Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin

Monday, June 14, 2010

Practice... Practice...



First of all, I like to thank Tanja of Tanja's Cupcakes for this beautiful Happy 101 - Sweet Friends award. Really appreciate it, thanks Tanja!



Let me pass it on to 10 good friends...
- Simone of Jungle Frog Cooking.
- Y of Lemon Pi
- Valerie of Chocolate Bunny.
- Anjelikuh of Anjelikuh.
- Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen.
- Chef D of Energetic Chef.
- Deeba of Passionate About Baking.
- Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yums.
- Jo of Sugar and Everything Nice.
- Vicky of Sweets at Vicky's.



Lately I have been busy dealing with the latest development in my life. Since my work was cut down to 4 days a week, I have been looking for extra things to distract myself and fill up the free day. Aren’t I lucky? My off day is Wednesday, right in the middle of the week. So I literally work 2 days, break 1 day, work 2 more days and weekend break 2 days. It is a great thing, but it is just that I am learning to get used to it. Well, apparently a distraction came handy - the organizer of my previous bazaar told me a week ago that there would be another bazaar at a new location. She was kind enough to book a booth on my behalf since she was familiar with the bazaar organizer. So participating in her bazaar 2 times in a row has made me somehow a familiar face to her.



So I went to visit the building where the bazaar would take place and get to know its residents in order to decide the suitable cakes for the occasion and the rate to price them. Next, I took the time to look into my recipes and books and determined what cakes I should be baking. From the onset, I had included my Chocolate Kiwi Cake ,Fresh Cream Fruit Cake, and Baked Cheese Cakes. However, I needed new cakes to inspire myself and of course allure my prospective customers. So I figured let’s put other types of cheese cakes and mouse cakes in place.



It was a tiring business. Since the bazaar was on a Saturday I had planned to start preparing since Wednesday. Most of the days, I came back tired from work and went straight to baking. Lucky me, T was always there preparing dinner and setting everything up on the dining table right in front of TV. Thanks dear! 2 nights in a row I baked until 3am and in between these long hours, I sometimes wanted to quit and just went to sleep. I just couldn’t keep T to assist me any later than midnight, no matter how much I needed a companion or a pair of extra hands, cause his natural clock rings at midnight sharp and he has to wake up early in the morning. I totally understood and wouldn't mind to do the rest on my own. I was fine, I had to be fine.



On those closed-to-quitting moments, I told myself that this was a practice – a valuable experience - that would help me familiarize each cake’s baking process and speed things up in the future. And compared to my previous two bazaars, I could see that I did improve in terms of speed. I finished on time on Saturday morning!

Okay, I will be right back with you about the bazaar. For now, I hope you are happy with a Saffron Macaron recipe! Enjoy…

SAFFRON MACARON
Makes 10 macarons
Prepare: 1 big baking tray lined with a Silpat or parchment paper



Ingredients :
- Egg white > 70 grams
- Sugar > 50 grams
- Icing sugar > 90 grams
- Ground almond > 45 grams
- Saffron > 2 teaspoons
- Orange coloring > 1 drop

Method :
- Ground 1 teaspoon of saffron. Set aside.
- Combine icing sugar and ground almond. Sieve.
- Whip egg white until frothy. Add sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form.



- Fold almond and icing mixture, and ground saffron gradually into the egg white in 2 additions. Mix carefully with a spatula until batter is shiny and flowy like magma.
- Fill batter into piping bag tipped with a plain circular nozzle and pipe into a circle with a diameter of 3 cm. Piping makes 20 pieces. Sprinkle the top with the rest of saffron.
- Leave to rest until surface of these pipings are flat and dry or when touched, it doesn't stick to our finger. Meanwhile, preheat oven at 150°C.
- Bake at 150°C for 8-10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 125°C, turn tray 180 degrees and continue baking for 8-10 minutes.
- Cool on the rack and detach from Silpat or parchment paper.



2. Orange Ganache

Ingredients :
- White chocolate > 90 grams
- Whipping cream > 40 grams
- Orange concentrate > 1 teaspoon
- Butter > 16 grams

Method :
- Place white chocolate in a bowl.
- Heat whipping cream until boiled. Pour into white chocolate. Leave for a while until white chocolate melts. Stir thoroughly.
- Add butter and orange concentrate. Mix well.
- Leave to cool and thicken.

3. Assembly

- Fill orange ganache into piping bag and pipe on the macaron. Top with the other macaron to form like a sandwich.

34 comments:

  1. It is great to not have to work five days a week... There is so much to do at home!

    Those macarons are splendid!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    ReplyDelete
  2. All the best, :) I still think your macs are one of the best I've seen around!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the color of this macaron, very beautiful. Can't wait to see your post of the cakes in the bazaar. Bet it is beautiful and delicious ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Practice makes perfect, must be why your macarons looks the way they do :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. My goodness, I am so impressed. Your photos are beautiful and your concoctions lovely! What a talent you have!

    ReplyDelete
  6. un seul mot: MAGNIFIQUE
    bravo et bonne journée

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your macarons are lovely! Can't wait to hear more about the bazaar!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kris, you are an absolute sweetie! Not only do the gorgeous macarons tempt me, you also gave me a nice surprise. Thank you so much for the award and having me as your friend. BTW the bazaar sounds really interesting and will wait for updates on this in future. Take care and have lots of rest in between.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Che belli!!:)davvero bravissima..complimentoni!:)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ouah your macarons are beautiful!
    I realy like your blog! :)
    XoXo Clém'

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your macarons are the definitely of perfection!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I finally have to get myself togehter and try making macarons once again... It was complet disaster last time, but since I'm looking at yours I'm so jelous ;) and they are perfect each time your making them!!! Any advice for perfect macarons...?

    Cheers from brand New Mummy ;)
    Anula.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Aren't those gorgeous? I love it. And love your presentation.
    Can't wait to hear about the bazaar and see your photos. You certainly worked hard for it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Kris - first of all good luck with the bazaar! I have been reading your blog for a while now and it inspires me everyday. Love your photography. These macaroons look beautiful.

    I tried white chocolate ganache several times and it turns out so runny. I will try your recipe over the coming weekend. Hope I have better luck this time.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for the sweet friends award, Kris! it made my day :D

    I can only imagine all the stress you have on your shoulders, baking till morning everday! If it is of any consolation, I would totally volunteer myself to stay up baking with you past midnight! But keep up the good work, i'm sure your cakes are going to be as wonderful as they always are, looking forward to your update on the bazaar! Extra props for finding the time to update us on a wonderful saffron macaroon recipe even with your bazaar coming up ;)

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love your recipe. I first thought the ganache was also made up with saffron, but you used orange and I love this combinaison!
    Have fun on the bazaar ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you for the award, so sweet of you! I have to say, those macarons are gorgeous, and the pictures are so beautiful! And the bazaar sounds like quite the experience!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Kris..looking forward to hearing about the bazaar. It's nice to have some time off and especially on hump day! Now..if I could make macarons like yours..I'd be Pierre Hermes. wait..yours are much more beautiful than his..and most for that matter!

    ReplyDelete
  19. miss your word and your dessert so much!!!

    wanna have a chance to try your cheesecake ^^

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hope the bazaar went well! Your saffron macarons are, like everything you make, so beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oooooooooh they do look ever so good, very profesh!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Gorgeous macarons! Can't wait to see pics of your stall at the bazaar!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I have no idea just how much practice you have had making these, but they're just perfect like your other macarons.
    And don't worry, your bazaar sale will be a huge success. Just wish you were setting your stall in my neighbourhood! :D

    ReplyDelete
  24. Yay, excitedly waiting to know how the bazaar went. Good on you for doing the 'field study'- isn't it rewarding to know and learn about our market. These macarons look good! As ever!

    ReplyDelete
  25. mmmm these macarons look gorgeous, such beautiful pictures too!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. O thanks so much for the award!! That was a sweet surprise... :) Your macarons looks absolutely perfect. Can't wait to see the results of your bazaar!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Kris! I just tried to bake my first macarons. Unfortunately, my first batch doesn't have 'feet' and my second batch are cracked. Since your macarons look so beautiful, I need your help! I'm just wondering whether the recipe such as Tartelette would work in a hot country. I noticed that you bake the macarons in 2 stages. When I did mine, I only bake at 150C(300F) for 8-10 mins. I'm not sure whether I overfolded or not. The batter seems 'runny' when I start piping. Is it because of the hot weather in BKK??

    ReplyDelete
  28. I can't wait to hear about the bazaar and so happy to find your lovely blog! This recipe looks gorgeous, but is it bad to admit I have macaroon trepidation? They always look so perfect. I might screw this up!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Beautiful macarons and gorgeous photos Kris. Inspiring as always.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Your macarons look perfect! Thank you for the sweet friends award Kris, you are always an inspiration to me :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hi Kris, I have some questions for you!
    1. My macs never exactly form peaks after I ad the sugar, do you know why this would happen?
    2. How so you get all the shapes the exact same and how high do you pipe them for thickness?
    Any advise you have would be great!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thanks so much for your help! :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thank u so much :)

    ReplyDelete