Initially, I had planned to use a classic, red and pink colour scheme. Then… I watched Wicked. I’ve never been a huge fan of pink and green as a colour combination (despite Nigella’s best efforts in her 2015, Simply Nigella era), but, (for obvious reasons) ever since watching the film, the combo has just been stuck in my head. Because of that, I decided to go for pink and green hearts, which actually worked well, in a Galentine’s kind-of-way, because I LOVE the friendship between Galinda and Elphaba in the film (and musical, which is actually the first musical I ever saw live!). The colour scheme then seemed to spiral into a whole Wicked theme, that is sometimes subtle and sometimes… less so.

Long story short, this setup morphed and changed as I created it. Some pages are super maximalist, while others are much more simple and minimal. I just had fun with it and let whatever happened happen— it was a bit of a different experience for me!

Table of Contents

• Equipment
• Cover + Quote Page
• Monthly Calendar
• Weekly Spreads + Daily Sunshine
  • Week 1
  • Week 2
  • Week 3
  • Week 4
• February Review
• Final Thoughts

Equipment

To make this setup, I used the following equipment:

• Uni Pin Fine Line pen: 0.5, sepia.
• Sakura Quickie Glue pen.
• Heart craft punch, small (I’ve had mine for years, so I can’t give you an exact link, but there are loads of similar products available online!).
• Coloured paper: dark green, mid green, mid pink, pale pink.
• Scissors.
• Corner rounder.
• Ruler.
• Pencil.
• Eraser.

Cover + Quote Page

The Cover Page was my starting point for this whole setup— it was the only page that I had any real ‘plan’ for before I started! I wanted to create a cascading effect of little hearts, almost like confetti, or the sparkles in a snow globe. To do this, I cut out loads of paper hearts from coloured paper (in my chosen pink and green shades), using a little heart-shaped craft punch (I’ve had this one for years, so I’m not sure where exactly it’s from, but you can find loads of similar ones online). I arranged them first, to check that I was happy with the positioning, then stuck each one in (rather painstakingly, I must say) with my Sakura Quickie Glue pen.

For the heading, I wanted to mimic the whimsical font from the title screen of the film, so I did my best to replicate it. I used my sepia fineliner for this and, to keep things simple, I decided to omit the drop shadow from the original font. To make the text stand out, I filled in each letter with that same, brown fineliner.

The Quote Page was actually the final page that I created in this setup and… I think you can tell that, by that point, I was kind of done with glueing in the hearts. As a result, this page is a little too minimal for my liking, but it was either that or a paper heart-induced meltdown, so I can’t say I’m unhappy with my decision. The quote, of course, is “Defying Gravity”, after the iconic song from the musical (and film, now!).

Monthly Calendar

The Monthly Calendar might just be my favourite spread in this setup— I really like the simplicity of it! To create it, I drew out a simple grid-style calendar using my sepia fineliner, then stuck a little paper heart into each box, on top of which I wrote the date (using that same, brown fineliner). I drew all of the lines freehand and went over each one twice to make them a bit more bold. I also added little heart-shaped details to each corner of the grid, to make the spread look a little more ornate (and to incorporate more hearts, because, obviously). To finish off the spread, I wrote the ‘February’ heading in the exact same style as the Cover Page in the space in the top left.

Weekly Spreads + Daily Sunshine

I had this crazy idea to house my Weekly Spreads inside a Grimmerie-inspired dutch door this month, just to pay tribute to this setup’s Wicked theme. In the film, the Grimmerie is an important spellbook that has a really interesting, angular shape and ornate design. However, I didn’t want to cut my pages down too much (because I like to have lots of space for my daily task lists) so, in the end, I opted to keep the pages cut straight and to draw the Grimmerie shape on, instead.

The original Grimmerie is a brown leather book, with an ornate, debossed pattern and gold hinges. I loved mimicking that ornate pattern, but I kept things simple by just using my sepia fineliner for the whole drawing, adding touches of block colour here and there, within the pattern to add dimension.

I drew the Grimmerie design on the first and last pages of my weekly spreads, so it’s almost like they’re enclosed within the book itself. As I have been doing recently, I used the remaining space on the far left and far right for my master tasks/notes sections, so that I can easily reference them at any point throughout the month. This month, I also decided to add in two smaller sections: one for any recurring, daily tasks and one for my blog schedule, just so I can keep both of those things at the forefront of my mind.

All of these design changes meant that I had two empty spaces leftover: one on the very first page and one on the very last. I’ve been hoping to get back into using my Daily Sunshine spreads (where I write down one positive thing that happened every day) at some point, so this felt like the perfect opportunity! On the first page, I have space to write down one good thing each day, from the 1st to the 14th February. On the last page, there’s space for Daily Sunshine from the 15th to the 28th February.

Week 1

Into the individual weekly spreads now! As I often do, I have merged the first two days of February (which fall on a weekend) with the first full week, just to save some time, as well as some space in my journal! As a result, I divided this spread into 10 sections (5 down, 2 across), used 9 boxes for the 9 daily task lists, then used the remaining space for the heading.

Week 2

For the first 7-day weekly spread, I went for my classic 4×2, vertical layout.

Week 3

The third weekly spread uses exactly the same layout as the second, but I’ve changed the location of the heading to the bottom left-hand corner.

Week 4

The final week of February only contains 5 days, so I could afford to give each daily task list a little more space in this spread. I divided the spread into 6 sections (3 down, 2 across), then used the space in the top right for the heading.

February Review

Finally, we come to my February Review spread. I’ve kept the layout of this one pretty much identical to my January Review spread last month, but, of course, this time around, I’ve added about a hundred little paper hearts to decorate it.

On the left-hand page, I have spaces to write in the ATP & WTA Top 10, as well as a place to write down my favourite memory from the month gone by. Below those, I have 6 spaces to note down my 6 favourite songs in February.

On the right-hand page, I have the heading (with ‘February’ written in that same, Wicked-inspired font), and the rest of the page is filled with another paper heart cascade, over the top of which I can stick in my monthly polaroid photo.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I like this setup, but I don’t think it’s my absolute favourite— I think because I didn’t have any real plan going in and it changed so frequently as I set it up, it ended up being such an amalgamation of so many different themes/inspirations all combined together that I just feel a bit discombobulated by the whole thing! Having said that, it definitely gives me the Wicked, Galentine’s, female friendships vibe that I was going for, so I think it will be a nice setup to use over the next month. As much as I love all the hearts, I could very happily go the rest of my life without having to glue a tiny paper heart onto anything, so there’s that too.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my February 2025 bullet journal setup! It’s a bit different to my usual style, but it was still a lot of fun.

Gemma

xxx

I’ve done a couple of posts about macarons on the blog, so I won’t be doing a deep-dive into macaron-making today. Instead, I’ll be focusing on the things that make these macarons extra special, that is, the pink, heart-shaped shells and the tasty vanilla filling. For a more in-depth tutorial for the macaron batter itself, check out this post.

Table of Contents

• Making Pink Macaron Shells
  • Choosing the Right Food Colouring
  • Choosing the Right Shade
  • Colouring the Macarons
  • Baking the Coloured Macarons
• Piping Heart-Shaped Macarons
  • Using a Template
  • Piping the Hearts
• Making Vanilla Cream Filling
  • Ingredients
  • Method
• Assembling the Macarons
• Recipe

Making Pink Macaron Shells

For a very, very long time, I was unable to master the seemingly simple task of making tinted macaron shells. I won’t lie, it bothered me- I have been stifled. I even started using coloured chocolate to decorate my macarons instead (see my Wimbledon-themed tennis ball macarons). I thought I had accepted that colouring macaron shells was a step too far for me. Still, though, I railed against the injustice: how come everyone else seemed to be perfectly capable of colouring their macarons?! What was I doing wrong? All of my macarons came out looking either the right shape and annoyingly beige, or the right colour and monstrously-formed. But the ideas that relied on coloured shells kept coming, and I kept wishing and hoping and dreaming and trying.

I am SO pleased to announce, that after many, many failed attempts, I have finally figured out how to colour macaron shells. Here’s what I’ve learned…

Choosing the Right Food Colouring

The food colouring that you use matters.

In so many ways! Most importantly, you need to use a water-based, gel food colouring that can withstand being baked. I know, I know, how specific. Nonetheless, each of these individual characteristics is super important. Here’s why:

• Macarons are a meringue-based bake, so adding anything oily is a BIG no-no. I mean, you are supposed to wipe down your bowl and whisk with vinegar to remove any traces of fat before making meringues- oil is, quite literally, the enemy. For that reason, you need to use a water-based food colouring, not an oil-based one.
• Macarons are very finicky- you don’t want to add too much of anything outside of the base ingredients, or it will affect the finished bake. Because of this, you need to use a concentrated gel colouring– you’ll never achieve the right colour AND texture if you use a liquid colouring.
• Obviously, macarons need to be baked, so it’s important that your food colouring can withstand the heat. Some food colourings (I’m looking at you, Wilton) tend to discolour in the oven, which will leave you with murky, beige shells. Not the vibe.

Listen, I tried a lot of food colourings. I’ve seen a lot of people in the US having great success with Americolor gel colourings, but those aren’t widely available in the UK, so I had to keep searching. Enter: Colour Mill‘s (relatively new) Aqua Blend colourings: these water-based, gel food dyes are specifically formulated for things like macarons and royal icings. I’m a big fan of the original Colour Mill formula, so I had high hopes for these and they did NOT disappoint. I got the perfect colour, with the perfect texture. Colour Mill, you saved my life and I will never, ever forget it. Big love.

Choosing the Right Shade

Once you have the right food colouring formula, you need to pick the shade. My advice is to use 3-5 drops of a much more intense colour than your desired shade- this way, you limit the amount of colouring you need to use, making it less likely that your macaron batter will be affected. For example, to achieve these baby pink macaron shells, I used 5 drops of the shade Candy which is a much more intense, vivid pink colouring.

Colouring the Macarons

To colour macarons, I like to mix the colouring into the egg white/almond/icing sugar paste at the beginning. I find that this makes it easier to incorporate all of the colour evenly later on. Just remember that the meringue is white, so it will significantly lighten the overall shade once mixed together. Make the mixture darker at first, then the pale meringue will bring it down to a nice pastel shade, like below!

Baking the Coloured Macarons

As good as the Colour Mill food colouring is, you do still have to be a little more careful when baking coloured shells, because any hint of browning will affect the finished shade. Just make sure to keep an eye on the macarons and take them out as soon as they are set- if you gently touch the top of a shell with your finger and wiggle it a little bit, it shouldn’t wobble on its ‘foot’.

I found that my first tray baked up perfectly, with no browning at all, but my second tray, which I baked immediately after the first, in the same oven, on the same shelf, discoloured ever so slightly and were crispier in texture. I’m no oven-expert, but I’m thinking that means the temperature wasn’t super consistent? It’s something I’ll have to keep an eye on, but it does show how specific you need to be when it comes to making macarons!

Piping Heart-Shaped Macarons

Look, my heart-shaped macarons are by no means perfect. But also, they are recognisably heart-shaped, so I’m thinking that’s a win. Anyway, a macaron’s a macaron- I don’t think anyone will be complaining!

Using a Template

Firstly, it’s really helpful to have a template for your macarons. This just gives you a guideline that you can essentially ‘fill in’ and ensures all of your macarons will be a similar size. You can download the template I created for my macarons below.

The template above is an A4 sheet, so you can print out as many as you need (though I tend to just reuse mine). To use it, just place the template underneath the baking paper on your tray. Pipe out your macarons, then remove the template before baking. That’s it! Easy, right?

Piping the Hearts

To pipe the macaron batter into heart shapes, you want to use a small(ish), round nozzle (the one I used was about 6mm in diameter). This just gives you a little bit more control and helps to define the thinner parts of the heart a little more.

Essentially, what you’re going to do is pipe two ‘baby’ macarons in each of the two curves of the heart, but drag the piping tip down to the bottom of the shape before finishing each side off. So, holding the bag vertically to the tray as always, you’ll apply pressure at the top, then drag it down towards the centre, keeping the bag vertical and easing up on the pressure a little as you go to make the ‘point’.

Then, repeat the same process for the other side and you’ll have a little heart. While the batter is still wet, you can always use a cocktail stick to fix the shape up a bit, if you want. Once you’ve piped the whole tray, give it a good tap on the work surface to bring any air bubbles to the surface, pop any remaining bubbles with a cocktail stick, then set the heart-shaped macarons aside to form a skin before baking, just like you would with normal macarons.

One note here: I noticed that, when making these heart-shaped macarons, the batter seems to stretch a lot further and, so, this recipe makes way more macarons (24 compared to 16!). I think this is because the macarons are piped more thinly, as a result of the shaping. Honestly, though, I’m not complaining- it just means more macarons for me! It is something to take note of, however.

Making Vanilla Cream Filling

For Christmas last year, my dad got me the Ladurée macaron recipe book and, let me tell you, I was very excited about it! I usually fill my macarons with a milk chocolate ganache because it is just so tasty, but I really wanted to broaden my filling horizons a little bit, so I decided to have a look through the book. I decided to try out Vanilla Cream filling (p.34-5) for these heart-shaped macarons, because I thought it would look pretty inside the pink shells.

I have to admit, I was worried about this. I knew it could end up being really sweet. It… absolutely was. I tasted it by itself and, honestly, it was even too sweet for me, with my sweetest-of-all-sweet-teeth. It appeared that my concerns were justified. However, once you sandwich it into the macaron, some sort of crazy magic happens and it ends up being… delicious? I can’t figure it out, because I’ve never thought of macaron shells as overly un-sweet, but somehow it just all balances out and works. Admittedly, if you don’t like vanilla you probably won’t love this filling, but if you do? Yep, can confirm: it’s good.

Ingredients

• Double cream

As always, use heavy cream if you live in the US.

• Cornflour

You essentially start this filling by making an eggless custard, so the cornflour is needed to thicken it.

• Vanilla bean paste

The original recipe calls for a proper vanilla bean pod, but I wanted to try using vanilla bean paste instead for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the paste is very good value for money, so it’s a slightly cheaper alternative than using a pod. Secondly, I scaled down the recipe, so I figured it was just easier to use the paste than half a pod…

One thing with vanilla bean paste, though: it’s a lot more intense than it thinks it is! On the little container of the paste, it says that one bean is equivalent to 1 tbsp of paste. I mean… maybe? But using 1 tbsp of paste is going to knock you sideways in a way that an infusion of a single vanilla bean will not. For reference, I used 1/4 tsp of the paste in place of 1/2 a vanilla bean and it was plenty vanilla-y.

• Caster sugar

You could probably use granulated sugar, but it’s easiest to use caster sugar because it dissolves more quickly.

• White chocolate

Use a good-quality white chocolate, because you only need a little bit and it will make your filling taste even better. For this recipe, the chocolate needs to be finely chopped, so make sure you do that beforehand.

• Unsalted butter

This needs to be at room temperature, so that it incorporates into the other ingredients evenly. You’ll also want to dice it into small cubes, so that you can add it to the mixture a little at a time.

• Salt

This was not in the original recipe, but, as I mentioned, this filling is super sweet, so I think adding a little salt just helps to balance things out a bit.

Method

Start by mixing 2 tbsp of the cream into the cornflour in a large bowl. It will be quite a stiff paste, but it will loosen out later. Set that aside.

Place the rest of the cream into a small saucepan, along with the vanilla bean paste and the caster sugar, over low heat. Gently bring to just below a simmer- you should see small bubbles appear around the edge of the pan.

Add the hot cream into the cornflour mixture, a little at a time, whisking vigorously until you have a smooth custard. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, whisking continuously, until the custard thickens slightly and is just about to come to a simmer.

Remove the custard from the heat and pour into a small bowl. Add a small amount of the chopped white chocolate and stir, using a spatula, until it has melted into the custard. Add a little more chocolate, stir until melted, and repeat this process until all of the chocolate has been added.

At this point, transfer the mixture to a food processor (I used a mini one, because this isn’t a huge quantity, but you could use a standard-sized one, if you prefer). Add a few cubes of the room temperature butter and process until the butter has been fully incorporated. Add a few more cubes, then blitz again. Repeat this process until all of the butter has been added and the mixture is smooth and thick.

Transfer the filling to a bowl and cover with clingfilm, making sure to press it directly onto the surface so that the filling doesn’t form a skin. The original recipe then says to place the mixture into the fridge to firm up, for about 2 hours. I did this, but as you’ll see, it got super stiff- I’m wondering if I would have been better off just filling the macarons at this point? Or perhaps chilling it for less time?

Nevertheless, here is my filling after 2 hours in the fridge. I mean, that’s not spreadable in any way, shape or form, let alone pipeable!

To bring it back to a more workable consistency, I transferred the filling to a heatproof bowl and microwaved it, on the lowest setting, in a couple of 10 second bursts until it had softened ever so slightly. At that point, I used an electric hand mixer to whip it, much like I would whip butter when making a buttercream, until it was soft and smooth and fluffy. This worked perfectly, and I think that whipping it actually prevented it from setting quite so solid when I put the filled macarons back in the fridge, so I would definitely do it again.

Assembling the Macarons

When you make the filling, it won’t look like there’s much of it, but there’s plenty to fill one batch of these heart-shaped macarons. Because it is very sweet, you don’t need very much of it- just a nice, even, relatively thin layer! You could pipe it, but I just spread it onto the shells with the back of a teaspoon because I was feeling lazy and I think it still looks really pretty.

Once assembled, you’ll need to store the macarons in an airtight container in the fridge, where they will keep for about 3-5 days.

Recipe

Print

Heart-Shaped Macarons

The 14th of February is fast approaching and, whether you'll be celebrating Valentine's, Galentine's or just getting through another wintery Wednesday, these pink, heart-shaped macarons with a vanilla cream filling are the perfect treat to make your day super-sweet!

Course Dessert, Snack

Keyword Heart, Italian macarons, macaron, Valentine’s Day, Vanilla

Prep Time 2 hours hours

Cook Time 11 minutes minutes

Chilling Time 2 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours 11 minutes minutes

Servings 24 Macarons

Ingredients

For the vanilla cream filling:

• 110 ml double cream
• 2 1/4 tsp corn flour
• 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 50 g caster sugar
• 50 g white chocolate, finely chopped.
• 55 g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature.

For the macaron shells:

• 95 g ground almonds
• 103 g icing sugar
• 72 g egg whites, split into two equal portions (2x36g).
• 95 g caster sugar
• 30 ml water
• pink gel food colouring (see Note 1).

Instructions

Make the vanilla cream filling:

• Whisk the cornflour and 2 tbsp of the cream together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Place the remaining cream, vanilla bean paste and caster sugar into a small saucepan over low heat. Stirring every now and then, gently bring to just below a simmer.
• Pour the hot cream into the cornflour mixture, a little at a time, whisking continuously, until all of the cream has been added and the mixture is smooth.
• Return the mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat, whisking continuously, until custard thickens slightly and reaches just below a simmer again.
• Pour the custard back into the bowl, then add a small amount of the chopped white chocolate. Stir, using a spatula, until the chocolate has melted into the custard. Repeat this process until all of the chocolate has been incorporated.
• Transfer the mixture to a food processor and add a few cubes of the room temperature butter. Process until the butter is fully incorporated into the custard mixture, then repeat this process until all of the butter has been incorporated. The mixture should be thick, pale and fluffy at this point.
• Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover with clingfilm, making sure to press the clingfilm directly onto the surface of the filling to prevent it from forming a skin, then place into the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.

Make the macaron shells:

• Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Fit a piping bag with a small(ish), round nozzle (mine was 6mm in diameter) and set aside.
• Place the ground almonds and icing sugar into a food processor. Pulse 10 times, then sift into a large bowl, discarding any large lumps. Repeat this process once more, so that you are left with a very fine powder.
• Add one of the 36g portions of egg white to the almond/icing sugar mixture, along with 3-5 drops of pink food colouring. Mix well to form a paste with an even, deep pink colour, then set aside.
• Place the remaining 36g of egg white into the clean (see Note 2), metal bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Leave aside while you make the sugar syrup.
• Place the caster sugar into a small saucepan with the 30ml of water. Place over a medium heat and bring to a boil. Do not stir- swirl gently if necessary. Allow the syrup to continue bubbling, while monitoring the temperature with a digital sugar thermometer.
• When the syrup has reached 114°C, turn the stand mixer to high speed and begin to whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Keep the syrup over the heat.
• Once the sugar syrup reaches 118°C, the egg whites should have reached soft peaks. With the mixer still running on high speed, carefully pour the syrup down the side of the bowl in a slow, steady stream. Once all of the syrup has been added, turn the mixer up to full speed and beat for 5 minutes, or until stiff peaks are achieved and the metal bowl has come to room temperature.
• When the meringue is ready, add 1/3 of it to the pink almond mixture. Mix vigorously to combine the two mixtures and loosen the thick paste.
• Add the rest of the meringue and fold it in, using a figure of eight motion, until the mixture is cohesive and comes off the spatula in ribbons- if you leave those ribbons for 30 seconds they should level themselves out into the rest of the mixture.
• Transfer the macaron batter to the prepared piping bag. Holding the bag vertically to the baking tray, pipe heart shapes with the batter (see Note 3).
• Once the macarons are piped, lift the whole tray and drop it down onto the work surface a few times to bring any air bubbles to the surface. Use a sharp knife/cocktail stick to burst any remaining bubbles, letting the mixture fall back on itself.
• Set the macarons aside at room temperature to form a skin- on a relatively dry day, this should take about 30-40 minutes, but can take less time on drier, warmer days and more time on cold, humid days. Check on the macarons every 10-15 minutes or so, if unsure. The macarons will be ready when you can gently touch their surfaces without any batter coming off on your finger.
• When the macarons are almost ready, preheat the oven to 165°C fan. When the macarons are ready and the oven is hot, bake the macarons in the centre of the oven, one tray at a time, for 11 minutes. To check if they are done, place a finger on top of the shells and wiggle gently. When done, the tops of the macarons should not wobble. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the tray.

To assemble the macarons:

• Once the macaron shells have cooled completely, check the consistency of the filling. If it is too solid, warm it very gently in the microwave, until it softens slightly, then use an electric hand whisk to beat the filling, until it is smooth, fluffy and spreadable/pipeable.
• Pair the macarons up, trying to match them in terms of size/shape. Pipe/spread a small amount of vanilla cream filling onto the underside of half of the shells, then sandwich the corresponding half on top.
• Store the assembled macarons in an airtight container in the fridge. Kept like this, the macarons will keep for 3-5 days.

Notes

1. The type of colouring you use is very important. You need to use a water-based, concentrated gel food colouring that can withstand baking. For these macarons, I used 5 drops of Colour Mill‘s Aqua Blend in the shade Candy. 
2. To clean the bowl and the whisk for meringue, rub a small amount of white wine vinegar over both using a piece of kitchen roll. This will remove any traces of fat/residue that might prevent your meringue from whipping up properly.
3. For more detailed instructions on how to pipe heart-shaped macarons, and to find the template I created for this purpose, please go to the ‘Piping the Hearts’ section in the post above.