It’s funny how you can be intrigued by something as soon as you see it and madeleines, that small cake like cookie (or is it a cookielike cake??) were just the thing I was dying to make. I can’t even remember where I first saw it to be honest. It had been simmering in the back of my mind for a while but I was missing the correct shape of baking tin. And while I am sure you could bake it in another form, it just wouldn’t be right without that tell tale shell like shape, now would it?

So I had to have the tin. I asked one for christmas and I got one, but with tiny, tiny shapes, more suitable for making chocolates then proper madeleines (which are not big to begin with)  So only this week did I manage to score the proper baking ‘tin’. It’s not really a tin as I could only find a silicon mold. I did understand from various people that I should be baking these in metal forms rather then the silicon ones, but I had to do with what I could find right? I had already more then spend my budget on kitchen supplies this week so finding another mold was just a no-go… (truth be told, had I found one, I would probably have bought it, regardless of budget!)

I love buying kitchen supplies! I bought a new frying pan plus we wanted to buying new cooking pans as well. The stuff we have does the job, but it’s old and rather bad quality and starts to slowly fall apart, so it was really time for getting some proper pans. It’s the thing we do use most, so a worthy investment… Anyway, I am straying from the story of the madeleines…

So I got the silicon mold, terribly orange in color… Why do they make these things in orange? I mean; seriously… there are much better colors out there!! I do think that metal will probably brown them a little bit better then the silicon did, but overall I do think they look pretty. I got the recipe from 101 cookbooks and you can find the original here

I was told that the secret to real madeleines was to make sure that the recipe included ‘burnt butter’ and so I found one that had. It does give the cakes a distinct flavor so I would definitely keep that in. I wanted to try a base recipe for my first madeleines but I can already see how good they would be with a lovely glaze of lemon or chocolate and I saw this great recipe for chocolate madeleines on Martha Stewarts website that I will definitely be trying out next!

In the meantime; here is the recipe that I used! (original from 101 cookbooks)

170 gr unsalted butter
2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter (for greasing pan)
3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
a pinch fine-grain sea salt
2/3 cups sugar
zest of one large lemon
seeds of one vanilla pod
powdered sugar

a bit of extra flour for dusting baking pan

Special equipment: A madeleine baking pan,

Preheat oven to 175 C

Melt the butter in a small sauce pan on medium heat until it’s brown and starts to smell rather nutty. Do make sure that you don’t let it get burned as that…. is something you do not want! Once brown, strain the butter (you can use a paper towel over a mesh strainer) so that the solids are left behind. Cool the butter to room temperature. By doing the butter first you can complete the rest of the steps while it is cooling.

While the melted butter is cooling, use the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to grease the madeleine molds – get in there and make sure you get in all the ridges. Dust with flour and invert the pan tapping out any excess flour. Mine came out of the pan very easily.

Put the eggs with the salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until thick – you are looking for the eggs to roughly double or triple in volume – approximately 3 minutes. Continuing to mix on high speed, slowly add the sugar in a steady stream. Whip for 2 minutes or until mixture is thick and ribbony. Now with a spatula fold in the lemon zest and vanilla (just until mixed).

Sprinkle the flour on top of the egg batter, and gently fold in. Now fold in the butter mixture. Only stirring enough to bring everything together. You don’t want the butter to be too hot or it will work on your eggs.

Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each mold 2/3 -3/4 full. I found that the batter becomes thick quite quickly. I had to bake in several batches as the mold only holds 9 madeleines. And this recipe makes much more then that.

Bake the madeleines for about 15 minutes depending on your oven. Make sure to check them from time to time. Once the edges turn golden remove from the oven and turn out onto a cooling rack immediately. Dust with icing sugar and serve. The madeleines are best eaten the day they are made.

Makes 2 -3 dozen regular madeleines.

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Macarons

My last failed attempt at making macarons has been a while ago and was for the Daring Bakers in october. So when Jamie and Deeba started their MacAttack I could not stay behind! My goal, obviously, to finally produce a decent batch of macarons. One that I would be able to serve to other people then Tom without them bursting in laughing asking me what I was thinking… And today, ladies and gentlemen, it seems that I finally had a 100% perfect batch! As usual I started with aging the eggwhites which I put out yesterday, then whipped them into a meringue today per the usual instructions (see below) and I did make a mistake there as I actually put the lavender sugar into the eggwhites together with the rest of the sugar, making it maybe a tad too sweet, but ok, minor detail…

Then the crucial part came and the part where I think have gone wrong in the past and that is in achieving the correct texture for the macronage (I think it is called that way…!) I do tend to overbeat the mixture resulting in the dough being too soft. Proof of that is actually the fact that whenever I used to make round on the baking sheet they would always spread quite a lot and sometimes merging into one another. This time however I decided to count. It is stated everywhere that you should not fold the mixture more then 50 times. So I carefully folded and folded and counted and counted, coming to a total of 41 turns where I thought the mixture was still a bit too thick. So I stopped. That might sound weird but the last time I thought the mixture was too thick, folded it a couple of times more and the damage was already done!

So not this time! All the powdery stuff was mixed into the meringue and the mixture was quite thick but flowing. And I am happy I stopped there or I am sure I would have over beaten it again. It now actually had the perfect consistency and even when making the little rounds on the trays I felt that it already worked so much better then the previous times. The rounds flattened a little bit but not outside of proportions as they normally do and there were no peaks left on top. I even made a few that were too small as I was so used to them flattening out so much more then they did!

I almost could not resist standing in front of the oven the entire time watching if they would develop feet, but I resisted the urge and went upstairs to work a bit more only to come back to perfect little feet! I checked if they were baked enough after 25 minutes but they weren’t (I always very carefully try to lift one from the tray and if they lose the bottom when I do that I have to keep them in a little longer so I can get them of the baking sheets) so I left them in for another 5 to 10 minutes.

By then they were perfect to get of the trays too and not one of them broke! I had a reasonably successful batch a few months ago but even then most of the macarons broke when I wanted to take them off, so having none break was a first! I almost wanted them to break so I could pop one in my mouth to taste… Luckily I was left with an uneven number so ofcourse I had to eat the uneven one..

Delicate and crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  I still can’t believe I finally managed, so sorry if I keep blabbing about it!

I made a buttercream as per the instructions of Tartelette’s recipe and I made it in two variations; one with vanilla and one with lavender sugar. I liked the vanilla better, but both of them are really good!

Now I did promise someone to save a few if they were good for tomorrow but… not sure if they survive that long!
Violet Macarons With Violet And Vanilla Bean Buttercream
recipe from Helen @ Tartelette
Makes between 30 to 40 macarons

Lavender macarons

Print

Recipe type: Cookies

Author: Helen @Tartelette

Serves: 30

Ingredients

• For the macarons shells:
• 90 gr egg whites (about 3)
• 30 gr granulated sugar
• 200 gr powdered sugar
• 110 gr almonds
• 2 tablespoons crushed violet sugar or candied violet petals
• Violet and Vanilla Buttercream:
• 1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon violet sugar +1 tablespoon water (or 2 tablespoons violet liqueur)
• 1 vanilla bean, split open and seeded

Instructions

1. For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature in a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry. Combine the almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like lava or a thick ribbon. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes.
3. Canon Eos 5D mark II
4. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
5. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with the crushed sugar or violet petals. Preheat the oven to 280F. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size.
6. Let cool. If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don’t let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer. To fill: pipe or spoon about 1 big tablespoon of butterceam in the center of one shell and top with another one.

Buttercream

1. Put the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. Divided the buttercream in two portions.
2. For the violet buttercream: microwave the violet sugar and water for 30 to 45 seconds. Let cool completely before folding it into the buttercream. If using liqueur, just fold it in the buttercream.
3. For the vanilla buttercream: add the seeds from the vanilla bean to the buttercream and fold with a spatula until fully incorporated. If not using right away, refrigerate for up to a week or freeze for up to 1 month.

2.1.7

 

My entry for Macattack!

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Oatmeal raisin cookies

Just a few days ago I stumbled upon the website of Sweet and Simple Bakes where I read about their monthly baking challenge. Now I love challenges as it gives me a reason to bake something that I maybe otherwise wouldn’t have attempted to do and this particular challenge brought back fond memories of the times I started working at Nike 11 years ago… You have to realise that Oatmeal cookies are really not something you find in Holland that often if at all; so when I started working for Nike I was pleasantly surprised to find laaaarge chocolate chip cookies and large oatmeal raisin cookies. I took one and I was hooked. For the next few months I went into the cafetaria on a daily basis and got one large oatmeal raisin cookie and enjoyed that for most of the morning while working behind my computer… Those where the days!

Oatmeal cookies

They stopped baking them at some point; probably because they weren’t healthy enough and I have left Nike two years ago to start on my own, so no more oatmeal raisin cookies for me untill… I saw the post about this months challenge on Sweet and Simple Bakes and it concerned my favorite cookies, so that choice wasn’t very hard to make!!

I had obviously never made them myself so had no idea whatsoever what rolled oats should be. It’s funny how you can eat cookies forever and just not realise what it is you’re eating…:) Turns out it is something very ordinary and goes by the Dutch name of havermout. I purchased all the ingredients and since I couldn’t find any light brown soft sugar I mixed dark brown with white soft sugar, which I figured would roughly give me lightbrown. I am not entirely sure that I made the recipe correctly to be quite honest, but then I have nothing to compare it with so let’s assume that I did.

The dough was quite heavy and I had to really roll them between my hands to make a walnut sized balls to put in the oven and they also didn’t rise as much as I had thought they would. They still make a decent sized cookie, so I don’t really know what I had expected, but keep in mind that the only oatmeal cookies I had ever seen before where giant sized, so mine are fairly modest in comparison I think. The recipe at the site of Sweet and Simple Bakes called for Oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies, but I couldn’t find the right chocolate, so went for the more original version, but added nuts as well as raisins.

Warm they were absolutely brilliant, but cooled off I would have liked them to be a little chewier on the inside still. Possibly something to do with the size of the cookies maybe?

Anyway, I am not displeased with them for my first try at a challenge. My scottish friend and very good cook will get to taste them in two days, so if she likes them I have passed the test!

I’m already looking forward to the next challenge although that is going to be a while. This post will only be published on april 1st together with the rest of the people that participated! Can’t wait to see everyone else’s results as well!

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