Simple Artisan Macaroons

Since it's Passover, I decided to include a flourless recipe for my blog. I am no expert in macaroons, but these turned out pretty good, and are really much easier than they seem. Try to use aged egg whites, you can fill them with whatever you want, but I have included a recipe for buttercream. Makes about 15.




























                       Ingredients

For the Macaroons

230g Icing Sugar

60g Caster Sugar

4 Large Egg Whites

120g Ground Almonds

Pinch Of Salt

                 Food Colouring (Optional)

               For the Buttercream Filling

                    150g Icing Sugar

              50g Butter/Margarine, Softened

                      Milk or Water

                 1/2tsp Vanilla Extract

Method

1. Pass the ground almonds, icing sugar and salt through a sieve twice, and throw away any bits or lumps that don't pass easily. Preheat the oven to 150C/Fan 130C, and line two baking trays with non stick paper. 

2. Whisk the egg whites and caster sugar to form stiff peaks, and then add your desired food colouring. Be quite liberal with it, as the colour fades while baking. Whisk for about 1 minute. 

3. Fold the almond and sugar mix in with a spatula, but be careful not to overmix; it should be quite thick yet smooth, and shouldn't easily run off the spatula if held above the bowl. 

4. Fill a piping bag with the mix, and pipe small circles onto the trays, letting the little end flick go over the circle. Once finished, rap the trays against the worktop a few times to prevent cracking. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.

5. Place in the oven for around 22 mintues, or until they come off the tray cleanly, and leave to cool.

6. Beat the butter in a mixer until creamy, then sieve in the icing sugar and pour in 2tsp water/milk and vanilla. Let it mix for around 5 minutes until completely smooth and pale in colour. You want a fairly thick paste consistency, so add more icing sugar/liquid if needed. 

7. Pair the macaroons with ones that fit together well, and spread a large dollop of buttercream on one half with a palette knife, leaving a bit of room by the edge. Place the other half on top, pressing down gently while moving it in a circle to spread the buttercream around to the edges.

Enjoy :)

Chocolate and Almond Cake Pops

A product of hours of testing, experimental bakes and developments, these cake pops were the subject of my GCSE coursework final practical, the theme of which was winter. Again, these need to be made with a cake pop mould, which are easily available on the internet. But beware - they are not for beginners, and be sure to lay down some newspaper before making the spun sugar.

Ingredients

For the Sponge

125g Butter, Softened

125g Caster Sugar

125 Self-Raising Flour

2 Eggs, Beaten

2tsp Cocoa Powder

1/2tsp Almond Essence

12g Ground Almonds

For the White Chocolate Ganache

175g White Cooking Chocolate, broken up into small pieces

175ml Whipping Cream

For the Spun Sugar

3g Liquid Glucose

Pinch Cream of Tartar

33g Caster Sugar

15ml Water

25g Dark Cooking Chocolate

12 Wooden Skewers

Cake Pop Mould

Polystyrene Block

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C/180C fan/Gas mark 3. Grease the mould well. Cream the butter and sugar together until a very light off-white (this will take at least 10 minutes), and very slowly add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Sift and fold in the flour with a metal spoon.

2. Divide the mixture in half, and in one add the cocoa powder, and to the other add the almond essence and ground almonds. Fill up one half of the mould; half with each mix, and marble with a cocktail stick. Place in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until a cocktail stick comes out clean when placed through the hole at the top.

3. While the cakes are cooking, heat the cream until bubbling, and pour on top of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl, and mix until all the chocolate has melted. Whisk with for a few minutes and then place in the fridge. Leave the cakes to cool on a wire rack before taking them out of the mould. 

4. Once the cakes have cooled, melt the dark chocolate, and coat the tip of a wooden skewer. Carefully push it through one of the balls about halfway, making sure a small amount of chocolate leaks out. This will be the glue for the skewer. Place in a dish with an edge, such as a cake tin (image above), and repeat for all the cake pops. Place in the fridge until the chocolate is completely set. 

5. Take the ganache out of the fridge, and whisk until its a thick liquid. Try dipping a cake pop into it, and if it easily enrobes the cake without being translucent or too stiff, its the right consistency. To loosen it, put it in the microwave for a few seconds. Dip each pop by the skewer into the ganache, letting any excess drip off, and push the bottom part of the skewer into a polystyrene block. Leave to set completely.

6. Lay out over the edge of your work surface three metal handles. To make the spun sugar, place all ingredients into a saucepan. Place the pan on a low heat, and stir continuously until all the sugar has dissolved. Using a pastry brush dipped in water, make sure all the sugar near the surface of the liquid stuck to the side of the saucepan is brushed away, or into the liquid to prevent recrystallisation. Turn up the heat slightly, so it gently bubbles. Heat until you see the very slightest change in colour to a slight caramel colour, and dip quickly the base of the saucepan in a bowl of water to stop it cooking. Using give it a second or two to thicken slightly, and using two forks back to back, dip them in, and flick them back and forth across the handles, to create thin, hair-like strands. Collect a few straight after you created them, and bend them with your hands into a slightly more circular shape, and place on top of a cake pop. If the liquid sets, place on a low heat, and wait for it to loosen again.

Enjoy :)

Marbled Cake Pops

A recipe I am planning to make in school and wanted to try out at home, these cake pops are so good, but you do need the cake pop tin. The actual cake is very simple, and this is really not too hard to make - you just need time.

Ingredients

The Cake
125g Self-Raising Flour
125g Soft Unsalted Butter
125g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2tsp Cocoa Powder

The Finish
200g Dark/Milk COOKING chocolate
100g White Chocolate
Ground Almonds or Dessicated Coconut

Wooden Skewers/Cake Pop Sticks

Method
1. Grease the mould and preheat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, then beat the eggs together in a jug, and gradually pour them in, beating well after each addition.

3. Fold in the flour, and then put half the mix in a separate bowl, and add the cocoa powder to one of them.

4. Place a bit of both of the mixes in each pod, and then marble with a toothpick. Make sure it only reaches a small dome above the lip of each pod. Place in the oven for about 15, but place a cake tester in the hole before taking them out.

5. While the cakes are cooling, melt the dark/milk chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, and pour into a ramekin.

6. Once the cakes have cooled, pop them out. Dip one end of the skewer about 1cm into the chocolate, and then push into one side of the cake about 3/4 of the way, and place on a sheet of greaseproof paper, stick up.

7. To stop the chocolate in the ramekin from hardening, place the ramekin into a larger bowl with hot water. Once the chocolate around the sticks have hardened and the sticks are held in place, dip each pop into the chocolate in the ramekin until its completely enrobed in chocolate, letting excess drip back into the ramekin. Place one end of the skewer into a colander, as in the picture to let the chocolate harden.

8. Once all the dark/milk chocolate has hardened, melt the white chocolate like the dark/milk and while turning the skewer of a cake pop, pick up a small amount of white chocolate on a teaspoon, and let it drip onto the cake pop, creating swirls.

9. Before you return the pops to the colander, sprinkle with a some ground almonds or dessicated coconut so it sticks to the white chocolate, and shake off the excess. Return to the colander and leave to set. 

The Ultimate Bakewell Tart

One of my favorite recipes, devoured within a week in my house, the 'Ultimate' Bakewell Tart. Pinched from 'The Best of British Cookbook' with a few of my tweaks, this summer recipe is incredible. A Bakewell Tart is basically sweet shortcrust pastry, jam, and then an almond sponge. In this recipe things like lemon icing and a mixture of jams are added.

Ingredients

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

175g Plain Flour

A Pinch of Salt

2tbsp Caster Sugar

115g Butter, Chilled and Diced

1 Egg Yolk, mixed with

2tbsp ice-cold Water

4tbsp Raspberry or Strawberry Jam (or a mix of both)

Almond Sponge

65g Softened Butter

65g Caster Sugar

1 Egg, At Room Temp

35g Self-Raising Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

55g Ground Almonds (if you don't have, just put 50g blanched almonds in mortar + pestle and grind, or put in a food processor)

A Few Drops of Almond Essence


Lemon Icing
50g Icing Sugar
1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Cold Water


Some Blanched Almonds (to sprinkle on top)

Method

1. For the pastry, sift the flour, salt and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add the diced butter and rub in, until the consistency is as fine as breadcrumbs.

2. Add the egg yolk bit by bit while mixing with a palette knife to form a dough. You're looking for a slightly sticky dough, maybe a bit crumbly. If it's looking too crumbly and dry, add water, and if too sticky, add flour.

3. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill for 20 mins, heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Take out a 22cm flan tin.

4. While the dough is chilling, put all the ingredients for the sponge in a bowl, and mix with an electric whisk for as long as possible until thoroughly combined, and much lighter than it started. 

5. Take out the dough, and roll out on a floured surface to a circle about 28cm across (it doesn't matter if it's not perfect) and line tin with the dough. If there is any dough hanging off the edges, roll your rolling pin along the edges of the tin, taking off any excess dough. Use this excess dough to cover any gaps in the tin.

6. Prick the base with a fork, spread with jam (it may not look enough, but if you put too much, the sponge will get ruined), and evenly spread the sponge mix on top (it's not the end of the world if some jam mixes with the sponge, but try to keep that to a minimum).

7. Bake in the heated oven for 30 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean from the sponge. Leave to cool completely and take out of the tin.  


8. For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and mix in the lemon juice and water. You want the consistency of a thick paste, so add icing sugar and water when appropriate.


9. Pipe/Spread the icing on however you want! I like to do it in lines, but you could do a lattice, swirls, or just spread it on.


10. Sprinkle some blanched almonds on, and enjoy :).