napoleon macarons :)

hey everyone... how you doing? well, today i'm bringing you a pretty little melt-in-your mouth treat... vanilla macarons with strawberry mousse and chocolate ganache... mmmm... sweeeeet! these lovely ladies are as much as a feast for the eyes as they are for my tummy... bit sized pieces of heaven :)

like usual, i used my go-to macaron recipe that comes from the fantastic dessert queen, "tartelette"... her desserts and treats are just simply amazing, she's an artist... one day, maybe i'll be at that caliber... fingers crossed... :)

after the macaron shells were baked to perfection (look at those cute little feet and their little round tops... adorable!), it was time to fill them...so, i then made a simple dark, bittersweet chocolate ganache and a creamy strawberry mousse...

i never get tired of these sweet treats... they are a little time consuming, but you know what.. in the end, it's so worth it... enjoy :)

happy baking everyone!

craving challenge #1... almonds, raspberries and chocolate...

well here we are ladies and gentlemen... the first of what i hope to many of my "what you craving" challenge... and i have to say... i like the way this is all starting out...

as you may have read in my previous post, i will be asking every monday for peoples "cravings" and i will randomly pick one and bake it up... i figured i needed something to push me a little, so i am leaving some of my baking up to you, my friends and my fellow bloggers...

well... back to the post at hand... for craving # 1 i went with the first craving i recieved by the lovely shanna, which involved something with chocolate, toffee, almonds and raspberries... hmmm... that gave me a lot to work with... now... what to make, what to bake...

first thing that came to mind would be some awesome, delicate and oh so tasty linzer cookies... but... then again... why not go a little more complex, you know...

so whilst racking my brain and thumbing through one of my many new baking books i got for christmas, which happened to be "i heart macarons" and constructing a macaron using those flavors would be easy peasy...

i mean, what is a macaron but a lovely combination of whipped and slightly sweetened egg whites, almonds (which is one of my craving flavors) and confectioners sugar...

so there you go... i had reached my decision... macarons, filled with a dark chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries... i was ready...

macron recipe taken from "i heart macarons"

ingredients: (makes about 2 dozen)

2/3 cup ground almonds

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 lrg. egg whites

5 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract



directions:

1. place the powdered sugar and ground almonds in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground, and then sift through a mesh sieve twice

2.in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue, do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry

3. add half of the flour mixture to the meringue and stir it with a spatula while scooping it up from the bottom of the bowl

4.add the rest of the flour and mix it lightly in a circular motion

5. when the batter becomes slightly firm and drips slowly from the spatula, the mixing is done

6. place batter in a piping bag and pipe onto parchment or silicon lined baking sheets

7. rap the baking sheet firmly against the counter top (this will help the macarons hold their rounded shape and help the little "pied" foot to form

8. dry the macarons at room temperature for about 15-30 minutes, or until the batter doesnt stick to your fingers when touched

9.place oven racks in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 and bake 15-18 minutes (rotating half way through for even baking)

i filled the centers with a yummy whipped dark chocolate ganache and some fresh ripe raspberries...

i made a mistake one mistake though... after i finished whipping the ganache i should have used it right away, but my littlest guy was getting a wee bit cranky... so i had to put it in the fridge while i took care of some mommy business... and when i took it out, it was more of a mousse then a ganache... still tasty but not the consistency i was going for...

if you notice the center of the macaron its a lovely pink color... i added some red food coloring to the batter, but as you can see it baked off and turned the top more of an apricot color... so for next time i'm going to double it up, or get some powdered food coloring...

all and all i was happy with the results... the macarons, although a little overcooked, still had a nice taste and texture... so that paired with the creamy dark chocolate and a semi-sweet and semi-tart raspberry was very enjoyable... until next time...

happy baking everyone!!

new years cheers

well i know its a bit late... but happy new years everybody!!

i hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is as excited for this new year as i am!

so... lets get down to business shall we...

this new years was a quiet yet very enjoyable one... it was just me, the hubs, my two little men and my brother and sister in law... it was very cozy...

we decided to dine on a smorgasbord of yummies... from delicious savory galettes, chunky and spicy fresh guacamole, sweet and spicy buffalo wings, spinach and goat cheese puff pastries, and amazing brushetta (you know the kind that julie makes up in the movie julie and julia...) simply mouthwatering...

well after sitting and enjoying those pickings along with bottle after bottle of champagne i broke out the big guns... dessert!

i wanted to do something a little french-i-fied... so i knew that macarons were in order, but i still needed one more dessert to top the night... so after some thought as to what it would be i opted for a dessert that caught my eye months ago when i first opened my copy of dorie greenspans "baking from my home to yours"... it was pierre hermes' lemon cream tart, or as titled by dorie "the most extraordinary french lemon cream tart"... and you know what... it was simply that... extraordinary!!

now a bit of a warning to anyone who might want to make this delectable dessert...

your eyes might pop out of your head like mine did when you read how much butter is in this sinful recipe... but hey it was new years, so i figured why not live it up a little!

for the tart crust i again went with dorie's sweet tart dough, and i actually overcooked it a bit... why you ask... i wanted a nice contrast in texture to the smooth velvety lemon cream... the tart shell was wonderfully sugar cookie-like and complimented the lemon cream perfectly...

and now for the lemon cream... smooth, lemony and oh so finger lickingly buttery... it was in one word... rich...

ingredients:

1 cup sugar
grated zest of 3 lemons
4 large eggs
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)
2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons butter (10 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces, at room temperature. * i know... thats alot of the good stuff!*
1 9-inch tart shell made with Sweet Tart Dough fully baked and cooled

getting ready: have an instant read thermometer, a strainer and a blender at hand and bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan

directions:
1. put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. off the heat, rub the sugar and zest between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic

2. whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice

3. set the bowl over the pan and whisk until the cream reaches 180 degrees F. as it gets closer to reaching 180 it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. be patient, because getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.
4. remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the blender; discard the zest

5. let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.
6. turn the blender to high and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. keep the machine going for another 3 minutes.
7. pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
8. to assemble the tart, whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell.

now as for the macarons... i of course used a recipe by the fabulous "Tartelette"

this time i went with her coffee chicory macaron recipe but i altered it a bit, i know... how daring of me! but i've become a bit comfortable with these babies... so why not test the waters abit... and i have to say, they came out really nice... they baked up just right with cute little feet, and round tops...

for the shells:
90 gr egg whites (about 3)
30 gr granulated sugar
200 gr powdered sugar
55 gr almonds and 55 gr hazelnuts
1 teaspoon espresso powder

directions:
1.in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue, do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry
2. place the powdered sugar, ground almonds and hazelnuts and espresso powder in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground
3.add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that falls back on itself after counting to 10
4.give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns
5. fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets
6. preheat the oven to 280F. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size and let cool

i opted to fill them with a delcious vanilla bean marscapone frosting... i love marscapone... its so light and takes on flavors nicely...

happy baking everyone and again, a very happy new year to all!

macarons part 2

so this weekend my brother and my sister in-law decided to come on down and visit us, and yay! for them it was such a gorgeous weekend... sunny, warm and wonderful... now a few years back my sister in-law lived in paris, and she was lucky enough to be surrounded by some really awesome sweet treats, one of which was the macaron... so the last time we got together i promised to make some of these little sweeties for her the next time they came and visited... so i did, cause it doesn't take much convincing for me to bake something... and i've kinda been itching to bake these again for a while... so here they are... i followed the same recipe for the meringue shells as i did last time but i went with a dark chocolate buttercream... and they were fantastic... and not to brag but, i'm pretty happy with myself having such success again with these... only my second time and they look pretty darn good... still have to work on getting them into a uniform little buttons, but so far i'm happy with the outcomes! next time i'm gonna get a little more daring and try these suckers out...

holy moly macaron-oly!

first off... i just wanna give myself a big round of kudos! right now, being overly pregnant (the baby is due any day now!) it takes a lot to get me in a good mood (just ask my hubby!)... anyways i decided to tackle the popular but somewhat tricky macaron... and for a first timer to this little Parisian sweet i have to say i am mighty proud of the results!

i have been researching these little confections for quite some time, and i finally got up the nerve to make 'em... i've been reading several other bloggers posts, though mainly from a awesome lady who goes by the name "tartelette"... and dude, if you haven't checked out her site do so... its incredibly yummy and very inspiring! and i think the hubs was happy i finally decided to make 'em, cause i've been talking about them for months... and he really had no idea what to expect so he was just as excited to eat them as i was to make them!

anyways... after much deliberation, i decided to go with a simple macaron sprinkled with a little dark cocoa powder and filled with a marscapone Kahlua cream (you know, tiramisu!)... so i got my egg whites out and "aged" them, ground my almonds and i was ready to go!

so here we go...

macarons adapted from "tartelette"

for the shells:

3 egg whites (about 90 grams)

40 grams granulated sugar

200 grams confectioners sugar

55 grams ground almonds

directions:

1. For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.

2. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not over beat your meringue or it will be too dry.

3. Combine the almonds and confectioners sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground.

4. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down.

5. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.

6. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.

7. Preheat the oven to 300F. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on their size.

for the filling:

4 ozs. softened marscapone cheese

2 tbsp Kahlua

1/2 cup sifted confectioners sugar

directions:

1. let the marscapone soften, and mix in the Kahlua and confectioners sugar until smooth and creamy (you can add more Kahlua and confectioners sugar to taste if you like)

2. spoon the filling onto one macaron and sandwich with another, then enjoy the sweet goodness!

don't you just wanna sink your teeth into this!

so as i said before, i'm grinning from ear to ear... hella proud of myself for my first attempt which was a crazy success! i was majorly afraid they were gonna come out like my "whoopie pies" which weren't the loveliest confections on the block... but now with some macaron confidence, there's no stopping me!