Assembling the French Macaron Party Favor

Use these tips to learn how to bake, coordinate, personalize, and package your French Macaron party favors.

Baking Tips:

Since oven temperatures vary, test this recipe before your big day to ensure the cookies bake perfectly.

If the cookies crack on top, your oven might be too hot. Turn your oven down by 5-10 degrees. The cookie should have a smooth shell top.

Chose three different food colors for your cookies and decide what flavor will correspond with the color. Example: A pale green macaron filled with mint chocolate.

Gel based food-coloring works the best. Divide your batter mixture into three separate bowls, and add a different color per bowl. This will allow you to have three different colors and flavors.

Use a toothpick when adding the food coloring. A little goes a long way.

Color and Flavor Coordination:

Coordination is key--after all, you eat with your eyes first. Take that into consideration when you are making your French Macarons.

Choose three flavor and color combinations that complement each other and suit your party style. For example, if you choose the color green, complement it with mint chocolate or pistachio (very French).

Don't go crazy with too many color combinations: less is more, and simplicity is elegant.

Personalization:

Adding a personalized custom label to your favor is a sweet touch that is simple and inexpensive.

You can buy sticky label sheets from Staples and print out your own designs that you create on the computer.

Or, for something fancier, go to Zazzle.com--a terrific online label shop that has a variety of customizable label templates and colors that will be shipped to you.

Packaging:

Choosing recycled eco-friendly cardboard or a clear favor box is a creative way to show off your colorful French macarons.

Don't try to squeeze more macarons than needed, be sure that you leave enough space so that their form and texture won't be affected.

After filling these boxes with macarons, tie a satin ribbon around it, and voila! Your party favors are complete.