DIY Macaron Tower

Macaron towers for special occasions are becoming increasingly popular. Zumbo's macaron tower costs $400 for 120 pieces! When I was asked to make a macaron tower for one of my best friend's birthday, I searched online for the best ways to build a tower. The most popular seemed to be the toothpick option, stick toothpicks into the styrofoam cone, and then into a macaron shell - but I found this really fiddly. Not only did the mac's fall off easily, but it was hard to place exactly perfectly in the right spot. Another option was to coat a big plastic bowl in melted chocolate and then quickly stick the macarons on?! I can't make fun of that option too much because that's what inspired my idea...

Equipment: 

1 x styrofoam cone

Aluminium foil

Stick tape

Cake decorating table (optional)

Sugar

Saucepan

Chopstick (or whatever utensil you find easiest to use)

Macarons (preferably with a ganache filling or similar, not a butter cream filling that may melt and cause the shells to slide down!)

Method:

1. Wrap aluminium foil around the cone (shiny face down). Tape it down with some sticky tape.

2. Place the cone onto a cake decorating table. This makes it easier to rotate the cone around when sticking on the macs. This step isn't essential - but just makes it a lot easier!

3. Melt some sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.

4. Starting from the base of the cone, dab some of the caramel on the back of a mac and stick it down in place. Repeat until you have finished the first row.

5. When you start the second row, make sure you place the first mac down in between two of the bottom macs (like laying bricks). This ensures you don't have big gaping holes in your tower.

6. Repeat all the way up to the top. If you aren't happy with where you have placed a mac, or for whatever reason you want to remove it, wait for the caramel to set and you should be able to peel it straight off the foil. Depending on the state of your mac, you might be able to reuse it - or replace it with a new one. Of course the downside to this option is that you will slightly affect the taste of the macaron by having some caramel on the back, but in my opinion, this method looked so much better than my toothpick attempt!

Looking for a macaron recipe? Check out this lemon meringue macaron recipe here