Experiments with Macarons

I have a serious case of ‘if someone else can so can I’, and it’s no different with macarons. After several experiments with recipes for the basic mix, I have decided that Ed Kimber’s is the most reliable and least like to sink/burn/fail and leave you bereft and empty.

The base recipe can be found here, just alter the food colouring accordingly.

http://www.frenchweddingstyle.com/wedding-macarons-with-edd-kimber/

Using this recipe, I have played around with fillings and flavours- here are three of my favourites.

Rose and Raspberry

So this is a variation on the above recipe, I think it needed a sharper element.

I coloured the shells using pink gel food colouring, which is bake stable and doesn’t make the recipe too runny to work. The filling is a buttercream, coloured with a darker pink (Waitrose natural pink) and flavoured with rose water to taste. Then ice both shells to protect them from the raspberry juice, and crumble a raspberry across the one of the shells.

White Chocolate and Sea Salt

This macaron was coloured with yellow gel colouring. The filling is white chocolate ganache- melted chocolate with a splash of cream mixed in. I added Maldon Sea Salt to taste- its a sweet hit followed by a gorgeous salt aftertaste. My favourite!

Dark Chocolate with Mint

I left the shells natural for this macaron, which gives a beautiful pure white colour. The filling is ganache made with dark chocolate and cream, as before, but with a generous splash of peppermint oil stirred in.

Have fun playing with colours and flavours….and design. Here’s what you can do with a paint chart….

Stay Unchained<3

SnowCakes

Christmas baking! These are my first creation, the cake recipe taken from an American cupcake book given to me by my boyfriend’s lovely mother. Due to the landing of the American ‘Wholefood’s’ in Cheltenham, these didn’t have to remain a pipe dream. I matched the heavy molasses taste with light vanilla buttercream, and a thin disc of fondant…stamped with my fancy new snowflake gadget. Let me know what you think, or better yet- make them yourself and tell me!

Black-strap Molasses Cupcakes with Vanilla Snowflake Icing

98g Self-raising flour (direct conversion from cups!)

2tsp Ground ginger

3/4 tsp Ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp Baking soda

4tsp of Milk

6 tbsp of butter

2 tbsp Black molasses

2 Eggs, beaten

I used a food processor to blend the ingredients, first dissolving the baking soda in the milk. Fill muffin cups 2/3s full and back at about Gas 5 until a skewer comes out clean. I iced mine with vanilla buttercream….like so!

A little piped swirl, and a thinly rolled circle of fondant….with my cool new thing!

The result is a spicy, dark cake with a vanilla lift from the icing. They got great feedback from the anonymous tasters! Hope you like them too…let me know how they turn out!

Stay Unchained<3