Red Velvet Macarons with Mascarpone Frosting

Make these red velvet heart macarons with mascarpone frosting for your valentine! Filled with a subtly sweet, creamy mascarpone frosting, these valentine's macarons are light and decadent all at the same time. If you've never made macarons before, be sure to read all of my essential macaron rules below!

For more macaron recipes, try Pistachio Macarons, Coffee Macarons, Pumpkin Macarons, and Salted Caramel Macarons.

Ingredient Notes

• White Vinegar: To ensure that your meringue remains stable, clean and wipe down all appliances with white vinegar.
• Powdered Sugar: You’ll need powdered sugar for the macaron shells.
• Almond Flour: Be sure to use extra fine almond flour to get those super smooth shells!
• Egg Whites: You’ll need about 3 egg whites for the shells. Don’t worry about bringing them to room temperature because you’ll just heat them up over a double boiler to make a swiss meringue! 
• Granulated Sugar: The sugar is going to be added to the egg whites when making the swiss meringue for the shells. It will only take a couple minutes for the sugar to dissolve into the egg whites, so whisk frequently and watch carefully! You’ll also need ¼ cup of sugar for the frosting. 
• Vanilla Paste: Add a touch of vanilla paste to amplify the flavor!
• Food Gel: I recommend using food gel over food coloring, since it is much more potent and doesn't add too much liquid. My favorite brand is Americolor. 
• Heavy Cream: You'll need about a ½ cup of cold heavy cream. 
• Mascarpone: You'll need about a ½ cup of mascarpone for the frosting.  

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this red velvet macaron recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

STEP 1: Make the batter. In a medium bowl, sift the powdered sugar, almond flour, and cocoa powder twice. Next, heat the egg whites and granulated sugar over a double boiler until the sugar has dissolved or until the temperature is about 120 degrees F, then transfer to a standard mixer and whisk until the meringue reaches soft peaks. Add the vanilla paste and food gel and continue mixing until stiff peaks form. Fold in ⅓ of the dry ingredients at a time, scraping the sides until fully combined.

STEP 2: Pipe. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a small round piping tip (I used Ateco 802). Place your macaron template under another piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and pipe perpendicular to fill in each heart. Carefully remove the template and tap the baking sheet on the on counter a few times in order to release any air bubbles. It also helps to bang on the bottom of the baking sheet with your hand. 

STEP 3: Rest and bake. Let the macarons rest for about 30-40 minutes, or until they are dry and no batter comes away when you touch them. Toward the end of the resting time, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Bake the macarons for about 12 minutes. Allow to cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet.

STEP 4: Assemble. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the heavy cream, sugar, mascarpone, and vanilla. Whisk on low speed until fully combined, then turn up to medium high speed until thick (only about 30 seconds). Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. Pair the macaron shells up and pipe the frosting onto the bottom shell, then place the paired shell on top, pressing down slightly to ensure they stick together. 

Expert Baking Tips

• The flavor of macaron shells develop more by the second day, so I recommend making them the day before and chilling them overnight, then assemble the next day. 
• If you have trouble peeling the macarons off of the parchment once they have cooled, pop them into the freezer for a few minutes and they should come off easily.  

My 6 Essential Macaron Rules

1. Wipe down all bowls and appliances with white vinegar. This will ensure that everything is spotlessly clean and nothing will hinder the stability of the meringue. 
2. Beat the meringue until STIFF peaks form. The best way to test this is to turn the bowl upside down to make sure that the meringue is stable enough and does not move at all. 
3. SIFT SIFT SIFT! You need to sift the powdered sugar and almond flour twice to get those smooth macaron shells!
4. Mix the batter with a silicone spatula by circling around and straight through the middle. Once all of the dry ingredients are incorporated, deflate the macaron batter by spreading it against the sides of the bowl. This will ensure that the shells do not come out hollow.
5. Test the consistency of the batter frequently by drawing a figure eight with the silicone spatula. You should be able to draw a figure eight a few times in a row without the batter breaking. This is how you know the batter is ready to be piped onto a baking sheet. 
6. Allow the macarons to rest long enough before going into the oven. I would recommend 30-40 minutes of rest time before baking. As they rest, a skin forms on the surface, which is what forces the macarons to bake upwards and grow feet!

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x