Mirabelle Plum Ganache Macaron

Hello hello :) Really sorry for my long absence, I had recently got back to work so meaning less time for baking !!

It is the season of mirabelle plum in Lorraine region in France. The mirabelle is a specialty of the French region of Lorraine, which has an ideal climate and soil composition for the cultivation of this fruit.

The mirabelle is identified by its small, oval shape, smooth-textured flesh, and especially by its dark yellow colour which becomes flecked in appearance. They are known for being sweet and full of flavour. The fruit is primarily used in jams and pies, and its juice is commonly fermented for wine or distilled into plum brandy.


For the shells:

Ingredients
* 1 egg white (40g)
* 30g castor sugar

* 50g icing sugar
* 30g almond powder
   (blend together)
* pinch of orange food colouring

* red powder food colouring

Methods

1. Mix almond meal, icing sugar and food colourin together and blend it up in the blender. Sift then set aside.

2. Using electric beater, beat egg white until foamy, then add in half of the castor sugar, continue until the egg white reaches soft peak then add in the remaining sugar, beat until stiff peak.

3. Add the dry ingredient to the meringue. Start folding each batter in each bowl until a smooth shiny batter is obtain. The batter should flow down smoothly and formed a ribbon when it's ready.

4. For details and FAQ on folding please refer to this post http://macaron-fetish.blogspot.fr/2010/02/basic-macaron-recipe.html


6. Using a pipette, suck up some red food colouring powder and then gently blow over the shell to give the shell an airbrush effect.

7. Preheat oven to 150 C while the macaron is resting. Bake for 12-14 minutes and let the macaron shells cool down before removing them.

8. Match up the shells by size and get ready to prepare the filling.

Mirabelle White Ganache Filling:

* 25g mirabelle pulp (deseeded, and mixed up in the blender)
* 60g white chocolate

1. Melt white chocolate over steam bath
2. Mix the pulp with chite choclate, mix with hand blender then let it set in the fridge
3. When the ganache is not longer runny, pipe it on the macaron shells.
4. Enjoy

Hope you like the post, and I would like to show you guys my new family member - Kaeleb - A bunny whose mother was abandoned and rescued, he was born in the shelter the next day his mother was rescued.

Dried Longan and Longan Jelly Macaron

Hello my fellow followers,

Lately, I have been searching for some idea to create some macaron with exotic and unusual flavour that is inspired from my childhood.

 

Longan fruit

Photo credit to http://genuineaid.com/

Longan has always been one of my favourite fruit. One of my favourite is certainly a dried longan syrup drink. The dried smoked longan is cooked with sugary water and served chill in a recycle glass jar. I remember when I was little, I would order them when we eat out in the Kopi Tiam (coffee shop). It was called Mata Kucing in some places (cat eye).

Dried Longan, photo credit to Rasa Malaysia

This is how I like my longan drink to be served

Photo credit to http://cquek.blogspot.fr/

I managed to get hold of some good quality dried longan from my last trip in Malaysia. So I decide to give it a try and see how it would turn up. To my surprise, it somehow tastes very sublime, quite delicate and I also added some fresh longan jelly on top.

Enjoy !!

For the shells:

Ingredients
* 1 egg white (40g)
* 30g castor sugar

* 50g icing sugar
* 30g almond powder
   (blend together)

* Edible bunnies (optional)

Methods

1. Mix almond meal, and icing sugar together and blend it up in the blender. Sift then set aside.

2. Using electric beater, beat egg white until foamy, then add in half of the castor sugar, continue until the egg white reaches soft peak then add in the rest and beat until stiff peak. if you use gel or paste food colouring, you can add it when the egg white reaches soft peak and continue to beat until stiff peak.

3. Add the dry ingredient to the meringue. Start folding each batter in each bowl until a smooth shiny batter is obtain. The batter should flow down smoothly and formed a ribbon when it's ready.

4. For details and FAQ on folding please refer to this post http://macaron-fetish.blogspot.fr/2010/02/basic-macaron-recipe.html

5. Prepare your piping bag and block the tip. Fill it up. Start piping the batter.

6. Preheat oven to 150 C while the macaron is resting. Bake for 12-14 minutes and let the macaron shells cool down before removing them.

7. Match up the shells by size and get ready to prepare the filling.

For the filling:

*4-5 dried longan
*10g water
*50g fresh full cream
*50g white chocolate (Barry / Valrhona)

*3-4 fresh longan (diced up)
*30g water
*10g sugar
*2g agar agar powder

Methods

* To prepare the jelly, put fresh longan, sugar, agar agar and water in a pot over medium heat , stir constantly. On its first boil, set timer to 1 minutes, keep stirring. Remove from heat, pour into a shallow bowl immediately. Let cool before putting it in the fridge .

* In a small pot, dried longan, water and fresh full cream, warm it up and remove from heat, let infused for 15 minutes. When time is up pour the mixture through a sift and you will need 25g of it. Discard the remaining.

* Rewarm the mixture, and meanwhile melt the chocolate over water bath. Pour the mixture over chocolate, mix until a smooth shiny ganache is obtained.

* Set in the refrigerator until the ganache is harden up slightly. Pipe on the shells.

* to stick the bunny on the shell, place a tiny amount of chocolate ganache on the edible bunny and stick it on the shell.

Tricolour Satsuma Mandarin White Chocolate Macaron

Hello all,

Sorry that I haven't been posting for a while. Have some great news to share with you guys.

After one year of preparing and doing my research, I am finally accepted and enrolled in a pastry course. I will be in school and working in a pastry shop to learn all the baking base. In 6 months I will be passing the exam and will have my own qualification to open a pastry shop or setting up a business should I decide to pursue the path. I guess for the next 6 months I will be super busy as it is intensive and there are a lot to learn. So I am apologising in advance if I wouldn't be able to post.

As autumn kicked in, I saw some wonderful, juicy Satsuma Mandarin in my organic grocer in the market. Always love fruity flavour in pastry so I thought to give it a try. Love how the flavour turns out, it is refreshing and the acid taste of the fruit balance out the sweetness of the white chocolate ganache.

I hope you enjoy this entry and Happy Baking


FOR THE MACARON SHELL
2 room temperatured egg white(80g total)
100g icing sugar
60g ground almond
60g castor sugar
1 tsp orange powder food colouring
1 tsp green powder food colouring

Tools:
1. Big piping bag with a noozle no.8 placed inside.
2. 3 small size freezer bags, fold the bottom up to a side, then staple, making a piping bag. Repeat for all 3 bags.
3. 2 extra mixing bowls
4. 2 extra rubber spatulas

Method:
1. Put ground almond and icing sugar in a food processor or a small blender. Blend them finely.

2. Sift the blended mixture and set aside

3. With an electric beater, Beat the egg white, start from low speed and increase slowly to maximum speed. Beat until frothy (you will see lots of fine bubbles)

4. Now it's the time to add in the castor sugar, add half of the sugar, continue to beat in maximum speed for around 2 minutes, add in the other half, continue until stiff peak is obtained.

5. Mix the dry ingredients into the egg whites. This process is called Macaronage. Start folding with a rubber spatula. Mix just until you roughly incorporate the mixture.

6. Divide the mixture into 3 parts. Add orange food colouring powder in one part, green food colouring in the second part. Leave the third part without colouring, continue folding until the batter flow like magma, do the same with other 2 parts.

7. For details and FAQ on folding please refer to this post http://macaron-fetish.blogspot.fr/2010/02/basic-macaron-recipe.html

8. I use 3 plastic freezing bags, fold the bottom side up to the right, so that I can fill up the bag via the opening.I get a triangular which will make a cone when open up. Staple along the side. You will fill the batter in the opening of the freezer bag

9. Fill up each freezing bag with each colours.

10. Cut the bottom of each freezing bags

11. Put those 3 bags carefully in the piping bag , pipe your macaron (about 2 cm diameter) it should spread a bit as it settles. The point should slowly disappear if the mixture is the right consistency. If not you could hit the bottom of the tray with your hand to smooth the point. The first few macarons piped might not have 3 colours, depending on how well those 3 bags are positioned. but don't worry they'll come eventually

12. For step by step guide with photos, please visit the following post http://macaron-fetish.blogspot.fr/2010/02/tri-colours-blueberry-white-chocolate.html

13. Let your macarons sit for about 30minutes. This will depend on the humidity in your house and the day. Try touching the macaron softly, after 30mins. it should not stick to your hand.
For the filling.

14. Heat your oven to 150 C on the (heating on the top only). When the oven is ready, put your macaron at the very bottom shelf. Bake for 12 minutes, check them in the mid time of 6 minutes, the feets should already start forming. Turn the baking tray to the opposite direction to allow even baking. When the 6 mins is up, change the heating setting of your oven to Bottom only. This will help cooking the macaron and rise the feet more. Bake for another 6 minutes. You can test if the macaron is cook, touch softly on the shell and when the macaron doesn't slide on the feet, it's cooked. if it's not add another 1 mins each time and check.

(This is the method i found the best that works for me after few trial and error. I baked with heating the oven top and bottom and i had crack macarons. Having said that, every oven is slightly different than another, so please adjust accordingly)



15. Let the macaron cool down before removing them. You could wet your working area and slide the baking sheet on it to speed up the cooling process, but do not let it sit there too long, if not the macarons will become soggy. Other wise you can leave them cool at room temperature and remove them.



For the Satsuma Mandarin White Chocolate Ganache


- 1 Organic Satsuma Mandarin (zest then peel and squeeze out the juice)
- 10g of the squeezed mandarin juice
- 30g full fat fresh cream (30% fat)
- 100g white chocolate

1. Chopped white chocolate finely, and place it in heat proof bowl.

2. In a pot, heat up the cream and satsuma mandarin zest. When the cream is warm pour it over the chocolate, mix well until a smooth consistency is obtained. Add in the juice, mix well.

3. Let cool and place a cling wrap over the surface of the ganache before placing it the refrigerator for it to set. It will take about 1 hour

4. When the ganache is set, pipe it over a shell and close it up with another. Enjoy your macaron!!

Please Chase My Winter Blues Away Macaron

Cold air is in the air, it's not even winter yet and I am already counting down to summer. It's just so awful for me, every year at the beginning of fall I am kinda depress. My already cold feet getting even icier, my skins are all itchy and cracking up from the cold and dry air, the lack of sunshine and the cold is sucking out all my energy. I usually not fond to go out if I don't have to. As I have to spend at least 10 minutes to layer myself up and go out like a bear!

I am longing for those summer days where I could open the windows with breeze, flowers, butterflies and dragonflies in the field, going out with just a sundress and flip flops, having fun with my bunnies outside... sign... worst of all winter is not even here yet, it's just a beginning of a long cold days ahead. So NOT looking forward to the snowing season and below freezing temperature.

Anyway, making myself some blue macarons with light floral scent. Hoping to make myself feel better. After all I need to eat every 2 hours with my metabolism going completely crazy - guest my body need more food to keep warm.

These macarons may look pretty but the next time I'll leave out the metallic blue painting over the shell - it made everyone's lips BLUE!!! gosh! I did a test to make the meringue with cane sugar instead of the usual white castor sugar and it works just fine.



I also did a test with double heating option as some of my fellow bloggers ask me about that because some oven do not have option of heating sections. I know my oven warms up a lot and always heat up too much. So I heat up the oven to 150 C with double heating, pop in the macarons in the middle tray, then increase to 160 C after 2 minutes for about 4 minutes before turning it back to 150 C and bake for another 7-8 minutes until it's baked. I also open the oven door quickly for a few time to cool down my oven slightly. It helps to prevent browning on the top of the macarons.

Hope all of you are having an excellent autumn :)



For the shell

Ingredients:

1. 40g egg white
2. 30g almond powder
3. 50g icing sugar
4. 30g blond cane sugar
5. 1/2 tsp blue food colouring
6. 1/2 tsp metallic blue food colouring (optional - unless you are looking for BLUE LIPS FUN)

1. In a blender, mix up the almond powder, icing sugar,and food colouring, sieve it and set aside

2.Beat the egg white until frothy, add in half of the cane sugar, keep beating till you get a soft peak and then add in the rest of the sugar. Beat to stiff peak.

3. Add the blended dry ingredients to the stiff egg white.

4. Keep folding until you get a mixture that flow slowly like lava. This should take about 50 folds. The mixture should be uniformed, shiny and when lifted it should flow down and form a thick ribbon.

5. Put a piece of baking sheet over a baking tray, pipe the mixture.

6. Let the macaron sit until a shell is formed and it's no longer stick to the fingers when touched. Depending on your room temperature, and air humidity this should takes somewhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour.

7. Pre-heat the oven on 150 C with top and bottom heating.

8. When the oven is heated up, put in the piped macarons. Increase to 160 C after 2 minutes and continue baking for about 4-5 minutes, be sure to work with your oven and you might need a few test to know how much your oven heats up. The feet should already be forming after 4-5mins. Decrease the temperature to 150C, open the oven door quickly to allow hot air to escape. bake for another 6-8 minutes until the shells are baked.

9. To know if your macarons are baked, you could try it by gently touching the shells, when it's baked it should no longer slide against the feet.

10. If the macaron shells are not well baked, extend the baking time by 1 minutes and recheck.

11. Let macaron cooled before removing them from the baking sheet. You could speed up the process by lightly wetting your working area with a sponge and drag the baking sheets over.

12. Match up all the similar size shells, and get the ready for filling.



White Chocolate Violet Ganache

Ingredients:

1. 1 tsp violet syrup
2. 50g dark chocolate
3. 30g organic unsweetened soya milk
4. 4-5 pcs of candied Violet


Methods:
1. Put chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place it over water bath to melt it

2. In a small pot, over low heat, warm up soya milk with candied violets. Let infuse for 10 mins, strain then rewarm the mixture again.

3. When the mixture is warm enough, remove from heat, add in violet syrup and mix well. Pour over chocolate and stir constantly until a smooth, shiny ganache is obtained.

4. Let sit in room temperature for 30min and place into the fridge for at least 1 hour for it to harden up. Place a cling wrap on top touching the ganache prior putting it into the fridge to prevent any crystalisation on the chocolate ganache.

5. Fill up the macaron shells and enjoy!


Bunz moment :

Nestor begging to the max for his treats.

Myrtille's after nap look.

Reglisse dead bun sleeping position

Working together to get bun-minate the study room

Eddy aka the Evil-E / T-Rex is keeping warm with her prince charming Nestor

Lime Cucumber White Chocolate Ganache Macaron

FOR THE MACARON SHELL
1 room temperatured egg white(39-40g)
50g icing sugar
30g ground almond
30g castor sugar
1/4 teaspoon of lime green food colouring powder
1/4 teaspoon of dark green food colouring powder

Method:
1. Put ground almond & icing sugar in a food processor or a small blender. Blend them finely.

2. Sift the blended mixture and set aside

3. With an electric beater, Beat the egg white, start from low speed and increase slowly to maximum speed. Beat until frothy (you will see lots of fine bubbles)

4. Now it's the time to add in the castor sugar, add half of the sugar, continue to beat in maximum speed for around 2 minutes, add in the other half, continue until you get very stiff peak.

5. Mix the dry ingredients into the egg whites. Roughly mix through the dry and wet ingredients. It's ok if you still see some lumps, but just make sure the dry and wet ingredients are well combined.

6. Devide the mixture into 2 bowls, one you'll add in the lime green colouring, while the other with dark green colouring.

7. You'll now fold the colouring into the mixture for each bowl, until you get smooth shiny, magma flow consistency.

8. Line the baking tray with the parchment paper.

9. We wanna achieve a marble effect here, so scoop one light green batter in the piping bag follow by the dark green batter. Alternate this until you have nomore batter left.






10. Pipe your macaron (about 2 cm diameter) it should spread a bit as it settles. The point should slowly disappear if the mixture is the right consistency.
If not you could hit the bottom of the tray with your hand to smooth the point out)

11. Let your macarons sit for about 30minutes. This will depend on the humidity in your house and the day. Try touching the macaron softly, after 30mins. it should not stick to your hand.

12. Heat your oven to 150 C on the (heating on the top only). When the oven is ready, put your macaron at the very bottom shelf. Bake for 12 minutes, check them in the mid time of 6 minutes, the feets should already start forming. Turn the baking tray to the opposite direction to allow even baking. When the 6 mins is up, change the heating setting of your oven to Bottom only. This will help cooking the macaron and rise the feet more. Bake for another 6 minutes. You can test if the macaron is cook, touch softly on the shell and when the macaron doesn't slide on the feet, it's cooked. if it's not add another 1 mins each time and check.

(This is the method i found the best that works for me after few trial and error. I baked with heating the oven top and bottom and i had crack macarons. Having said that, every oven is slightly different than another, so please adjust accordingly)



13. Let the macaron cool down before removing them. You could wet your working area and slide the baking sheet on it to speed up the cooling process, but do not let it sit there too long, if not the macarons will become soggy. Other wise you can leave them cool at room temperature and remove them.

FOR THE LIME-CUCUMBER WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Ingredients

50g cooking white chocolate
Half Lime ( Squeeze to obtain juice)
20g cucumber (remove skin - cut into small pieces)

Methods

1. In a fruit juice blender or any hand blender, put in the cucumber and blend it to get the juice.

2. In a small pot, put in the lime juice, add the cucumber juice in it. Warm it up over low heat

3. Once it start to boil slightly, remove from heat. Add white chocolate and stir constantly until they all melt. If the mixture had turned too cold and you still have some lumps, warm up a pot of water, put the chocolate mixture on top and stir.

4. Cover up with cling wrap, put in the fridge for 1 hour.

5. Pipe the macarons and keep chill.