By now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that I love macarons. I’m always looking for different ways to dress ‘em up and play around. I’ve experimented with topping the macarons before baking and non-perils and sprinkles hold up reallyyyy well in the oven. For the green sprinkles, I used Wilton Cake “Sparkles”– those can be found here.

Green Apple Macarons

Ingredients:

(for the Macarons, follow this recipe)

For the Jell-o Frosting:

- 3 ounce pkg. of Jell-o, green-apple flavored.
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg white
- 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Make macarons as per tutorial. While the macarons are still “wet”, sprinkle with Cake Sparklers (I picked the green ones).  

2. Make filling while the macarons are cooling down:

Place the ingredients in a large mixing bowl– this works best with a stand mixer, but hand mixers can be used as long as you use a heat resistant bowl.  Turn mixer on high and then slowly stream 1/2 cup boiling water over ingredients.  Whip on high for five minutes- occasionally scraping down the bowl. (you can find more detailed instructions on ‘Coleen’s Recipes‘). I added a little bit more green food coloring to the frosting, to make the green pop.

3. Fill your macarons using the flavoured filling. Eat and Enjoy!

… even Thor shares my love for macarons. Don’t worry, I didn’t let him have any.. no matter how hard he tried.
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Every time I bust out the edible pearl dust and use it on baked goods, people are always impressed. I thought I’d take it one step further (surprised?) and glitz out some french macarons for St.Patty’s day. These are filled with a dark chocolate ganache that is spiked with some Bailey’s Irish cream.

Macaron Shells – Italian Meringue Method

1. Gently and slowly stir together the water and 250g sugar until combined.  Using a pastry brush, brush water along the sides of the saucepan to deter crystals from forming around the sides of the pot. 

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar and water to a boil. Allow to cook, without stirring at all, until it reaches the soft ball stage, or the sugar registers 115′c on a candy thermometer.

Test for the soft ball stage by dipping a spoon into a glass of ice cold water, then dip into the centre of the sugar and water mixture, and then quickly back into the water. Feel with your fingers to see if you can form into a soft, gummy ball. You will reach this stage after the string stage, in which the sugar mixture will feel stringy between your fingertips.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer (make sure the bowl is spotless!), beat 90g of egg whites at moderate speed. Once the egg whites begin to look like a bubble bath– increase the speed to high and very slowly begin pouring in the sugar syrup, holding the saucepan higher than the mixing bowl so that it pours out in a thin, continuous stream. Beat until the bowl is almost cool to the touch (its likely to retain a bit of warmth) and the egg whites form stiff, shining, upstanding peaks. You want to be able to turn the bowl upside down without the egg whites falling out.* 

4. Combine almond flour and icing sugar in a food processor, pulsing until ingredients are thoroughly incorporated and very fine. Sift into a large bowl and set aside. When the meringue is just about ready, fold in the remaining 90g egg whites.

5. Carefully fold the meringue into the wet almond mixture, adding a little at a time (should take about 3 additions). Stop folding when the mixture is evenly combined and the viscosity of lava or molasses. When piped, the macarons should hold a peak of about a second or two, and then they gradually find their round shape and flatten out.

6. Pipe macarons onto a heavy parchment-lined sheet pan.

• Rest macarons until they appear dull and are no longer tacky to the touch. Bake at 275ºF on the middle rack in a convection oven (310º for non-convection) for 10 minutes. To test for doneness tap the top of a macaron, if the bottom wiggles, it should bake for longer. Allow the macarons to cool before removing from pan and transferring to a cooling rack.

• 7. Once completely cool, fill with ganache, buttercream, or other filling, and carefully top with the other shell half. Macarons are best enjoyed 24hrs after filling, allowing the shells to set and the filling to rehydrate centers.

Paint ‘em gold:

- Mix about a half tablespoon of edible pearl dust with a couple of drops of pure vodka. Combine until it is a thick paste.

- Carefully brush onto the macarons; allow them to dry out. You can use an edible writer pen to draw shamrocks on your macarons.

- to get a deeper “gold”, add a second coat. Different brands have different shades of glitter dust.

Bailey’s Ganache Instructions:

Gently heat cream in a small saucepan until it just comes to the boil, then pour hot cream over chocolate. Whisk to combine mixture until it is smooth (if the chocolate has not completely melted you can place it over a saucepan of boiling water and continue stirring it until it is completely smooth). Add Baileys (you can adjust the amount to taste) and use whisk to combine. Chill in the fridge until thick but still pipable. Pipe or spoon on to macaron shells and sandwich shells together. Place in the fridge overnight.

Other Macron Recipes/Ideas:

- Pistachio Macarons

- Rainbow Macarons

- Bunny Macarons

- Snowflake Macarons

- Big Mac-arons (Lesson from my mum)

If red velvet cakes, waffles, crepes are a thing, why not cream puffs? And why not take it a step further to make them into hearts? I couldn’t come up with a good reason, so I did it. The best part about this recipe is that all you have to remember is that it follows the rule of “1″– you’ll see what I mean when you read the ingredients. .

Red Velvet “Love Puffs”
(makes ~24 cream puffs)

Choux Pastry Ingredients:

- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), unsalted
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon concentrated red food coloring, powdered

Pastry Cream Filling:

- 1 cup of milk
- 2 tablespoons white sugar, plus 2 tablespoons white sugar (divided)
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup of heavy whip cream+2 tablespoons of sugar (for whip cream)

Choux Pastry:

1. In a medium pot, bring the buttermilk, salt, and butter to a simmer on medium heat. Add the flour, cocoa powder and powdered coloring to the milk mixture,  and with a wooden spoon or spatula, stir very quickly.

Carefully watch and you’ll see that the flour starts absorbing the liquid — a dough will form. Keep stirring to continue cooking the flour and cook off some of the water, another minute or two. At this point,  I remove the pot from the stove. When the dough comes clean off of the sides of your pot, this is an indicator your dough is ready for step two.

2.Transfer the dough to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or to a bowl if you’re using a hand mixer. Add the eggs one at a time mixing rapidly until each is combined into the paste. The paste will go from shiny to slippery to sticky as the egg is incorporated. The pâte a choux can be cooked immediately at this point or refrigerated for up to a day until ready to use.

3. On a parchment lined cookie sheet pipe out the paste. You can make traditional round cream puffs by piping round “drops”, or, you can make heart shapes. Pipe a circle with the paste, and pull downwards to create a tear drop shape. Repeat again on the opposite side to create a heart. Dip your finger in water, and connect the shapes.

Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then 350F for 18-30 minutes, depending on the size of your puffs. You want them rise about twice the size, and cook until the centers are dry. The color will change as they “golden”. Remove from the oven and allow to fully cool before you severe the halfs and pipe the cream.

You can dip the halves in chocolate ganache:

The round cream puffs are just as cute:

Pastry Cream:
(you can make the pastry cream a day in advance)

In a heavy saucepan, stir together milk, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat.

While the milk is coming to a boil, whisk together egg, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and cornstarch. Mix until smooth. Add a tablespoon of the hot milk to this mixture, stirring constantly. This is done to “temper” the eggs, so you don’t end up with a scramble egg mixture. When the milk comes to a boil, remove from heat, and slowly pour the egg mixture into the sauce pan, making sure you have a thin stream and you are constantly stirring so you do not cook the eggs. Return the saucepan back to heat and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don’t curdle. When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat.our into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled before using.

(the day of)
Once your pastry cream has fully chilled, remove plastic wrap and whisk until the mixture is smooth and well combined (no chunks).  Whip 1 cup of heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar until you have firm peaks. Fold 1/4 cup at a time of the whip cream into the pastry cream; carefully mix until it comes together.

Fill the cream puffs with the pastry filling:

Top the heart with the matching half:

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I made this tart over the holidays for a quick and easy dessert; you can make them in all size and shape pans for any occasion (…like Valentine’s day!).

Chocolate Coconut Tart

Ingredients:

- 4 T butter, melted
- 14 oz package sweetened shredded coconut, pulsed in a food processor
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cup heavy cream **approx 35% fat
- 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (approx.56% cocoa), finely chopped. ** make sure you use a high quality chocolate, like Lindtt.

Directions: 

For the crust:

Pre-heat heat oven to 350. In a small sauce-pan, melt butter on low heat.  Transfer to a medium size, heat resistant bowl and add coconut– stir until well combined.  Press coconut mixture into bottom and up the sides of pan to form a crust, leaving top edges loose and fluffy (I used 2, 6″ round spring pans; you can use any size).

Make sure you use a spring form pan, or a tart pan with a removable bottom to make it easy to pop out the tart shells.  Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes until the tart is golden brown. If you find that the edges are cooking faster than the center, cover the edges foil to avoid burning.

Transfer to cooling rack and cook completely.

For the chocolate ganache filling:

Bring cream and sugar just to a boil in a small saucepan;

Pour over chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Continuously tir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is combined; at first it will look split, but as the chocolate melts it will come together. Pour into coconut crust. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, 1 hour or up to a day. Garnish with chocolate decorations if desired.

For now, I’ll leave you with a recipe and idea to decorate macarons for the holidays.

Snowflake Macarons

Ingredients:
Macarons:
90 gr egg whites
25 gr granulated sugar
200 gr powdered sugar
110 gr almonds (finely ground)
1 tablespoon powdered food coloring (any color, optional)

White Chocolate Ganache Filling:

225 gr white chocolate , chopped(you can substitute semi-sweet chocolate for a dark chocolate ganache)
190 gr heavy whipping cream
25 gr unsalted butter, room temperature

+ royal icing and  parchment triangles to make piping easier

Directions:

Macarons

1. (almond flour mixture) In a food processor, pulse confectioners’ sugar and almond flour until combined. Sift and set aside

2. (egg whites) Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites on medium-low speed. When the egg whites start to turn foamy (think cappuccino froth), add the granulated sugar. Continue to whisk eggs on medium-low speed until the egg whites have a consistency of shaving cream. Be patient, don’t use the high setting– you’ll risk over beating the eggs, and then its game over before we even get started. If you are going to add food colouring, you’ll want to add it to your egg whites at this point.In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, (think bubble bath foam) gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue (think shaving cream). Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry.

4. Fold the almond flour mixture into the egg whites. At this point, you want to have a homogenous mixture with a ‘lava like’ consistency. What does this look like? Best thing I can think of is shampoo– it’s free flowing, but still  viscous to hold shape.  You can test a daub on a plate, and if a small beak remains, turn the batter a couple times more. If the batter forms a round cap but doesn’t run, it is just right. The perfect batter will slightly ooze right out of your piping bag before you are ready. When piped, the macarons hold a peak for about a second or two, and then they gradually find their round shape and flatten off.

5. Transfer your batter to a piping bag, fitted with a plain round tip. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, pipe 1″- 2″ round circles. Let your cookies rest for 30-45 minutes until dry to touch.

6. Preheat oven to 300′F. Let the cookies bake for about 10-15 minutes. Each oven is different, so you might need to adjust the oven temperature and duration accordingly. If your did everything right to this point, and your  macaron caps brown, crack, or bake without feet, this is an indication that your oven is too hot. You can reduce your oven temperature, or prop open slightly your oven door using a wooden spoon.  The tops of the macaron shouldn’t brown, but they should have developed feet and a defined shell on top. Remove cookies from the oven, allow to cool on sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cookie sheet.

Festive Meringue Cookies
(makes about 30 x 1″ cookies)

Ingredients:

- 3 large egg whites (3 ounces or 90 grams)
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar, pulsed in a food processor until fine
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Red and green food coloring (opitional)
+ technique for painting rainbow macarons
+ piping bag, fitted with a star tip
+ paint brush

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat, on medium-high speed, until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. Beat in the vanilla extract.

3. Take aside 2 tablespoons of meringue– dye one tablespoon using red food dye; and one using the green food dye. Using this technique here, paint two strips, one with the green meringue, and one with the red meringue down the side of a piping bag fitted with a star tip.

4. Pipe ~1″ stars on your piping tray; you can use many different patterns (rose, straight, etc.) on your parchment lined tray. Bake the meringues for approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. You want to make meringues until fully dried (no golden brown here.)

Here is another idea to sandwich meringue cookies: http://duhlicious.com/2012/03/bezele-meringue-cookies/

You have the option to skip the chocolate layers and just sprinkle nuts on to the warm brittle, but if you have the time and patience, it makes that much more special.

Pistachio Brittle
* Make sure you have all your ingredients scaled out and ready to go– you won’t have time to measure things in between. It requires you to react quickly.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup hulled pistachios, chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate, tempered and melted (optional)
+ candy thermometer

Directions:

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silpat. In a heavy, large (!you need a large sauce pan because the sugar will foam and almost double in size when you add the baking soda) saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. Stir frequently until temperature reaches 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). You’ll want to brush the sides of the pot occasionally with cool water to prevent any crystalization. This will take about 7 to 9 minutes, and it will turn an amber color.

2. Remove from heat and stir in stir in butter, vanilla and baking soda – it will immediately get foamy. Working quickly, spread nut brittle onto prepared baking sheet.  Allow to set completely.

3. Once the brittle is completely set (approximately 30 minutes), spread a thin layer of chocolate on one side. Let it fully set, carefully flip the brittle over, and repeat. Sprinkle pistachios on the chocolate and allow to set.

4. Once the chocolate is set, you get to break the brittle into pieces. You can use a blunt object to get the process started, but it should be fairly easy.

Does your boyfriend or significant other have a moustache growing for the Movember? Are you a little jealous?  I can’t help you grow one, but I can get you 15% off moustache paraphernalia.

The cool folks over at Mortimer Snodgrass (what a name, eh?) want to give all you cool people 15% off their entire store until December 31st, 2012. If you’ve never been over to Mortimer’s, your kind of missing out. They have really cool gift ideas, and lots of awesome gadgetry (the kitchen stuff being my favorite.

Where: Mortimer Snodgrass (http://www.mortimersnodgrass.com)
What: 15% off your purchase
How: Use this coupon code at check-out: snodlicious
Expires: December 31, 2012

… Now that I’ve helped you start your Christmas shopping, lets get on with the recipe:

Savoury Choux Puffs w/ Cheese Dip
(recipe makes ~ 24 puffs, or moustaches… whichever you prefer)

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 good pinch of salt
1 cup eggs (4 large eggs)

*recipe borrowed from SteamyKitchen 

Cheese Dip:
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 tablespoon chicken seasoning (such as Knorr Vegeta)
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon dried parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven 425F.

For the choux (pronounced like SHOE… yep, just like the things you wear on your feet):

1. In a medium pot, bring the water and butter to a simmer on medium heat. Add the flour and with a wooden spoon or spatula, stir very quickly. Carefully watch and you’ll see that the flour starts absorbing the liquid — and a dough will form. Keep stirring to continue cooking the flour and cook off some of the water, another minute or two. At this point,  I remove the pot from the stove. When the dough comes clean off of the sides of your pot, this is an indicator your dough is ready for step two.

2. Transfer the dough to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or to a bowl if you’re using a hand mixer. Add the salt and the eggs one at a time mixing rapidly until each is combined into the paste. The paste will go from shiny to slippery to sticky as the egg is incorporated. The pâte a choux can be cooked immediately at this point or refrigerated for up to a day until ready to use.

4. Spoon the dough into a large gallon-sized plastic bag (or piping bag.)  Pipe onto a baking sheet into little puffs, keeping the puffs 2-inches apart. With your finger, press down the peaks (as they can burn.) I used a cool silicon multi-purpose mold, and piped the dough into the cavities (just to put a little twist on things).

You can take the easy way out and pipe out little round puffs.

Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then 350F for 18-30 minutes, depending on the size of your puffs. You want them to turn a golden brown color, and rise about twice the size.

 

For the cheese dip:

In a small sauce pan, combine milk and cheddar cheese. Heat on low heat, just until the cheese is melted (stirring constantly to avoid burning). Allow to cool slightly.

In the bowl of a mixer, combine cream cheese and seasonings. Using your whisk attachment, mix on medium until light and fluffy. Carefully add melted cheese, and whip until the mixture comes together.

Pistachio Macarons
Ingredients:

- 100 grams almond meal (ground almond)
- 80 grams raw pistachio meal (ground pistachio)
- 245 grams powdered sugar
- 135 grams egg whites
- 5 grams egg white powder (meringue powder)
- 80 grams granulated sugar
- few drops of all-natural green food coloring

Directions:

Using a food processor, pulse almond flour, pistachio meal, and powdered sugar. In a large bowl, sift together the almond flour, pistachio meal and powdered sugar. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the egg white and the egg white powder. Whip in medium speed until egg whites start to increase in volume. When the egg whites are almost fully whipped and very fluffy, slowly start adding the granulated sugar. After all the sugar is incorporated, continue to whip the meringue in high speed now until semi-stiff peaks have formed–

What is a semi-stiff peak? A semi-stiff peak is in between a stiff peak, and a soft peak (duh!)… The meringue will be glossy, volumous, and holds it shape. It will have a peak that doesn’t stand firm (slight swoop).

Add food coloring. Add the meringue to the almond flour and pistachio meal mixture and with a rubber spatula fold the meringue into the dry ingredients. It is better to fold slowly and test a couple of macarons because it is possible to over fold this mixture.

We are looking for a shiny mass, that when piped holds it shape, but spreads slightly on to the tray. We are looking for a mass that spreads a little but not too much otherwise our macaroons will be flat.

Using a piping bag fitted with a plain tip, pipe the batter onto half sheet pans lined with silpats or parchment paper.Sprinkle the macarons with chopped pistachios. The ideal size is slightly larger than 1″

Let them sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes to set. We want the tops to form a shell; they will be tacky when you touch them, but won’t feel wet.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Turn the oven down to 300 degrees. Bake one sheet pan at a time and rotate half way after about 10 minutes. These will take about 12 minutes, but depends on the size of your macaron.

Pistachio Buttercream

50 grams egg whites
100 grams sugar
150 grams butter, softened
50 grams pistachio paste (ground pistachio… kind of like peanut butter)

Mix the egg whites and the sugar and place them over a double boiler while you whisk them together. The sugar will start to dissolve and the egg whites will start to turn white and fluffy. Continue whisking until the egg whites feel hot to the touch.

Transfer the bowl to the electric mixer and whip in high speed until light and fluffy and the bottom of the bowl doesn’t feel hot anymore. About 3-5 minutes.

Start adding the softened butter by the tablespoon. Keep adding more butter as it is incorporated into the meringue. It might look like it is curdling but don’t worry, keep mixing. When is well mixed, add the pistachio paste.

Other Macron Recipes/Ideas:

- Rainbow Macarons

- Bunny Macarons

- Snowflake Macarons

- Big Mac-arons (Lesson from my mum)

October is “World Egg Month”, and the Egg Farmers of Ontario have asked food bloggers to whip up their creative deviled egg recipe to celebrate.  As part of World Egg Month, the Egg Farmers of Ontario have provided me with a $50 Cora gift card for one lucky reader!

If there is a Cora’s near you and you can use the gift card, you can enter to win it by finding out one fun fact about eggs from the Egg Farmers of Ontario website, then leaving a comment below. Contest closes Thursday, November 8th at 6pm EST and the winner will be announced shortly after.

(Contest Closed):

Deviled Eye of Newt
(makes 12 servings)

Ingredients:
- 6 hard cooked eggs, peeled and halved lengthwise
- 1/4 cup pesto (store bought, or home made)
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tsp mustard powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tsp sriracha hot sauce

Suggested Toppers:
- sriracha hot sauce;
- black olives, sliced (yes please!)
- roasted red pepper
- paprika

Directions:

1. Prepare eggs (instructions to hard boil eggs at the bottom).

2. Carefully scoop yolks into a food processor. Set whites on a serving platter, cover and set aside. Add pesto, mayonnaise, mustard powder, salt, pepper, and sriracha to the egg yolks. Pulse until the mixture smooths out and is homogenous.

3. You can use a small spoon or scoop to mound yolk mixture into whites. For a neater finish, use a piping bag fitted with a plain tip, and pipe out round circles.

4. To make the eye of newts: using a piping triangle, pipe out sriracha to emulate the blood shot eyes. Place a black olive slice in the center of each egg, and top with a sliver of roasted red pepper. Sprinkle with paprika for extra flavour and aspect.

 ~~~~~~

How to make hard-cooked (boiled) eggs:
(tips from Egg Farmers of Ontario)

 1. Choose eggs that have been in your refrigerator for about a week. They will be easier to peel than fresh eggs, but will still have the same great taste and nutritional value

2. Place cold eggs in a single layer in a saucepan. Fill the saucepan so the eggs are covered with at least 1″ of cold water.

3. Bring the water to a boil over high heat (with lid on or off, as you wish). When the water reaches a boil, immediately cover the saucepan and remove it from the heat to stop water from boiling.

4. Let the eggs stand in the water, covered for 18 to 23 minutes (the eggs cook while standing in the boiled water). A large egg will take 18 to 20 minutes to cook, but be sure to set a timer.

5. When the time is up, immediately drain off the water, and run cold water over the eggs until they are cool to the touch.

*hard-cooked eggs can be kept in the fridge for up to a week.