Sunday, December 27, 2009

merry christmas!




god i cant remember how relaxing it is to sleep in, no work, eat, laze around @ home : *thumbsup* ^________^ christmas period was crazy!!! my sister's bf was comin over for xmaseve dinner so i thought id whip up a dessert plate for everyone :] i didnt have time to "plate it up" nicely bec everything was melting so fast -_______-

-portugese tartlet topped with fresh raspberries
-chocolate mousse with cocoa dust
-greentea icecream bedded with white chocolate almond meal and chocolate ganache
-black sesame meringue biscuit

these took me a good 4hrs! doesnt look like much but the process is long!





my speciality: banana cake for xmas :]




day before xmas eve: apparently its a big celebration day for chinese ppl. so we made homemade 'tong yuen' :]




my catchup class on the week of xmas (geez!) hahaha this was all the way from stage three week one .. so like last term!! i had to do a re-sit prac bec i missed out on this class.

petit fours:
-glaces
-cresents
-lang de tangs
-sable biscuits
-macaroons

just decorated with some marzipan~


recipe request: macaroons :] as we had no demo for this day, i was panicking bec i didnt what to do with the macaroons .. luckily i search up a quick 'how to make macaroons' on youtube before class and it saved my life! hahaha i find the trick is to have:

  • a smooth batter - but not to knock out the air in the egg whites.
  • temperature is important (and esp ur ovens, you may have hot spots, so be careful)
  • the batter should not be a very runny consistency - just enough to hold its shape
  • once its piped out, allow it to rest on the tray for at least 20mins to dry out

i looked up my classmate's photos from last term when they had made macaroons, the recipe didnt look very pretty = the teacher said this recipe wasnt a good one, but i reckon they turned out nice!? (go youtube!) so give it a go:

macaroons

ingredients:

  • 150g very finely grounded almonds (almond meal)
  • 200g pure icing sugar
  • 120g egg whites (4x55g)
  • 50g caster sugar
  • few drops of vanilla essence
  • pinch of creme of tartare (this will help to hold the meringue in shape ;])

method:

  1. sift almond meal (make sure its lump free)
  2. sift icing sugar
  3. place egg white and creme of tartare in mixing machine and beat to soft foam
  4. sprinkle caster sugar and vanilla essence (this is the time to add any flavours you want to your macaroon)
  5. whisk till light and firm
  6. sift icing sugar and almond meal into the egg whites. fold carefully~
  7. spray a tray and line with baking paper
  8. place a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain tube and pip even sized half-spheres (2.5cm in diameter)
  9. leave macaroons to dry for 2omins
  10. bake in oven at 185degrees for 15mins (i put mine on 180 - took less than 15mins!)
  11. allow to cool and dry then remove from baking tray
  12. store macaroons in an airtight container - can last for 5days unfilled.

with the filling, i just made some rich chocolate ganache.

goodluck!! :] i cant wait to make my next batch soon!!




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