Ooh La la: Mastering the French Macaron

As some of you may know, I recently returned from a trip to France. I had a fabulous time!! I ate, shopped, drank and ate some more. I also had the opportunity to take two cooking classes while I was there: one on pastries, the other on bread. I didnt have time in my schedule for a macaron class so I decided to except the personal challenge when I returned to the States. I had a great time making them. If you enjoy eating them, I think you should try making them for yourself. The recipe is below.

 

(You will need a kitchen scale for this, as I measured some ingredients using the metric system to be totally French of course!! )

Raspberry Macarons with White Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

 Macarons
  • 150g almond flour
  • 150g powdered sugar
  • 90g granulated sugar
  • 4 extra large egg whites, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup of freeze dried raspberries
  • red food coloring (optional)

White Chocolate Ganache

  •  8 oz of bakers white chocolate (not the morsels)
  • 1/4 cup of heavy cream

For the macarons: Sift the almond flour with the powdered sugar in a bowl. Using a food processor, grind raspberries until they are almost powder consistency. Sift raspberries to remove seeds. Add sifted raspberries to flour and sugar.

In a saucepan on high heat, bring the granulated sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons water for the syrup to 230 degrees F on a candy thermometer, 3 to 5 minutes. When the sugar syrup reaches about 190 degrees F, start whipping 2 egg whites. Whip until they reach full peaks, and then slowly add the boiling syrup. Continue to whip on medium-high speed until they are completely cooled and you have a shiny meringue, about 10 minutes.

Mix the remaining 2 egg whites and the sifted almond/sugar and carefully fold into the meringue. Add red food coloring.

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the meringue and pipe macarons about 1 1/2 inches in diameter on the prepared baking sheets. Tap the baking sheets to get rid of any air bubbles, and let dry out at room temperature for about 10 minutes

Bake for 12 to 18 minutes, depending on your oven. You will know when they are done, when the surface of the macaron is shiny and smooth to the touch.

For the ganache: Place break up white chocolate into small pieces and add to bowl. Add heavy cream to white chocolate. Cook over low heat using a double boiler. Continue to stir until white chocolate and cream are combined and ganache is smooth. Remove from heat and allow ganache to come to room temperature. Place ganache in refrigerator for at least one hour.

Spread ganache on flat side of macaron and top with another macaron.

Devour and enjoy!!

*you could easily change the flavor of your macaron by using a different fruit or using cocoa powder instead. You can also use different filling as well. I tried it with raspberry curd and jelly. Both just as delicious!!

 

 

DIY: Helloooooooo Kitty Sweatshirt

If you don’t know by now, I love Hello Kitty. I was browsing through my neighbor Kohls clearance rack when I came across this cute Hello Kitty sweatshirt in the Junior section. I thought that it was cute so I purchased it. When I got home I decided that it could use some sprucing up to make it more grown and sexy. Here’s what I did:

 

 

Materials

Sweatshirt

1/8 yards of jersey fabric, cut into 1.5 inch strips

Fabric pen or white eye liner

30- 1/4 inch studs

Tape measure

Fabric shears

Needle and thread (thread needs to be same color as sweatshirt)

Bead pliers

Sewing pins

 

Instructions

Turn sweatshirt inside out. Place sweatshirt facing down on flat surface. Using fabric pen and tape measure, mark out symmetrical 1.5 inch vertical lines down the back of your sweatshirt. (Lines should go from top collar to bottom collar). Once all lines have been measured, cut out lines using shears. Once all lines have been cut, take jersey fabric and basket weave (interlace jersey material through sweatshirt by going over one sweatshirt strip, then under the next, and so on) through the vertical lines. Start from top of the sweatshirt and continue to basket weave until you reach the bottom collar. Once finished, the back of the sweatshirt should resemble a checker board. Make sure that all the ends of your jersey material are on the inside of the sweatshirt (the side facing you). Pin all the jersey strips into place. Using either a needle and thread or a sewing machine, sew all the strips of fabric into place. Turn sweatshirt right side out.

Try on sweatshirt to determine how long you want you shoulder cut outs to be. Use fabric pen to mark where you want cut-outs to end on your arms. Take sweatshirt off.  Fold sweatshirt vertically so that one arm sleeve is on top, facing you. Lay on a flat surface. Using your fabric pen and tape measure, make a horizontal line across arm sleeve, where you first marked the end of your cutouts. Mark out 1/2 inch vertical lines from the top collar to the horizontal line on sleeve. Once all lines are marked out. Cut out all vertical lines. Take two vertical strips on the sleeve and stud together. Continue studding until diamond pattern is achieved (see above). Repeat same process on other sleeve.

Tada!! You have a brand new adult grown and sexy sweatshirt

 

Red Velvet Waffles!!!

I love red velvet ANYTHING!!! Its such a classic flavor and can be put in so many baked goods, including breakfast items. I decided to make some red velvet waffles because I knew that my mommy and brother were scheduled to visit and I could experiment on them. They turned out pretty tasty so I decided to share the recipe. WARNING: these are not diet or “light” in any way. (Its okay to indulge every once in awhile 😉 :

 

 

Waffles (makes approximately 5 waffles)

3 tbsp of vegetable oil

1/4 cup of granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tbsp of white vinegar

1 tbsp of red food coloring

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup of flour

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1 tbsp. and 2 tsp. of cocoa powder

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup of buttermilk

 

 

Maple Cream Cheese Topping

4 oz of cream cheese (at room temperature)

4 tbsp of butter, unsalted

1 tbsp. of maple syrup

1 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar

 

confectioners sugar (optional)

Maple syrup (optional)

 

Directions

Preheat waffle iron

In a small bowl, whisk or sift together flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine oil and sugar, using either a stand or hand mixer. Stir until sugar and oil are combined. Add eggs one at a time to large bowl. Add red food coloring, vinegar and vanilla extract. Add buttermilk. Stir until combine. Add flour mixture in two batches slowly. (Be careful not to over mix). Allow mixture to rest for approximately 10 minutes.

While waffle batter is resting, make the cream cheese topping. In a medium sized bowl, whip together cream cheese, butter, and maple syrup. Turn mixer to low speed and add confectioners sugar. Increase speed on mixer to medium and whip together. Place cream cheese mixture into the refrigerator and allow to set.

 

Place batter into hot waffle iron. Cook waffle based on waffle iron settings. Top cooked waffle with confectioners sugar, cream cheese topping and more syrup.

 

Devour and Enjoy!!

 

Banana Nut Cinnamon Rolls

 I developed this recipe because I was in the middle of moving last year and had to get rid of some food items. Most of my pans were packed up. I had a bunch of old bananas, some packets of yeast and some left over baking items. I thought this would be the best thing to make with all my scraps. They turned out pretty tasty. Caution its sugar overload!!

 

Banana Nut Cinnamon rolls

 Dough

2- 1/4-ounce package yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

4 to 4 ½  cups all-purpose flour

 

Filling

½ cup butter, melted

¾ likely packed brown sugar

3 to 4 very ripe bananas, mashed

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 cup pecans, chopped

 

Glaze

4 tbsp butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 to 5 tbsp of milk

¼ tsp of salt

 

½ cup of pecan halves (optional)

 

Directions

 In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Spread bananas evenly over dough. Sprinkle with pecans. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

 

Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

 

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

 

Sprinkle with pecans

 

Devour and Enjoy!!

Triple Chocolate Bread Pudding with Orange cream

I consider myself a bread pudding connoisseur. It happens to be my favorite dessert and I try to enjoy as many varieties as I can get my lips around. One particular afternoon I was perusing the shelves of Ross and came across and Chocolate Chip Panettone. I immediately threw it in the shopping basket. I knew exactly what to do with this no longer wanted “holiday” treat. It was about to go down in the Carter Kitchen. BREAD PUDDING!!! This is the recipe I came up with, I hope to enjoy:

 

Ingredients

One Panettone cake with chocolate chips

7 large eggs, room temp.

18 oz of evaporated milk

1 cup of water

1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar

3 tbsp of cocoa power

1 tsp of cinnamon

1 1/2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

1 tbsp of Grand Marnier (orange flavored liqueur)

1 cup of heavy cream, very cold

1 tbsp of fresh orange zest

2 tbsp of confections sugar

1 tbsp of Grand Marnier

 

Directions

Take Panettone and cut into 1.5 inch cubes. Place cubes into large bowl and allow them to sit overnight uncovered to dry out. Place cubes into a greased 9 x 13 x 2 pan. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, water, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon and liqueur. Pour mixture over bread cubes and let sit for 15-20 minutes. (Press cubes down to allow them to soak up custard half way). Sprinkle chocolate chips onto bread pudding. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set 9 x 13 x 2 pan into larger roasting pan. Pour hot water into roasting pan, about half way up bread pudding pan. Place bread pudding into oven for 45-50 minutes. Allow pudding to cool for approx 10-15 minutes.

In a medium sized cold bowl, whip together heavy cream, orange zest, sugar and liqueur until soft peaks have formed.

Cut out bread pudding and place heavy cream on top. Sprinkle with more confections sugar, if desired.

Devour and Enjoy!!

Spike that clutch!!

 I love colors, the brighter the better!! I came across this wonderful clutch at my local Ross. It was super inexpensive and neon, so of course I had to snatch it up. I said to myself, ” I need to jazz this thing up though.” That is exactly what I did. I went home, grabbed my left over spikes and went to work. Here is how I did it:

 

Materials Needed

1. Clutch (purchased mine from Marshall’s)

2. Styrofoam padding

3. Piece of paper

4. Pen

5. Ruler

6. Tape

7. Sharp edge/ Exactor knife

8. Screw-on spikes

9. Scissors

 

Here is How I did it:

Place padding inside of the clutch to protect the opposite side of the clutch from being damaged during the DIY. Take your ruler and measure area where you plan on placing your spikes. Take those measurements and measure them out on a piece of paper. Cut out area from piece of paper. Place triangle on clutch and secure from tape. Using pen and ruler, mark out dots on paper where you want spikes to be placed. Take your sharp edge and puncture holes through all the dots. Once you have finished with all your holes, take back of spike (screw back) and puncture through each spot. (Screw should be poking out of clutch). Screw spike tops onto spike bases. Repeat steps on the opposite side of the clutch. Now you’re ready to rock that clutch!!