Rainbow Unicorn Macaron Carousel on Chocolate Drip Cake

September was a month of chocolate drip cake and this was the third one I made in a month because it is really delicious! This is a special birthday bake because it's a combined birthday celebration for two girls who love unicorns and rainbows!

I used the Swiss meringue method to make the macarons as there are many colours involved. I must admit that it was really time consuming to pipe the unicorns. But the effort is quite worth it! The template for the pink carousel frame can be found in my Creative Baking: Macaron Basics book. You may use Italian method for making these macarons too as it also produces the same smooth finishing as Swiss method.

Just to share some photos of the process of putting together the carousel.

Freshly baked macaron shells

I painted the number 8 and unicorn horns using gold lustre dust dissolved in a little vodka. I filled in the eyes and hooves with edible markers

I filled the unicorns and the outer ring of the carousel frame filling with strawberry white chocolate. I filled the middle of the carousel frame with dark chocolate ganache (didn't take photo of it).

Filling with strawberry white chocolate

Completed carousel! 

Ever since I discovered that I can incorporate some cocoa butter into macaron filings that are white chocolate based, I have been adding it to make a firm filling while at the same time making it less sweet. Here's the revised strawberry white chocolate filling recipe that is firm enough for structures like macaron carousel.

Strawberry white chocolate recipe
Ingredients:
70g white chocolate, finely chopped or use chips
10g cocoa butter
20g vegetable shortening
1/8tsp salt
1.5 tsp strawberry emulco

Steps:
1. Place chocolate, cocoa butter and shortening in a microwave safe bowl and heat at medium-low power for 20sec and mix well. Repeat until mixture is smooth and melted. Be careful not to overheat. Alternatively, you may use double boiling method over a pot of freshly boiled water (but off the heat).

2. Add salt and mix well. Add strawberry psste/emulco half a tsp at a time and mix well with each addition.

3. Leave the mixture to firm up on the counter top until toothpaste consistency, about 20-40min. Transfer into piping bag to fill the shells.

I made a platform out of jumbo straws as dowels and a small cakeboard as the stand to place the carousel on top. The carousel is heavy enough that it's not advisable to place it directly on the cake.

I used Royal icing to pipe the names too! 

I hope this combination of unicorns, rainbow and delectable chocolate puts a smile on your face as it did to mine 😊.

With love,
Phay Shing