What To Do With Failed Macarons?

It can be frustrating to see your macarons turn out failed – hollow, cracked, lopsided, etc. Trust me, I know the pain. At first, I ate all the failed macarons but soon got sick of it because I obviously ate them way too much.

Then I came up with the idea to decorate cakes and other desserts with them. It is so easy to hide the lopsided feet by poking them into a cake and covering the cracks with the other decorations.

When the macarons are completely failed and ugly looking – do not be sad, you can still use them. Just put them into a blender and blend until dusted. You can use the dust with any dessert or cake. Here are some easy and tasty ideas on how to use failed macarons.

What To Do With Lopsided Macarons?

As lopsided macarons have uneven feet, you want to hide one part of the macaron. Fill the macarons as usual but sandwich together two lopsided shells the way that both “ugly sides” are on the one side.

Dip the ugly side into the chocolate and sprinkle for example with crushed peanuts. Let it dry and you will have beautiful and unique macarons. No one will know that the macarons were lopsided.

I like using Wilton Candy Melts for covering the macarons because it hardens fast, and is easy to use. For melting the chocolate, I highly recommend the Wilton Candy Melts Pot. I really love using it as it makes the melting process so easy and neat.

You can also use the same technique and not dip the ugly side of the chocolate – instead of that just set the macarons on the cake. Make sure to use the fluffy cream on the top of the cake or any dessert and just stick the macarons into the cream.

Set the ugly side of the macaron straight into the cream – no one will know the macaron’s shell was not perfect and your cake or dessert looks way more luxurious than before!

What To Do With Cracked Macarons?

Do not throw away your cracked macaron shells, because they can still be used! You can easily cover the cracks with melted chocolate.

Dip the cracked shell into the melted chocolate and sprinkle the crushed nuts, mini marshmallows, or coconut flakes on top as it helps to hide the cracks. Your macarons will look even cuter now and no one will notice the little cracks.

In case of small cracks, paint the macaron shell with an edible pen or use gel food coloring. In the case of using food coloring – you will need just a tiny bit of the color, mix it with water and use the little brush. Paint something cute on the macaron shell to hide the cracks.

Covering your cracked macarons with royal icing also works well. You can easily set fondant flowers or any other decoration to the royal icing and you will have the cutest macarons!

How to Use Hollow Macarons?

Hollow macarons signify that something didn’t go as planned while baking them. This happens when the air bubbles inside them haven’t expanded to create a light, fluffy texture, leaving the shells empty.

TIP: If your macarons have come out hollow after baking, I’ve got you covered! I’ve created a blog post where I discuss the most prevalent causes of why this happens and how to fix it. Don’t worry about your hollow macarons any longer! See the post here: Hollow Macarons Reasons And Fixes.

I love using the hollow macaron shells on top of the cupcakes and on the edges of the cakes. Just add the cream to the edges of the cake and glue the macaron shells to it. Your cake will look the cutest!

How to Use Overbaked and Crispy Macarons?

When macarons are overbaked, the result is a crisp and crunchy cookie that is far from ideal. However, all is not lost! With a little bit of creativity, these overbaked macarons can be transformed into delicious creations that will still wow your guests.

You can use them the same way as hollow macarons – to decorate the cake’s edges. As the macaron sticks to the edge thanks to the cream which also makes the macaron shell softer over time.

You can also put the crispy macarons in the blender to make macaron dust or just break the macaron between your fingers and sprinkle it on the ice cream. Or use it while making the ice cream – pour it into the ice cream mixture before putting it into the freezer.

I use Kitchenaid Blender for everything in my kitchen. Works very well with macaron shells. You can also use Food Chopper!

Macaron sprinkles are a good addition to the cake pop mixture as well! Just sprinkle it into the cake pop dough, mix it together, and model the tiny balls.

To make your typical breakfast a little bit fancier, sprinkle the macaron pieces over the cereal bowl – the kids will love it.

If you have eaten too many macarons and just want to throw the failed ones away – do not do that! They might not look perfect but they still taste good. Give them to your friends or family, I am sure they will be happy.

As frustrating and disappointing as it is to see your macarons fail, try to take it on the positive side – you learned a lesson, at least you tried! You have more experience now, and you will be smarter next time.

I am sure that every person who makes macarons, has had at least one complete fail while making them. Learn from your mistakes, use the failed macarons for decorations, and avoid mistakes next time. Practice is good, and in the end, you will learn the most by experiencing failures.

Enjoy your macarons!
Belli xx