Oh My Guimaves, Key lime Pie Marshmallows
It is 3:00 a.m and the sandman skipped dusting me, I am unable to fall asleep. After tossing and turning telling myself I need to sleep; I give up and head toward the kitchen. Unsure what culinary delight I will start with, I open the pantry for inspiration. To my delight the first ingredient my eye spies is dehydrated key lime powder! Sydney and I had just baked a batch of Key Lime Pies Macarons, and to honest I am not in the mood to wait the 60 minutes before I can place them in the oven. My brain screams, “Bob” marshmallows ( the entire procedure from measuring to clean-up is...
Read MoreFrench Macaron Terms and Components
Macaron Terms: Tant pour tant: Half and half, half almond flour and icing sugar Meringue: whipped egg whites French Meringue: Egg whites, room temperature, whipped with high percentage of sugar Italian Meringue: Liquid Egg whites, room temperature, whipped with a sugar syrup Macaronnage: Folding the almond flour mixture with the meringue Macaronner: The final batter Pied: Baked Macaron with crinkled foot Colorant: Powder or gel food coloring for the the macaron shell and filling Fillings: A creamy delicious crème anglais, buttercream, crème frâche, jam, or ganache flavored filling..you...
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Cherry Blossom (Sakura) Macarons
I have mentioned in the past Sydney has loved cherry blossoms since she was a little girl. Living in Colorado there are not a plethora of cherry blossom trees, but we always had a few cherry blossom trees in our yard of each home we owned,we called them Sydney’s tree. Recently Sydney and I were fortuitous to have the opportunity to taste a cherry blossom cake roll. The first thought I had was macarons, cherry blossom macarons. I asked my host where I might purchase cherry blossom flavorings; I was informed Japan. I thought how hard can it be to find cherry blossom extract.. well very....
Read MoreVanilla-Yuzu Whoopie Pie
I was in Starbucks grabbing a green tea grande, and saw they started selling whoopie pies shaped like French Madeleines with buttercream in the middle. I was inspired to bake up my own whoopie pie, however I just could not shape it like a French Madeleine. So as I was saying I felt compelled to bake a batch of whoopie pies; I couldn’t decide on flavor, Sydney thought vanilla bean with a tart yuzu crème frâche filling would be good. Yuzu is an amazing flavor it is tart, but unlike a lemon or lime. The amazing fruit originates in Japan, it is small and yellow with a huge seed in the...
Read MoreKey Lime Pie Macarons
Macarons are a specialty of ours and a family favorite, Sydney and I wanted to try a new flavor combination, Key Lime Pie with strawberry-lime filling. I think this might be my favorite flavor, the macarons actually taste like a key lime pie in a small biscuit. I considered my colorant would color too deep and I ended up not adding enough, there is always something new to learn. Key lime pie reminds of me of spring time, the weather is sweetly warm yet tartly rainy, resembling the key lime pie macaron. In the last week we have had requests for this new flavor than any other so I am confident...
Read MoreAlmond Sugar Cherry Blossom and Rose Cookies
Sydney and I were asked by a special friend if we would cater a wedding shower for his fiancé, Carrie. I’ve met Carrie a handful of times, but felt we needed a girls night, in order for Sydney and I to really have the chance to know her, by the way she is a lovely person. We felt honored to be apart of her special time. She wants a luncheon with two entree choices, sides, and a large dessert table. Carrie had mentioned that cherry blossoms were very intriguing to her. Since this was more of a girl’s night I scheduled a date to talk in more detail about the shower. Sydney was...
Read MoreTriple Chocolate Chunk Macadamia Cookies
Anyone who has children is familiar with the book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” well DF, my husband is a mirror of that little mouse when it comes to chocolate cookies. His absolute favorite cookie is a soft triple chocolate chip cookie, to cut some of the chocolate I add macadamia nuts and ivory chunks. Sydney caught him on Saturday having quite a few for breakfast; she tried to explain nutritionally triple chocolate chunk cookies might not be the best choice. I was around the corner and busted out laughing, my almost 20 year old daughter is expelling to her father how to have...
Read MoreRaspberry Cupcakes, Just in Time for Easter
I can’t believe it is already Easter; this year is just zooming by. Every year Sydney and I prepare easter baskets; we try to make each year’s Easter baskets original and duplicate the previous’ year. This year we decided to put raspberry cupcakes in the basket. We quilted the purplish fondant and placed gum paste decorations on the top. While the fondant is still soft we used an embossing quilter by Patchwork. We allowed the fondant to dry overnight and placed our gum paste decoration in the center with edible glue. We can’t wait to see the children’s faces...
Read MoreGluten Free Pâte Croissant, Perfect for Passover
During Passover, Sydney and I have had numerous requests for gluten free croissants. We have created recipes for our gluten free clients, friends, and family members. I must admit the individuals who are gluten free seem to grow each year. My nephew was born with Celiac disease. Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is found mainly in foods but may also be found in everyday products such as medicines,...
Read MoreMango Martini, Toast and Welcome Spring
It is no secret I love Spring and Summer, the longer days, warmer weather, the smell of flowers and neighbors’ BBQ. This past week we have experienced 27 degrees C/ 80 degrees F days. (I hope I haven’t jinxed our good weather fortune). So Sydney and I were thinking of a drink that would celebrate the start of Spring..mango martini. I had the opportunity to try a few mango martinis around town, although they were refreshing most were too sweet or didn’t have a huge mango punch. We decided to try our bartending hands and invent our own mango martini recipe. The first batch was...
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