French Macarons

I always loved to see the range of macarons in patisseries and now I can make them !

Here’s the recipe for the macaron and the swiss buttercream to sandwich them follows.

Ingredients: (yield 705 g)

Egg whites, fresh and aged	157.5 g
Granulated Sugar	157.5 g
Almond flour, dried out for 24-48 hours	180 g
Powdered sugar	210 g
Food sugar	As needed

Method:

1.       Gather all ingredients and equipment.

2.       Scale ingredients.

3.       In the bowl of a stationary mixer fitted with a whip, combine eggs and sugar on low speed for 5 minutes. Add choice of food colour.

4.       After 5 minutes, increase to high speed and whip for 10 minutes.

5.       Add almond flour and fold in by hand. Fold in and deflate the eggs until the ribbon just disappears in the mixture.

6.       Scrape the mixture into pastry bag fitted with a 3/8 inch round tip.

7.       Pipe 1 ½ inch rounds onto silpat or parchment lined sheet pans.

8.       Make sure to leave a 1” space between each round and stagger the rows.

9.       Allow the macarons to sit for 30-40 minutes or until they form a skin.

10.   Bake 10-15 minutes, at 300°F-350°F, depending on your oven.

11.   Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. They will release from silpat or parchment once cooled.

Swiss Buttercream (yield 1000 g)

Egg whites	179 g
Granulated sugar	357 g
Butter, room temperature	464 g

Method:

1.       Using the bowl of a stationary mixer, over simmering water, heat egg whites and sugar until sugar is dissolved; 110°F. Remove from water.

2.       Fit the mixer with the whip.

3.       Whip eggs and sugar to a stiff peak and then continue whipping to cool meringue.

4.       Slowly add the softened butter.

5.       Whip until smooth.

To assemble: use the tip of your choice, whether star or round and pipe a small amount of buttercream on the macaron. Sandwich the macarons together like this.

Petits Fours Glacés

This petit four starts with a frangipane cake. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients (1312.5 g or half a sheet pan)

Almond Paste	277.5 g
Granulated Sugar	277.5 g
Room temperature Butter	277.5 g
Eggs	360 g
Cake Flour, sifted	120 g

Method:

1.       Gather all ingredients and equipment.

2.       Scale ingredients.

3.       Cream almond paste and sugar until it resembles sand.

4.       Slowly add small pieces of butter.

5.       Add eggs very slowly, scraping the bowl half way through.

6.       Slowly add cake flour.

7.       Batter must be spread evenly onto a very flat, greaser and papered ½ sheet pan.

8.       Bake for approx. 30-40 minute or until golden brown.

9.       Un-mold at room temperature onto a cutting board or cake board.

To assemble the petit four, cut the cake in half and layer with raspberry jam. Then, roll out a thin layer of marzipan and place it on top. Refrigerate the cake. Once the cake is cold enough, remove from the fridge and cut into 1 ½ inch squares.

Petits fours glacés are fully glazed and are usually glazed with fondant. This fondant is very easy to do:

Ingredients:

Powdered sugar, sifted	1 lb. 8 oz
Corn syrup	2 tbsps
Water, room temperature	½ cup
Almond extract	1 tsp

Method:

1.       Gather all ingredients and equipment.

2.       Scale the ingredients.

3.       Combine corn syrup and water in a pot.

4.       Add powdered sugar, stir and heat to 98°F. Do not go beyond that.

5.       Remove from heat and add extract.

To glaze the petit fours: dip in the fondant or pour the fondant over the frangipane cake.

You can make decorations (filigrees) for your petits fours.

Checkerboard Cookie

These Danish Shortbread Cookies were probably my favourite cookie to make. They may look intricate but are easy to make, they just take some time.

As the name suggests the cookie looks like a checkerboard. So two types of cookie dough are needed. 

The recipe below both yield 500 g.

Vanilla Cookie:

Ingredients:

Butter	186 g
Confectioner’s Sugar	70 g
Vanilla Extract	2 g
Orange zest	2 g
Bread Flour	241 g

Method:

1.       Gather all ingredients and equipment.

2.       Scale ingredients.

3.       Cream butter and sugar.

4.       Add remaining ingredients and mix until combined.

5.       Gather dough into a ball, and form into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Chocolate Cookie:

Ingredients:

Butter	182
Confectioner’s sugar	67 g
Vanilla extract	2 g
Cocoa powder	28 g
Bread flour	222 g

Method:

1.       Gather all ingredients and equipment

2.       Scale ingredients.

3.       Cream butter and sugar.

4.       Add remaining ingredients; mix until combined.

5.       Gather dough into a ball, form a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

TO ASSEMBLE: (I used rows and columns of four; you can use how many ever rows you prefer)

Scraps are used to make an outer shell for the checkerboard. Egg whites are used an adhesive to do this.

The logs are then refrigerated and can be sliced and baked when needed. They are baked at 350°F until golden brown. Slice the cookies about a 1/4 inch thick.

Marzipan

Marzipan is one of those things I’ve always wanted to learn about. And I got to make it.

I’m sharing the recipe so that you can try it too. It can be used to make decorations for petit four glace.

Ingredients: (yield 600 g)

Confectioner’s Sugar	240 g
Almond Paste	240 g
Fondant	60 g
Glucose	60 g

Method:

1.       Gather all ingredients and equipment.

2.       Scale ingredients.

3.       Place the ingredients in the bowl of a stationary mixer with a paddle in this order: Confectioner’s sugar, almond paste, fondant then glucose.

4.       Mix until the ingredients are combined.

5.       Remove from the bowl.

6.       Knead the mixture into one smooth piece.

7.       Place the marzipan in a plastic bag to avoid drying.

*You want to be very careful and CLEAN when working with marzipan. It is easily affected by any kind of grease or impurity. Work with gloves, especially when colouring it and work on a clean surface (silpat or parchment paper).

Madeleines

I remember vaguely making madeleines while working at Carlisle Bay in Antigua. It was great to be able to make them again. Their texture is more like that of a cake, making them an interesting cookie.

If you happen to get some pans like these, try them:

Madeleines: (yield 1500 g)

Ingredients:

Melted butter, for molds	As needed
Bread Flour	187 g
Pastry Flour	187 g
Baking Powder	8 g
Whole Eggs	413 g
Granulated Sugar	281 g
Lemon Zest	Approx. 2 ea.
Melted Butter	281 g
Confectioner’s sugar	For garnish

*You can also dip the finished madeleines in a glaze of powdered sugar and orange juice. It adds a lot of flavour.

*Have some extra bread flour for coating the molds.

Method:

1.       Gather all ingredients and equipment.

2.       Scale ingredients.

3.       Brush the molds with melted butter and coat with bread flour.

4.       Sift together the flours and baking powder.

5.       In the bowl of a sanitary mixer fitted with a whip, whip the eggs until foamy. Continue whipping and add the sugar gradually until the mixture is a pale yellow and thick. Add the lemon zest.

6.       Eggs should stiff to a soft/medium ribbon at this point.

7.       Remove 1/3 of the mixture and fold in the melted butter. Add the remainder of the mixture and fold.

8.       Fold in the flours gradually, ensuring that it is properly incorporated.

9.       Fill the molds using a piping bag to the ¾ mark.

10.   Bake in a 425°F oven until the edges are golden brown and the middle has set. A belly will form, don’t worry about it, it’s a French bump.

11.   Unmold while a little warm and dip in glaze or dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Brownies

Brownies have become a staple at my house. However, they have to be butterscotch brownies.

These however are filled with chocolate (yield: 2606.5g)

Ingredients:

Butter	360 g
Sugar	720 g
Eggs	300 g
Vanilla Extract	22.5 g
Cocoa Powder	180 g
Salt	7.5 g
Baking Powder	7.5 g
Cake Flour	154 g
Bread Flour	135 g
Chocolate Chunks	540 g
Walnuts	180 g

Method:

1.       Lightly toast walnuts and set aside to cool.

2.       Whisk together sugar and eggs, add vanilla. Do not overwhip, just enough to combine.

3.       Melt the butter and drizzle into sugar mixture.

4.       Sift the dry ingredients together, add to egg mixture by ‘folding’ gently. Do not over mix.

5.       Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips.

6.       Pan the batter in ½ sheet pan that has been greased and lined with parchment paper.

7.       Put the ½ sheet pan on a full sheet pan before putting it in the oven.

8.       Bake the brownies until they are 95% set, that is, when tested with the tip of a knife, the crumbs sticking to the knife are slightly moist.

9.       Baking time will vary depending on the type of oven used, check the brownies after 20 minutes, rotate the pan to ensure even baking.

10.   Cool brownies, de-pan, apply ganache, and then chill until firm before cutting.

This brownie is definitely for a chocolate lover!

Almond Cookie

I definitely built up my hand muscles piping these almond cookies.

The shape was a bit difficult to pipe at first but practice made almost perfect and they came out great.

Here’s the recipe (yield: 1600g)

Ingredients:

Almond flour	670 g
Granulated Sugar	631 g
Corn Syrup	39 g
Egg whites	246 g
Raspberry or Apricot Jam	100 g (approx.)

Method:

1.       Gather all ingredients and equipment.

2.       Scale ingredients.

3.       Combine all ingredient except jam.

4.       Pipe into small S’s using a 821 star tip.

5.       Bake in a 350°F oven until golden brown.

6.       Allow to cool, fill with jam and sandwich them together.

7.       Finish with powdered sugar.

This cookie really makes up for its simple method with the piping.

Biscotti

Biscotti is a bar cookie that is very popular in my family. My mom has been making it every Christmas for quite a few years. We usually do a few different types such as chocolate chip, almond and mocha and we do just as the Italians would; we dip our biscotti in Amaretto (Almond liquer). It’s become a sort of tradition.

I made Chocolate and Hazelnut Biscotti.

Here’s the recipe I used in class: (yield 5370 g)

Ingredients

Butter	480 g
Granulated Sugar	1680 g
Eggs	1000 g
Pastry Flour	2160 g
Baking Powder	40 g
Salt	10 g

This is the basic recipe. You can also add:

ü  Nuts or dried fruits: 300 g

ü  Anise Seeds: 10 g

ü  Cocoa: 120 g

ü  Orange or lemon zest: to taste

ü  Cinnamon or any other spice: 5 g

ü  Honey: replace half the sugar with honey, brush with honey

ü  Chocolate: 240 g

*I used 150 g of toasted and chopped hazelnuts and 150 g chocolate chunks.

Method:

      Gather all ingredients and equipment

      Scale ingredients.

      This recipe uses the creaming method. So we start with the butter and sugar. Cream until fluffy.

      Scrape the sides of the bowl often.

      Add eggs slowly, allowing them to incorporate after each addition.

      Sift flour, baking powder and salt together.

      Add flour mixture to egg mixture gradually until it is just incorporated.

      Add hazelnuts and chocolate or whichever flavourings you choose.

      The mixture will be very wet. Don’t be scared!

      Roughly shape the dough into six 450 g logs. Dust with bread flour to prevent from sticking.

      Roll the logs to 3”x10”

      Roll them in parchment paper (it will look like a salami).

      Put the logs into the freezer

      Bake 3 on a full sheet pan at 350°F in convection oven, until golden brown on the edges, 40 minutes.

      Cool for 20 minutes then slice with serrated knife at a diagonal. Lower the oven temperature to about 250°F and bake again until very crispy.

I dipped my biscotti in some chocolate.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies - try saying that three times fast. What a mouthful! (They actually were J; tasted amazing too)

Here’s the recipe: (yield 2000g)

Ingredients:

Butter	360 g
Granulated Sugar	210 g
Brown Sugar	210 g
Pure vanilla extract	5 g
Eggs	150 g
Baking soda	10 g
Salt	10 g
Pastry Flour	540 g
Macadamia Nuts, Slightly toasted, slightly chopped	240 g
White chocolate chips or chunks	240 g

Method:

Ø  Gather all ingredients and equipment.

Ø  Scale ingredients.

Ø  Toast macadamia nuts lightly. Allow them to cool and roughly chop them.

Ø  Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.

Ø  Add eggs gradually, allowing it to incorporate well.

Ø  Add vanilla extract.

Ø  Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together.

Ø  Add flour mixture to egg mixture gradually.

Ø  Fold in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips.

Ø  Refrigerate before scooping if it is too soft to scoop.

Ø  Use a #30 scoop and when scooping remember to leave room for spreading.

These cookies were probably my favourite so far.

Tip: try to get all your cookie to be the same size. Be precise when scooping. It’ll make them look even better.