How to make the prettiest cottage core rose macarons using wet on wet piping

Honestly these Cottagecore rose macarons might be the prettiest macarons I've ever made. Are they cottage core? I'm not sure we used to call it shabby chic. Anyhoo those sweet roses are piped into the still wet macaron batter with different coloured macaron batter. I was so happy when it worked and I ended up with super shiny deliciously gorgeous patterned shells.

They are definitely the macarons of my dreams. It is so satisfying when the piped mixture falls back down into the shells.

I was so excited I even made a 5 minute Youtube video showing how I made them which includes mixing up the macaron batter so you can easily follow along and make your own here. Like I said it's a pretty short video and you can see the consistency required for the batter so I recommend watching it if you're going to try make your own macarons (patterned or not).

I filled these ones with a white chocolate rose ganache to match in with the rose decorated shells. I also did a version with a whipped white chocolate buttercream and raspberry puree centre for Mother's Day which was reminiscent of Devonshire tea and totally delicious..

They do require a little bit of work and I'm not sure every macaron recipe will work. Some of the recipes out there are different batter consistency to mine and as a result the piped roses will not fall back into the shells as well, so I've included the exact recipe I used which is the same recipe I've used for 15 years, modified slightly over the years. While I had a cafe I made thousands of these gorgeously delicious treats and fine tuned the recipe until it was no-fail for me.

I've already made up a few more batches of these wet on wet designs to share with you so check back to see all the macaron gorgeousness over the coming weeks.

XX

Linda 

Cottagecore Macarons (wet on wet instructions - see also my YouTube video)

Mix up macaron batter. I've included my recipe for Italian meringue macarons below. Just before the batter is ready spoon out a small amount into 2 small bowls around 1/3 cup in one and 1/2 cup in the other.

Colour the large portion sky blue, and then colour the 1/3 bowl green (I used one drop mint green), then colour the 1/2 cup pink (I used one drop) then split a small amount of the pink into another bowl and put another drop of pink to make it a darker hue of pink. Put all the batter into seperate piping bags. 

Batter waiting to be piped. I made my own parchment bags for the small amounts

Pipe the main batter onto trays lined with parchment paper. I did one tray at a time so the macarons did not start to form skins.

Once you have the blue macaron shells piped, tap the tray on the counter to remove any air bubbles and then pipe 3 light pink dots (see picture 1 in the collage below).

Using the darker pink pipe a curve or c on top of each light pink dot. (see picture 2 in collage below)

Using a toothpick, skewer or scribing tool swirl in little circles back and forth to look like little rose swirls (see picture 3 in collage).

Pipe little leaves on the sides of each rose by piping a dot then letting go of the pressure on the piping bag and pulling the bag out sideways (see picture 4 in collage below) My leaves fell into the batter, however you might need to pipe a dot and use the scribing tool to pull the 'leaves' outward. 

Repeat for remaining batter and then allow to rest on the trays until set (see picture 5 in collage below).

Linda's Macaron Shells makes around 40-50 shells or 20-25 filled macarons. See below macaron recipe for simple instructions for ganache filling.

150 gram (5 +1/4 oz)almond meal (almond flour)
150 gram pure icing sugar (5 +1/4 oz powdered sugar)
150 gram granulated sugar (5 +1/4  oz) 
37 grams water (1 +1/4 oz)
110 gram (3 + 7/8oz) egg whites aged split into 2 lots of 55grams each (2 lots of 1 + 7/8 oz each)
food color of choice (I used sky blue, pink and mint green gel type food colour)

*ageing egg whites refers to separating the yolks from whites and then leaving the whites to age for a few days. This can be done on the counter if your countries climate permits or in the fridge, wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and then pop a few holes in the top. Alternately you can pop fresh egg whites in the microwave on high for 10 seconds or so - I used the aging on counter method in this batch pictured. 

1. Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together and pulse a few times in food processor to make almond meal finer. Do not over process as the meal can become oily. Sieve into a large bowl. Add colour and 55g (1 + 7/8 ounce) of the egg whites to the sugar/almond mixture but don’t mix in.

2. Place remaining 55g (1 + 7/8 ounce) of egg whites in bowl of mixer fitted with the whisk.

3. Pop granulated sugar and water into saucepan, stir to combine and cook without stirring to 118 C (245F). Brush down the sides of the saucepan with a pastry brush dipped in water as required to avoid sugar crystallising. Make sure you have a pouring shield on your mixer, once the syrup has reached 118C pour in a thin stream down the side of the mixer bowl continuing to whisk on medium low.

4. Continue to whisk the meringue on high until the side of the bowl is only a little warm to touch, around 50C (120 F).

 

5. Add meringue mixture to almond mixture and using a large spatula fold the mixture together until it starts to shine and forms. If you run the spatula through the mixture it should form a ribbon that disappears back into the mixture after about 20 seconds.

6. Add the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip (or just cut the end of a disposable piping bag, that's what I do) and pipe in lines onto parchment lined baking sheets. To make the macarons as even as possible I apply a constant slow pressure to the piping bag and count a few numbers like up to 3 for each one. 

7. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until the macarons have formed a skin so that the macaron mixture does not stick to your finger when gently touched. If the weather is humid this step may take longer up to 2 hours. I pop on the aircon if it's humid at my house.

8. Meanwhile preheat oven to 130-135C (275 F) fan forced. Once ready bake the macaroons for around 19-23 minutes depending on size, it may take less of longer, all ovens are different. If they are baked and you gently push on the side the tops will not move, if the tops do move bake for another minute or 2. Also they should not be browned if they are reduce the heat for the next batch or bake for less time.

9. Once baked remove the baking trays and immediately slide off the macarons and the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

10. Once cooled match disks into like sizes and sandwich together using the ganache.

Ganache Recipe

To make ganache melt white chocolate with cream in the microwave for 2 minutes on high and mix gently until combined, use a ration of 3:1, so for example 240 grams (8+1/2 oz) white chocolate to 80 grams (2 + 7/8 oz) cream. Add some gel color and rose oil/flavor to taste.

Original photos and recipe from the Bubble and Sweet blog ©Linda McCubbin 2025. I love when people share my blog ideas and give credit. Please feel free to link back to my blog for non commercial purposes or contact me. Affiliate links and adds may earn me money, however all ideas and opinions are my own.

Perfect soft boiled eggs

What is the secret to a perfect soft boiled egg? I find that most recipes are a bit out of date now that we mostly use extra large eggs to eat rather than the old standard of large.

I get the eggs out of the fridge for a few minutes and then bring the water to a gentle simmer (low boil), add the extra large eggs using a large spoon to gently drop the to the bottom of the saucepan and cook for just 5 minutes. Then remove drain away the hot water and run under cold water for a minute to stop the cooking.

Of course everything always tastes better when it's served on something pretty and at the moment we are using Greengate stoneware range for breakfast with glasses from Daiso the discount store.

We love to mix and match the egg cups, I find the Greengate range seems to work well and I can use my older Lulu Mint egg cups with the Summer White plates. My new favourite Simone White latte cup looks perfect in the mix.

If you have a better way to cook eggs be sure to let me know.

Stockists
Plates and Egg Cups - Greengate from Simply Sweet Home
Glass - Only $2.80 each from Daiso discount stores

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the Children's cookbook Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! Published in the USA in 2011 the book is still available at Amazon and many online bookstores.

Affililate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog.

The owner of Simply Sweet Home is my SIL.

Original ideas, photography and recipes Linda Vandermeer please do not reuse without permission.

How to make Pretty Shabby Chic Cookies

Mothers day is just about here and I thought I would share how to make these lovely sweet shabby chic inspired cookies.

I designed these cookies a while back for my lovely friend Jo's birthday high tea celebrations.

I truly love them and they are so pretty that you can use them for so many occasions. Plus of course you can change the colours (like I have in the photo's from pink to light blue) to suit any party scheme.

If you don't like fondant (or marshmallow fondant) of course you can always do a royal icing base instead of the embossed fondant and then just pop the frilled oval and flower decoration on top.

Pretty GreenGate tins from Mollegaarden Denmark

Not Too Shabby Cookies
Don't worry too much if you don't have the exact flower cutters, for example you could use a small blossom cutter in place of the small daphne cutter in a pinch.

Free video tutorial link:

Fancy square plaque cookie cutter (see link at end of post for example)
Fancy square plaque cookies (CLICK HERE FOR COOKIE RECIPE)
Patchwork quilting embosser (see link at end of post for example)
Cornflower/ cornstarch
Brush and water
small rolling pin
fondant (pink, blue, white)
Dark pink sugar flowers (Click here for tutorial)
Frilled oval cutter
Daphne plunger cutter (see link at end of post for example)
Flower/leaf shaping tool
Royal icing - White in piping bag with plain round tip (#2)
Royal icing - Bright green (I used Americolor Electric Green) in piping bag with leaf tip (#65)
** Remember that fondant dries out quickly so cover in plastic wrap while not in use and knead before rolling out.

Dust the workbench with cornflower/cornstarch and roll out the pink fondant. Press the fancy square plaque cutter into the fondant to cut out the shape.

Brush the cookie lightly with water and place the fondant on top of the cookie, press gently into place using the rolling pin.

Take the embosser and place it on top of the cookie, ensuring that it is evenly aligned with the top.Press down firmly with even pressure all around the cookie surface, lift the embosser off. If the fondant lifts, press it lightly back down in place.

Roll out the white fondant and use the frilled oval to press out a shape.

Lightly brush water in the middle of the cookie and place the oval in the middle of the cookie.

Use the sharp edge of the leaf shaping tool to pop a hole in each curve around the edge of the oval shape (see picture).

Roll out the blue fondant, cut out three small daphne flower shapes using the plunger. Use the leaf tool on each of the petals to press a 'vein' indent in the middle.

Secure the dark pink flower and the three blue daphne flowers in place with a dot of royal icing.

Pipe a center dot of royal icing in each of the blue daphne flowers. Then pipe a white dot of royal icing at each intersection of the quilting embossed design on the pink fondant (that is the corners where the lines meet).

Pipe a few leaves around the flowers using the green royal icing with the #65 leaf tip by placing the tip on the cookie where you would like the leaf to start at a 45degree angle, apply light pressure to the piping bag and pull the tip away from the surface moving slightly up and down parallel to the cookie. Release the pressure on the bag while continuing to pull the tip away to form a pointed edge.

Allow the decorations to set.

Decorated cookies can be made up to a week ahead stored in an airtight container.



Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Affiliate links may earn me money and contribute to supporting this blog.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission. 

A modern shabby chic corner

It's been a year now since I put in my new creative space, so I thought I would show you a bit of an update on the corner I've been adding to lately.

I had some extra stuff sitting around - some Ikea chairs we got from the clearance corner for $15 around 20 years ago, a 10 year old Ikea mirror (there are pic's of it on the wall in the before photo's of the creative space) and a couple of pieces of furniture from Loot I picked up in the last few months.

As I'm going with a modern shabby chic look I thought I would give most of it a bit of a paint to match it in with the rest of the stuff I have.

Paint notes - Ikea chair Taubmans Melody Mint, sideboard Dulux seafoam

It's not so much that I must have Ikea furniture, 

it's more that they are 5 minutes down the road and have free child care. 

Other furniture shops take note what some mums will do to for a few minutes of quite.

I'm using the draws in the sideboard as ribbon storage at the moment until I come up with a better idea. I just cut up some pieces of wooden dowel to the size of the draw, stuck it through the middle of the ribbons and popped the whole lot into the draws. I stuck down the ends of each ribbon so they don't untangle, it's not perfect but it's working for now.

 small bowls from Greengate

Oh and check out this super cute bird topped twine spool and scissors I picked up at Holy Sheet Springwood. Oh my goodness - cuteness much???

If you did not see my original creative space transformation make sure you click here and check it out. Eeek the before photo's are totally embarrassing, but I feel comfortable with y'all so I'm ok with you taking a peek.

Oh and make sure you check out the latest issue of  Tickle the Imagination magazine. I have a marshmallow recipe on page 67. It only took me 8 goes until I was happy with it....phew, I never thought I might be tired of marshmallow but even I have limits to how much sweet soft billowy clouds of yumminess I can eat :)

CLICK HERE to link to the free online magazine and my recipe.

Rose marshmallow variation pictured

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.

Chocolate dipped mint variation link to recipe above

How to make simple sugar blossoms flowers from fondant

I'm feeling super generous so today I am going to share one of my secret decorating weapons with you, something I turn to when I need a quick fix but don't have a lot of time or money to spare.

Sweet sugar blossoms.

I've done up a quick and easy tutorial showing how simple it is to make up these sugar blossoms from fondant. Once you make them you can use to dress up anything from cupcakes, to cookies, or marshmallows and cakepops.

Yup pretty much anything you like.

There's no big trick to these flowers, just a few tools, a couple of practice runs and you will be on your way to creating a sweet posy of blossoms yourself.

They are so quick and easy to make I usually make more than I need and store them ready to use when I need a little extra something to brighten a treat up.

The step by step photo instructions are below plus I've even made a super fast YouTube tutorial up so you can watch me. Well watch my waist and arms :)


Oh and it would be super neat if you could take the time to follow me on Pintrest, Instagram or Bloglovin.

DIY Simple Sugar Blossoms

Equipment and Ingredients
White Fondant
Pink Fondant
Pink edible petal dust
cornflour (cornstarch)
Small plastic rolling pin
5 petal blossom cutter
Ball tool
dry clean brush
Separate clean bush and wateror edible glue
Non stick pad
flower formers (I use a small artists palette)
 

Dust a workbench with a little cornflour (cornstarch) and knead the fondant until pliable.

Redust the workbench if necessary and roll out the fondant until around 1mm (16") or so in thickness. You may like to lift the fondant and turn a little to ensure it is not sticking.

Using the blossom cutter, press into the thinly rolled fondant to cut out the blossom shapes. Place the cut out shapes on the non stick foam.

Use the ball tool to softly roll around each petal to thin it out and make it a cup shape.

Dust the flower formers with a tiny amount of cornflour (cornstarch) and place the shaped fondant blossoms into them to set/dry.

Once they are dry brush lightly with the petal dust using the clean dry brush. I start in the centre and dust outwards lightly on each petal. Remove any excess dust carefully with a soft bristle brush.

Roll 3 small balls from the pink fondant for each flower and adhere 3 small balls of fondant in the center of each flower with a very small amount of water.

Once dry the flowers can be used immediately or stored for a number of weeks until required. I store mine in airtight containers. Some people like to pop little packets of food safe silica gel in the containers.

The above pictures and post are original works and the property of Linda Vandermeer.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Shabby Chic Raspberry Chocolates

 

I've had an idea for a while that I would like a pretty garden tea party with the kids, we used to do it all the time but lately we seem to be too busy.

So this week we are slowing down.

Taking the time to take deep breaths.

Enjoying each other and simple fun things.

and not spending too long writing long blog posts.

Enjoy these pictures and know that although they look fantastic these little sweets take next to no time to make.

I found the little papers at a discount store they were $2 for 150 even plain papers would work, once you fill them and pop a pretty flower on top. Oh or polka dot papers would be cute too.

Oh did you know I'm on Instagram, as though you can't tell from the picture above ;)

Follow me on Instagram

 
Raspberry Cream Chocolates makes around 18 mini cups

 200 g (7oz) white chocolate
30g (approx 1oz) cream
1/2 tsp raspberry flavour
pink (or colour of choice the pink I used is Sugarflair dusky pink)
Optional - sugar flowers for decorating

  I use this raspberry essence oil

Place mini cupcake liners onto a flat baking tray.

Place white chocolate and cream in an microwave safe bowl, swirl around so the cream coats the chocolate. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Use a fork or whisk to gently mix until combined and free of lumps. Add the raspberry flavour and any food colour. Spoon evenly into mini cupcake papers. Once all the mixture is in the papers lift and give the tray a few raps on the workbench to help even the tops and reduce any air bubbles.

If you are decorating with sugar flowers place them on now before the mixture has time to set.

EDIT - I now have a tutorial on how to make your own sugar blossoms - CLICK HERE for link

Allow to set before serving. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Remove from fridge 20 minutes prior to serving.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Link to Amazon:

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! 

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

 Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!