Macarons with salted caramel
For the recipe check the “Snowflake macarons” post
Bon appétit,
Anna
Tag Archives: Cooking
Snowman macarons
Macarons à la Linzer
Ingredients
For the shells:
– 200g of almond meal
– 200g of powdered sugar
– 200g of caster sugar
– 146g of egg whites
– 5cl of water
– edible pearls, edible snowflakes, ribbons and food decorating pens
Combine the caster sugar and the water in a saucepan, place over medium heat and bring to 118°. In the meanwhile put half of the the egg whites in a mixer bowl and whip them on medium speed to soft peaks. Pour the 118° syrup in a thin, steady stream into the whipping egg whites.
Continue whipping the meringue on medium speed until the temperature drops to 50°.
In a large bowl combine the almond meal, the caster sugar and the other half of the egg whites and mix well.
Add a small part of the meringue to the almond paste and mix gently, then add the rest of the meringue, fold and scratch the surface until the batter starts to run glossy.
Put the mixture in a pastry bag with a large tip and form two circles (one big and one small) on parchment lined sheet pans. Allow the macarons shells to sit for 1 hour until the surface feels dry to the touch.
Preheat the oven to 150° and bake the shells for approximately 14 minutes. Cool the macarons shells on the sheet pans.
For the Linzer filling:
– 120g of red currant jam
– 38g of walnut meal
– 38g of almond meal
– 2 tsp of cinnamon
– 20g of powdered sugar
– the peel of 1 lemon
Mix together all the ingredients until smooth. Fill your snowman macarons with the Linzer filling. Decorate the snowmen with edible snowflakes and pearls, food decorating pens and ribbons.
I wish you all a sweet Christmas time!!
Bon appétit,
Anna
Candied roses
Last weekend I picked up the last roses in my grandmothers garden. I’ve decided to prepare 100% organic candied roses and petals to garnish my desserts.
Ingredients (for 5 roses and 20 petals)
– 50g of granulated sugar
– 1 egg white
– an artists’ brush
Preheat the oven to 5o° C. Clean up the roses and let them dry completely. Put the sugar in a small cup and the egg white in a separate one. Dip the paint brush into the egg white and brush the front and the back of the petals. Dip the flowers in the sugar and place them on a pan lined with parchment paper.
Let the flowers dry in the oven (at 50° C) for 2 hours. Place the flowers in a dry place.
Decorate your desserts with these beautiful flowers.
Bon appétit,
Anna
BOO!
With Halloween right around the corner it’s time to wrak your brain for some spooky baking idea!
I’ve decided to bake some fluffy vanilla cream cupcakes topped by ghost meringues ideal for Halloween parties.
Ingredients
For the cupcakes (16 pieces):
– 5 eggs
– 150 g granulated sugar
– 5 g of vanilla sugar
– 100 g flour
For the cream:
– 3 egg yolks
– 250 ml of milk
– 80 g of granulated sugar
– 25 g of flour
– the peel of 1 lemon
– 5 g of vanilla sugar
– 250 ml of whipped cream
For the ghosts:
– 3 egg whites
– 1 pinch of salt
– 220 g of powdered sugar
– 5 g of vanilla sugar
First of all prepare the meringue ghosts. Preheat the oven to 80° C. Whisk the egg whites until foamy, add the sugars and the salt gradually while beating. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Put the mixture in a pastry bag fitted with a large spout tip and form your ghosts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for approximately 3 hours or until meringues are dry. Paint the eyes with edible pencils.
For the cupcakes preheat the oven to 180° C. Take the 5 eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Whisk the egg whites with half of the sugar until stiff peaks form. Whisk now the egg yolks, the vanilla sugar and the other half of granulated sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy. Add slowly the flour.
Slowly and carefully add the yellow mixture to the whisked egg whites. Be careful not to deflate the mixture! Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for around 20 minutes.
For the cream whisk together the egg yolks, the vanilla sugar and the lemon peel until light and fluffy. Add slowly the flour and the milk being careful not to form lumps. Cook the mixture in a saucepan over medium heat until it starts boiling. Let it cool down in the fridge for around 1 hour. Now whip the 250 ml of cream and add it slowly to the cold lemon and vanilla mixture.
Create a hole in the middle of your cupcakes and fill it with the cold cream. If you prefer, before adding the cream, you can also add some melted chocolate on the bottom of the hole. Put your meringue ghosts in the middle and decorate with some cream on the borders.
For a really scary Halloween ghost add a “BOO!” flag on each cupcake :)
Here you have your super spooky Halloween baking idea for delicious treats!
Bon appétit,
Anna
“As american as Apple Pie!”
Apple Pie
Ingredients
For the pie crust:
– 300g of flour
– 100g of almond meal
– 200g of butter
– 170g of granulated sugar
– 2 eggs + 1 yolk
– a pinch of salt
– lemon bark
For the filling:
– 800g of apples
– 25g of granulated sugar
– 25g of brown sugar
-1 tablespoon of lemon juice
– 1 tablespoon of cinnanon
– a pinch of salt
– 20g of butter
– 7g of flour
For the crust place the flour, the almond meal, the butter, the eggs, the sugar, the salt and the lemon bark in a food processor until the mixture forms a ball. Cover it with a plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
In the meanwhile cut the apples into slices and put them in a bowl. Add the granulated and the brown sugar, the lemon juice, the cinnamon and the salt. Leave it at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then place a strainer over a bowl and put the apples in it. Let the apples drain for 20 minutes. Put the obtained apple juice in a small saucepan with the butter. Place the pot over medium heath and boil for 10 minutes until you obtain a syrup. Add the caramelized syrup to the apples.
Take the mixture for the crust from the fridge and divide it in two parts. Put one part on a lightly floured surface and roll it into a circle and transfer it to a pie pan. Roll into a circle also the second part of the mixture.
Add the flour to the apples and blend well. Put the apples into the pie pan (over the crust) and cover the pie with the top crust. Remove any excess of pastry and with a sharp knife make a cross in the middle of the pie (to allow the steam to escape).
Preheat the oven to 200° C. Bake the pie for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180° C and bake for other 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 170° C and finish the baking for 15 minutes.
Remove the pie from the oven and serve warm or at room temperature with some vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream.
Bon appétit,
Anna
Rudolph cake pops
Almond and cinnamon cake pops
Ingredients:
– 80g of butter
– 110g of granulated sugar
– 1 egg
– 135g of flour
– 1 teaspoon of baking powder
– 80ml of milk
– 60g of almond meal
– 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
– Cake pops silicone mould (for 18 pieces)
For the chocolate coat:
– 100g of dark chocolate
– 100g of white chocolate
– Gel food coloring
Preheat the oven at 160°.
Beat the softened butter with the sugar until the mixture is creamy.
Add the egg and continue whisking. Add the flour with the baking powder, the cinnamon and the milk. Continue mixing until you have a creamy texture. Add the almond meal and mix. Fill the buttered cake pops mould and bake for 20 minutes at 160°.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool, remove form the mould and insert the stick into each cake pop.
Melt the dark chocolate in a bain marie. Melt also the white chocolate. Coat half of the cake pops with the dark chocolate and the other half with the white chocolate, decorate with gel food coloring and little branches.
Have a sweet Christmas time,
bon appétit
Anna
Choco garden
Soufflé au chocolat
Ingredients:
– 100 g of powdered sugar
– 4 g of corn flour
– 30 g of flour
– 7 eggs (1 whole, 1 yolk and 6 egg whites)
– 60 ml of milk
– 75 ml of cream
– 75 g of dark chocolate
– 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
Take five 200 ml soufflé dishes, brush them with butter and tip a little cocoa powder in each dish.
To make the chocolate cream, mix 30 g of flour, 7 g of corn flour and 15 g of powdered sugar.
Put one egg yolk and a whole egg into a bowl, mix them well and add half of the flour mixture, blend, and tip in the rest of the flour mix.
Put 60 ml of milk and 15 ml of cream into a pan and bring them just to the boil, remove from the heat. Add 25 g of dark chocolate and beat until it is melted. Add to this chocolate mix the flour and yolks mixture. Cook this mixture over a low heath for 5 minutes, let it cool down and beat occasionally with a wire whisk.
Slowly warm 60 ml of cream to make the ganache. Just before it boils take off the heath and add 50 g of dark chocolate. Mix until it is melted and add 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder. Allow to cool.
Heath oven to 190°. Whisk 6 egg whites with an electric whisk and sprinkle in 85 g of powdered sugar while whisking.
Mix the ganche and the chocolate cream mixture in a large bowl.
Add 2 tablespoons of whisked egg whites to the chocolate mixture. Carefully fold in a third of the rest, mix slowly, add another third of the whisked eggs, take care not to lose the volume and add fold in the last third.
Fill the soufflé dishes by three-quarters with the mixture and bang each dish on to the surface so the mixture fills the sides.
Bake the soufflés for 17 minutes in the preheated oven (190°).
Decore with cocoa powder and fresh flowers.
Bon appétit,
Anna
My first Liebster award!!!!!
Yuppppyy!!!! I’ve been nominated for the Liebster award!!!!!
I have to thank This Must Be The Plate, in particular Chiara, for this very SPECIAL surprise!!! It’s a big honour for me and for my young blog, which is only 3 months old! Grazie, grazie, grazie!!!
The Liebster award is a nice way for bloggers to recognize other bloggers with less than 200 followers. The rules are easy to follow: thank the blogger who nominated you, answer his/her 11 questions, share 11 facts about yourself, nominate your 11 favourite blogs, ask your nominees 11 questions and inform them about their nomination.
Here are my answers to This Must Be The Plate questions:
1) What is your number 1 breakfast? La colazione del campione?
Bread, jam (preferably of raspberry), a lot of butter and coffee 🙂
2) Do you listen to music while you are cooking? If yes, of which genre? Quando cucinate ascoltate musica? Se si, che tipo?
Usually I do not listen to music while cooking unless my neighbor turns up the volume too much.
3) In my kitchen I cannot renounce to….. Quale utensile non può mancare nella vostra cucina?
….my Lékué sac à poche (thank you Ivana) 🙂
4) Which is the best pastry in your town? La miglior pasticceria della vostra città?
Obviously my home! 🙂
5) Which is the most difficult recipe you tried to prepare? La ricetta più difficile con cui vi siete cimentati?
It is the Bouillabaisse fish soup.
6) When did you start cooking? Quando avete iniziato a cucinare?
Relatively late: during my Erasmus in 2011. I had no choice!!
7) Which is your best recipe? Revel your secret! Qual è la vostra ricetta migliore? Dateci il vostro segreto!
My macarons almost always achieve success, but I do not like to reveal secrets! 😉
8) What do you love about cooking? La cosa che vi piace di più del cucinare?
About cooking, especially about baking, I love the scent that emerges from the oven. Remember: “the scent of baked goods makes people nicer“.
9) Which is the reason why you decided to become a blogger? Cosa vi ha spinto ad iniziare un blog?
I decided to become a blogger because thinking that someone could make other people happy thanks to my recipes in simply amazing!
10) Which is the best Italian traditional dish? Qual è secondo voi il miglior piatto (dolce o salato) della tradizione italiana?
Artichokes “alla romana” … I love them!!!!
11) Which is your ideal menu? Il vostro menù ideale. (Sì, può anche essere solo a base di dolci!)
My ideal menu is composed by: scallops au gratin or mussels “alla scotadeo”, sea food spaghetti, oven baked sea bass with roasted potatoes and a warm chocolate and raspberry tartlet.
Eleven things about me:
– In my past life I was a squirrel
– I have an extra stomach for desserts 🙂
– I love French-style pastries
– My ideal travel: USA, West Coast trip, old cabriolet, The Heavy – Short change hero as background music and a lot of sun!!
– I’m a perfectionist
– I hate grasshoppers
– If I don’t eat breakfast I can’t start my day
– I love warm summertime evenings at the sea
– I could eat artichokes every day of the year
– I have dual citizenship: Austrian and Italian
– In my creations I like to abound with chocolate, cream and butter
My nominees for the Liebster Award are:
– This Must Be The Plate (thank you again Chiara!!!)
– Last Night A Soufflé Saved My Life
Questions for the nominees:
– How is your passion for food born?
– Do you prefer to prepare salty or sweet dishes?
– What would you prepare for a candle light dinner?
– What is the ugliest dish you ate?
– Is there any dish you associate to a nice experience?
– Which is your favourite cocktail?
– Who is your favourite chef (or pastry chef)?
– Which is the most representative dish from your city (specify which city)?
– How do you recognize a good restaurant?
– Which spice do you consider indispensable in your kitchen?
– If you were a dessert, which one would you be and why?
Congratulations to all the nominees and enjoy the Liebster Award!!!!
Bon appétit,
Anna
Granelli di zucchero 