Cake Batter Macarons

Recently, I was having a bit of a writer's block and took to Instagram to see what you guys thought I should make next. Well, it was a close tie between macarons and ice cream but once I announced the flavor options, you guys overwhelmingly chose cake batter macs!
I thought it was so befitting since July was my birthday month but of course, life got in the way and I couldn't get this post up until August! Sigh.

But let's face it, cake batter macs are great all year round. And now you can have your cake, and eat it as a macaron too.
I was afraid I wouldn't be able to achieve a cake batter mac that wasn't overly sweet, but my special addition of cream cheese to the frosting really balanced things out.
Have I mentioned that I am officially obsessed with the Italian method?

I honestly thought these wouldn't turn out that great due to the fact that my sugar mixture was taking too long to reach 248 degrees F and my egg whites were already at soft peaks, but incredibly enough, it's like none of that ever even happened.

Lord knows the French method would not have been as forgiving.

Cake Batter Macarons

Yield:60 macarons

Ingredients:

212 grams almond flour
212 grams powdered sugar
82 grams egg whites, for almond paste
90 grams egg whites, for meringue
236 grams granulated sugar
158 grams water

For the cake batter buttercream:
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup boxed yellow cake mix
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles

Directions:

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Set aside.

Add almond flour and powdered sugar to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine and break apart any big lumps. Sift mixture into a clean bowl. Discard any large pieces that do not pass through the sieve. Add 82 grams egg whites to the almond flour/powdered sugar mixture. Mix together with a spatula until you form a uniform paste. Set aside.

To the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment, add 90 grams egg whites. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. At the same time, add water and granulated sugar to a small saucepan. Heat on medium-heat, monitoring the temperature with a candy thermometer while you do so. Once the temperature is 248 degrees F, you'll want to switch the speed of the mixer to low, and slowly stream the hot syrup unto the mixer. Then, increase the speed to medium and beat until the meringue reaches stiff, glossy peaks.

Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the almond paste, mixing until well-incorporated. Add in the rest of the meringue, and fold until the batter is able to run off the spatula in ribbons.

Pipe 1.5 inch rounds onto the parchment paper(or silicone mat). It is helpful to use a guide here, so all your macarons are the same size. Toss some rainbow sprinkles on the tops of the macarons. Rest the macarons for 30-40 minutes, or until a skin forms.

Preheat oven to 320 degrees F. Bake macarons for 13-15 minutes. Allow macarons to cool on baking sheets before removing.

To prepare cake batter buttercream, add butter and cream cheese to a medium-sized bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth and well-incorporated. Add powdered sugar and cake mix until well-combined. Beat in heavy cream to combine, then stir in rainbow sprinkles.

To assemble the macarons, match macaron shells into pairs of similar sizes as best as you can. Pipe a round of buttercream onto the flat side of half the shells. Top with opposite shell. Refrigerate in an airtight container for 24 hours to let the flavors develop. Bring to room temperature before serving.