so last friday marked the end of summer school, which meant my two weeks looking after three year olds was over,,,, :(
they were just so cute ><
contrary to some of my relatives' expectations, i thoroughly enjoyed teaching and looking after those kids. you know, except when they started crying and shrieking and wouldn't stop... it was worth it though :) the experience has taught me a lot about myself, as well as about working with others and about kids. the only thing i won't miss about that job is waking up at 630 to shower so i could get to work before 8. (technically, staff devotions don't start until 830, but i'd usually go in early to get some prep done as i was assisting the arts and crafts classes.)
during the two weeks of my first job, i also had cake decorating technique classes, as well as another butt-load of things to do, which meant i didn't have time to whip anything up, but it also meant i had loads to time to think about the things i wanted to make, and finally saw an opportunity on saturday to make blueberry cheesecake macarons.
they were just so cute ><
contrary to some of my relatives' expectations, i thoroughly enjoyed teaching and looking after those kids. you know, except when they started crying and shrieking and wouldn't stop... it was worth it though :) the experience has taught me a lot about myself, as well as about working with others and about kids. the only thing i won't miss about that job is waking up at 630 to shower so i could get to work before 8. (technically, staff devotions don't start until 830, but i'd usually go in early to get some prep done as i was assisting the arts and crafts classes.)
during the two weeks of my first job, i also had cake decorating technique classes, as well as another butt-load of things to do, which meant i didn't have time to whip anything up, but it also meant i had loads to time to think about the things i wanted to make, and finally saw an opportunity on saturday to make blueberry cheesecake macarons.
now, just bear with me for a second. for those of you out there who think macarons and macaroons are the same thing- NU-UH. no. no way. the candy colored little bites-of-joy macarons that are so popular today are french delicacies, and even the country has different versions of it. macarons, which are little meringue cookies made with egg white, sugar, and (in the french versions) almond meal, were said to have originated from italy when catherine de medici married king henry ii of france and her italian chefs brought them to france in 1533, although some believe that they were originally french, originating from a convent in cormery in 791. they slowly garnered popularity among the royal french court after 1533 as a delicacy served for special occasions, and on a regular basis in the court of king louis xvi and marie antoinette. they finally got the popularity push that would eventually propel them into the global market today in 1792 when two nuns started making and selling them while taking refuge in a convent in nancy in order to pay their rent. however, these were not the versions you see popping up today. the ones being sold seemingly everywhere today for a small fortune each are parisian macarons, and are very delicate. they were invented in the 1830's, most popularly credited to pierre desfontaines of laudree, or for some, claude gerbet in paris.
these parisian macarons are widely different from macaroons, as the latter is the english version, made with a egg whites, sugar, and desiccated coconut. they are more like light, coconut cookies, while parisian macarons are considered to be much more delicate, slightly chewy, slightly melt-in-your-mouth delicacies which can be also featured as art by themselves.
these parisian macarons are widely different from macaroons, as the latter is the english version, made with a egg whites, sugar, and desiccated coconut. they are more like light, coconut cookies, while parisian macarons are considered to be much more delicate, slightly chewy, slightly melt-in-your-mouth delicacies which can be also featured as art by themselves.
these macarons are kind of special to me, as they a) had a filling that took almost as much work as they shells themselves, and did actually have a recipe that i kind of winged, and b) (which is more important) marked and were the subjects of my first official food photo shoot with a dslr camera, courtesy of justin. all of the better light and focused pictures were taken by my amazing boyfriend justin <3, who was generous enough to light and take the photos for me, as well as teach me to focus and take pictures of my macarons with a dslr.
obviously, he's the better photographer of this relationship, since i pretty much just use my iphone 4 and edit with the vsco editing app. (hopefully i'll improve after this school year, what with my photography course coming up. i'm pretty confident the meyer will fix my skills up some.) justin's got some pretty cool photos, mostly of landscapes, and his work is pretty great :) go check his photos out on his flickr page here!
obviously, he's the better photographer of this relationship, since i pretty much just use my iphone 4 and edit with the vsco editing app. (hopefully i'll improve after this school year, what with my photography course coming up. i'm pretty confident the meyer will fix my skills up some.) justin's got some pretty cool photos, mostly of landscapes, and his work is pretty great :) go check his photos out on his flickr page here!
the filling for these macarons were a little more complicated than what i'd done before- i was inspired by a picture of lemon macarons, where the filling was mostly buttercream, with a lemon curd well in the middle, i decided to try it out but with an idea i'd had since june- a "cheesecake" macaron. i had a few ideas as to how i could do it, but ended up trying this one, in which i made a cream cheese frosting with dried blueberries mixed throughout, piped into a circular wall on the macaron shell halves, with a well of homemade blueberry jelly in the middle. this way, there would be the flavor of cheesecake that i wanted, as well as a fresh, fruity hit with a certain tartness that would help to balance out the sweetness of the macaron shells and the cheesecake frosting. my only two regrets about this recipe was 1) that the shells didn't turn out as well as the filling did, and 2) that i didn't add crushed digestives to the frosting for a more cheesecake-y feel. ahh well. next time :)
the filling has two parts to it, although the second doesn't need much preparation or attention, the first, however, does. the first part is the blueberry jelly, which i made at home with fresh blueberries. i used about four boxes of blueberries and after washing them, placed them in a sauce pan to cook out, the way you would make blueberry jam. when the berries had been cooked to a certain softness and the juices were out, i strained the contents of the pan to render the juices seed and pulp-less. after that, i put the juice back in the pan, added sugar, and cooked it until it reduced a bit, then added a small amount of melted gelatin, just enough to make it like a thinner jelly when it was chilled. the two key parts that need more attention is the cooking of the berries and the adding of gelatin. when cooking the berries, make sure they're constantly moving, so that they don't burn or stick to the pan, and when adding gelatin, keep in mind that the gelatin will not thicken anything until it is chilled, and that it must be mixed thoroughly in order to keep it from forming lumps of tasteless gelatin in your blueberry jelly.
the cream cheese filling is very simple: i used criso instead of actual butter for the buttercream because hong kong weather is a hot, humid, and fickle and one of the worst climates for buttercream EVER. so anyway, just a the wilton buttercream recipe, with half criso and half cream cheese, whip it up, and drop in as much coloring as you'd like. i used americolor in violet and royal blue and threw in two handfuls of dried blueberries that i had run a knife through to make them easier to pipe. when filling the macarons, (i used a wilton tip 12, but you don't really need a tip) pipe a small bit of the buttercream of the bottom of one shell, which can can the jelly from seeping into and sogging (is that a word?) up the shell. pipe your frosting in a circle, leaving space in the middle and the outer edge. the hole in the middle is where you will pipe in the blueberry jelly. don't forget to smear a thing layer of buttercream on center of the other shell before sandwiching it, as this will completely seal in the jelly and stop it from seeping though the shell.
now moving on to the most complicated (but my favorite) part of making macarons: the macaron shells themselves. these little rascals are very pretty- but extremely delicate, to the point where two extra strokes in the batter could ruin your entire batch. you ready? (they can drive me insane sometimes)
now moving on to the most complicated (but my favorite) part of making macarons: the macaron shells themselves. these little rascals are very pretty- but extremely delicate, to the point where two extra strokes in the batter could ruin your entire batch. you ready? (they can drive me insane sometimes)
this may be one of the most frustrating batters to deal with *ever*, so bear with me. it's driven me up the wall multiple times and the process takes a lot of attention. the key parts are 1) whipping up your egg whites until they're somewhere between soft and stiff peaks, 2) sifting your almond flour and icing sugar, and 3) making sure you don't over-fold your batter. sounds easy...but isn't. (why do you think paul lafayet charges so much for their macarons?)
first, we'll deal with the sifting (oh, so i' not going in order. big whoop. deal with it): this step is CRUCIAL and should not be skipped. EVER. don't even *think* of slacking here. sifting the almond flour and the icing sugar together will 1) combine the two thoroughly for you, 2) make sure you don't have lumps, and 3) add air to your dry ingredients. you must remember that the key to making they delicate little desserts is the air you beat in whilst making the batter, which means your batter NEEDS. AIR. but not too much. be sure to sift your almond flour and icing sugar separately once, then measure and sift again, this time together.
your egg whites needs special care here too. you want them to be glossy and stiff enough to stand up on their own, but not stiff enough to make their own peaks, as too much air here will make your batter stiff, and you'll end up with nipples on your shells when you pipe them out to cook. you want to get them to soft peaks, and then beat them on a slower pace and keep a close eye on them. add your sugar to make a meringue batter, in three parts. you want it to be smooth and glossy, but, as i said, not *too* stiff. good luck. fortunately, if your egg whites are slightly too stiff, you can stir them a few more strokes through after you fold in the almond flour-icing sugar mixture. maybe i'll write something about macaron techniques sometime. like, a year or two. maybe after i graduate high school and have some actual free time :P
speaking of folding your macaronage (yes guys, that's an actual term), be VERY careful when you fold your almond flour and icing sugar into your meringue. even if your meringue is the perfect consistency and your almond flour and icing sugar are nicely sifted, if you over or under fold your macaronage, your macarons are likely to fail. (yes. i'm sorry for being negative. but it's the truth.) you want the macaronage consistency to be thick and airy, but thin enough to pipe out. it should be thick enough not to spread after you pipe it, but thin enough to very slowly ooze out of your piping bag when you leave it on a counter. it's more complicated than it sounds. test the macaronage by dropping a little on a plate or baking sheet and made sure it's not too thick or thin. if it's too thick and under folded, simply give it a few more strokes and try it again. if it's too thin.....good luck.
first, we'll deal with the sifting (oh, so i' not going in order. big whoop. deal with it): this step is CRUCIAL and should not be skipped. EVER. don't even *think* of slacking here. sifting the almond flour and the icing sugar together will 1) combine the two thoroughly for you, 2) make sure you don't have lumps, and 3) add air to your dry ingredients. you must remember that the key to making they delicate little desserts is the air you beat in whilst making the batter, which means your batter NEEDS. AIR. but not too much. be sure to sift your almond flour and icing sugar separately once, then measure and sift again, this time together.
your egg whites needs special care here too. you want them to be glossy and stiff enough to stand up on their own, but not stiff enough to make their own peaks, as too much air here will make your batter stiff, and you'll end up with nipples on your shells when you pipe them out to cook. you want to get them to soft peaks, and then beat them on a slower pace and keep a close eye on them. add your sugar to make a meringue batter, in three parts. you want it to be smooth and glossy, but, as i said, not *too* stiff. good luck. fortunately, if your egg whites are slightly too stiff, you can stir them a few more strokes through after you fold in the almond flour-icing sugar mixture. maybe i'll write something about macaron techniques sometime. like, a year or two. maybe after i graduate high school and have some actual free time :P
speaking of folding your macaronage (yes guys, that's an actual term), be VERY careful when you fold your almond flour and icing sugar into your meringue. even if your meringue is the perfect consistency and your almond flour and icing sugar are nicely sifted, if you over or under fold your macaronage, your macarons are likely to fail. (yes. i'm sorry for being negative. but it's the truth.) you want the macaronage consistency to be thick and airy, but thin enough to pipe out. it should be thick enough not to spread after you pipe it, but thin enough to very slowly ooze out of your piping bag when you leave it on a counter. it's more complicated than it sounds. test the macaronage by dropping a little on a plate or baking sheet and made sure it's not too thick or thin. if it's too thick and under folded, simply give it a few more strokes and try it again. if it's too thin.....good luck.
macarons may not be easy to make, but they're serious crowd pleasers, especially as a gift, party favors, or high tea. give them a go and let me know how it goes!
recipe after the jump :)
recipe after the jump :)
Blueberry Cheesecake Filling
IngredientsBlueberry Filling 4 150g boxes (600g) blueberries 3 teaspoons white sugar, and more to taste 3 teaspoons gelatin Cream Cheese Frosting 95g unsalted butter or crisco, room temperature 95g cream cheese (not the spread variety) 400g icing sugar 10g meringue powder 150g dried blueberries, loosely chopped 7-8 teaspoons water blue and violet gel food coloring (optional) | Ready to bake?Blueberry Filling
Cream Cheese Frosting
To assemble your macarons
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