macarons can be frozen in a freezer for up to 6 months. However, the crunchy part of the macarons may lose its crunch and they may become soggy and wet. They will not taste as well as they would when fresh.
When you need to thaw the frozen macarons, place them in a refrigerator about 24 hours before needed. Take them out of the refrigerator and keep them at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving. This will prevent any condensation on the macaron shells.
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
- 4 Egg whites
- 5 drops Gold gel food coloring
- 100 g White granulated sugar
- 100 g Powdered sugar
- 110 g Almond flour
Ganache
- 35 g Heavy cream
- 250 g White chocolate
- 40 g Bailey’s cream
How to Make Gold Macarons?
Prepare all of the ingredients before you begin. Make sure that the piping bag you will use is big with a round decorating tip, preferably one with a 0.5 or 0.25 inches diameter.
Sieve together the powdered sugar and almond flour. You can use Blue Diamond Almond Flour or Bob’s Red Mill Flour. Set the mixture aside for now.
Put a bowl over a pan with simmering water. Add the sugar and egg whites to the bowl. Continue whisking the mixture until it is foamy and the sugar has melted completely. It will just take a few minutes. Touch the liquid between your fingertips to test, and if you feel any sugar grains, continue stirring over the water bath.
Begin whisking the mixture with the whisk attachment on low for about half a minute. Gradually increase the speed to medium. Whisk on medium for one minute, or until the mixture is white and fluffy. Increase the speed to high and whisk until firm peaks form.In this mixture, add the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour created in Step 2.
Add the gold gel coloring and start gently folding the batter with a spatula. When the batter is shiny, thick, and has a consistent flow, it’s time to stop folding. 
Transfer this mixture into a piping bag and take two baking sheets that have been linen with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat with a macaron template.
Place a piping bag at a 90-degree angle over the middle of each macaron template. Apply mild pressure and pipe for approximately 3 seconds before swiftly pulling the bag up, twisting slightly. After you’ve piped as many circles as possible, hit the trays a few times each against the counter. This will remove unwanted air bubbles.
Let the trays sit for 20 minutes so that the macarons dry out. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325 ℉. To be more careful, bake one tray at a time and make sure you rotate the tray continuously.Bake for about 15 minutes. Continue baking if the macaron is still jiggly. Allow the macarons to cool before adding the filling.
For decoration, combine some gold luster dust with any type of alcohol. The alcohol content is extremely low and will evaporate; you will not be able to taste it. Once you’ve created a paste, use a brush to paint the shells. Allow the macaron shells to dry for 30 minutes.
For the ganache, heat the Baileys and heavy cream in the microwave for 10 seconds. Take caution not to let it boil over. Pour the heavy cream over the white chocolate. Allow it to rest for 2 minutes, covered with a plate or a cloth. Gently whisk the chocolate until totally melted.
Allow it to cool down and then transfer the ganache to a piping bag. Fill the bottom shell of macarons with ganache mixture and cover the top with another shell.Gold Macarons are ready. It is recommended to mature them overnight for better taste. You can store these in the fridge for a week and in the freezer for a month. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
By standard, the recipe of the golden macarons requires almond and hazelnut flour, both of which are gluten-free alternatives to the regular All purpose flour. This is why Golden Macarons are a Gluten free dessert, but be sure to check the labels for golden food color or dust luster. The cross-contamination of food and coloring agents may cause gluten sensitivity.
You may not have piped the macarons with the correct technique. It’s true, piping the macarons is a bit tricky. You need to hold the piping bag perpendicular to the baking tray and then make even-sized circles. The mixture may also not form even circles if it has too much moisture.
You need to dry out your macarons for enough time before baking them. The drying will form a layer on the top and will not allow the expanding air to escape. If the layer on top is not thick enough, it will burst, causing the air to escape and forming cracks on the top of macarons. Dry out your macarons for 8 to 9 hours before putting them in the oven. You can also dry them in a food dehydrator for 20 minutes on the lowest temperature setting.
Gold Macarons (With White Caramel)
Ingredients
Macaron Shells
- 4 Egg whites
- 5 drops Gold gel food coloring
- 100 g White granulated sugar
- 100 g Powdered sugar
- 110 g Almond flour
Ganache
- 35 g Heavy cream
- 250 g White chocolate
- 40 g Bailey’s cream
How to Make?
- Prepare all of the ingredients before you begin. Make sure that the piping bag you will use is big with a round decorating tip, preferably one with a 0.5 or 0.25 inches diameter.
- Sieve together the powdered sugar and almond flour. You can use Blue Diamond Almond Flour or Bob’s Red Mill Flour. Set the mixture aside for now.
- Put a bowl over a pan with simmering water. Add the sugar and egg whites to the bowl. Continue whisking the mixture until it is foamy and the sugar has melted completely. It will just take a few minutes. Touch the liquid between your fingertips to test, and if you feel any sugar grains, continue stirring over the water bath.
- Begin whisking the mixture with the whisk attachment on low for about half a minute. Gradually increase the speed to medium. Whisk on medium for one minute, or until the mixture is white and fluffy. Increase the speed to high and whisk until firm peaks form.In this mixture, add the sifted powdered sugar and almond flour created in Step 2.
- Add the gold gel coloring and start gently folding the batter with a spatula. When the batter is shiny, thick, and has a consistent flow, it’s time to stop folding.
- Transfer this mixture into a piping bag and take two baking sheets that have been linen with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat with a macaron template.
- Place a piping bag at a 90-degree angle over the middle of each macaron template. Apply mild pressure and pipe for approximately 3 seconds before swiftly pulling the bag up, twisting slightly. After you’ve piped as many circles as possible, hit the trays a few times each against the counter. This will remove unwanted air bubbles.
- Let the trays sit for 20 minutes so that the macarons dry out. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325 ℉. To be more careful, bake one tray at a time and make sure you rotate the tray continuously. Bake for about 15 minutes. Continue baking if the macaron is still jiggly. Allow the macarons to cool before adding the filling.
- For decoration, combine some gold luster dust with any type of alcohol. The alcohol content is extremely low and will evaporate; you will not be able to taste it. Once you’ve created a paste, use a brush to paint the shells. Allow the macaron shells to dry for 30 minutes.
- For the ganache, heat the Baileys and heavy cream in the microwave for 10 seconds. Take caution not to let it boil over. Pour the heavy cream over the white chocolate. Allow it to rest for 2 minutes, covered with a plate or a cloth. Gently whisk the chocolate until totally melted.
- Allow it to cool down and then transfer the ganache to a piping bag. Fill the bottom shell of macarons with ganache mixture and cover the top with another shell.Gold Macarons are ready. It is recommended to mature them overnight for better taste. You can store these in the fridge for a week and in the freezer for a month. Enjoy!
