Lemon Ginger Macaron with Green Tomatoes Chutney

The name itself brings a very tangy note to mind with earthy hints of ginger and it has a beautiful colour too. The recipe is as follows:

GET
For the Shells
60 g Almond powder
5 g powdered ginger
80 g icing sugar
2 zest of Green Lemons
50 g Egg whites
40 g powdered sugar

For the Green Tomatoes Chutney
650 g green tomatoes
150 g onions
1 tsp salt
150 g Cranberries
150 g Apples
150 g light brown sugar
250 ml cider vinegar
1 tbps Lemon Juice
1 sheet of Gelatine
3-4 drops of green colour

SET
* Egg Clarification: If you have the time, it is better to separate the egg whites from the yolks 48 hours before you start making macarons. The whites should be stored in a box in the refrigerator and taken out hour before you start the preparations.
* Take the almond powder, powdered ginger and the icing sugar, pass it through a mixer.
* Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt (if they haven't been clarified before), and gradually add the sugar. Beat untill stiff peaks are formed.
* Sift the almond flour and sugar mixture over the beaten eggs.
* Fold in the powder with a light yet firm hand. Mix in circular motions until the powder is well incorporated. Take a small portion of this mixture in a bowl and add the colours or flavourings. Then incorporate well into the main mixture.This is the time to add in the lemon zest.
* Mix well only untill the mixture is smooth, shiny and glossy.
* Spoon batter into piping bags and pipe small (or large) circles on a baking sheet.
* Bake at 150°C for 10-11 minutes.
* Cool the sheet once out of the oven and gently release the macaron shells from the paper.
* Keep the shells inverted on a wire rack to cool down.

For the Chutney
* Chop the tomatoes and onions the night before and salt them. Leave overnight.
* The next day, chop the cranberries and apples. In a large pan, boil sugar and vinegar, stirring to make sure that the sugar is completely dissolved.
* Add the chopped cranberries and apples. Simmer for 10 minutes.
* Meanwhile, strain the tomatoes and onions (as they might collect water due to the overnight salination process). However do not rinse.
* Add the tomatoes and onions to the simmering pot, and bring to a boil.
* Cook for over an hour, stir from time to time. Once you have achieved the desired consistency - which should be pulpy, store in sealable jars.
Note: if this is too time consuming for you, just go ahead and buy the store made chutney!

* Immerse the sheet of gealtine in a large bowl of cold water for 15 minutes.
* Once the chutney is ready, put 1 cup chutney in a bowl and bring to a boil. Add the gelatine sheet and stir very well to make sure that the gelatine has well dissolved. Add the lemon juice, take off heat and let it cool completely.

GO:
* Once you have the filling ready, pair the macaron shells according to size.
* Put a dollop of the chutney on one side of the shell and use another shell to close.

And the Macaronathon continues

Now that I have got my act together and I am all motivated to start baking again, I thought I'd brush up on the macaron making skills. I attended a Macaron making course at the Atelier des Chefs, where I learnt how to make macarons with the Italian method.
Macarons can be made by any one of the following three TWO ways:
1. The Simple Method
1. The French Meringue Method
2. The Italian Meringue Method

I follow the French method, which is easy to make and somewhat reliable. After working with the Italian method, I was informed that this is the most reliable way to make macarons!

I have been thinking about what flavours to experiment with as the weather is so great here, it brought out some great funky tastes. In the following posts you will find the recipes for:
1. Lemon Ginger Macaron with Green Tomatoes Chutney
2. Orange Bergamote Tea Macaron with Prunes and Cardamom
3. Dark Chocolate Macaron with Venezuelan Chocolate and Esplette de Piment
4. Rose Macaron with a Raspberry and Litchi
5. Green Tea Macaron with Coconut Wasabi Cream

Old Fashioned Crème Anglaise with a Prune Cardamom bottom

It has been exactly 184 days since I wrote anything on my blog and it feels like ages since I baked or made anything. No I haven’t been lazy, yes travelling a bit, and of course how can I forget that I got MARRIED! Yayyyyy

I have been trying to motivate myself to make something, to start baking since the beginning of April and couldn’t really find the motivation to make anything special or new.. I thought maybe I’d already forgotten how to bake!

But then like cycling and swimming it all came back the moment I picked up my new silicon spatula. I had separated 5 eggs to start off making funky new flavours of Macarons and was left with nice juicy plump egg yolks. I have always wanted to make a simple crème anglaise – which is light, creamy custard which can be used as a sauce or as a cream base. It is very easy to make, just make sure you follow all the steps till the very end..

This recipe is taken from Pierre Hermé’s book – Le Larousse des Desserts

Crème Anglaise with Prunes and Cardamom Jelly

Make time: 20 minutes

Get

2 vanilla pods

150 ml of heavy milk

200 ml cream

4 egg yolks

85 g granulated / fine sugar

Set

1. Slice open the vanilla pods in two, take out the seeds. Put the seeds and the pods in a casserole and add the milk and cream. Bring the liquid to a boil and the let the mixture cook for 10 minutes.
2. I a big bowl, beat the egg yolks and the sugar for 3 minutes till light and frothy. Slowly mix in the milk and cream liquid mixture while stirring at the same time. Make sure you mix well, as the eggs start to cook if you are slow!
3. Heat the egg and milk mixture on a medium flame, make sure the pot has a thick bottom so as to avoid burning.. Keep stirring with a spatula or a wooden spoon and avoid the mixture to boil. Continue until the mixture starts to coat the back of the spatula or the wooden spoon. A medium thick layer should form or the spoon should be coated with this mixture. This indicates that the eggs have been homogenously cooked and have arrived to the right consistency.
4. Take the mixture off the gas, and mix for another 2-3 minutes. Pass this mixture through a sieve to make sure that there are no lumps.
5. To further stop the cooking process, dip the bowl containing the mixture in a bigger bowl of ice.

Go

6. Take dollops of prune and cardamom jelly/jam and put it in the base of individual serving bowls.
7. Pour the crème anglaise over the jelly and refrigerate for over 12-18 hours.

Daring Bakers Macaron Challenge

Yippeee! Finally I am a member (proud one I must say!) of the Daring Bakers community. The Daring Kitchen is community started by some very impressive cooks who have achieved in making this website a great resource and inspirational outlet.
For the month of October the challenge is, voilà: Les Macarons. Its funny or is it destiny as I made 4 different macarons on Sunday and its Tuesday today!
For the challenge, I will be making Cheesecake Raspberry Dark Chocolate Macarons and my favourite Vanilla Fig Goat Cheese Macarons. It was essential to make this batch as the challenge needed me to follow the recipe by Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern.
Hopefully tomorrow I should be able to put up the detailed recipe! Over and out for now..

Macaron-athon Autumn Run

More than Autumn, I feel Winter's here.. although I did get to see a bit of sun! One shouldnt complain..
I made some chocolate macarons this week, not a good turnout, the shells were great but the ganache.. oh la la.. disappointing.. But, the key is - not to give up, but keep trying and getting better and better.. And So I Did!

The macarons I made today:
Cardamom Chocolate Garam Masala 

Maple Hazelnut

Vin Chaud spices with Gingerbread (pain d'épices) ganache

Dark Chocolate with Candied Ginger

Basic Macaron recipe

I thought it'd be good to lay out my preferred recipe for making macarons. I swear by the recipe stated by Syrup and Tang, and I think this recipe has yielded the best results so far. This is my base recipe for all the macarons I make except the chocolate ones, for which I refer to David Lebovitz's recipe, which by far is the best of its kind!

I will keep adding some tips and recommendations, and on basically what makes it right and more so lining out what it takes to mess it up, which believe me has happened more than once! It is better to follow one standard recipe and then to add different flavours, colours and other powders (like green tea, lavender, etc)

GET

• 65 grammes almond powder 
• 80 grammes icing sugar 
• 50 grammes egg whites 
• 40 grammes sugar 
• Pinch of salt

SET

• Take the almond powder and the icing sugar, pass it through a mixer. 
• Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to begin with, and gradually add the sugar. Beat untill stiff peaks are formed.

• Sift the almond flour and sugar mixture over the beaten eggs. 
• Fold in the powder with a light yet firm hand. Mix in circular motions until the powder is well incorporated. Take a small portion of this mixture in a bowl and add the colours or flavourings. Then incorporate well into the main mixture. 
• Mix well only untill the mixture is smooth, shiny and glossy. 
• Spoon batter into piping bags and pipe small (or large) circles on a baking sheet.

• Bake at 150°C for 10-11 minutes.
• Cool the sheet once out of the oven and gently release the macaron shells from the paper. 

Funky Fig Jam

This recipe came from my indulgent shopping in the open market that takes place every Tuesday and Friday on Avenue Daumesnil. They were cheap, ripe and calling out to me..!

This recipe is very easy and the most important utensil needed in any jam or preserve making is the large pot. If you have one, you can use any jar or any old jam jar to store the jam.

Get
• 1 kilo ripe figs
• 2 cups chopped pineapple
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 (1-inch thick) fresh ginger – peeled and sliced
• 1 whole cinnamon stick
• 3 star anise
• 1 kilo sugar
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 lemon zest

SET
• On high heat cook all the ingredients together in a pot and bring to boil.
• Reduce the heat and cook till mixture becomes glossy and thick.

This happens after 1 hour of slow cooking.

• Turn off the heat, take out the cinnamon stick and the star anise.
• Spoon the hot fig jam into hot, sterilized jars. Seal immediately.
• Prepare a hot bath in the large pot (the one I was talking about earlier)
• Place the jar in this pot and make sure that the jar is well immersed in the pot.
• Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and take off the heat after 30 minutes.
• Cool in a dry place.

GO
This jam is tangy, crunchy and very earthy. Enjoy it on a warm scone or a toasted bagel on a cold wintery day!