Caramel Pecan Rolls

What is the use of having a cookbook if you don’t make at least one recipe from it? For a while now we have owned Damn Good Food by chef and owner Mitch Omer of Hell’s Kitchen in Minneapolis. We’ve been there many times now and everything on the menu is absolutely amazing. I wanted to try something different that I have never made before, so I went with their Caramel Pecan Rolls. I just made half of the books recipe and some aspects were failing for me so I had to make some slight changes. Otherwise, it was superb. They were a lot easier than I first thought. The dough itself is slightly sweet rather than being bland and letting the filling and caramel carry it. My husband keeps raving about it as he finishes off the last of them. The caramel itself isn’t overly sweet either which gives the rolls a nice rounded flavor that doesn’t make you run for a glass of milk to wash it down. I’m going to make these the next time my mother-in-law comes to visit as she adores caramel pecan rolls, and I will use any opportunity available to impress her.

Makes about 12 rolls

Sweet Dough

• 3/4 c + 2 tbsp Milk
• 2 tbsp Honey
• 2 tbsp Vegetable Shortening
• 1 tsp + 1/8 tsp Yeast
• 1 Egg, Medium Size
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt
• 2-3 c All Purpose Flour

Sugar Filling

• 2/3 c Sugar, granulated
• 1/3 c Brown Sugar, packed
• 1 tbsp Cinnamon, ground
• 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter, softened

Caramel

• 2/3 c Brown Sugar, packed
• 2/3 c Heavy Cream
• 1 tbsp Vanilla Paste (optional)
• 2 c Chopped Pecans

In a small sauce pan combine the milk, honey, and vegetable shortening. Bring up to 110°F no higher, or it will kill the yeast. Pour the milk mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a doughhook. Add in the yeast and let bloom for 5-10 minutes.

While the yeast is doing its magic, measure out 3 cups of flour. In a small bowl combine the sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon, mix well and set aside. Prepare your work surface by lightly dusting it with flour.

Turn your attention back to the stand mixer, turn it on medium speed and add in the egg and salt. Mix until well combined. Once combined slowly add in 1 cup of flour. It will turn into a batter like constancy. Keep adding in the flour 1/4 cup at a time just until the dough pulls away from the sides. Let it kneed for 5 minutes. Transfer to your prepared work surface and kneed until the dough forms a ball, that is not sticky to the touch, but quite elastic. Cover with a towel, and let rise for 40 mintues.

After it has risen for the 40 minutes, punch down the dough into a rectangular shape, and cover with a tea towel and let rest for at least 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your baking pan I used a 10″x10″x4″ square cake pan. Line with foil, or spray with bakers spray. Set aside and begin making the caramel.

In a small sauce pan add the brown sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla. Bring up to a boil and simmer until the sugar is melted completely. Pour the carmel into the bottom of your baking pan. Add 2/3 of the chopped pecans into the caramel in an even layer. Time to work the dough.

Roll the dough out into a 24″ x 10″ rectangle. Take the softened butter and with a pastry brush create an even layer of butter over the top of the dough going to the edges. Pour the sugar mixture over the butter and with your hands spread out into an even layer.

Roll it up length wise so you have a 24″ long tube. With a sharp knife, slice into twelve 2″ pieces.

Place the rolls on top of the caramel pecan mixture in the pan leaving around 1″ between each roll. Cover and let rise for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size. Bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes until the tops of the rolls are a golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes. Place a piece of parchment over your serving tray, and put it over the warm rolls. Flip the pans so now the caramel pecan mixture is on top, and the rolls are on your serving tray.

Adapted from Damn Good Food

Tags: caramel, cinnamon rolls, pecan, recipes

White Cake Cupcakes

This recipe is a white birthday cake recipe that I found and wrote down from an old cookbook at my mother-in-laws. It required a lemon but I did not have any on hand, so I replaced with some vanilla paste and it tinged the cake slightly so I didn’t get that white birthday cake look. However, after one bite I didn’t care these were amazing with a very tender crumb that was still light and moist. I haven’t made cupcakes in a while so I was thrilled to finally make something new.

I will use this recipe again frequently if the opportunity allows. I must try this with lemon because it is probably divine, just replace the vanilla with lemon juice and zest. I had some basic swiss buttercream in the freezer from earlier in the week. To use frozen frosting defrost it and then whisk it up, add in the food coloring and is perfect for quick cupcake needs.

On very high recommendations I bought some americolor gels and I used the violet in the frosting and I am beyond happy with the gels.  They are bright, vivid, and true rich colors.  I threw out my other colors and replaced them, these color gels are just amazing.  If you have not had a chance to try them out and jump on that bandwagon do so soon.  I cannot say enough good things about this AmeriColor Gels pack, it has all the basic colors you would need.

In regards to cake flour, I am going to guess 95% of you are like me and don’t have it on hand.  It is easy to make everyday all purpose flour into cake flour the conversion is  1 c All Purpose Flour – 1 tbsp All Purpose Flour + 1 tbsp Corn Starch = 1 c Cake Flour (sift it like 3-4 times to aerate).  For this recipe specifically, measure out all purpose flour of 2 1/2 cups.  Remove 2 tablespoons and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the measured flour.  Next measure out 2 tablespoons and 1 1/2 teaspoons of Corn Starch add to the flour.  Sift 3-4 times to aerate and proceed with the recipe as normal. Simple fix to give you a soft delicate crumb to your cake that just using all purpose flour alone does not achieve.

White Cake
Makes 25-30 Cupcakes

• 2 1/2 c Cake Flour
• 1 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 c Sugar
• 1/2 c (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 4 egg whites
• 1 1/4 c milk
• 2 tsp Vanilla Paste (or 2 tsp lemon zest & 1/2 tsp lemon juice)

Prepare two cupcake pans with liners and preheat oven to 350F.  Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt, into a small bowl.  In the bowl of your stand mixer combine the sugar and butter and whisk until pale and fluffy.  While the butter mixture is whisking in a 2 cup glass measuring cup combine the egg whites, milk, and vanilla or lemon flavoring and whisk with a fork to combine.

Once the butter sugar mixture is fluffy and pale turn down to medium speed.  Add the flour and milk mixture in two parts alternating wet and dry, ending with dry.  Once the mixtures are added turn off and scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for one minute on medium speed.  Divide the cake mix into the prepared pans filling each 2/3 full.   Bake each pan for 15-18 minutes.  Cool completely before decorating.

Tags: Cupcakes, swiss buttercream frosting, Vanilla, white birthday cake

Meyer Lemon Macarons

I am one of those people who actually prefers lemon or citrus flavors over chocolate. Not having the ingredients to make a lemon tart like intended, I gave into the macaron madness. This batch turned out so perfect and consistent with the last couple batches, I think I’ve finally mastered the suckers and I can justify a slight ego boost. Now my friends, it’s your turn.

Meyer Lemon Curd

• 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 1/3 c Sugar
• Pince of Salt
• Juice and Zest of one Meyer Lemon
• 3 egg yolks

In a small sauce pan over medium heat combine the butter, sugar, lime zest, lime juice, and salt, whisk to combine. Add in one yolk at a time until combined. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes until thick like a heavy sauce. Pour into a bowl and place cling film over the top resting on the curd to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate over night to 1 week.

Swiss Buttercream Recipe: I made a full batch and froze the unused portion for cupcakes later in the week.

If you’re new to the world of macarons I recommend reading my tips from this prior post before proceeding with your shells.

Basic Macaron Shells
Makes 20 Cookies

• 110g Blanched Slivered Almonds or Almond Meal/Flour
• 200g Confectioner’s Sugar
• 100g Aged Egg Whites (3 egg whites), room temperature
• 20g Sugar
• Optional: Gel Food Coloring, 2-3 drops

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silpat. If you only have two cookie sheets, place one on a wire rack to create a flat surface. This is so you can double up the cookie sheets for baking the shells. If using parchment paper a great trick for if you’re new to macarons is to draw out circles using the base of the piping tip to create a guide for me while piping. With a pencil and the Adeco #804 tip create circles in a 5×8 pattern on one side of each sheet of parchment. When you have made your circle guide on one side, flip it over so you don’t accidentally pipe the mixture onto the pencil drawings.

Grind the almonds and confectioner’s sugar in a food processor. Grind for 2-3 minutes until fine and like sand in texture. Sift 2-3 times to lighten the dry mixture. Reprocess as needed to get out all of the big pieces of almonds ground down, and lumps out of the sugar. You are looking for the consistency of sand.

In a bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer (I found a hand mixer more successful). Whisk the egg whites until a foam tarts to foam, it should have a slight tinge of the color of the egg whites in the folds of the ribbons. Slowly add in the sugar while mixing and whisk until a medium stiff peak forms. Optional Note: After the sugar has been incorporated and the egg whites are at a soft peak add the food coloring if using. As soon as you can hold the bowl upside down over your head with out it falling out, the eggs are done.

Sift half of the dry mixture onto the egg whites, and mix in to lighten. Sift in the remaining dry mixture, and begin to gently fold in. Once mostly combined, tip the bowl at a 45° angle. Spread the mixture out on 1/3 of the side surface of the bowl, sweep under and fold it over on it self. Repeat this process 10-12 times. When you reach the 10th time, stop and lift up a spatula full of the mixture if it forms thick ribbons, watch the mixture and count to 10. It should absorb into the rest of the mixture with only slight indication of edges, your mixture it done. It should just very slowly settle on itself.

Pour mixture into a piping bag fitted with a round tip. I used Adeco #804. Pipe out following your guide pattern (make sure the side with the pencil led is facing down onto your prepared cookie sheet. Gently tap the bottom of your sheet twice to remove air bubbles, and let it set out to dry to form a shell. What you’re looking for is it to not feel tacky. This can be 15 minutes to an hour.

Bake at 300°F for 18 minutes.

Once finished baking, if you are using parchment let the shells cool for 10 minutes and then transfer the tray to refrigerator to cool the rest of the way. When the shells are completely cooled they will come off of the parchment quiet easily. If you are using a silpat you can let sit out to cool until you can easily remove them from the silpat.

Once the shells turn over easily without sticking to the mat or paper, transfer them to a wire rack and  slide the next parchment or silpat with shells onto the top sheet of your doubled-up baking sheets. Follow the same baking temperature and time, repeating the cooling process as well to remove the shells from the parchment.

Pair up the shells of the same size and flip bottom up to let cool completely before adding in filling.  With the buttercream make a ring around the outer edge of the flat bottomed half.  Fill the center space with the lemon curd.  Place the matched top on and gently press down.

Refrigerate in a sealed container for up to two weeks. Let come up in temperature slightly before eating for best texture/taste.

Tags: Basic Macaron Shells, curd, French Macarons, lemon curd, Meyer Lemon Curd

Chocolate Ginger Cake w/ Bourbon Butter Caramel Sauce

Back in October we went to my favorite restaurant for dinner and the dessert of the week was a chocolate ginger cake. One bite and I had to try to replicate it, it tasted like Christmas. Yes, I realize this is late for a Christmas cake, but it’s also an ideal winter cake.  The cake has a thick, fudgy texture that feels sinful to eat. What really makes this cake sing though is the bourbon caramel sauce. Serve it warm with some toasted pecans and crème fraîche and you have a highly complex, impressive dessert that is decadent and leaves you wanting more (usually because the person next to you kept stealing bites). This dessert will ruin your New Years diet resolution, so I am sorry.

The great thing about this recipe is it’s a one pot wonder. The bundt pan I used was a gift for my birthday, and gave an amazing look to the cake. I have mentioned before about the trick to use dark pans vs light pans is to turn down the oven slightly by with a darker pan to avoid an over cooked outside with a undercooked interior. So keep that in mind when making this cake the temperature will go down 25°F if you will be using a dark aluminum pan.

The caramel is a basic butter caramel I have made before with some adjustments to make it dark and rich with the amazing flavor of the added bourbon. The leftover caramel sauce can (should) be saved in a sealed container in the refrigerator, because it is simply amazing on ice cream. Give this a try for your next party, or just to warm and spice up a cold winter dinner, you will not be disappointed.

Chocolate Ginger Cake

• 1/2 c unsalted butter
• 2/3 c unsweetened Dutch Cocoa
• 1/2 c molasses
• 3/4 c packed light-brown sugar
• 2 eggs + 1 yolk
• 1/4 c milk
• 1 tbsp fresh grated Ginger
• Seeds 1/2 vanilla bean (1/2 tsp vanilla paste)
• 1 c all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground clove

Prepare your bunt pan by spraying it with cooking or ‘bakers’ spray, and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 325°F

In a large 3 quart sauce pan over medium heat add the butter, cocoa, molasses, and brown sugar. Mix until butter and sugar have been melted together about 3-5 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

In a small bowl combine the eggs, yolk, milk, fresh grated ginger, vanilla bean and whisk to combine then set aside.

In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and ground clove, whisk to combine and set aside.

The mixture in the sauce pan should have cooled slightly at this point.  With a heavy whisk begin mixing the butter cocoa mixture, and slowly pour in the egg and milk mixture. Pour slowly and continue whisking while adding to avoid cooking the eggs and the mixture splitting until completely combined.

Once the egg mixture is completely incorporated keep whisking and add in 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix add in 1/2 of the remaining flour mixture and combine. Add in the remaining flour mixture and whisk well to completely combine.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and place in oven for 35-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely in the pan before inverting onto the serving plate. Serve warm (just a moment in the microwave) with the caramel bourbon sauce drizzled over/around it. Optional: top with toasted pecan peices and crème fraîche before serving.

Bourbon Butter Caramel Sauce

• 4 tbsp Butter
• 1 c Brown Sugar, packed
• Seeds 1/2 vanilla bean (1/2 tsp vanilla paste)
• 1/4 c Bourbon
• 1/4 c Heavy Cream, room temperature

Combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and bourbon into 2 quart sauce pan over medium high heat. Keep whisking the caramel until all the sugar has melted and the mixture is at a rolling boil. It will look almost like it is foaming. Remove from the heat and continue to whisk, add in the heavy cream. It will bubble up high once you add in the cream this is why you want a bigger pan, keep whisking. Once the mixture has calmed down, stopped bubbling and settled pour into a jar or bowl for storage. Refrigerate, and heat up in the microwave briefly before use.

Tags: bourbon, butter, Cake, caramel, Chocolate, ginger

Coconut and Lime Macarons

A crack of the knuckles, a light breath to blow dust off the keyboard, and sitting down at my computer with purpose again.  Remember to enjoy the little things.   Oh blog, how I missed you.  I want to apologize to you friends for the lack of updates since holidays began.  Interestingly enough it is when most blogs show the highest number of post but when you work two jobs in retail, then take a vacation to visit family your time for cooking gets shorter.  Many days I would get home at 11pm, go to bed and start the day over at 8am – 11pm again.  I know, I did it to myself so only I am to blame, but it was nice to have the extra money, and work at a job that I cannot even express how much I enjoy it compared to the other.  Okay, enough about me and my weirdness enjoying a busy holiday season at the country’s biggest shopping mall.

On to the real matter at hand, food.  Well with me it’s more sweets and desserts, but you know that by now. I have had this combination on my list since my first batch of macarons came out all lovely and puffy.  At the local market I seen these lims that were the size of a large lemon and they smelled fantastic.  Then what is in a basket on the end cap?  A bag of organic shredded coconut which was on sale.  I knew it had to be so I picked up both and went home on a mission.

It took mostly visual tweaks to get what I was looking for from these cookies.  The first batch I used just the green color and it looked like the color teal from a bad prom dress in the 90′s.  They tasted amazing but when the look doesn’t match the flavor it throws the mind off a bit.  In that first batch I also learned that if you are going to put anything on the top of the macaron to decorate, make sure the cap is set.  Meaning, it isn’t tacky to the touch.  When baked it will help form the dome but it also helps anything added to the top of the cookie from sinking into it.   I am here to make the mistakes for you and trust me, many are made.

The green shells were finally achieved by  following the basic shell recipe from an earlier post.  Then adding to whipped egg whites;  3 drops of the forest green food coloring gel and one drop of chocolate brown food coloring gel, both from from americolor.  It got me the perfect green color I was looking for to represent a lime.   After matching up the shells to as close as possible matching sizes.  On one side I piped a ring of the Swiss buttercream frosting just around the inside edge leaving a hole in the middle.  Once all the pairs had one side with the ring of buttercream, time to fill in the hole with lime curd.

You can have the curd in a squeeze bottle or a piping bag, I used both and they worked well, just add a little bit of the lime curd to the center hole of each cookie half inside the buttercream ring.  Gently place on the matching half and refrigerate in a sealed container for up to two weeks.   Just let them sit for 5 minutes before eating to come up in temperature.  The shells will stay firm but soft and not dry and crumbly, like you might find in a late afternoon visit to the local pastry shop.

These coconut and lime macarons were shared at a dinner party with some friends as an after dinner treat.  The host is not a fan of sweets that don’t involve chocolate, but for him to make a comment about how just amazing these were in the complexity of textures and flavors had me blushing.   The light and not overly sweet Swiss buttercream with the tang of the lime curd balanced out with the sweet crunchy shells perfectly into an almost addicting combination.  So of course I had to share it with you my friends.  I hope you all had a lovely holiday season and I wish you the best this coming new year.   You will see more of me in 2012, with new recipes and of course more macarons!

Coconut and Lime Curd Macarons

Makes 20-25 Macarons

Lime Curd

• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• juice of one lime, large (or two small)
• zest of one lime, large (or two small)
• Pinch of salt
• 3 egg yolks (save the whites for your macaron shell recipe)

In a small sauce pan over medium heat combine the butter, sugar, lime zest, lime juice, and salt, whisk to combine.  Add in one yolk at a time until combined.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes until thick like a heavy sauce.  Pour into a bowl and place cling film over the top resting on the curd to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate over night to 1 week.

Basic Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Freeze any unused buttercream in individual containers with 1-1.5 cups in each container.  This way you have buttercream at the ready for your next macaron or cupcake craving.

         Macaron Shells

Following the recipe from a previous post, after the shells are not tacky to the touch sprinkle generously with flaked coconut and bake as normal.  The coconut will toast lightly and add lovely flavor and texture to the cookies.

Tags: Coconut, curd, Lime, macarons

Amazing Brown Butter Brownies

I made these again this weekend and they turned out so good I thought I should give this  recipe a bump and a new picture.  I didn’t change anything with the recipe and they turned out better than ever.  So read on and enjoy!

(Originally posted March 11th, 2011)

It’s friday, the weekend is here.  I got a lovely dozen white roses yesterday from my husband to cheer me up after the past quite stressful and emotional two weeks.  It worked, they look amazing.  So, to do something equally nice I decided to make him brownies.  I know they are his favorite and bring back memories of the very first thing I ever made for him. When we first moved in together 9 years ago, he was working nights, and I knew when he got home in the early morning he would go to his computer to play a few turns on a game and stay up for a few hours.  To surprise him I made a batch of brownies and left them on his desk.  Of course, they were received with much delight.  Until that day I had never made brownies from scratch – they were always from a box.  Since that day I refuse to make brownies from a box again.

I have never made brownies using this technique but I am sure they will be received with just as much joy and welcome as the first time I made him brownies.  Browning the butter adds a nutty toffee element to the brownies, and adding in the espresso powder just enhances the chocolate flavor.  The crunchy top, and fudge like center make this by far the best damn brownie I have had in my life, and that is not an exaggeration.  My suggestion, make them when you will not be alone with them for hours.  This recipe does require quite a bit of arm strength and at a few points things might not look right but trust me, in the end the work for these is worth it!   Chocoholics beware.. this will take a lot of will power to resist consuming the entire pan.

Brown Butter Brownies

• 10 tbsp Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces
• 1 1/4 c Sugar
• 3/4 c Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp Espresso Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp Water
• 1 tsp Vanilla Paste or Vanilla Extract
• 2 Eggs
• 1/3 c + 1 tbsp Unbleached Flour
• 1 c Walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Using a Flour Baking spray, lightly spray a 8x8x2 Square Pan. Set aside.  In a small bowl combine, sugar, cocoa, salt, espresso powder and whisk to combine and set aside. In a small cup or bowl combine the eggs, water, and vanilla.  Whisk together to combine and set egg mixture aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat melt the butter.  When it starts to foam, stir it slowly for 2-4 min until you see the little brown bits of butter forming in the bottom of the pan.  Remove pan from heat.

Add in the cocoa and sugar mixture and stir till combined, it will look and appear gritty, this is ok. Let mixture cool for 5 min.

After you have let the mixture cool for the 5 min add in half of the egg mixture. Quickly mixing until well combined.   Add in the remaining egg mixture and stir till well combined, it will get thick and may look a bit smoother now.

Once the egg mixture is well combined add in the flour.  Stir vigorously stir for 20 strokes, scraping down the sides of the pan after the 20 strokes to combine into the rest of the batter.  The mixture will be thick and slowly become smoother.  Stir vigorously stir for another 20 strokes, scraping down the sides of the pan afterward to combine into the rest of the batter.  Your mixture should now become glossy and smooth. Stir vigorously for another 20 strokes (totaling 60), again scraping down the sides of the pan afterward like you have been doing.  Do not mix any more than this.  At this point you can stir in the nuts in no more than 5 strokes, or just turn the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 min until a toothpick inserted into center comes out nearly clean.  It should still have some crumbs and look slightly like fudge,  but it should not look runny like batter.  If you see batter cook for 3 more min and test again.

Cool completely before cutting/serving. Due to soft fudge nature of the cake it must cool completely, about 2-3 hours.

Adapted: Bon Appetit

Tags: Brown Butter, Brownies, Chocolate, Desserts, recipe, Walnuts

Blackberry Macarons

The macaron madness continues.  I adore how they fit any flavor combination you can possibly think of.  I already have two pages in my notebook filled with combinations to try.  This round I went with a basic macaron with a blackberry buttercream.  I had some blackberry compote in the freezer left over from the orange blossom cheesecake.  This filling fits macarons perfectly, it isn’t overly sweet and has the perfect ratio of acidity vs sweetness.  Did I say they taste amazing yet?  This is so far my favoriate combination, but I am sure I will say that again soon.

I hope you get a chance to give macarons a try in your kitchen. If you do, my previous post has some of my own tips that helped me. I hope they will help you as well, so good luck!

Basic Macaron Shells

Makes 30 Cookies

Shells

• 115g Blanched Slivered Almonds or Almond Meal/Flour
• 200g Confectioner’s Sugar
• 100g Aged Egg Whites (3 egg whites), room temperature
• 20g Sugar
• 2 drops Violet Gel Food Coloring

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silpat.  If you only have two cookie sheets, place one on a wire rack to create a flat surface.  This is so you can double up the cookie sheets for baking the shells.  If using parchment paper a great trick for if you’re new to macarons is to draw out circles using the base of the piping tip to create a guide for me while piping.  With a pencil and the Adeco #804 tip create circles in a 5×8 pattern on one side of each sheet of parchment.   When you have made your circle guide on one side, flip it over so you don’t accidentally pipe the mixture onto the pencil drawings.

Grind the almonds and confectioner’s sugar in a food processor.  Grind for 2-3 minutes until fine and like sand in texture.  Sift 2-3 times to lighten the dry mixture. Reprocess as needed to get out all of the big pieces of almonds ground down, and lumps out of the sugar.  You are looking for the consistency of sand.

In a bowl of a stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer (I found a hand mixer more successful).  Whisk the egg whites until a foam tarts to foam, it should have a slight tinge of the color of the egg whites in the folds of the ribbons.  Slowly add in the sugar while mixing and whisk until a medium stiff peak forms. Add in two drops of food coloring gel. Continue to whisk, as soon as you can hold the bowl upside down over your head with out it falling out, the eggs are done.

Sift half of the dry mixture onto the egg whites, and mix in to lighten.  Sift in the remaining dry mixture, and begin to gently fold in.  Once mostly combined, tip the bowl at a 45° angle.  Spread the mixture out on 1/3 of the side surface of the bowl, sweep under and fold it over on it self.  Repeat this process 10-12 times.  When you reach the 10th time, stop and lift up a spatula full of the mixture if it forms thick ribbons, watch the mixture and count to 10.  It should absorb into the rest of the mixture with only slight indication of edges, your mixture it done.  It should just very slowly settle on itself.

Pour mixture into a piping bag fitted with a round tip.  I used Adeco #804.  Pipe out following your guide pattern (make sure the side with the pencil lead is facing down onto your prepared cookie sheet). Gently tap the bottom of your sheet twice to remove air bubbles, and let it set out to dry to form a shell.  What you’re looking for is it to not feel tacky.  This can be 15 minutes to an hour depending on the heat and humidity in your kitchen.

Bake at 300°F for 18 minutes.

Once finished baking if you are using parchment let cool for 10 minutes then transfer the top tray to refrigerator to cool.  When they are completely cool it will turn off of the parchment quiet easily.  If you are using a silpat you can let sit out to cool until you can easily remove from the silpat.

Once the shells turn over easily without sticking transfer to a wire rack, and prepare your next batch with the two cookie sheets by doubling them up and sliding the parchment or silpat with shells onto the top sheet.  Follow the same baking temperature and time, repeating the cooling process as well to remove the shells from the parchment.

Pair up the shells of the same size and flip bottom up to let cool completely before adding in filling.

Refrigerate in a sealed container for a week.  Let come up in temperature slightly before eating for best texture / taste.

Blackberry Buttercream

• 3 Egg Yolks
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 tbsp Water
• 3 sticks Butter (24 tbsp), room temperature
• 1/4c Blackberry Compote

In the bowl of your stand mixer whip the egg yolks with a pinch of salt.  Whisk until tripled in volume, and a pale yellow in color.  Meanwhile, place a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat with the sugar and water.  Bring it up to 245°F

While whisking the eggs on medium speed, slowly pour in the hot sugar syrup in a thin stream. Once all the sugar is incorporated, whisk on high until cool, about 10 minutes.

Once the egg and sugar mixture is cool, still at medium speed, add in the butter in small chunks of 2 tbsp.  Once all the butter is incorporated slowly add in the blackberry compote, and whisk until smooth. Add more confectioner’s sugar if you want more sweetness, then whisk until smooth.

Place into a piping bag fitted with a round tip.  I used an Adeco #809 tip.  Pipe the frosting onto half the paired macaron shells.  Once you have completed piping all the halves, place on the tops.  Store in the refrigerator sealed 7-10 days, bring close to room temperature before eating.

Macarons very slightly modified: Tartelette // Buttercream inspired by: MasterChef Australia

Tags: blackberry, macarons, recipes