I Heart Macaron

On a recent business trip to New York City I checked out a little café just off Broadway called Macaron Café macaroncafe.com for a sandwich and discovered these little French pastries for the first time. I bought one raspberry Macaron and watched as the woman behind the counter packaged and affix a cute little pink bow around the single perfectly colored raspberry dessert.

Image from La tartine gourmande's photostream

Since then, I have spent countless hours researching, downloading pictures and recipes of these perfect little sweets. More so, I have attempted to bake them myself.

Now… I’m no skilled baker and these things are no easy task even if you are. The eggs must be aged; the batter consistency must be perfect and piped onto a cookie sheet in perfect circular shapes. And I haven’t even really explored the fillings yet.

Nonetheless, after 4 attempts of runny, undercooked, overcooked, oddly shaped, flat Macaron, I have almost created the perfect Macaron.

Almost, because I think I overcooked or let them sit too long before baking. They were a little too crunchy.

Through my research I came accross a blog Mélange :: to mix.

It has quickly become one of my favorite blogs so I wanted to share it with all of you. Julia, a baking enthusiast has a fabulous blog. On her blog she shares many recipes, among some of them... the famous Macaron.

She also features Chocolate Eclairs, Salted Butter Caramel Ice cream, Scones and Fruit Buns to name a few. Please join me in indulging in this wonderful blog.

I'm just dying to try out some of her fabulous Macaron Recipes. Stay tuned for the follow up.

a.

A formal introduction to cakes

For years I’ve found baking somewhat of a challenge. My husband even discouraged me from baking Christmas cookies since every year he got stuck having to eat all the rejected ones, which happened to be more than the good ones.

After the birth of my second child, I found myself baking more and realized how much I enjoyed the time to myself, the careful calculations and the warmth of the oven light as I watched my cake rise in the oven.

I started watching shows like Cake Boss and for the first time in a long time I was inspired again. It was time to express my creativity through cake design.

I recently joined Bonnie Gordon School for a few classes to introduce myself to this new world. I have quickly realized I have a passion for this. I find myself constantly thinking, dreaming and researching cakes.

I created my first fondant cake for thanksgiving. A chocolate raspberry butter cream filled cake. Here’s a super simple Chocolate cake recipe that I learned at the Bonnie Gordon School in my B1 baking class. It’s almost as easy as dumping it out of a box and adding water… I promise.

Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

1 tsp cornstarch

180 g all purpose flour

275 g sugar

1 tsp baking soda

60 g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp vanilla

75 ml light oil or melted butter

140 ml buttermilk

2 eggs

130 ml prepared coffee

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF and line pans with parchment paper.
2. Sift dry ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer, followed by remaining ingredients. Stir on low speed with paddle attachment for about 30 seconds or until the mixture is smooth and lump free.
3. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.
4. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 325ºF for 20-25 min (or 12-15 min for cupcakes) until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Yields one 8" round, 4" high cake or about 24 cupcakes