Your Daily Sweets (2005-2012)

[ncorrigbl]

Just Gorgeous

[oli]

A big WOW on that one. Is that a creation of your own and is there a actual name for that cake? It just knocks my socks off. Great job.

Edited December 30, 2009 by oli (log)

[RichardJones]

Oh, no, it's nothing official. It's just two mousses nicely tarted up. It was loosely inspired by an entremets we made at school which we called a Prestige framboise. That was with raspberry, clearly...

I am just travelling but I can try and send a rough recipe when I return if you like. Do you know how to put an entremets together from the component parts?

R

[oli]

No I may not. I have assembled elaborate cakes over a period of a couple of days, so I don't know if that qualifies.

[RWood]

Raspberry Brown Butter Tart

[Aloha Steve]

Raspberry Brown Butter Tart

Beautiful !

[emmalish]

Oh, that's lovely, Robyn!

[merstar]

Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake from Cook's Illustrated for the upteenth time. No photo, so here's one from CI:

http://images.cooksillustrated.com/document%5Carticle%5CJF04_ChocolateBundtCake_article.jpg

[Aloha Steve]

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls w Buttermilk Frosting

The family said they were really, really good and keep the recipe.

[gini]

Wow RichardJones and RWood!

This weekend I made a kiwi lemongrass icebox pie from Coconut & Lime.

[Emily_R]

Robyn -- that raspberry tart is gorgeous! I'm trying to astrally-project a slice right here into my house...

Yesterday I made these chocolate dipped fruit and nut balls from Orangette -- http://orangette.blogspot.com/2005/12/coming-of-age-in-cookies.html -- They are delicious, and will make them again with just a few modifications... I think I would make them a tiny bit smaller, add a bit of orange zest, skip the powdered sugar, and dip the whole things in chocolate, rather than just drizzling chocolate over the top. That said, they're really good, and seem to be improving each day.

Also made some orange anise biscotti, to dip in all the tea I've been drinking lately... I love this recipe -- http://skinnygourmet.blogspot.com/2008/06/orange-anise-biscotti-with-white.html -- and never use the white chocolate on them.

[RWood]

Thanks for all the nice comments

I made it for a girl's get together yesterday, but the leftovers got snagged for the last Raider game today.

It was nice to bake again, I've been so engrossed in chocolate I've had no time.

[CanadianBakin']

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls w Buttermilk Frosting

The family said they were really, really good and keep the recipe.

That dough looks fabulous! What kind did you use?

[RichardJones]

I love the look of that raspberry tart.

My parents had a big tea part today (40 people) and I made a pâtisserie course for them.

On the left is a dark chocolate shell with milk chocolate décor, filled with a cinnamon chocolate cream (a light ganache made with crème anglaise whose cream was infused with stick cinnamon) with a small sablé hollandais underneath.

In the middle is a passion fruit and milk chocolate macaron (Hermé).

On the right is a small choux with a thin crunchy caramel shell and filled with vanilla crème pâtissière swirled with caramel.

I also made a fourth with a caramelized puff pastry layer, a light mincemeat cream (crème pâtissière, Italian meringue, whipped cream and mincemeat) topped with a tiny strip of hazelnut nougatine, a sliver of candied orange zest and a little square of orange gelée. No photo of this.

Interestingly on the macaron front, I tried the recipe from Hermé's macaron book for the first time (Italian meringue based) and it was an utter disaster, unservable. I started again from scratch with a French meringue (Hermé's in Larousse) and had much more success...

R

[RWood]

I love the look of that raspberry tart.

My parents had a big tea part today (40 people) and I made a pâtisserie course for them.

On the left is a dark chocolate shell with milk chocolate décor, filled with a cinnamon chocolate cream (a light ganache made with crème anglaise whose cream was infused with stick cinnamon) with a small sablé hollandais underneath.

In the middle is a passion fruit and milk chocolate macaron (Hermé).

On the right is a small choux with a thin crunchy caramel shell and filled with vanilla crème pâtissière swirled with caramel.

I also made a fourth with a caramelized puff pastry layer, a light mincemeat cream (crème pâtissière, Italian meringue, whipped cream and mincemeat) topped with a tiny strip of hazelnut nougatine, a sliver of candied orange zest and a little square of orange gelée. No photo of this.

Interestingly on the macaron front, I tried the recipe from Hermé's macaron book for the first time (Italian meringue based) and it was an utter disaster, unservable. I started again from scratch with a French meringue (Hermé's in Larousse) and had much more success...

R

Those look great. I agree about the Italian meringue macarons, I have no luck, and I think the shells are too hard. Just me, but I prefer the French method any day.

[Aloha Steve]

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls w Buttermilk Frosting

The family said they were really, really good and keep the recipe.

That dough looks fabulous! What kind did you use?

I found the recipe onSaveur including 24 pix showing the making from beginning to end. It was also recently on Joythebaker's blog.

Next time I will spread the dough longer so that when I roll, there'll be another swirl of the cinnamon mixture.

It was the first time I made it and it will kept it as THE cinnamon roll recipe forsaking all others

[Aloha Steve]

In the middle is a passion fruit and milk chocolate macaron (Hermé).

Richard they all look superb!

One of my NY's resolution is to make macarons. I have bought; Hermé's book, "i love macarons" by Hisako Ogita, have copied David Libovitz's posts and adapted recipes, and maybe 4 other recipes & tips.

I think you've done macarons before, any suggestions how a real novice at baking would get started ?

I also think that you read French and did not have to have Hermé's recipe's translated ?

[RichardJones]

Dear Aloha Steve,

Thanks for the comment. I am sure you will have great fun making macarons. Although they can be tricky to get right there do seem to be several ways of going about it. When I trained we used the Italian meringue method which was worked every time and gave perfect results but I have never managed to replicate it in a domestic kitchen. On the other hand I have always had success at home with French meringue. I imagine between those books and posts you have already laid hands on you have more than enough (conflicting) information. I can walk you through the method I used for the above step by step if you like but perhaps best over a PM so we do not hijack this thread. Let me know.

In the mean time a few random points:

- I did let these crust. The first batch for 20mins, the last batch for over an hour. There was no difference in the foot.

- I left the oven door ajar (wooden spoon handle).

- I did not double the oven trays.

- Before ovening each batch I heated the oven to 250C and then reduced to 180C for the cooking period.

Yes, I was working form French copies of Hermé's books so if the cock-up was due to mis-translation it was entirely my fault. My sister gave my Wybauw's Chocolate Decorations book for Christmas in English and the translation is abominable. Not only is it hard to read, some things are simply wrong and at one point the opposite is said to what needs to happen! (I happened to read it in French when I was out there so remembered some of the detail.) Let me know if you want anything in French translated.

Richard

[chocoera]

Dear Aloha Steve,

Thanks for the comment. I am sure you will have great fun making macarons. Although they can be tricky to get right there do seem to be several ways of going about it. When I trained we used the Italian meringue method which was worked every time and gave perfect results but I have never managed to replicate it in a domestic kitchen. On the other hand I have always had success at home with French meringue. I imagine between those books and posts you have already laid hands on you have more than enough (conflicting) information. I can walk you through the method I used for the above step by step if you like but perhaps best over a PM so we do not hijack this thread. Let me know.

In the mean time a few random points:

- I did let these crust. The first batch for 20mins, the last batch for over an hour. There was no difference in the foot.

- I left the oven door ajar (wooden spoon handle).

- I did not double the oven trays.

- Before ovening each batch I heated the oven to 250C and then reduced to 180C for the cooking period.

Yes, I was working form French copies of Hermé's books so if the cock-up was due to mis-translation it was entirely my fault. My sister gave my Wybauw's Chocolate Decorations book for Christmas in English and the translation is abominable. Not only is it hard to read, some things are simply wrong and at one point the opposite is said to what needs to happen! (I happened to read it in French when I was out there so remembered some of the detail.) Let me know if you want anything in French translated.

Richard

don't mean to stick my nose in your conversation....but right now i feel like a little kid in class with her hand raised going "me to? me to? me to?" i would love a pm also they are a real challenge for me and i would love some personal pointers! thanks richard

PS- that mousse cake....drooling. for real. wow. (was that a transfer sheet on top? or what are those designs?) and the itty bitty little mousse dome....was that made in a silicone mold and then glazed? curious...

[CanadianBakin']

Dear Aloha Steve,

Thanks for the comment. I am sure you will have great fun making macarons. Although they can be tricky to get right there do seem to be several ways of going about it. When I trained we used the Italian meringue method which was worked every time and gave perfect results but I have never managed to replicate it in a domestic kitchen. On the other hand I have always had success at home with French meringue. I imagine between those books and posts you have already laid hands on you have more than enough (conflicting) information. I can walk you through the method I used for the above step by step if you like but perhaps best over a PM so we do not hijack this thread. Let me know.

Richard

We have a large Macaron thread here: so feel free to continue the discussion publicly. There's always something for all of us to learn from another person's method.

Edited January 4, 2010 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[RichardJones]

That thread appears to be locked, CanadianBakin'. Perhaps I am misunderstanding it... could you move this across if you think appropriate?

Here, for Aloha Steve and chocoera is the method I used for the macaron in my post above. It is based on Hermé's French meringue recipe from Le Larousse des desserts but I do not quite follow it as written and, besides, I do not think the book is published in English so hope this might be of interest.

280g ground almonds

280g icing sugar (I think you might say powdered sugar across the pond)

200g icing sugar

7 egg whites (or, more accurately, 245g)

1. Pop the ground almonds and first quantity of sugar into a food processor and process on high speed for as long as you can bear. This is to ensure a very thorough mixing and to reduce the size of the almond particles. Sieve this mixture most carefully and jettison any debris left in sieve.

3. Whisk egg whites to soft peaks, then keep whisking as you add the second quantity of sugar bit by bit/in a thin stream. (For those familiar with the original recipe I decided to add this portion of the sugar to firm up the meringue.) Add any food colourings at this stage. The meringue should be fairly stiff but not stiffest.

4. Fold the almond/sugar mixture into this meringue little by little with a spatula. Be very gentle. Imagine you are caressing a very soft chinchilla which is easily provoked to snapping with sharp teeth, for instance. I do not recommend waiting for each addition to be fully incorporated before adding the next slug of almond/sugar. This would lead to the mixture being overwrought. It is expected, though, by the time all the dry matter is incorporated (and there is a lot of it) that the mixture will be very smooth and more of a viscous, moussey liquid than the meringue started out. Imagine that when you pipe, the nipples will need slowly to retract back into the body of the macaron to give you a smooth shell.

5. Pipe onto baking paper and leave to crust for at least 30mins. Mine were about 2.5-3cm across. Generously spaced (2+cm). Piping is another skill in itself but one ought to be able to achieve good round beasts.

6. Pre-heat oven to 250C. Place macarons with their baking paper on single baking trays, pop in oven and lower temperature to 180C until cooked (10-12 mins). Keep the oven door ajar with the handle of a wooden spoon. At around 7 mins I was rotating the trays due to uneven heat distribution in my oven. I also used this opportunity to check the wobble. To test wobble place a finger on one of the shells and see how much it wobbles on its foot. As long as there is still wobble the macaron is underdone. When it is all but firm, Bob's your uncle.

7. Remove the macarons from the oven and carefully pour a little water between the baking tray and paper. This is meant to help release but I have not done an empirical test. It may be an old wives' tale. Let the water boil off then slip the macarons and paper onto a drying rack. Then, when cool, depaper them. There is a nice little technique here which involves using the rack to peel the paper off cleanly but I cannot begin to put it into words understandably.

8. Garnish with ganache and so on.

I hope this is not in conflict with other things you have heard and I hope it might work for you... abuse me over PM if not or if you have questions.

Richard

NB I have not tried this method with larger macarons. Some evidence suggests lack of doubling baking trays and other details not mentioned here may cause malfunctions with the larger diameters.

[Aloha Steve]

That thread appears to be locked, CanadianBakin'. Perhaps I am misunderstanding it... could you move this across if you think appropriate?

Here, for Aloha Steve and chocoera is the method I used for the macaron in my post above. It is based on Hermé's French meringue recipe from Le Larousse des desserts but I do not quite follow it as written and, besides, I do not think the book is published in English so hope this might be of interest.

280g ground almonds

280g icing sugar (I think you might say powdered sugar across the pond)

200g icing sugar

7 egg whites (or, more accurately, 245g)

1. Pop the ground almonds and first quantity of sugar into a food processor and process on high speed for as long as you can bear. This is to ensure a very thorough mixing and to reduce the size of the almond particles. Sieve this mixture most carefully and jettison any debris left in sieve.

3. Whisk egg whites to soft peaks, then keep whisking as you add the second quantity of sugar bit by bit/in a thin stream. (For those familiar with the original recipe I decided to add this portion of the sugar to firm up the meringue.) Add any food colourings at this stage. The meringue should be fairly stiff but not stiffest.

4. Fold the almond/sugar mixture into this meringue little by little with a spatula. Be very gentle. Imagine you are caressing a very soft chinchilla which is easily provoked to snapping with sharp teeth, for instance. I do not recommend waiting for each addition to be fully incorporated before adding the next slug of almond/sugar. This would lead to the mixture being overwrought. It is expected, though, by the time all the dry matter is incorporated (and there is a lot of it) that the mixture will be very smooth and more of a viscous, moussey liquid than the meringue started out. Imagine that when you pipe, the nipples will need slowly to retract back into the body of the macaron to give you a smooth shell.

5. Pipe onto baking paper and leave to crust for at least 30mins. Mine were about 2.5-3cm across. Generously spaced (2+cm). Piping is another skill in itself but one ought to be able to achieve good round beasts.

6. Pre-heat oven to 250C. Place macarons with their baking paper on single baking trays, pop in oven and lower temperature to 180C until cooked (10-12 mins). Keep the oven door ajar with the handle of a wooden spoon. At around 7 mins I was rotating the trays due to uneven heat distribution in my oven. I also used this opportunity to check the wobble. To test wobble place a finger on one of the shells and see how much it wobbles on its foot. As long as there is still wobble the macaron is underdone. When it is all but firm, Bob's your uncle.

7. Remove the macarons from the oven and carefully pour a little water between the baking tray and paper. This is meant to help release but I have not done an empirical test. It may be an old wives' tale. Let the water boil off then slip the macarons and paper onto a drying rack. Then, when cool, depaper them. There is a nice little technique here which involves using the rack to peel the paper off cleanly but I cannot begin to put it into words understandably.

8. Garnish with ganache and so on.

I hope this is not in conflict with other things you have heard and I hope it might work for you... abuse me over PM if not or if you have questions.

Richard

NB I have not tried this method with larger macarons. Some evidence suggests lack of doubling baking trays and other details not mentioned here may cause malfunctions with the larger diameters.

Richard, thanks very much for the recipe very kind of you.

I will be giving it a go and I hope you don't mind when I have questions.

LOL, notice I said WHEN not if

[CanadianBakin']

Sorry, I hadn't noticed that it was locked. Here's a link to the last post where Ron has made headings so you don't have to read through all 148 pages. You can click on the applicable topic to find info.

I just read through your recipe and I like your descriptions. I'm never totally satisfied with my macaron so I think I'll give it a try.

I haven't had a lot of success with the water under the paper method but do find placing them in the freezer on the tray works very well to make them easy to release.

Edited January 5, 2010 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[chocoera]

i agree, thanks so much to richard for sharing, can't wait to try

[RuthWells]

This was the centerpiece of my holiday dessert buffet this year -- the chocolate mousse cake from Healy/Bugat's "The Art of the Cake". My decor ended up a bit different from theirs, but it was delicious -- layers of chocolate mousse with layers of almond japonaise. I wish I'd take a pic of the interior!