Cake Batter Macarons

Are there any two things that are more popular than cake batter-flavored sweets and macarons? They might be the two things I see most when browsing Pinterest. And with all the Pinterest browsing I do, it was only a matter of time before I combined the two things to create cake batter macarons.

I turned to my favorite macaron recipe (by Martha Stewart of course) and just jazzed it up a bit so that they would pass as cake-batter-esq. The first key to any cake batter treat is the sprinkles. I sprinkled on a few to the tops of freshly piped macarons before they hardened (you have to leave macaroons out for at least 15 minutes so that they harden slightly).

The next key to get that cake batter flavor is the filling. Macarons by themselves don’t have a ton of flavor. I did add vanilla, but most of the flavor in macarons comes from the filling. I altered a basic butter cream recipe by adding in actual cake mix. I happen to have some left over Trader Joes French Vanilla cake mix (which is the best, btw!). I whipped up the cake mix with butter and some additional powdered sugar. I also threw in some sprinkles for good measure (they are being shy in these pictures).

I loved how these turned out. They are so stinkin’ cute, aren’t they? I found these baking cups in the pantry that are the perfect size for the little cookie. These would be perfect to make for a birthday party instead of cupcakes or cake, don’t cha think?

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I have a thing for cake batter. It may be one of my favorite things on this earth. I will risk the threat of salmonella to lick a bowl clean. It would be totally worth it. If I see anything that is flavored like cake batter, I will probably eat it. Oreos? Yep. Rice Krispie Treats? Yep. Ice Cream? Definitely.

So when I had a box of Funfetti cake mix that went unused after the 4th, I decided to experiment making my own cake batter frozen yogurt, not once but twice.

Yes, I made two different recipes of cake batter frozen yogurt. The first one, well, I’m not going to lie to you, it is literally frozen cake batter. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The second is frozen yogurt flavored like cake batter. And is probably a crap ton healthier because it’s not actually cake batter.

For my first recipe, I just mixed some milk, vanilla extract, and sugar in a sauce pan over the stove until the sugar dissoved. Then poured that into my Greek yogurt, and then whisked in the cake mix. At this point, I am pretty certain you could throw it in the oven and it would turn into something like a cake. But I stuck it in the fridge to cool.

For my second recipe, I used different flavorings to try to achieve the cake batter flavor. In a sauce pan, I mixed milk, sugar, vanilla extract, pistachio extract (can be subbed for almond extract), and butter (can be subbed for butter extract) over medium heat until the sugar dissolved. Then I mixed into the Greek yogurt and put it in the fridge to cool.

At this point, both recipes undergo the same process.

Once the mixture was nice and cool, I poured it into my ice cream maker and let it churn for about 20 minutes. I let it harden in the freezer for a couple hours before serving, but that step isn’t entirely necessary if you want dig in right away.

Now, I probably would have never of bought us an ice cream maker. The only reason we have one is because B’s parents gifted it to us for Christmas. At first I thought it was really cool, but didn’t really know when I get to use it. But now that I have made a few successful batches of ice cream, I am hooked. I love knowing exactly what is going into the ice cream and using lower fat products like Greek yogurt. And it is really easy! It does require some forethought because you will probably need to let things chill, but other than that, it doesn’t take that much time. I highly recommend adding this machine to your kitchen if you are an ice cream lover like me. You will get so much use out of it!

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