In preparation for Valentines Day I thought I would combine two very popular baked goods into one tasty little bite. Red Velvet Macarons with a piece of Red Velvet Cake sandwiched between a luscious cream cheese frosting.
Who could have ever imagined that a piece of cake inside of a macaron would make it even more decadent?!?!
(I took this picture before I mastered the assembly part... keep reading and you will see how I managed to assemble the macarons a bit neater.)
I can't wait for Valentine's Day. It combines my favorite things: true love, friendship, and anything sweet! (Did anyone read 'True love' and do the voice from the movie 'The Princess Bride'?... because I definitely did!)
These macarons are just the beginning of what is to come for my Valentine's Day inspired goodies.
I will say making macarons is not easy. If you are a beginner, make sure you have plenty of time and energy before attempting them. Also go back to one of my previous posts that gives step-by-step instructions on how to make the best most perfect macarons every time.
The macarons do take some time but the actual cake part that goes inside the macaron is super easy. I had it ready to go in the oven within 20 minutes. It could have been less but I used this time to bake with my daughter and have her practice measuring out ingredients.
For the cake here is everything that I used:
Everything pictured was bought at a German grocery store or ordered through amazon.de
(except the eggs which were bought directly from a local farm just a 15 minute from our home)
And here is everything for the frosting:
(I also used some vanilla and salt which is featured in the 1st picture)
The cake is pretty standard and came out light and fluffy with just a hint of chocolate.
Look how small my oven is AND this is considered a big oven for German standards. Another reason why I have two ovens (also relatively unheard of in Germany). This oven is actually titled 'Maxi' because it is about 2 inches wider than a standard German oven. Sometimes, I miss my old American giant ovens, but I have become so used to these that somehow we always make it work.
It is also ok that the finished baked cake (pictured 2nd) is not completely even. We are punching out little circles and no one will know. That is why I didn't spend a ton of time making it absolutely perfect.
Normally, I would start on my macaron shells while I have something in the oven, but I hate making macarons when my kids are around. I love them, duh, but macarons take SO much concentration. Every gram and every second counts. So, I waited until my youngest took a nap and my oldest who is 7 decided to take a nap too! Earlier, they played in the freezing cold and it was drizzling on and off rain for about an hour. They were so exhausted that they went straight to bed without wanting lunch. I'm not a terrible parent, we all had a pretty big brunch so it is not like my kids are going hungry. And here in Germany we have a saying, 'There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.' Meaning, dress your kids and yourself to match the weather and go outside in the fresh air. Back in America, we would NEVER go outside if the weather was bad. Here we are outside almost every day. It is just normal and I feel like my mental health would suffer if we didn't go out as much as we do. Having a dog is definitely a plus. Long walks in the vineyards melt away any stress of the day.
Seriously, could it be more pretty where we live! Kiedrich, Germany is the perfect fairytale wine town that is close enough to major cities like (15 minutes) Wiesbaden, (15-20 minutes) Mainz, and (45 minutes away) Frankfurt. But far away enough that we don't hear any traffic and the kids can play outside on the streets. It's like if the America suburbs and vineyard countryside had a baby that would be our town... oh and add in the fact that our town was discovered around 950 and that tower, Burg Scharfenstein, in the above picture was built in 1131.
Once my kids were asleep and my husband was busy working out in the basement it was time to switch on the classical musical, tie on my apron and get to work.
In the pictures below you can see each step from after the macarons were directly piped to finished baking. For the frosting, I do not have any major tips except that you need to make sure it is nice a stiff. You can not pipe soft or loose cream cheese frosting because it will not set properly. Here is a picture of my frosting before I piped it.
Then to the assembly.
This took some trial and error. I finally realized the best way is to put a little frosting onto the shell. place the cake on top, then cover the cake with more frosting. Then using your fingers; squish the sandwich as best as possible so it is not SO tall. But be careful not to crack your shells. Then take an off-set spatula and wipe away any frosting that spills out.
Here is my favorite part. The extra cake! My kids were still sleeping and I was able to sneak a few bites, alone, in peace and quiet, with my fresh cup of coffee. Pure bliss!
Then, I ran into my basement and took out my cookie cutters and I thought stars would be cute. With the extra frosting I made me kids little Red Velvet Cake Star Sandwiches.
These were the perfect mid afternoon sweet treat that my kids devoured in a matter of minutes!
AND that left my husband and I more macarons just for us. (HAHAHAHAHA... evil laugh)
Well at least that is what I thought until they snagged a few when I wasn't looking.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Comments