Decorating Tip: A Touch Of Blue Makes White

I'm making lots and lots of French macarons filled with dark chocolate, toasted coconut and coconut buttercream for a wedding this weekend.

I wanted the macaron shells to be white so I used a decorating tip that I learned nearly 20 years ago when I was writing an article on homemade wedding cakes for The Yakima Herald Republic and interviewing wedding cake decorators.

The tip I learned is that just the smallest touch of blue coloring whitens a buttercream. The reason behind this is that blue is the complementary color of yellow, the color of the butter, so adding the blue negates the yellow and turns the buttercream white.

For the article I made my very first wedding cake. When it was done, I was so anxious for someone besides myself to see it that I called my dad who was at work.  It was in the middle of the afternoon but my dad, understanding my need to show off the cake, drove over to my house just to see it. He even brought his co-worker with him which I thought was so sweet.

The macaron batter is yellowish from the almond meal so the touch of blue trick worked like a charm. You have to be careful though to not add too much. All you need is to put the tiniest amount of blue coloring on the end of a toothpick and just touch the batter lightly with it. Then, mix the batter and watch the magic happen.

After baking the macaron shells I filled them with dark chocolate, toasted coconut and coconut buttercream. I love how these turned out.

The piped macarons.

After baking.

The shells, sorted into pairs.

Filling the macarons.

All done!