Macarons

Ah, the pastry that most cannot spell nor pronounce. Most neglect the fact that there is only one "o" in its name and pronouncing it with two usually implies the coconut macaroon which is also delicious but completely different in its entirety. It was quite a journey learning how to make these little rascals. They have extremely high standards in order to achieve the desired shape, consistency, and color but you just need to be patient with them.

My second attempt at making macarons

Ingredients

For the shell:

2 egg whites

4 tbsp of granulated sugar

1/2 c almond meal/flour

1 c confectioners sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

For the filling:

2 egg yolks

1/4 c granulated sugar

6 tbsp of butter

1 tsp of vanilla

4 tbsp of milk

Tools:

Electric hand mixer/ Kitchen aid

Two bowls

measuring cups

pastry bag with large round tip

parchment paper

baking trays

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, add your egg whites and whip them with your electric hand mixer until frothy. After it reaches its soft peak stage, add your sugar tbsp by tbsp until it reaches it's stiff peak stage. Also remember to add your vanilla after adding your second tbsp of sugar. It should look glossy and viscous at the end. 

2. In a separate bowl, sift your almond flour and confectioners sugar together. Set that aside. 

3. Add your dry ingredients to the egg white mixture in 3 increments and fold it together. This is called "macronnage" in which you take your spatula and try to get out a sufficient amount of air in order to create the correct consistency. This part is one of the most important parts. You want the mixture to flow down but it cannot be runny! Over mixing the batter results in pancakes and under-mixing your batter creates little domes of almond pastry.

4. Put your mixture into a piping bag and pipe the mixture onto a lined baking tray. Make them as uniform as possible, by keeping its diameter to 1 1/2" circles. 

5. Leave the pastries out to dry for 30 mins to an hour. This is very crucial!!!!! The macarons have to form a shell in order for them to have a dense texture and to create those cute little feet.
6. After the shell has formed, drop the pan two inches above a hard surface to get rid of any extra air pockets in the batter.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 300 degrees F.
8. After they have come out of the oven, have them rest for a good 15 minutes to let them cool down. They should slide off of the parchment paper with the bottoms intact. 

For the cream:

In a saucepan, whisk your eggs and sugar together. Add your vanilla and milk. Heat over medium heat while continuously whisking. When thickened, take off the heat and add your butter. Keep it in the fridge until needed.

Once both the cream and shells have cooled, take your butter cream and fill another pastry bag with a large tip, and then pipe it onto one side of the shell and gently sandwich another shell onto the cream. Continue until all shells have been filled.
The macarons taste better and hour after they've been made. It also helps if they're slightly chilled in the fridge. :)

There you have it ! I hope you try this out :)

Happy cooking !

Poached eggs

I like my eggs poached as opposed to scrambled or over easy. Call me classy but seriously.. it's delicious.  The yolk just has this rich  texture one it hits that hot water. Poaching an egg may be easy peasy for some, but a disaster for others, but I have a trick that will help you get the perfect poached egg each time.

Ingredients:

1 egg

Water

1 tbsp White distilled vinegar

Salt/flavoring of choice

Tools

Shallow pan

Slotted spoon

Stove

Small bowl

Large bowl with cold water

Instructions

Fill your pan with water and set it on high to bring it to a rolling boil. When it reaches boiling point, lower your heat to about medium low to let it simmer. Add 1 tbsp of  vinegar into the water. Meanwhile, crack your egg into the bowl without puncturing the yolk. Add your flavoring of choice to the egg in the bowl and slowly slide it into the water in one piece. Using your slotted spoon, gather the egg into one piece. Leave the egg to bathe and cook for about 5-7 minutes before removal. Place your finished egg into the cold water and there you have it. J

Thought Blurbs

The key is to control the temperature of the water as well as adding distilled vinegar into the water in order to help the egg whites coagulate. If your water is too hot then it will make the egg white separate and  you’ll have a pan full of egg white drop soup… not the most appealing. By changing the temperature of the water, you’re able to keep the egg in one piece without having it freak out in the process. Treat it like a little baby.

I love to use poached eggs on a bed of sautéed spinach and greens, on an eggs benedict, on my bibimbab (Korean mixed rice bowl), or loads of other dishes. The runny yet firm yolk is what truly catches my eye.

I hope this solves any of your poached egg mishaps.

Happy cooking <3 

Let's Talk About Fruit Tarts

I have to be honest... I have a love/hate relationship with fruit tarts....


I've never been able to perfect a recipe for this sweet, nor find one, and I was just about to give up until I came across the site joyofbaking.com. Oh my goodness gracious. This fruit tart will have heads turn and mouths water for sure. Again, the following is not my own recipe!

This is the direct link to her website. :)

http://www.joyofbaking.com/FruitTart.html

Ingredients
Sweet Pastry Crust:

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Pastry Cream:

1 1/4 cups (300 ml) milk (whole or 2%)

1/2 vanillabean, split lengthwise or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

3 large eggyolks

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

2 tablespoons (20 grams) all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons (20 grams) cornstarch(corn flour)

1/2 tablespoon liqueur(Grand Marnier, Brandy, Kirsch) (optional)

Apricot Glaze: (optional)

1/2 cup (120 grams) apricot jam or preserves

1 tablespoon water

Topping:

3 cups (720 ml) fruit (raspberries, blackberries,strawberries, blueberries, kiwifruit, bananas, plums, pineapple, melon, etc.)
(I personally used blackberries, raspberries, kiwis, strawberries, and blueberries. yum)

I followed her instructions word for word and they are on her website.

Thought Blurbs

I've had a lot of failed attempts at fruit tarts... I don't know how but I'd always end up over baking the crust and the pastry cream would be too dense... fail.

This recipe has a good balance of both a sweet crumbly crust to light but rich cream. It is definitely a crowd pleaser and the fruits look like gems once you coat them with that sweet apricot glaze. Overall, this recipe was extremely easy to follow and delicious. This recipe would be one that would be great to make during the summer or spring when the fruits are nice and ripe.

Now, I do not own a tart pan in which is unfortunate... so I used a cake pan with low sides which worked out fine, but this definitely would look a lot better if you used a pan with fluted edges. It just adds to the beauty of the fruit and the elegance of the sweet overall.

Definitely go and try this out! Happy cooking. <3

Eggless Tiramisu Cups

Eggless Tiramisu

Thanksgiving is all about the turkey, but let's get real here... you can't forget about the desserts. Pumpkin pie is great but tiramisu is just so sexy and decadent, I can't help but make it every single year. This'll definitely have you popping that pants button open to stuff in every bite. It's easy to serve as well. No alcohol or eggs were harmed in the making of this recipe. :)

Ingredients:

Cheese layer

-1 8 oz package of Marscapone cheese
-1/2 c of heavy whipping cream
-1 tsp of vanilla

Biscuit Layer
- 1 package of lady fingers
- 1 c of water
- 3 tbsp of instant espresso
- cocoa powder

Cream topping
- 1/2 c heavy whipping cream
- 4 tbsp of granulated sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla

Tools
- mixing bowls
- electric mixer
- spatula
- clear plastic cups
- frosting spatula
- strainer
- paper, scissors

Instructions

Let the Marscapone cheese get to room temperature. In a mixing bowl add 3 tbsp of sugar and the vanilla. Beat it with the spatula until incorporated and thickened. In a separate mixing bowl, beat your cream with the electric mixer and when soft peaks form, add the rest of the sugar. Don't over mix the cream or it'll separate! Mix until soft but not liquidy. Then add your cheese mixture to the cream and fold until incorporated. Be gentle. :) Set that aside. In another bowl, take 1/2 c of cream and beat it till it has soft peaks and then add the sugar. Beat until almost firm peaks form.

Cut your biscuits into thirds and set aside.

I use margherite cookies because they have an extremely light and crumbly texture that I think matches the Marscapone cheese more than ladyfingers do. 



Add your espresso to the hot water and let it cool. Take your biscuits and cut them into thirds with a bread knife.

You're going to create an assembly line of cheese mixture, biscuits, espresso, cocoa powder, and the cream top. Dip the lady fingers into the espresso and place them at the bottom of the cup. Add a spoonful of the cheese mixture on top, spreading it to the sides. Then, with a strainer, sprinkle your cocoa on top.






Repeat these steps 2 more times, and when the biscuits are exposed, take your frosting spatula and the whip cream mixture and add it to the top. Create a smooth surface since this'll be your blank canvas for the cocoa topping.















Cocoa topping
You can do this one of two ways. You can just sprinkle the tops with cocoa and call it a day, or make a cute design on top. I always make hearts, but you can mix it up. Cut out your shape in the paper, and place it on top of your tiramisu and sift the cocoa on top. Carefully remove them with tweezers or your hands if you're more courageous. :) Let these bad boys set up in the fridge for a good 6 hours before serving!

I really hope you guys try this out!

Happy cooking <3

Individual green smoothie recipe

Green Obsession

Green smoothies have been extremely popular, and I have to admit that I'm obsessed with them! They may look unappealing but you really can't beat it till you try it. They're satisfying, refreshing, and a great snack in between meals. I can't express how many benefits this drink has. I know that there are a lot of green juices out there that you can buy, but they're extremely over priced and to be honest, they aren't as healthy as they seem. Most of the bottled juices don't use raw ingredients, and things that can stay in a fridge for more then three days aren't going to be as beneficial for you as opposed to making it fresh :). Here's my little twist on the traditional "green machine" or "green smoothie". I call mine the Green Obsession. Here's what you'll need!




Ingredients

1 very ripe banana (Make sure it's ripe because it'll make the smoothie extra sweet)

1/4 c of frozen pineapple

1/2 c of baby kale or two leafs of kale

1/3 c of water or coconut water

Equipment

Cutting board

Blender ( I use an individual blender, but a normal blender will do just fine. )

Instructions:
First you'll need to cut your banana or do the traditional "rip and tear" and add that to your blender. Then add  1/4 c of frozen pineapple, 1/3 c of water or coconut water, and then your kale on top. Blend until smooth! (I use frozen pineapple as a replacement for ice, but you can use fresh pineapple and add ice if you wish to do so. I just think adding frozen pineapple instead of ice creates more a pleasurable texture. )

Thought blurbs

I drink this smoothie every single morning. It's my replacement for coffee or tea. Because of the many nutrients in kale and the fruits, it boosts my energy levels to the extent that caffeine would. I've been making this smoothie every morning for about 6 months now, and it's definitely benefitted my body. I have eczema, a skin allergy in which gets dry and extremely itchy, and ever since I've been drinking this, my eczema disappeared. There are a lot of variations of this recipe and whilst experimenting with different fruit combinations with kale, I've found this to be my favorite. 

Why Kale?

Now, kale has recently become a hot topic amongst health junkies and food articles. The reason being is because it has AMAAAAZING benefits that most neglect. Kale is jam packed with many antioxidants and it is high in vitamin A which is essential for fighting off free radicals and keeping your skin looking radiant. Kale also is extremely high in vitamin K. Vitamin K is a very important vitamin to incorporate into your diet because it helps protect against various cancers. It also helps with the "ahem" bowel movements and aids in weight loss. Kale is also high in calcium. In fact, per calorie, kale has more calcium then milk! 

I hope you try this smoothie out and radiate from its benefits. 

Happy cooking

Welcome

Eeeep. Hello :)

This is my first blog post, and hopefully there will be many more to come.

My intention in creating this blog is to share a huge culmination of recipes that are easy and unique, healthy, and appealing. Stay tuned!