Category — Baking
More Fun With Macarons
Here’s an assortment of macarons for your viewing pleasure. They are:
Raspberry:Sprinkled with a dehydrated raspberry powder and filled with raspberry preserves
Blackberry:Sprinkled with dehydrated blackberries and filled with blackberry preserves
Orange:Orange macaron with orange buttercream
Chocolate-White Chocolate:Chocolate macaron filld with white chocolate ganache
Photos by Justin Kern.
March 28, 2009 219 Comments
Gougére
Gougére are savory páte a choux made traditionally with gruyere cheese. They are tender, buttery, and have a nice nutty flavor reminiscent of toasted parmesan cheese. Gougére are perfect for a cocktail party or in place of dinner rolls. The formula is pretty simple. Weigh your páte a choux and fold in half that weight worth of shredded gruyere cheese. You can use any semi-hard cheese (a sharp cheddar would be nice) and any other flavorings like chopped parsley or cayenne pepper. Here’s a recipe for about 50 gougére:
Gougére:
- 6 oz. whole milk
- 6 oz. water
- 6 oz. whole butter
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 8 oz. bread flour
- 5-6 eggs
- 1 lb. grated gruyere cheese (or any other semi-hard cheese)
- Flavorings, if desired
To make the páte a choux, heat the water, milk, and butter in a small saucepan. When boiling, add the flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until a moist ball forms and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cook for about 20 seconds and transfer the dough to a mixer equipped with a paddle attachment. Beat the dough on low speed for a few minutes to cool slightly and begin to add the eggs 1 at a time, waiting until well incorporated before adding the next. Before adding the last egg, remove the bowl from the mixer and smooth the surface of the páte a choux. Using your index finger, drag a canyon-like groove into the paste. The dough should be firm enough that the groove stays in tact but loose enough so the sides of the groove will collapse inward. Beat in part or all of the last egg if necessary until the desired consistency is reached.
Fold in the grated cheese and any desired flavorings and transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a large plain tip. Pipe 1 oz. mounds (about the diameter of a silver dollar) onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Bake in a 400° oven until golden brown on top then reduce the heat to 325° and continue baking until the gougére are a deep brown. Allow to cool and enjoy!
Photos by Justin Kern.
March 21, 2009 226 Comments
Almond Macarons with Coffee Ganache
These are classic Parisian macarons I that made with Jacquie and Heather. These are sandwiched with a bit of coffee flavored chocolate ganache. The outside of the macaron is an eggshell-thin crust encasing a slightly chewy and tender interior. They’re made by whipping a French meringue then folding in powdered sugar and almond flour. The mixture is deflated then piped. The piped cookies are allowed to airy dry for 20 minutes to form a thin crust. In the oven, the crust remains intact and forms the smooth dome of the cookie. The rest of the cookie rises underneath the crust creating the characteristic “foot.” The possibilities of flavoring and filling for Parisian macarons are endless.
Photo by Justin Kern
March 14, 2009 65 Comments
Orange-Raspberry Linzer Cookies
These are linzor style cookies I made using the leftover tart dough from my Cranberry-Orange Tart. The cookie is flavored with orange zest and a splash of 100% orange oil. Here’s how to make them:
Ingredients:
- Orange Tart Dough
- Almond flour, as needed
- Raspberry jam, as needed
- Powdered sugar, as needed
Weigh your tart dough then scale 20% of that dough weight in almond flour. Lightly knead the almond flour into the tart dough, being carefully not to heat or work the dough too much. If you can’t find or do not want to use almond flour, omit it from the cookies. Chill the dough for at least an hour before rolling to 1/16′’ thick. Cut 1.5′’ circles from the dough and transfer to a parchment lined sheet pan. You can combine and reroll the scraps but the dough might need to be chilled again. Then, using a smaller cutter, cut a hole in the center of half of your cookies, creating an equal number of cookie bottoms and tops. Bake the cookie bottoms and tops on separate sheet pans in a 350° oven until very slightly browned, about 10 minutes. The tops will cook more quickly than the bottoms.
To assemble, dust the cookie tops heavily with powdered sugar. Spread about 1/2 tsp. of raspberry jam on the cookie bottoms. Carefully place a dusted cookie top on the jam, leaving a clean reveal of raspberry. Enjoy!
Photos by Justin Kern.
March 13, 2009 69 Comments
Cranberry-Orange Tart with Orange Fluff and Candied Ginger
Jacquie helped me concoct this tart that combines three of my favorite flavors: cranberry, orange, and ginger. The crust is an orange páte sucre made with plenty of fresh orange zest. The tart crust is filled first with a mixture of fresh ginger and sweetened cream cheese. Dried cranberries that have been rehydrated in orange juice top the cream cheese. Finally, it’s finished with whipped orange fluff and a piece of candied ginger. It’s a refreshing way to end a meal and great with a cup of coffee. This is a subscriber only recipe! Click the link below to subscribe to my mailing list and I’ll include the recipe in my next mailing (March 18) along with more great subscriber-only content. I mail twice monthly and you can easily unsubscribe at any time.
Photos by Justin Kern
March 9, 2009 72 Comments
