French Macarons

So all of a sudden I'm seeing macarons everywhere. The craze has left cupcakes, bypassed cake pops and landed on these colorful, french cookies. I must admit, I haven't even had one. ever. so I decided to look them up and try them out.


I found this recipe on epicurious and decided to give it a go.


Cookies:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup (lightly packed) sifted almond flour, or 3/4 cup sifted almond flour and 1/4 cup sifted hazelnut flour (sifted, then measured; any coarse particles reserved for another use)
• 1/2 cup (scant) egg whites (from about 3 large eggs)
• 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Filling:

• 4 cups frozen raspberries (about 15 ounces; do not thaw)
• 1 cup plus 6 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1/4 cup egg whites (from about 2 large eggs), room temperature
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon (generous) rose water

Special Equipment:

• Pastry bag
• 1/4-inch-diameter plain pastry tip
• Heavy-duty stand mixer
• Candy thermometer

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment.

Sift powdered sugar, almond flour, and hazelnut flour (if using) into large bowl. I didn't use hazelnut flour.

This is the kind of almond flour I used. They have it at publix but I actually found it cheaper at Whole Foods. 

Egg whites.

Sugar.

Using electric mixer, beat egg whites, sugar, and pinch of salt in medium bowl until medium peaks form.

Add egg white mixture to almond mixture; fold to incorporate.

Working in 2 batches, fill pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch-diameter plain pastry tip with batter (batter will be thin and will drip from bag). I used this guy.

Pipe batter in 11/4-inch rounds on baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart (cookies will spread slightly). Let rest on sheets at room temperature 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 375°F. Bake cookies 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Continue to bake cookies until puffed and golden on top, about 10 minutes, reversing sheets after 5 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets on rack. Carefully peel cookies from parchment. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

Tell your daughter you need some space.

Next: Prep the jam. Bring raspberries and 1 cup sugar to boil in large saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Cook until berries are soft, juices thicken, and mixture measures about 1 1/2 cups, stirring frequently, 7 to 9 minutes.

Meanwhile, take the macarons out of the oven. I love how they puffed up just perfectly!  

Back to the jam... Measure 1/2 cup mixture; strain into small bowl. Cool strained jam and jam with seeds separately. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover jams separately and chill.

Combine egg whites, 6 tablespoons sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in bowl of heavy- duty stand mixer. Set bowl over large saucepan of simmering water. Heat until candy thermometer inserted into mixture registers 140°F, stirring often, 3 to 4 minutes. (Sorry I forgot to photograph this step!) Using whisk attachment, beat egg white mixture at high speed until stiff meringue forms and mixture is at room temperature, 5 to 6 minutes.

With mixer running, add butter, 1 piece at a time, beating until each piece is incorporated before adding next.

Beat in rose water. (this is what it looks like... I think I found this at Chamberlains)

Add 3 tablespoons seedless jam, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating to blend well after each addition. (If buttercream looks broken or curdled, place bowl over medium heat and whisk 5 to 10 seconds to warm slightly, then remove from heat and beat again on medium speed. Repeat warming and beating as many times as needed until buttercream is smooth.)

Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Using 1/2 teaspoon jam with seeds for each, spread jam over flat side of half of macaroons.

Spoon buttercream into pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch plain tip. Starting at outer edge of flat sides of remaining macaroons, pipe buttercream over in spiral.

Gently press macaroons, jam- filled side down, onto buttercream-coated macaroons.

Place on sheet. Cover; chill overnight. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 to 3 days ahead. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.


Verdict: They were good... but not worth the effort or cost. (Almond flour is PRICEY). I still would love to try one from a bakery to see how they compare. If you love macarons and want to try it out, these are yummy. It makes quite a bit too so be ready to share them. :) I'm guessing your friends won't mind. 

Paris? Yes please.

I'm entering to win a trip to Paris through the OhHappyDay blog! You can enter too here: http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris

If I won, I'd eat my way through each arrondissement, taking photos and blogging as I go. Oh, and I'd probably fall over from giddiness. or sugar. or both. <3

Sponge Layer Cake with Jam

I recently received two fantastic books for mother's day. One is the Baking Bible; From the Oven to the Table and the other, 1001 Cupcakes, Cookies & Other Tempting Treats. Bored and wanting to try something out I picked out a recipe from the Baking Bible for Sponge Layer Cake.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
pinch of salt
3 tbsp raspberry jam
1 tbsp confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease 2 8" cake pans and line with wax or parchment paper. (I greased and floured them and they did fine)

Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl using a wooden spoon or handheld mixer until the batter is pale in color and light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition

Sift the flour and salt together into a separate bowl and carefully add to the batter, folding it in with a spatula.

Divide the batter between the pans and smooth over with a spatula. (the batter is very thick)

Place pans in the center of the oven and back for 25-30 minutes until well risen, golden brown and beginning to shrink from the sides of the pan.

Remove from the oven and let stand 1 minute.

Loosen the cakes from around the edge of the pans using a palette knife. Turn the cakes out onto a clean dish towel, remove paper and invert the cakes onto a wire rack.

When completely cool, sandwich together the cakes with jam and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.


Well, this turned out good, but it didn't look like the picture. I had 9" cake pans instead of 8" for one so my cakes were bigger but thinner. Also, I didn't use "self-rising" flour. I thought it wasn't really important, but it is. My cakes were so flat! Whoops. Lesson learned. At least it still tasted good. I bet it would be even more delish if I had actually followed the directions.

In other news, I must admit that I have a slight obsession with Chai tea. Now that it's hot out I love it iced but it's so STINKIN expensive. Seriously, $3.60 for a grande? Ouch. So, thrifty as I am I bought a whole box of Tazo Chai tea at target on sale (for under $3, and decaf I might add!) made a small pitcher at home and pour it over ice and milk. I had a delightful cup of iced chai at my house that was just as good as Starbucks for the cost of less than fifty cents. 

Yummo.

French Toast Tutorial

So a few weeks ago I made a confession that I didn't know how to make french toast. I had directions but every time I made it, it turned out goey and undercooked in the middle. I didn't know what I was doing wrong! So off to my friend Michelle's house for a late lunch and a little kitchen lesson...

We followed her recipe;

3 eggs, dash of milk, a little salt (her mil's secret ingredient) and then a little bit of vanilla (my contribution)

mix it up.

add some cinnamon

(she added cinnamon after each bread dipping so that each piece got a good amount)

She used a griddle set on 350 degrees. I don't have a griddle so she said to put the stovetop on medium to medium/low.

here's the secret: leave it alone.

I was flipping them waaaaaay too fast. Just let them be. Let them get to know one another. 

flip 'em. (eventually)

You can add extra butter to make sure the other side crusts up real nice.

And voila! Real french toast! No soggy gross mess! Whoo hoo!

Now here's where Michelle really outdid herself; she made homemade syrup. Yeah. delish & super easy. Who knew? 

Here's the recipe: 1 cup sugar + 1 cup brown sugar + 1 1/3 cup water.

Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Pour into a container.

that's it. seriously. 

yum.

Thank you Michelle!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

These were made a while ago but I lost the images until recently. Since I found them, I thought I'd share. I made these for an Oscar party (hence the red velvet - red carpet with added clear sprinkles for "bling").

Here's the recipe for the red velvet cupcake part:


Red Velvet Cupcakes 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 ounces water
2 ounces red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare cupcake tins as directed as directed in the recipe you are following.
2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
3. Add eggs and blend well.
4. Make a paste of cocoa and food coloring and add to the butter mixture.
5. Sift flour and salt together into this mixture.
6. One at a time, add the following ingredients: buttermilk, vanilla, and water.
7. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and baking soda. Fold it into the cake batter. Make sure it's incorporated, but don't beat it.
8. Pour the batter into the cupcake tins. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched.
9. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, then turn the cupcakes out of the tins and onto a rack to finish cooling completely.

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These cupcakes were really dense. In thinking about it, all of my homemade cakes have been very dense and I'm wondering if it's because I don't use cake flour, I use regular flour. I've tried buying cake flour but they don't carry it at any of the stores I've been to. If anyone has any insight into this, let me know! I want to try it one last time with cake flour before I give up and get box mixes for cakes.


The icing, however was DEVINE. I highly recommend it and it was incredibly easy. 

....................................................

Here's that recipe:


Amy Sedaris's Vanilla Buttercream Frosting 1 box confectioners' sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract*
1/4 cup milk or light cream
food coloring (optional)

*Less than 1 teaspoon pure almond extract can be substituted.

In a bowl combine: one box of confectioners' sugar, one stick of unsalted butter, one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, and 1/4 cup of milk or light cream and beat for a while. Really whip it, don't be afraid to get in there. I occasionally add food coloring and sometimes substitute pure almond extract for vanilla.
If you do choose to add pure almond extract instead of vanilla, you're on your own. I don't know the measurement for it, but I do know it's less than the amount of vanilla you would add.

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I used the vanilla extract. I wouldn't change a thing. Super delicious icing. 


Yum.

ps. I also enjoyed making these because I got to try out my new icing bag and tips. They make the icing look so much prettier... although I still can't figure out how to get them to look like the DC Cupcakes that look so incredible. 

To the Moms out there...

I found this great website that I wanted to share! It's http://www.ontobaby.com

Really cute stuff and a very well done site. This baby shower is especially cute.

And I have another confession to make. Well two confessions.

The first one is I apologize to those parents that get rid of their pets after they have a baby. I used to judge. I used to think, "then why even get a pet?" Yeah, and now I get it. They are dirty, they take up time and money and wake up the baby pretty much every. single. day. There's been more than once that I've wanted to dismember my dogs little bodies and bury them in the backyard. A little harsh? Maybe, but after you've spent a whole day just trying to get a grumpy little girl to nap and then they bark at the neighbor playing basketball in his front yard and wake her up... Yeah. Madness ensues.

My second confession is a baking confession. I don't know how to make french toast. I mean, I know the ingredients but every time I try to make it, it comes out gooey and undercooked in the center. I have trouble shot a few times and I still don't know what I'm doing. So if there are any french toast ninjas out there please share your secrets with me. I will love you forever.