Saturday 26 February 2011

Trouble Shooting Tip Numero Trois

When everything turns to sh#t and you feel like having a good ol' sook...  head to the fridge and eat CAKE!  Better still, find Alice's magic potion (the one that says "drink me") take a swig then go to the  mad hatter's tea party.  


You know when I told you that I was going to make Vivienne Westwood's Naughty Alice  macaron... after making batch after batch of successful macarons I had to swallow my pride and break the news that I had indeed created a failure.  You see, I made a really bad mistake by making them when it was raining.  Humidity plays havoc with macarons so... when it's raining the best advice I can give you is to stay indoors curled up in a comfy spot, with a good book or DVD, a lovely big slab of cake & a glass of champagne. 


Lies, lies, lies... it's all lies!  When you make your sugar syrup don't always trust the blue caterpillar or your thermometer!  Even the best of them can tell you lies!  I told you about the failure of my first attempt making Vivienne Westwood macarons.  But, guess what? My 2nd attempt failed too!  What happened dare you ask?  I trusted the temperature on my thermometer thinking that my sugar syrup had indeed reached soft ball stage when in fact it hadn't.  The result - the sugar syrup was too runny making my macaron batter too runny consequently making my macarons run to the next macaron for comfort and me creating wonder bra's in the oven.  Mmmm, just perfect... designer bras could be another day but just not today!  If you're daring you can test the sugar syrup by soaking your hand in cold water, snatching a small amount of the hot bubbly syrup with your fingers and immediately placing it into a jug of cold water.  Roll the syrup into a ball then drop it onto the bench.  If it stays in tact and is still soft you're on a good wicket but if it's hard and it breaks you've gone too far and you'll need to start again.  DO NOT try this at home unless you know what you're doing as you could end up with severe 3rd degree burns! 


P.S. I forgot to mention that I did also over mix them so this contributed to the runny macaron batter.  Remember that the odd failure is good as we learn from our mistakes.

Tuesday 15 February 2011

Fashion, Art, Perfume & Edible Designer Macarons

Edible artwork on a failed macaron - my first test!
When my 7 year old gorgeous girl grows up she's going to be a fashion and shoe designer.  My other gorgeous girl isn't too sure what she wants to do just yet but has a beautiful sense of style and is a fabulous artist. 


A paper mache shoe made by The Stylish Artist
When we lived in London, I used to take them to the National Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum just to draw and colour in.  And, when we lived in Hong Kong, we'd visit the designer shops in the Central district just to look at the clothes and shoes. At such a young age they were already familiar with Coco Chanel, Prada, Christian Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik. 


Moving back to Canberra, Australia over a year ago we suffered a bit of reverse culture shock... WHAT no Louis Vuitton, no Mui Mui, no Jimmy Choo!  I love busy fast paced cities... give me London, Paris, Rome, New York, Sydney and I'm right in my comfort zone. Canberra on the hand has well... nothing.  And, if there is excitement I'm still yet to find it!  I love Sydney and Melbourne because you can still get your fashion fix... it's busy, crazy, exciting and there is always something to do.  Visit Canberra in the evening and everything is CLOSED - WTF.  Must be why Canberrans stay indoors and COOK!

Getting back to macarons, I've decided to create designer macarons inspired by fashion, art and perfume. Vivienne Westwood's "Naughty Alice" perfume inspired my first attempt so make sure you visit Naughty Alice Macarons & the Naughty Alice Ganache before you leave.

Sunday 13 February 2011

Vivienne Westwood's "Naughty Alice" Macaron - Off With Your Head!


thestylepa
You've been a very bad girl... a very, very, bad bad girl Alice!  


I attempted to create a Vivienne Westwood "Naughty Alice" macaron but as you would expect with a Vivienne Westwood creation Alice has thrown a tanty and is being somewhat contrary... visit trouble shooting tip numero trois to find out what happened. 







Raspberry & Rose Ganache





RASPBERRY & ROSE GANACHE
INGREDIENTS
200g Lindt White Chocolate (placed in a stainless steel bowl)
120g pouring cream (minimum 35% fat)
25g unsalted butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup of frozen raspberries
Few drops of rose essence
A couple of drops of red food colouring

MAKE THE GANACHE
1.  Gently heat the cream and frozen raspberries in a small saucepan until it reaches  boiling point and remove from the stove.  Add the rose essence.


2.  Pour 1/3 of the cream and raspberry mixture over the white chocolate.  Using a whisk blend the chocolate and cream by hand, using circular motions starting from the centre of the bowl.

 3. After, most of the chocolate has been combined add the remaining cream and then the butter.


4. Continue to use the hand whisk to emulsify the ingredients then finish off by using a Bamix or hand held mixer.  When using the mixer, tilt the bowl and use short pulses as we don't want to add to much air.  The purpose of blending the ganache with the hand held mixer is to make it thicker with a silken melt in the mouth texture.


5. Cover the surface with cling film and refrigerate until ready for use -  should be firm but not solid.

If you find it difficult to obtain rose essence from your local gourmet deli, you can order it from Baking Pleasures.

Raspberry & Rose Macarons



Had to add this Vivienne Westwood outfit as it compliments the shoes (feet) perfectly

For me, valentines day screams luscious red raspberries that pop in your mouth and long stem red roses... mmm, I also love Max Brenner chocolates but sadly, we don't have Max Brenner in Canberra. Anyway, for the Mactweets challenge this month I decided to combine raspberries and roses in a white chocolate ganache served up in a Max Brenner tin.

As tomorrow is Valentines day I hope that every one of you gets spoilt rotten... and from Ladymacaron20ten here are some little raspberry red heart kisses just for you!

RASPBERRY & ROSE MACARON SHELLS
INGREDIENTS FOR THE TANT POUR TANT (TPT)
300g sifted TPT (150g almond meal with 150g icing sugar)
55g egg whites
 (fresh)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE ITALIAN MERINGUE (IM)
150g caster sugar
37g water
powdered red raspberry food colouring or Wilton gel paste
55g egg whites (old egg whites aged 12-24 hours in a bowl on the kitchen bench)

STEP 1. MAKE THE TPT
Mix the Tant Pour Tant (equal quantities of icing sugar and almond meal) with the fresh egg white until it forms a thick paste, cover with cling wrap and set aside.

I wizzed the almond meal in the food processor before sieving the TPT



STEP 2. MAKE THE IM
Pour your aged egg whites into a Kitchen Aid mixer and insert the whisk attachment.

Bring the caster sugar, water and food colouring to the boil in a saucepan. When the sugar syrup reaches 115°C start whisking your aged egg whites into soft peaks.

As soon as the syrup reaches 118°C slowly pour the syrup into the beaten egg whites in a thin stream. Continue whisking the IM in the Kitchen Aid until it reaches a temperature between 50-55°C.


STEP 3. COMBINE THE TPT & IM
With a spatula, fold one-third of the IM into the TPT and egg white paste and knock out some of the air in the batter. At this stage of the process you can be quite rough when handling.


Gently fold in the rest of the IM into the TPT and combine until you have the right texture (should be glossy and look like cake mixture). Be careful not to over-mix the batter here or it will get too runny and your shells may crack in the oven.


STEP 4. PIPE YOUR MACARON SHELLS
Fill a piping bag with the macaron batter and place some parchment paper over a baking sheet.


Put four small dabs of macaron mix underneath the parchment paper in each corner to secure the paper. Pipe 3.5 - 4cm diameter circles onto the parchment paper, tap the tray on the work surface to remove air bubbles and leave to dry for about 15-20 minutes to form a crust and are dry to touch.



This is how I rest the piping bag.

STEP 5. COOK YOUR MACARON SHELLS
Cook the macaron for 17 mins at 150°C (fan forced oven). To release steam, leave the oven door open slightly. If this doesn't work for you, keep experimenting until you find the right temperature as every oven is different. Once cooked, remove from the baking sheet and leave to cool on the parchment paper over a wire rack. I have a new commercial style oven which is very powerful so I have to reduce the temperature by another 20°C and cook my shells for 19 minutes.

STEP 6. ASSEMBLE YOUR MACARON
Remove the shells from the parchment paper and pair like sizes together. Pipe a decent blob of ganache onto the shell, then place the lid on top and twist slightly so that the ganache flows out towards the edge of the macaron. When piping the ganache onto the shell always leave a small rim.



STEP 7. STORE YOUR MACARON
Store your macaron in the fridge for 24 hours prior to eating so that the humidity helps the ganache to soak into the shell and allow the flavours to develop. Try not to eat your macaron the day they are made as they are too dry. Allow the macaron to return to room temperature prior to serving. The recipe for Raspberry and Rose ganache appears in my next post.


Click here to find out more about Mac Tweets

Tutti Frutti Ganache

TUTTI FRUTTI GANACHE
INGREDIENTS
200g Lindt White Chocolate
150g pouring cream (minimum 35% fat)
20g unsalted butter (room temperature)
4-5 drops of tutti frutti essence
Orange powdered food colouring or Wilton gel paste

MAKE THE GANACHE
1. Place the white chocolate into a heat resistant bowl and microwave until melted.  Microwave for 40 seconds in the first instance then at 20 second intervals until ready.
2. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over the stove until it reaches boiling point. Add the essence and powdered food colouring.
3. Pour the cream/essence into the chocolate and whisk.
Available from Baking Pleasures
4. Add the butter and continue to whisk until combined and the ganache is glossy and smooth.
5. Cover with cling film to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate until firm but not solid.
6. When ready, place in a piping bag and fill your Tutti Frutti Macaron Shells that appear in my previous post.

Friday 11 February 2011

Tutti Frutti Macaron Shells

TUTTI FRUTTI MACARON SHELLS

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TANT POUR TANT (TPT)
300g sifted TPT (150g almond meal with 150g icing sugar)
55g egg whites
 (fresh)


INGREDIENTS FOR THE ITALIAN MERINGUE (IM)
150g caster sugar
37g water
powdered orange food colouring or Wilton gel paste
55g egg whites (old egg whites aged 12-24 hours in a bowl on the kitchen bench)

STEP 1. MAKE THE TPT
Mix the Tant Pour Tant (equal quantities of icing sugar and almond meal) with the fresh egg white until it forms a thick paste, cover with cling wrap and set aside.





STEP 2. MAKE THE IM
Pour your aged egg whites into a Kitchen Aid mixer and insert the whisk attachment.

Bring the caster sugar, water and food colouring to the boil in a saucepan. When the sugar syrup reaches 115°C start whisking your aged egg whites into soft peaks.
As soon as the syrup reaches 118°C slowly pour the syrup into the beaten egg whites in a thin stream. Continue whisking the IM in the Kitchen Aid until it reaches a temperature between 50-55°C.


The whisk should look like a bird's beak

STEP 3. COMBINE THE TPT & IM
With a spatula, fold one-third of the IM into the TPT and egg white paste and knock out some of the air in the batter. At this stage of the process you can be quite rough when handling.


Gently fold in the rest of the IM into the TPT and combine until you have the right texture (should be glossy and look like cake mixture). Be careful not to over-mix the batter here or it will get too runny and your shells may crack in the oven.


STEP 4. PIPE YOUR MACARON SHELLS
Fill a piping bag with the macaron batter and place some parchment paper over a baking sheet.


Put four small dabs of macaron mix underneath the parchment paper in each corner to secure the paper. Pipe 3.5 - 4cm diameter circles onto the parchment paper, tap the tray on the work surface to remove air bubbles and leave to dry for about 15-20 minutes to form a crust and are dry to touch.


STEP 5. COOK YOUR MACARON SHELLS
Cook the macaron for 17 mins at 150°C (fan forced oven). To release steam, leave the oven door open slightly. If this doesn't work for you, keep experimenting until you find the right temperature as every oven is different. Once cooked, remove from the baking sheet and leave to cool on the parchment paper over a wire rack. I have a new commercial style oven which is very powerful so I have to reduce the temperature by another 20°C and cook my shells for 19 minutes.


STEP 6. ASSEMBLE YOUR MACARON
Remove the shells from the parchment paper and pair like sizes together. Pipe a decent blob of ganache onto the shell, then place the lid on top and twist slightly so that the ganache flows out towards the edge of the macaron. When piping the ganache onto the shell always leave a small rim.

STEP 7. STORE YOUR MACARON
Store your macaron in the fridge for 24 hours prior to eating so that the humidity helps the ganache to soak into the shell and allow the flavours to develop. Try not to eat your macaron the day they are made as they are too dry. Allow the macaron to return to room temperature prior to serving. The recipe for Tutti Frutti ganache appears in my next post.