DIY: Macaron Tower

When planning a fabulous baby shower for a truly fabulous mother-to-be, a fabulous dessert is completely necessary.  

When Sarah Lagrotteria (of Apples and Onions) announced her pregnancy, it seemed only natural that her Los Angeles baby shower would be spearheaded by her partner (in both business and crime), Lydia  Ellison Howerton (also of Apples of Onions).  Lydia rounded up a group of gals, myself included, to begin planning the event. It was a wonderful group effort.  

With a literary woodland forest theme, we knew there would be wood stumps, tiny woodland creatures, vintage children's books, lots of whimsical moss, ladybugs, and butterflies. My efforts were focused on location, menu, and dessert planning. I recruited my amazingly talented sister, Boo (known professionally as RW Simms), to design the menus.

I next called on my friends over at Rockenwager Bakery to whip up the French macarons that I would later turn into towers.  I opted to make decorative towers (non-edible) and then offer platters of macarons for guests to enjoy. Here's where the Do-it-yourself part comes in. 

What you'll need:

75-100 macarons

foam cone(s) 

tooth picks

decorative moss (optional)

adhesive glue (optional)

decorative butterflies (optional)

How-to: 

1.  I used macaron halves to make my towers because they go twice as far as using whole ones and look just as great. So carefully split your macarons in half and remove the filling. 

2. Next insert tooth picks into the foam cone at a 45 degree angle and then push macaron halves onto the picks. Continue in a circle going all the way up the cone. Start all of your rows in the same place as there will be a small gap in back of the cone where all the rows don't perfectly line up. 

3. Next you can use a toothpick to push moss into all of the gaps between the macarons - adhesive glue helps with the larger sections like the bottom and back of the cone. Lastly, attach your butterflies. 

4. Continue process with other cones in other sizes or just make one big tower...it all depends on the look you are going for!