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Desserts

“Thin Mint” Macarons

February 12, 2014

Macaroons are one of those tricky recipes that once you pull off baking, correctly, you can give yourself a serious pat on the back! Check out my detailed recipe at the bottom of this post for even more helpful tips to ease you through the process.

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Start by whisking the sugar and butter (at room temperature) together.

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Once fluffy, add the whole egg and throughly whisk together.

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Add the cocoa powder, all purpose flour, baking soda, and peppermint extract to the other ingredients and give it another good whisk.

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Fold it into the butter mixture until it becomes one solid mass.

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Take the cookie dough out of the bowl and roll it out to about ⅛ of an inch thick.

Cut 1½ inch circles out of the dough and place them onto the lined baking tray.

Bake in a 300°F oven for 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and allow to cool before use.

In a small sauce pot bing the heavy cream to a simmer.

Pour it over the dark chocolate and stir.

Mix in the peppermint extract and scoop the ganache into a piping bag and set aside.

In a medium bowl add the egg white and begin whisking until foamy.

Add the granulated sugar and continue whisking until the meringue has semi-soft peaks. Be careful not to over mix or you will have to start over.

Sift the almond flour, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar into a separate bowl.

You’ll want to fold the meringue into the dry ingredients a half at a time.

Scoop the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small round metal tip and pipe out the macarons slightly larger than the “Thin Mint” wafers.

Tap the tray to make sure there isn’t any air trapped inside the batter and allow to dry for 15-20 minutes.

Once dry bake in a 300°F oven for 12-15 minutes. After, allow to cool for 30 minutes before removing them from the tray.

Once the macarons have cooled down flip half of them over and pipe a small amount of the ganache onto the macaron.

Place a “Thin Mint” wafer on top of the ganache…

…and top the wafer with more ganache.

Sandwich everything together with another macaron shell and ENJOY!!

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Desserts

Macaron Ice Cream Sandwich

April 4, 2016

Chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla have never looked so good! I made about 15 or 16 of these and they didn’t last an hour in my home. I guess I’ll have to make more? This is the best way I can think of to kick off the #MacaronWeek! Let’s dive in.

In a medium size mixing bowl add 1 egg white…

…and 1 tbsp of granulated sugar.

Whisk for 1 minute…

…and add an additional tbsp of granulated sugar.

Continue to whisk until you have a meringue with soft peaks.

Once the meringue is ready, sift in 1/4 cup of almond flour and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar.

Gently fold in the ingredients until it is roughly combined.

Add the additional 1/4 cup of almond flour and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar to the mix.

Gently fold in the ingredients and be sure not to under or over mix (see technique in video).

Transfer the batter to a pipping bag…

…and pipe out several evenly portioned circles onto as silpat lined baking sheet.

Give the baking sheet a few taps on the counter…

…and gently pop any remain air bubbles with the tip of a sharp knife. Let the macarons dry for 10 minutes.

For decoration, I like to flick red food coloring over the tops of the macarons. I used a 2 tsp water to 1 drop of gel food coloring ratio.

After they’ve dried for 10 minutes, put them in the oven and bake at 280°F for 15 minutes.

When the macarons have finished baking, carefully remove them from the tray and let them cool.

Repeat this process for the chocolate macarons, adding an additional 2 tbsp of cocoa powder to the original recipe above.

When both cookies have baked, put them in the freezer to cool.

Once cooled, pipe strawberry ice cream onto one flavor of the macarons and gently sandwich it between that and the opposite flavor.

Let these ice cream sandwiches set up in the freezer for about 2 hours and ENJOY!

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| Top Left: Boos Cutting Board | Top Middle: Glass Bowl Set | Top Right: All-Clad Strainers |

| Bottom Left: Baking Sheets | Bottom Middle: Pastry Bags | Bottom Right: Silpat |

Food for Thought

The Chocolate & Caramel Connection

February 1, 2016

Chocolate and caramel make a sultry and satiating duo that can’t be matched! Drizzled over a sundae, wrapped in a candy bar, or baked in a molten lava cake…anything chocolate and caramel goes! #ChocolateCaramelWeek anyone?

In the mean time, here are a few chocolate and caramel concoctions that are worth day dreaming about!

The Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

A Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate should be a no brainer! As Joey would say, “Sugar…Good. Salt…GOOD. Chocolate…GOOOOD!” And this killer concoction takes drinking chocolate to the next level! Whether you’re making it at home or grabbing it from Starbucks, it’s a mouthwatering MUST-TRY!

The Chocolate Caramel Brownie Cup

Picture a molten lava cake, made from brownie batter, half baked, and filled with ooey and gooey warm caramel! There in, you have the Chocolate Brownie Cup!Need I say more? I’m not sure life would be the same after this one…but I’m willing to risk it!

Chocolate and Caramel Macarons

These I know for a fact are life changing! My slight obsession with Macarons (and by slight I mean I could eat these everyday-all-day) lead me to concocting these Caramel Filled Chocolate Macarons! I whipped these up with a buddy of mine that was new to baking to prove that homemade macarons are completely doable! If you haven’t tried making them yet, this is the recipe to start with and I guarantee you’ll be hooked!

Brownie Cookies with Salted Caramel Creme Filling

Salted caramel creme—SAY WHAY? Rich caramel whipped into a thick creme and sandwiched between two soft brownies! I don’t think life gets better than these Salted Caramel Brownie Bites, but I’m still willing to search around! Nomming in the name of research, right?!

Salted Chocolate Caramel Chips

If you want to take it back to basics, these Salted Chocolate Caramel Chips were one of the first caramel and chocolate creations on my channel and I’m still dreaming about them! Simple to make and absolutely killer! Perfect balance of salty, sweet, and bitter (dark chocolate).

Chocolate Caramel Tart

Remember this guy from my “Outragious Chocolate Treats” post? Like I said, this Chocolate Caramel Tart isn’t crazy in execution…it’s crazy because of just how good it sounds! A homemade chocolate tart, filled with a creamy caramel filling made with creme fraiche, topped with a rich chocolate ganache and a sprinkle of sea salt! A sophisticated take on a classic chocolate candy bar and gluttony at its finest!

Chocolate Ball & Hot Caramel

And if a show is what you’re after, the Chocolate Ball is guaranteed to garner some “ooohs and awes!” Hot caramel poured over a dark chocolate sphere that slowly melts into a pool of warm liquid goodness—all around a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream topped with fresh nuts and berries! A new age sundae that will not be out down!

Rolo Brownie Trifle

The king of chocolate caramel creations, and movie theater nostalgia, would have to be the ROLO! Chewy caramel covered in sweet milk chocolate equals DREAMY! Now imagine someone took the candy we know and love, mashed it into brownie batter, baked that, and them alternated layers of the baked rolo brownie with layers of homemade vanilla bean whipped cream and hot caramel…you’d get the Rolo Brownie Trifle!

MIND BLOWN.

Salted Caramel and Chocolate Popcorn

If you’re looking for something a little lighter, there are definitely a few other options that’ll hit the spot! This Salted Caramel and Chocolate Popcorn is made by popping a few kernels, tossing them in some homemade salted caramel, and throwing in a few (or more) dark chocolate chips. Simple, unique, to die for!

Caramel Coated Chocolate and Toffee Apples

And finishing off these killer chocolate and caramel must-tries with a classic—I present to you the Caramel Coated Chocolate and Toffee Apples! A carnival favorite and mine as well! Fresh honeycrisp apples coated in a thick homemade caramel and then rolled in butter toffee and dark chocolate chips! Is this what heaven’s like?

Desserts

“Candy Cane” Macaron

December 6, 2014

I’ve made tons of Macarons in the past; I even had a #MacaronWeek, but to date this has certainly been my most creative twist on this classic cookie.

The result couldn’t have been more festive and tasteful! This is definitely a recipe you’ll give yourself a nice pat on the back after achieving.

Hope you enjoy my “Candy Cane” Macarons.

In a medium sized mixing bowl add 1 medium egg white and begin to whisk until slightly frothy.

Add 20g of granulated sugar and continue to whisk for 5-7 minutes until they it forms soft peaks.

In a separate large mixing bowl sift together 65g of powdered sugar…

…and 55g of almond meal.

Next, fold a third of the meringue into the sifted sugar and almond meal and continue this process until the batter resembles flowing lava.

Transfer the batter to a piping bag thats fitted with a medium round metal pastry tip.

Begin piping quarter sized circles onto a baking tray that’s lined with parchment or a mat, leaving about an inch space in between each circle.

Give the tray a few taps on the counter to even out the circles and allow to dry for 20 minutes.

Once dry, sprinkle or flick a little red dye mix with water right on top of the dried macarons.

Then bake in a 325f oven for 15 minutes.

For the ganache, bring 1/4 cup of heavy cream…

…and 1 tbsp of peppermint extract to a simmer.

Add 1 cup of chopped white chocolate to a metal a mixing bowl.

Slowly pour the hot cream mixture over the center of the chopped chocolate and begin string until well combined.

Transfer half of the ganache to a piping bag fitted with a metal round tip.

Then mix 1 tsp of red dye with the other half of the ganache.

Transfer it to the other side of the same piping bag. Let this rest for 20 minutes before use.

Take the macarons out of the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes before filling, but once they’ve cooled down pipe a 1-2 tbsp of filling into the center of the macaron.

Sandwich it between another cookie.

Eat them right away or allow to mature for 24 hrs. ENJOY!

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| Top Left: All-Clad Sauce Pan | Top Middle: Baking Sheet | Top Right:Glass Bowl Set |

| Bottom Left: All-Clad Bowl Set | Bottom Middle:All-Clad Strainer |

Desserts

Origins of The Macaron

February 1, 2014

Where did these trendy cookies come from?

‘The Macaron cookie was born in Italy, introduced by the chef of Catherine de Medicis in 1533 at the time of her marriage to the Duc d’Orleans who became king of France in 1547 as Henry II. The term “macaron” has the same origin as that the word “macaroni” — both mean “fine dough”.

The first Macarons were simple cookies, made of almond powder, sugar and egg whites. Many towns throughout France have their own prized tale surrounding this delicacy. In Nancy, the granddaughter of Catherine de Medici was supposedly saved from starvation by eating Macarons. In Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the macaron of Chef Adam regaled Louis XIV and Marie-Therese at their wedding celebration in 1660.

Only at the beginning of the 20th century did the Macaron become a “double-decker” affair. Pierre Desfontaines, the grandson of Louis Ernest Laduree (Laduree pastry and salon de the, rue Royale in Paris) had the idea to fill them with a “chocolate panache” and to stick them together.

Since then, French Macaron cookies have been nationally acclaimed in France and remain the best-selling cookie in pastry retail stores….. read the full article

Article Credit: MadMac