Line three baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Sift together your powdered sugar and almond flour, twice. Set aside.
Whisk together the egg whites and granulated sugar in a heatproof bowl over a double boiler. Whisk for about 2 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. You can tell it is ready when you pull the whisk up and touch the mixture with your fingers, you shouldn't feel any granules. Do not let the bowl touch the water or it will cook the eggs.
Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment.
Whisk on low speed for 30 seconds, it should begin to foam. Increase the speed to medium for 2 minutes, until it becomes white and fluffy.
Increase the speed to medium-high, it should turn glossy and when you stop the mixer and pull the whisk out, you should have a stiff peak at the end of the whisk which only slightly bends at the end. This is how you know it is ready.
Pour in the powdered sugar/almond mixture as well as your vanilla and food coloring.
Gently fold them all together. Continue to fold and press the batter against the sides of the bowl. It is ready when it flows like lava from the rubber spatula, and you can make a figure 8 in the air without the batter breaking.
Carefully transfer the batter into a piping bag with a medium circular tip.
Pipe out 72 macaron shells, piping at a 90 degree angle. Once they have all been piped out, bang each tray twice on your counter. Use a toothpick to pop any remaining air bubbles. Sprinkle over your sprinkles.
Let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes until they form a skin.
Preheat your oven to 325°F/162°C. Bake them one tray at a time for 15-17 minutes. Let them cool completely.
Make Buttercream
Sift your powdered sugar and set aside.
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk together the cream cheese and butter for 2 minutes, until smooth.
Add in the vanilla extract, almond extract and salt. Beat together for 30 seconds.
While the mixer is running on a low speed, slowly pour in half of the powdered sugar. Then add in your heavy cream. Add the rest of the sugar.
Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Transfer to a piping bag and pipe a dollop on half of the macaron shells, then sandwich each of them.
Let the macarons rest overnight in your fridge.
Notes
I do not include cup measurements for this recipe, as you do need to be precise when making macarons.
If you want to age your egg whites (not a requirement but it can help!), separate your egg whites 24 hours before and place in a bowl in the fridge. Take them out 2 hours before making your macarons so they can come to room temperature.
Clear vanilla extract is what gives you that birthday cake taste, but you can substitute regular vanilla extract. Almond extract also brings out that cake mix taste, but if you don't have any then you can leave it out.