Macaron Cake – A Show-stopping Twist on Classic Macarons

After making hundreds of macarons in different flavours, colours and fillings, I started asking myself a simple question: what if I turned them into a cake? As someone who loves both patisserie and celebration bakes, creating a Macaron Cake felt like the perfect next step in my macaron journey.

This time I took inspiration from Valentine’s Day but the beauty of a Macaron Cake is that the same principles can be adapted for birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers or any occasion. Change the colour, switch the filling, play with decorations and you have a completely new centrepiece.

In this post, I’ll show you why a Macaron Cake is such a wonderful idea and exactly how I made two different designs: a romantic raspberry round cake and a heart-shaped blueberry coconut version.

Why make a Macaron Cake?

A Macaron Cake keeps everything we love about traditional macarons – the delicate shell, the chewy centre, the flavour contrast but adds drama and generosity.

Because it’s large, you can add more filling, include fresh fruit, mix textures and decorate far more creatively. It’s elegant, unexpected and always gets attention at the table.

Macaron Cake shells – method & technique (Swiss method)

Your Macaron Cake uses exactly the same batter as standard macarons. The only real difference is the piping template and the baking time may be a touch longer.

For a 6-inch cake, this quantity works beautifully.

Ingredients for the shells

• 60g egg whites (fresh or bottled/cartoned)
• 55g caster sugar
• 70g almond flour
• 70g icing sugar
• gel or powder colouring

Method & technique

Although the size is bigger, we follow the exact same method I use for all my macarons.

Oven and equipment

Preheat your oven to 145°C (fan off). A conventional oven with top and bottom heat works best for me. If you only have a fan oven, reduce to around 140°C and test to find your sweet spot.

Prepare a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 12 round nozzle and stand it upright in a tall glass.

Line your trays with baking mats. I personally prefer teflon as it gives me consistently clean bottoms and sometimes slightly shorter baking times.

Making the Swiss meringue

Measure egg whites and caster sugar into the metal bowl of your stand mixer. Place it over a saucepan of gently simmering water, ensuring the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture feels warm (around 45°C). This usually takes 2-3 minutes.

Transfer to the mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk on speed 2 for 1-2 minutes until large bubbles disappear, then increase to speed 5 and whisk until stiff peaks form. With bottled whites, this can take around 15-20 minutes. Fresh whites whip faster.

You’re looking for:

• a firm peak in the whisk
• a solid mass in the bowl
• resistance when moving the whisk through it

Under-whipped = weak shells.

Over-whipped = dry and harder to mix.

Preparing the dry ingredients

Pulse the almond flour about 10 times to break up lumps without releasing oil. Sieve almond flour and icing sugar together and discard coarse bits. On a large macaron cake, smoothness matters even more.

Macaronage

Switch to the paddle attachment. Add all dry ingredients at once, mix on speed 1 for 10 seconds, scrape and then mix for another 15 seconds.

Finish by hand. Add food colouring.

Press the batter along the bowl and fold back to the centre. Start with a few folds then check. The batter should fall in a slow lava-like ribbon. I prefer to stop slightly early rather than risk going too far, because it will loosen more in the piping bag. Transfer to your piping bag.

Piping the Macaron Cake Layers

Place a 6-inch template under the mat.

Pipe from the centre outwards. Stop a little before the line (about 1.5cm) and tap the tray firmly. The batter will spread to the edge.

Pop the bubbles with a toothpick. Pipe two discs for your layers.

I usually pipe extra minis with leftover batter for decoration.

Baking

Bake at 145°C.

When the tray goes in, leave the door slightly open for 3 minutes to help the surface dry then close it and bake for around 21 minutes.

They are ready when the top doesn’t wobble and the base feels firm. Cool completely before removing. A properly baked macaron cake should lift away cleanly with neat feet.

Round Raspberry Macaron Cake

For this round Macaron Cake, I imagined a giant raspberry macaron – fruity, fragrant and aromatic.

Raspberry Swiss buttercream

Prepare your usual Swiss meringue buttercream. At the end, mix in:

• a dash of rum
• 2 tablespoons freeze-dried raspberry powder

Assembly

Turn one shell upside down. Pipe buttercream generously and nestle fresh raspberries around the edge. Top with the second shell. Decorate with extra berries and mini macarons.

Heart-shaped blueberry coconut Macaron Cake

For this version, I piped a full heart for the base and a ring of small hearts to sit on top. Here is the template that I created and used.

Blueberry compote

Simmer blueberries with caster sugar and lemon juice for about 15 minutes until thickened, blend smooth and cool.

Coconut ganache

Warm coconut milk, white chocolate and butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Rest for two minutes then stir smooth then chill until set.

Whisk to lighten and beat in a few spoonfuls of blueberry compote until stiff peaks and pipeable.

Assembly

Pipe onto the base heart, add the macaron ring then decorate with blueberries and extra macarons.

Serving your Macaron Cake

For clean slices, run a sharp knife under hot water, wipe dry and cut with confidence. This helps keep the shells from cracking.

Making a Macaron Cake feels like a celebration of everything you’ve learned from mastering small macarons. It’s adaptable, impressive and surprisingly straightforward once you know your batter.

And once you make one, you’ll start imagining themes for every occasion. If you bake this Macaron Cake, I’d love to see your creation.

Happy baking!