I was a bit apprehensive because there are lots of little steps and tricks to follow in order to get the “perfect” macaron. The biggest thing I was worried about was that you’re not supposed to bake them on a day with high humidity…well, I live in North Texas and there is no such thing as a day like that so I figured that any day was just as good as any other day so I armed myself with the ingredients and got to baking.

The ingredient list is actually pretty small:

Confectioners Sugar, Almond Flour, Egg Whites, Cream of Tarter, and whatever you’d like to put inside. Some have jam or icing filling. I chose to use my favorite buttercream recipe and add in some Blackberry flavoring.

I used this recipe from AmberLee at Giverslog, followed all the instructions with exactness (for the most part) and they turned out pretty good! They were VERY similar to my favorite ones from Ladurée in Paris:

{The flavors I tried while I was there included Coconut, Green Apple, Vanilla, Salted Caramel, Raspberry, and Violet & Currant}

The only differences I made were to add the pulp from one vanilla bean into the macaron part and I cooked it on my Silpat mat instead of parchment paper. I waited until they were cooled completely and they peeled right off!

The filling was a simple buttercream frosting with some Blackberry flavoring. (I wanted to use some fresh ones blackberries, but not bad enough to make a trip to the store just for berries.)

Here’s my favorite buttercream frosting recipe:

1/3 cup softened butter

4 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla or your favorite flavoring (I used blackberry this time.)

Food coloring if desired

In a mixing bowl beat just the softened butter until fluffy. Gradually add in about half of the powdered sugar, milk, flavoring, and coloring. Once all this is combined, continue adding in the powdered sugar until you get a consistency you want. (I’ve also made a delicious lemon buttercream by substituting the milk and flavoring for lemon juice! Yum!)

I’ll admit, when they were waiting on the mat for the slight crust to harden before cooking, I was a little nervous:

They really don’t look all that great at this stage, huh? In the end, I was pleased that when I crave macarons from now on I can make my own instead of dream about when I can go to Paris next. (Though I’ll probably still do that anyway!)

Happy Cooking,

Erin

We place ours directly behind the recipe it’s referencing in our recipe binder!

Happy Cooking!

Erin

I’ve already learned tons about how cheeses are made and the different ways of acidifying them. (Some are acidified with bacteria while others are acidified with vinegar or lemon juice.) Wikipedia does a great job explaining a little bit about each kind. Anyway, on to the actual taste test:

Week 1: Moroccan Spice Cheese

We chose this because it sounded, well, spicy. According to their website it’s a sharp cheddar cheese with harissa mixed in. Harissa is a seasoned paste made from chilies and oil that’s popular in Tunesian cuisine. We loved it although it is a super sharp cheddar cheese. It came in wedge/block form but was slightly crumbly as we ate it. The super sharp cheddar almost seemed to overpower any spicy that may have been in the cheese. We both had a few pieces the first time, then every time for the rest of the week we wanted some we only ate 1-2 tiny cubes. It was an extremely flavorful cheese and that little amount was enough to whet our appetite for it. Overall, it was a good one to try, but I don’t think I’d buy it again on a regular basis.

Week 2: Beemster Graskaas Cheese

I chose this one because the sign at Central Market said this cheese is only made once a year. I figured I’d better get it or miss my chance for a year. (Which I’m sure is exactly what they wanted…what a way to make a sale!) I have to say that this one did not disappoint! It was an extremely soft and creamy cheese and we will definitely be getting it again next year! I did decide to look up to see the story behind this “special” cheese that’s made only once a year. The story goes something like this: this cheese is made from the first milking of the spring once the Dutch cows are let out to pasture. They eat the delicious, fresh, spring grass which gives it a super creamy texture. I had no idea it made a difference, but this was one delicious cheese! Beemster even made a video of the cows being let out into the pasture after staying the winter in the barn. It’s rather amusing.

Happy tasting,

Erin

Sewing samples of my free fabric pumpkin sewing pattern (available here) for the class I’m teaching at CityCraft in Dallas next month.  (They just opened up their online shop too!  They’ve got awesome, modern fabrics!!)

Designing a new clutch pattern and laptop sleeve (both will be in the shop soon as a PDF download) for another class I’m teaching at CityCraft.  (Any sewers out there?  Contact me! I need a few pattern testers, you’ll get the pattern for free!)

Cooking up a storm including apple crisp, and my favorite pasta salad recipe: Chipotle Pasta Salad!

Happy Crafting,

Erin

Chocolate Surprise Cookies

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa (I used the Special Dark Cocoa.)

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup sugar

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup chopped pecans

48 Rolo Caramel candies

1 Tb sugar

In small bowl, combine flour, cocoa and baking soda; blend well.  In large bowl, beat 1 cup sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs; beat well.  Add flour mixture; blend well.  Stir in ½ cup pecans.

Heat oven to 375F.  For each cookie, with floured hands shape about 1 tablespoon dough around 1 caramel candy, covering completely.  (I usually make a cookie dough ball, make a thumbprint in the middle, then place the Rolo where my thumb was, and wrap the dough around to close it up completely.  If it’s a little too sticky to handle, try refrigerating it for about 20-30 minutes.)

In small bowl, combine remaining ½ cup pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar.  Press top of each ball into pecan mixture and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375F for 7-10 minutes or until set and slightly cracked.  Cook 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets and cool completely on a wire rack.  Enjoy!  (If all that chocolate, caramel, and pecans aren’t enough for you, you can melt some vanilla chips and drizzle that on top too.  But they’re pretty darn good without it!)

To any average Joe, they look just like Chocolate Crinkle cookies, but when you bite in you’ll find a delicious caramel filling!

(This recipe comes from here:  Pillsbury: Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook.  It’s fabulous!)

They are so good, that if I didn’t give some away, I’d probably go into a chocolate induced coma so I made a little box and gave some away.

Have a great weekend everyone!

You’ll need the follow items:

spring themed cookie cutters  (I used a butterfly and flower cutter.)

flour tortillas

olive oil

cumin and chili powder

your favorite tostada toppings!  (My favorites include refried beans, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce, avocados and some salsa or pico de gallo.)

Cut out your tortillas to make little bite sized spring shapes and place on your cookie sheet.  (Who said cookie cutters were only for cookies?)

Mix 1/4 tsp. cumin and 1/4 tsp. chili powder into 3 tablespoons of olive oil and brush lightly onto the tortillas.

Cook them for about 350F for approximately 10 minutes, until they are toasted and slightly browned on the edges.

Load them up with all your toppings and enjoy your your bite sized spring tostada bites!  I like having them this way because everyone can make their own individual ones based on what they like on their tostada.

Just make the cookies following the instructions.  Immediately after scooping them onto your parchment paper (I used a cookie scoop for this) use the back of the cookie scoop to make a little indent.  This squishes it just enough to allow a small crater, perfect for little jelly beans.  All I had on hand were jelly beans, though next time I’d probably do the little Cadbury chocolate eggs, then you’d have peanut butter AND chocolate (plus of course a few Reeses peanut butter eggs for my husband)!  If you have a hard time getting them to stick, use a little peanut butter and glue to the cookie.  (Peanut butter works to glue your tongue to the roof of your mouth and it also works well as edible glue!)  Hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter weekend!  See you tomorrow for Tutorial Tuesday!

Gather the following supplies and ingredients:

2 pints strawberries

4 cups white sugar

1 box Sure Jell Fruit Pectin

4-5 Plastic storage containers (washed and dried)  This can be Gladware or a similar product

1 potato masher

You’re Sure Jell will look like this, it’s about the size of a Jello Box:

Make sure you get the regular and not the low sugar or no sugar variety.  While those ones are good, I’ll be using the recipe from the standard Sure Jell.

Start by washing and cutting your strawberries.  **Be sure they are room temperature!  If they are chilled you might wind up with gritty jam…yuck!

Use your potato masher to mash them up.  If you have children that would love to help this would be a great job for them!  Be sure to wear an apron so the strawberry juice doesn’t squirt you!

It will look like this when it’s done.  I usually do batches of squishing and mashing….it’s easier to do a little at a time instead of all at once.  (Even though the recipe says 2 pints, sometimes it’s a little more or a little less so doing a few at a time makes sure that you don’t squish more berries than you have to!)  Empty into a measuring cup until you get to EXACTLY 2 cups of strawberry mash.  It’s very important in this recipe for everything to be exact or the pectin might not set and make your jam!

Pour this into a large bowl and add in the 4 cups of sugar.  (Yep a whole 4 cups to your 2 cups strawberries…I never claimed this was a healthy recipe, but it IS delicious!)

You’ll let the bowl sit for 10 minutes and stir occasionally.  This is helping to break up some of the sugar granules.  When you’ve got about 2-3 minutes left on the timer start your pectin mixture.

Your pectin will be mixed with 3/4 cup water in a small pot on the stove.  I usually add in the pectin a little at a time with a wire whisk.  It clumps really easily so if I’m adding and whisking at the same time I get less lumps I have to work on. Bring it to a boil on high heat and stir constantly.  Boil for 1 minute, continuing to stir the whole time.

Remove from heat and immediately add it to your strawberry mixture.

Now, hope that your arm muscles will hold out!  You’ll mix the pectin and strawberry mixture together until all sugar crystals are dissolved.  It usually takes about 3 minutes.  Doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you’re vigorously stirring for the entire time it goes by super slow!  I usually call in a helper to take turns with the stirring so your arm doesn’t fall off.

Isn’t it looking good?  After the granules have dissolved, pour into your containers, being sure you leave enough space at the top for them to expand when they freeze.  Let stand on your counter without touching them for 24 hours to set.  Put in your freezer and take out as needed!

See, that wasn’t too bad, was it?  If you don’t have this recipe handy when it’s time to make your jam, don’t worry.  Every box of Sure Jell has a recipe inside of it, and it also has variations for both jam and jelly with different types of fruit like peach, mango (which I haven’t tried yet, but really want to), apple jelly, etc.  Make sure you follow the recipe for the Freezer Jam, not cooked jam.

Enjoy!

Close up of the swirl…oh so pretty!

How cute are they?  After they had cooled I stuck them in little lollipop bags and tied the ends with raffia.  So simple and pretty!

The first thing I decided to make was dipped Oreos, but I wanted to make it easy to decorate them.  I made royal icing flowers the night before.  They were super easy and turned out really well!  They were so tiny and cute!

Royal Icing Using Meringue Powder:

4 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons meringue powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 – 3/4 cup warm water

Mix all ingredients in an electric blender and beat until stiff peaks form.  Put into icing bags and use various tips to make different shaped icing designs.  I spread out a sheet of parchment paper and just went to town making flowers!  It made soooooo much that I just put the leftovers in a bag to use later.  I think that as long as they are kept dry they will last quite a while!

The next day, I used some Wilton Candy melts and dipped half the Oreo’s in the melted white candy melts and placed upright on the parchment.  I immediately added one little flower to each.

Let set, harden, and you’re good to go!  Yum!  (Hint:  The tray that they are on is just my small cutting board, covered in white cardstock and an organza ribbon tied around it.  I left all the beautiful serving trays in storage when we moved for my husband to attend grad. school.  Our current apartment is too small for all of it so I just made do with what I had!)