Voila! Les Macarons

I've been reading about these little fellows for a while and all I can find online is one disaster story after another. Any articles I read about macarons are followed by a string of comments such as "ohh I'd love to make these but I'm far too scared" or "I would try to make these again but I don't think my blood pressure could handle it". To be honest, I'd freaked myself out a little just by reading about them! But I had to give it a go so I psyched myself up and got down to it.

My first ever attempt at baking (and eating!) French macarons was a success! I couldn't believe it! Me? A successful macaron baker! It's a miracle! Or maybe just a little beginners luck.
One thing I did make sure of, that I don't normally do, is weigh out all my ingredients and set them in little bowls ready to be used so that there was less chance of forgetting something or weighing something incorrectly in a blind panic to get everything together in time before the sugar syrup burnt to a black goo or I over whipped the egg whites.

The only stumbling block was that they were supposed to be raspberry macarons...but I left the raspberry flavouring at home when I was packing up all my baking equipment to take to Mum and Dad's house. I was baking them there because Mum's oven is one HECK of a lot more reliable than my 70 year old piece of junk. It's brown for goodness sake. You couldn't buy a brown oven now-a-days even if you wanted to! Which you wouldn’t.

This recipe made about 60 medium sized macaron shells, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter which made 30 macarons in total.

A few important notes...

This is one recipe that you can not weigh out its ingredients with cups and spoon measures. It is imperative that you have an accurate and reliable digital kitchen scale.

You will need a stand mixer. For this I used Mum's new kitchen aid with the whisk attachment. A kenwood mixer would do the job just as well, which is what I have at home.

3 large flat baking sheets and enough parchment/greaseproof paper to cover them with 2 layers each.

A piping bag and nozzle with 1/2 - 3/4 inch round tip.

Powder or gel/paste food colouring if you want to colour them. Liquid food colouring would alter the composition of the recipe too much and you would end up with flat chewy meringues instead of beautiful little macaron shells.

Now, for the most important part. THE FEET!

All successful macarons have feet. It's true. Just below the shiny, smooth, rounded shell should be a little knobbly skirt all around. This is the foot. See diagram below of the perfect macaron...

Another little note, the majority of recipes that I read said that it was so so important to age your egg whites for up to 7 days before you plan to make your macaroons. The purpose of this was to break down the albumen in the whites, allowing them to whisk up to firm peaks, giving a crisp, dry macaron shell. I didn't bother with this and my shells are perfectly crisp! One thing I definitely wouldn't argue with is letting the piped mixture rest on the baking sheets for at least half an hour. I baked the 3 trays off one at a time and the 3rd tray was faultless. I put this down to it having that extra half hour of resting time. You want to put them into the oven when you can lightly touch the surface of the shell without the mixture sticking to your finger.

My just baked macarons, perfect!

Filling my macarons with vanilla Italian buttercream. Pipe a small amount of the mixture into the centre of one macaron shell, take another shell and press your thumb gently into the centre of it to make a shallow well. Place on top. Et voila! Les macarons c'est complete!
I’m still testing this theory, but some say that macarons which have sat in the fridge for 2 or 3 days and allowed to come back to room temperature before being eaten taste better than fresh ones. They have had time to soften in the centre and absorb some of the flavourings from the buttercream. If you can wait that long before devouring them all!


I left 10 behind at Mum and Dad's house for them to enjoy with their guests who were coming over that night and when I rang Dad earlier to ask how they went down with supper he said "they went down like nom, nom, nom, nom until they were all gone." Thanks Dad, that was very helpful!

The Graze Craze

Some friends directed me to a website which allows you to sign up for regular deliveries of snack size portions of your favourite dried fruit and nuts. Its called Graze. So I thought hey, why not?! Well I received my first graze nibble box yesterday...yummy! I've already eaten the honey covered pecans and cashews and today in work I ate the "little figgy went to market" selection which had baby figs, dried apple and cranberries. Delicious! The best bit is that with the voucher code my friend Tenneil gave me, I got the first box free and the second box half price!
Here's the exciting bit... I have one of those voucher codes for all of you to use! Just follow this link http://www.graze.com/p/JXMMW31 and get your first yummy nibble box for free! No obligation, just sign up and if you don't love it you can cancel without hassle.
I'm well chuffed with my selection! Makes my coffee break in work so much more interesting

I promise to get some more delicious baked goods on here soon to counteract all this healthy snacking I've been doing xx

Cherry Vanilla Cupcakes

Cherry-Vanilla Cupcakes

 

These cuppies really have the wow factor. So yummy!

I made these for a friend and volunteer at work, the batch made 22 so everyone at work got one and she got to take two home, one for her and one for her hubby. His description of them was "sexual" lol.

Easy enough to make, these cupcakes are a light, moist vanilla sponge filled with a rich cherry filling. Similar I suppose to a cherry pie filling, but homemade with fresh cherries. Standing pitting the cherries was a little time consuming. The cupcakes are frosted with a smooth vanilla bean buttercream infused with some of the maraschino cherry syrup from the jar. Finished with a whole maraschino cherry. I would have loved to have had the cherriest with their stalks still on, that would have looked amazing, but its very difficult to get them in the UK. Cutting the cones out of the sponge to fill with the cherry filling was a bit of a pain so I'll definitely have to invest in one of those fancy filling injector nozzles for piping filling directly into the cupcakes.

Very messy work, but all will be covered with frosting. No one would ever know!

These cupcakes travel well, they aren't too top heavy thanks to the cherry filling so they wont topple in transit. They are also incredibly moist and stay fresh for a long time. I found one squirreled away in a cupboard in work 3 days later and took no time scoffing it before anyone could stop me! Still as fresh as the day it was made. Yummy.

New Blog Name

HOLD ON! You're in the right place. This is CatsLoveCakes. It just has a spangly new title.

That is all

:0)

Apple Butter

For the apple cinnamon cupcake recipe below I used apple butter which is very difficult to get in the UK. I got mine off eBay.

Here's a recipe which you could use if you too find it difficult to find in the shops.

Apple Butter is common throughout Eastern Europe. With only three ingredients in the recipe -- apples, water and sugar -- it was an easy project for an overabundance of fruit. And busy farmwives could enlist the aid of their children in the almost-constant stirring.

Today, we have microwaves and slow cookers that take the drudgery out of keeping a watchful eye on the pot. This recipe easily can be increased. It's low in sugar, as all fruit butters are, and makes a great topping for breads, rolls, ice cream and cakes.

Makes 1 pint of Apple Butter

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound any variety apples, washed, quartered and cored

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/2 to 1 cup sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Preparation:

In a medium saucepan, combine apples and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to very low and simmer until apples look like applesauce, stirring occasionally.

Pass the puree through a sieve. Mix the strained puree with the sugar and spices and choose one of the following cooking methods.

• Slow Cooker: Place sweetened pulp in a slow cooker with lid partially off to let steam escape. Set at low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-12 hours or overnight, or until thick enough so the butter doesn't run off a spoon when turned upside down.

• Microwave: Place sweetened pulp in a microwave-safe bowl and cook for 20 minutes at a time, stirring frequently until thick enough so the butter doesn't run off a spoon when turned upside down.

• Stovetop: Place sweetened pulp in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, for 1-2 hours or until thick enough so the butter doesn't run off a spoon when turned upside down.

• Oven: Heat oven to 250 degrees. Place sweetened pulp in a heatproof casserole dish or roaster. Bake, stirring only occasionally, for 1-3 hours or until thick enough so the butter doesn't run off a spoon when turned upside down.
Place hot butter in hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Cover with hot sterilized lids and rings. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes. Remove to counter and allow to cool before storing in a cool, dry, dark place.
If you don't process in a water bath, the butter can be kept refrigerated for up to three weeks or frozen for up to one year.

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes

These are the YUMMIEST cupcakes I have ever made.

Moist, cinnamon-y, light and fluffy. And they stayed fresh for days! Hands down the nicest batter recipe I have.

These cupcakes are made with a light vanilla sponge, injected with as much apple butter as I could squeeze in, frosted with a mildly flavoured cinnamon buttercream and finished with a generous cinnamon dusting.

For anyone who has not yet tried apple butter, it doesn't actually contain any butter. Its simply a smooth sweet apple puree flavoured with cinnamon, clove, ginger and nutmeg. Cinnamon and clove being the predominant flavours. It can be used in cupcakes and desserts or just simply spread on toast like the Americans do, hence it's name, apple butter, as it takes the place of butter on hot toast. mmmmm......

A Second Attempt At Heaven

Oh My Goodness. These are divine.

I was asked if I would bake something for work tomorrow so I thought I'd make my Golden Syrup cupcakes.

I remember the last time I made them they were delicious, but this time I thought I'd put an extra tablespoon of golden syrup into the cake mix and also into the buttercream frosting. What a plan! They are a hundred times yummier!

Here's a few snaps...

Like a tiny army of cupcake clowns

Irish Soda Bread

Soda bread is a traditional Irish bread in which baking soda is used as the raising agent instead of yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. Other ingredients can be added such as raisins, egg or various forms of nuts.


Various forms of soda bread are popular throughout Ireland. Soda breads are made using either wholemeal or white flour. In Ulster the wholemeal variety is known as wheaten bread and is slightly sweetened, while the term "soda bread" is restricted to the white savoury form. I will be posting the wheaten bread review soon but unfortunately I can't include the recipe, as its Mums secret family recipe. Hard luck folks!


The two shapes are the loaf and the farl in Ulster. The loaf form takes a more rounded shape and has a cross cut in the top to allow the bread to expand. The farl is a more flattened type of bread. It is cooked on a griddle allowing it to take a more flat shape and split into four sections. The Soda Farl is an important part of the Ulster fry.
I would recommend the minimum amount of mixing of the ingredients before baking - the dough should not be properly kneaded.


Now the silly bit...In England, Scotland and Wales, Wheaten Bread is called Soda Bread and they don't have Irish soda bread. So to everyone from England, this is the REAL soda bread. I've heard that you may be able to get it in specialised shops, but they charge a lot for it!


Irish Soda Bread
450 g / 1 lb / 3 1/2 cups flour (either cake flour or plain flour)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
300 ml / 10 fluid ounces buttermilk

 If you want to use buttermilk but can't get it where you live, you can artificially sour some plain milk by adding a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the milk and waiting 15 minutes or so for it to sour.

First things first: decide which kind of soda bread to make

If you're making farls, find your heaviest flat griddle or cast iron frying pan, and put it on to preheat at a low-medium heat. (You're going to have to experiment with settings. Farls should take about 20 minutes per side to get a slight toasty brown.) If you've decided to make a loaf, find a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 190°. Full preheating is vital for soda bread.

Combining the ingredients: the basic technique

Sift the dry ingredients together at least once or twice to make sure the baking soda is evenly distributed. Put the sifted dry ingredients in a good big bowl (you want stirring room) and make a well in the centre. Pour in about three-quarters of the buttermilk and start stirring. You are trying to achieve a dough that is raggy and very soft, but the lumps should look dryish and floury, while still being extremely squishy if you poke them. Add more liquid sparingly if you think you need it.

Blend quickly but gently until the whole mass of dough has become this raggy consistency. Then turn the contents of the bowl out immediately onto a lightly floured board or work surface, and start to lightly knead.

The main concern here is speed: the chemical reaction of the baking soda with the buttermilk starts as soon as they meet, and you want to get the bread into the oven while the reaction is still running on "high".

Don't over knead! You do not want the traditional "smooth, elastic" ball of dough you would expect with a yeast bread. You simply want one that contains almost everything that went into the bowl, in one mostly cohesive lump. You should not spend more than half a minute or so kneading... the less time, the better. Fifteen seconds may well be enough, because you don't want to develop the gluten in the flour at all. If you do, you'll get a tough loaf. So don't overdo it!

Don't be concerned if the dough is somewhat sticky: flour your hands, and the dough, and keep going as quickly as you can: farl in particular sometimes rises better if the dough is sticky.

How to shape the soda bread if you're making a loaf

Flatten the lump of dough to a slightly domed circle and put it on the baking sheet (which should be dusted lightly with flour first). Then use a very sharp knife to cut a cross right across the circle. The cuts should go about halfway down through the sides of the circle of dough, so that the loaf will "flower" properly.

Baking loaf style soda bread

Put the baking sheet into the preheated oven. Leave the bread alone, and don't peek at it! It should bake for about 35 minutes at 190° C. At the end of 35 minutes, pick up the loaf and tap the bottom. A hollow-ish sound means it's done. For a very crunchy crust, put on a rack to cool. For a softer crust wrap the cake in a clean dishcloth as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Shaping the bread if you're making farls

If farls are your choice, use the same very sharp knife to slice the circle of dough into four wedges. Try not to crush or compress the dough where you cut it (if the knife is sharp enough, you won't).

Baking farls on the griddle

Dust the hot griddle or frying pan with very little flour, and put the farls in gently. The cut edges should be 1/2 inch or so apart to allow for expansion. Give the farls 20 minutes per side. They should be nicely browned before you turn them. Keep an eye on the heat -- they scorch easily. When finished, take the farls off the heat and wrap them in a light dishtowel, hot side down. (The residual steam works its way up through the soda bread and softens the crust formed by the process of baking on the griddle.)


Both ways, the soda bread is wonderful sliced or split and served hot, with butter and jam, honey or golden syrup.


I chose to make a soda loaf and eat it while it was hot.
Here's how it turned out...

Yum yum! I like it best with butter and lashings of golden syrup. Enjoy... xx

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

This has got to be the yummiest recipe I have ever made. Went down a treat with the in laws!
If you have a big soft spot in your heart for ooey gooey breakfast pastries, then you will no doubt fall in love with these at first bite. And if you don’t have that big soft spot, take one bite of these and I guarantee you will be a convert. The soft and flaky pastry dough combined with the incredible filling, makes for the most flavourful cinnamon rolls that I have ever tasted.
I warn you now though, they do take a ridiculously long time to prepare but at no point are they difficult to make. If you have a day set aside for baking and generally staying around the house then that would be the day to make these buns. Trust me, you won't regret it.
But where does the cream cheese come into the equasion? I hear you ask. Rolling the cream cheese into the dough is much like laminating pastry dough with butter, except that all of the refrigerating and re-rolling steps aren’t needed here. The result, however, is much the same – a light and flaky pastry dough that melts in your mouth.

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

For the Dough:
1 package (2¼ teaspoons) instant yeast
½ teaspoon, plus ¼ cup granulated sugar, divided
250ml or ½ cup whole milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
415g or 2¾ cups plain flour, plus more for kneading
¾ teaspoon salt
4oz unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Filling:
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup finely chopped pecans
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Other Ingredients:
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
4oz unsalted butter, divided in half, melted

For the Icing:
125g or 1½ cups icing sugar
3 tablespoons full fat milk

1. To Make the Dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer combine yeast, 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar and 1/4 cup water heated to 45°C. Stir to combine and let sit until frothy and foamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Add the remaining granulated sugar, milk, light brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat with a balloon whisk until well combined. Fit the bowl onto the mixer, fitting with the dough hook attachment. Add the flour and salt and mix on medium speed until the dough just begins to come together. Turn the machine on medium-high and knead the dough for 4 minutes.

3. Add the butter and continue to knead for about 6 minutes. The dough will be wet and sticky. Place the dough on a well floured work surface, and knead about 1/3 cup plain flour into the dough. The dough still might be a little sticky, which is ok. Set the dough to rest in a large greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

4. While the dough rises, make the filling. Combine the sugar, dark brown sugar, pecans, walnuts, cinnamon, salt and cloves in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Stir in the maple syrup. Set aside.

5. When the dough has doubled in size, dump it from the bowl onto a heavily floured work surface. Gently knead the dough until it is no longer sticky, adding more flour as needed. Work the dough for about 1 or 2 minutes. Once it’s no longer sticky, place a kitchen towel over the dough and let rest for 5 minutes before you roll it out.

6. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10 x 10-inch square.

7. In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese with a knife until it’s smooth and spreadable.

8. Spread the cream cheese evenly over the dough square. Fold the square into thirds like you would fold a letter to fit into an envelope. Take the open ends of the rectangle and fold into thirds again, to make a smaller dough square.

9. Invert the dough so that the seam is face down and, using the rolling pin, gently roll it into a 10 x 20-inch rectangle. You may find that some cream cheese sneaks through. Be as gentle as possible with the dough, but continue to work it until you reach the size you need.

10. Turn the dough so that the short sides are parallel to you.

11. Brush the top of the dough with half of the melted butter. We’ll use the rest of the butter after the rolls are baked.

12. Pour all of the filling onto the dough. Spread evenly, leaving a 1-inch boarder at one of the short edges of the dough so the roll can be properly sealed. Lightly press the filling into the dough.

13. Using your hands, lift up the bottom edge of the dough and roll it forward into a tight cylinder. Place dough cylinder seam side down on a cutting board. Using a sharp, thin knife, trim off the uneven edges.

14. Cut the cylinder into 8 equal slices. Nestle the slices, cut side up and evenly spaced in a buttered 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to let rise for 2 hours. You may also refrigerate rolls overnight.

15. Heat the oven to 190°C. Uncover the rolls. If you refrigerated the rolls, let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before baking. Bake until golden brown, 25-30 minutes.

16. Transfer the pan of cinnamon rolls to a cooling rack. Brush with remaining melted butter. Let cool for 5 minutes.

17. Make the icing: Whisk together the sugar and milk in a small bowl until smooth, adding more sugar or milk to reach your desired consistency.

18. Dip a fork into the icing and drizzle over the rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Trust me, it will aaaallllll be worth it :)


Enjoy... xx

Blueberry Mille Feuille

Pronounced "Meel Foy" Mille Feuille is a French pastry dessert which translates into English as ‘pastry with a thousand layers’. These pastries are very simple to make and both look and taste fantastic. A sure way to impress your family or friends.

This recipe was adapted from a recipe by Lorraine Pascale. Photos courtesy of BBC.

Ingredients

·       1 packet (200g) ready to roll puff pastry

·       165ml whipping cream

·       25g icing sugar, plus around 100g for dusting

·       1 vanilla pod

·       Zest of 1 lemon, and a little of its juice

·       1 punnet of blueberries

Method

Preheat oven to 200 oC.

For the pastry...

On a work surface dusted with icing sugar roll pastry out as thin as it will go and, using a pizza cutter and a ruler, cut into 18 rectangles about 9cm long and 5cm wide.

Arrange onto a baking tray and sprinkle with lots of icing sugar and put them in the fridge to chill. After 30 minutes bake in the oven for 5 minutes then remove and dust again with icing sugar. Bake for a further 5 minutes or until the pastry is a light golden brown.

For the lemon cream...

Put cream into a large bowl (or the bowl of your mixer) with the icing sugar and the seeds of the vanilla pod. Whip cream until it just starts to thicken and add the lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon juice and fold in. Place into piping bag with a 1cm smooth round nozzle.

To assemble...

Put a little blob of the lemon cream on the plate on which you are serving the mille feuille and set the first pastry rectangle on top. This will secure the mille feuille in place and stop it from sliding off the plate.

Start by piping a row of 4 or 5 blobs of the cream down one side of the pastry and then the same up the other side. If you don’t have a piping bag you could just spread a nice thick layer of the cream over each piece of pastry.

Take some blueberries and pop one blueberry on each blob of cream. You should do two of these layers of pastry, cream and blueberries for each mille feuille dessert.

Next, take your second layer and pipe a nice big blob on the underside of the pastry, like so.

Place this middle layer on top of the bottom layer, which should be already secured to your serving plate.

Now take a third piece of pastry, this time without any cream or blueberries on it, and pipe a generous amount onto the underside. Place this on top of your middle layer.

Dust with a light sprinkling of icing sugar and garnish with a few blueberries on the plate, and maybe a sprig of mint if you are feeling artistic! Et voila, the French dessert of mille feuille. Enjoy... xx

Good Old British Crusty Bread

When I got my beloved Kenwood Chef mixer a few weeks ago as an early Christmas present from my mother the first thing I wanted to make was bread. And I couldn't wait! I was able to download a PDF of original 1960's Kenwood reipes that would have come with a new Kenwood Chef in those days.

Here's the first one...

White bread stiff British-type dough

Ingredients

1.36kg (3lb) strong plain flour

15ml (3tsp) salt

25g (1oz) fresh yeast; or 15g/20ml (1⁄2oz) dried yeast + 5ml (1tsp) sugar

750ml (11⁄4pts) warm water: 43°C (110°F). Use a thermometer or add

250ml (9fl oz) boiling water to 500ml (18fl oz) cold water

25g (1oz) lard  [I used butter]

Method

If using dried yeast (the type that needs reconstituting): pour the warm water into the bowl. Then add the yeast and the sugar and leave to stand for about 10 minutes until frothy.

If using fresh yeast: crumble into the flour.

If using other types of yeast: follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

[I used Hovis Fast Action Bread Yeast, which i just poured straight into the flour. You will need 2 sachets or 14 grams]

Pour the liquid into the bowl. Then add the flour (with fresh yeast if used), salt and lard.

Knead at minimum speed for 45 - 60 seconds. Then increase to speed 1, adding more flour if necessary, until a dough has formed.

Knead for 3 - 4 more minutes at speed 1 until the dough is smooth, elastic and leaves the sides of the bowl clean.

Put the dough into a greased polythene bag or a bowl covered with a tea towel. Then leave somewhere warm until doubled in size.

Re-knead for 2 minutes at speed 1.

Half fill four 450g (1lb) greased tins with the dough, or shape it into rolls.

Then cover with a tea towel and leave somewhere warm until doubled in size.

Bake at 230°C/450°F/Gas Mark 8 for 30-35 minutes for loaves or 10-15 minutes for rolls

When ready, the bread should sound hollow when tapped on the base.

This is the original recipe, however, I changed things around a little.

First off, I only used half the amounts as I only wanted 1 loaf. This meant that there wasn't really enough mixture in the bowl for the Kenwood to mix properly. The dough hook just seemed to pick it up and spin it around in the bowl instead of kneeding it. So instead i just kneeded it by hand for a few minutes until it felt elasticated and yet smooth to the touch. Then i just shaped it into a nice smooth cob shape, made three deep slices in the top and left it to rise for the final hour before popping it in the oven for just 25 minutes. PERFECTION!

When I took it out of the oven I cut a slice straight away (which you're probably not supposed to do i'd imagine as it lets all the hot air inside escape too fast) and buttered it thickly. Delicious.

I was amazed at how simple the recipe really was!

Here's The Finished Product