Monday, January 25, 2010

[MacTweets/ma4] Mac-A-Valentine: Ispahan Macarons




My version of Ispahan Macarons: Rose, Raspberry & Lychee (Litchi)

I was reading Paris Patisseries when i saw the recipe of the famous Pierre Herme's Ispahan Maracons.  I thought it would be a good idea to bake these since it has a tinge of rose flavor suitable for Valentine's Day.   However, his original recipe is rather time-comsuming to make so i just borrowed his idea of combining the 3 flavors: Rose, Raspberry & Lychee.

The macaron shells are flavored with rose essence and sandwich with raspberry jelly centre & lychee/ rose flavored buttercream.  I used the same italian meringue recipe from I love Macarons by Hisako Ogita since i wanted something fast.  I was also baking Chocolate Tweet Angel Food Cake at the same time so my entire kitchen was rather chaotic & messy..lol! :S


Please do check out other bloggers' macarons & flavors listed on http://mactweets.blogspot.com!


Rose Macaron Recipe (requested by Jamie)
Adapted from I love Macarons by Hisako Ogita
Macarons

Ingredients:-

(A)
60g of almond powder
80g of icing sugar

(B)
50g of eggwhites

(C)
40g of granulated sugar
40g of water

(D)
½ tsp of rose essence
red colored powder (add to your discretion)

(E)
1 tsp of eggwhite powder (Optional)


Method:
1. Preheat oven to 150c (book mentioned at 190c - so largely dependent on  your oven temperament..lol! Mine is always hot!)
2. Mix [A] together and process it for 10-20 secs in food processor till fine. Sift it and set aside.
3. Mix ingredients [C] together in microwaveable glass and stir to dissolve sugar. Microwave for 20 sec – take it out and stir to dissolve the sugar. * (check step 4) * Microwave for a further 3½ - 4 mins till the sugar syrup reaches 110c or softball stage. (If you are lazy like me, just look at the syrup, it should be thick and flows like glucose – that should be it). You can also heat sugar syrup over the stove.
4. While the sugar syrup is in the microwave, with handmixer beat the eggwhites [B] till frothy and add in [E] (optional) and beat till soft peaks.
5. When the sugar syrup is ready (be careful since the glass will be very hot!), pour it into the meringue in a slow steady stream avoiding the handmixer (with handmixer still beating). Turn the mixer on low speed and beat till the meringue cools down (should be fast since it’s only very little eggwhites).
6. Pour in half [A] into the meringue & fold. Add the other half in and fold further. Add [D] and fold further. Unlike the French method, this method needs to be folded more – otherwise you’ll get peaks. Fold (Macronnage) until the mixture turns a bit shinny and flows thickly.
7. Pipe onto baking sheet on tray & Leave to dry (should be pretty quick – like 10-15mins?)
8. Place in oven and you’ll see feet rise within first 5 mins. If it doesn’t means failure. If it does, after 5 mins, open the door slightly ajar and bake for further 5mins. After turn the oven to 130c (with door still ajar) and bake for another 5 mins.  *(Note: This step largely depends on your oven..my oven is extremely hot..so this always works best for me).
9. Leave to cool and remove macarons from baking sheet.

Raspberry Jelly is made from raspberry puree and agar powder. I don’t know how much exactly cos I always estimate by ‘feel’.

Rose Lychee (Litchi) Buttercream is made by adding Lychee puree (I used canned since they are not in season now) & 1 tsp of Rose water into the buttercream. Again I did this by estimate.


Thursday, January 21, 2010

Camera (Lumix GF1) Cake

I made this cake for my boss' friend's birthday.  Initially i wanted to have the camera-cake standing up but i was worried if the 'lens' of the cake could hold up even with dowels..esp. when the chocolate cake i baked was quite soft.  After much thought, i decided to lie the cake flat...that way i don't have to worry about the lens not holding up. :)  I modeled this cake after my own camera. :)

Cake is made of Devil's Food Cake, Chocolate Buttercream & Chocolate Ganache.  I'm quite happy with this cake. Although it is not 100% perfect, at least it is what i had in mind.  My "paint-writing" needs major improvement...LOL!

TOP VIEW OF CAKE





BACK VIEW OF CAKE




FRONT VIEW OF CAKE


Wednesday, January 6, 2010

[MacTweets/ma3] Fruity Macarons







Fruity Macarons:-
Mangosteen Macaron Shells with Mango Pineapple Buttercream & Blueberry Jellied center.  

For MacAttack3 challenge we are suppose to try something different that we have never done before..so i decided to try making macarons using the italian meringue way - my first time making macarons with sugar syrup. :) I used the recipe from the Chinese publication of I Love Macarons by Hisako Ogita. The proportion between the Chinese & English Publications is a little bit different.  The Chinese version uses 50g of eggwhites which is what i was looking for and seems to have less sugar too. I didn't want to make a huge batch of macarons since i was only trying out for the first time. :)   I'm glad it turned out successful on my first try!   Since Mangosteen is purple in color, i thought i would color my macaron shells violet. I added violet color but i don't know why it turned out blue-green instead!  I kept adding the powder but it just didn't turn purple! Strange!




Yup, i own both the Chinese & English publications. :)
I bought the Chinese version first before the English one was available.


This is also the first time i'm using freeze-dried fruits. I bought the mangosteen, pineapple, rambutan & durian ones. I grind the freeze-dried mangosteen into powder and added it to the meringue.  The freeze-dried pineapple i pound into tiny pieces and add it into the mango buttercream for the added flavor.  Although i have fresh pineapple in the fridge, i didn't want too use it since i think it would be too over-powering..i just wanted a bit of an added crunch.  The blueberry jellied centre is made by adding a bit of agar powder to the blueberry filling (i had a tiny bit left-over in the fridge and had no idea what to do with it..LOL!..so i decided to try something new..and surprisingly the texture turned out quite well!)

It's a strange combo with so many flavors but surprisingly it turned out quite good! LOL!

Please do check out other bloggers' macarons & flavors listed on http://mactweets.blogspot.com!


Friday, January 1, 2010

STAR WARS - R2D2 Cake

Work in progress...


finally completed


HAPPY NEW YEAR! Yup, i spent new year's eve and new year baking and decorating this cake for a dear family friend's son - his 11th year old birthday and he loves Star Wars! It's a surprise cake and i didn't tell them i was going to make it till i completed the cake and delivered it to them. I hope the little boy likes it!

I don't know why the cake is much harder than i expected..hahaha..and my RTR fondant also way softer than usual..hence so many imperfection on the cake..the lines not straight enough. And this is also the first time i'm using rice crispy for the 'arms'...and the rice crispy moved down when i put it upright causing the covering fondant to crease..maybe it's our hot weather..cos it was much harder in the fridge compared to when it was out of the fridge. As usual, my husband was nagging at me to hurry up and it's really difficult to decorate anything perfect if some one is constantly at your back telling you to hurry up. I had many ideas initially, such as to cover the cake board with royal icing and dust with brown sugar but then with all the rushing..i completely forgotten! Nevermind... next time, if any...

I forgot to add that the entire cake cake is completely edible: dark chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream & rice crispy arms. :)