D e l i s i o u c i t y

I have been meaning to make these for the longest time ever – and finally here they are! The ice-cream wooden sticks were a real steal I found from a local stationery shop back in my home town. Aren’t these pops just too cute? I think they make a great party gift! I am also very happy to get back to (my more reliable) french meringue technique – which resulted in these superfine macarons. Double win!

French meringue Macarons (adapted from tartelette’s recipe)

110g fine, sifted ground almonds
200g confectioner’s sugar
90g egg whites, aged
25g sugar
pinch of salt
colourful tiny pearls

Method: Place the egg whites and pinch of salt in a bowl and mix until foamy. Start adding the sugar a little at a time until all is used up. Keep on mixing on medium to high speed until ou get a semi-stiff peak meringue. In a separate bowl, combine the almonds and confectioner’s sugar. When the meringue is ready, combine the almond mixture and the meringue. Fold and scoop until you get a flowy batter, but make sure you do not over-mix. Pipe onto parchment paper, and sprinkle the pearls onto the surface of each macaron shell. Let dry until the surface doesn’t leave any bit of batter on your finger upon touching. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, at 170-175C. Let cool before peeling off the macarons from the parchment. Then pipe in your filling (I used my vanilla bean buttercream here) – place the wooden sticks on a tiny dollop of filling, then sandwich in another bit of buttercream. Place another macaron onto the filling to complete.

And the bestest part is? No holes or hollowness in my macaron shells.. huzzah! (yes i’m still on about my last post) :p

I’ve been dreaming of making macarons with pink peppercorns for ages. Here it is, married with a smooth, silky mascarpone filling that is just too simple to create that I wonder why I had not been using mascarpone for fillings all this time! (Oh wait a minute… I remember. They’re pretty useless as they don’t hold their shape in hot climates) :p These were made over the weekend and if you’re wondering what’s up with the sudden surge of posts and food extravaganza, I’ve got plenty of reason. A couple of projects in the pipeline and I’m just testing out recipes I’ve never done before. For now, it’s hush-hush!

Pink Peppercorn with Strawberry Mascarpone Macaron
By Nikki A. , www.delisioucity.com

110g almond powder
200g confectioner’s sugar
A handful of peppercorn, rubbed to obtain the pink shell
100g egg whites (aged for 24 to 48 hrs)
25g caster sugar
A pinch of salt
Some red food colouring

Sift the almond powder and confectioner’s sugar together, making sure you push the larger particles through the sifter using a rubber spatula. Set aside. In a mixer, beat the egg whites with salt until foamy. Add the caster sugar little by little and continue to beat the egg whites until it forms a soft peak when lifted with your finger. You may add the colouring during this process. Then combine the dry ingredients together with the whipped egg white, and fold the two together in a scooping motion. Scrape the sides of your bowl as you scoop and fold, making sure that you don’t over-macaronnage. Once your batter starts to form a ‘ribbon’ or have the consistency of flowing magma, stop folding. Prepare a piping bag with a round tip. Insert the batter in the piping bag, and start piping the batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle some of the peppercorn skin onto the macaron shells. Let the piped batter rest for about 20 minutes (or longer, depending on the humidity of the day), and once they form a ‘skin’ or are dry when you touch them with your finger tip, you can pop them in a preheated oven. Bake at 175C for 15 minutes. Once done, leave them to cool before taking them off the parchment.

Strawberry Mascarpone filling

250gm mascarpone
A handful of fresh strawberries

Beat the mascarpone with a hand-held mixer. Chop the strawberries and add a little at a time to the mascarpone. Incorporate and ensure that the strawberries are pulverized. Fill in the centre of a macaron shell, and cover with another piece of shell. Refrigerate for 24 hours to enhance the taste of the macaron.

Just a word of wisdom about macaron textures: I believe that some people have been misled to think that macarons are these hardy, tough, crunchy things that are (god forbid!!) made of coconuts. Those are macaroons! Yes, yes of course some patisseries and patissiers insist on calling macarons macaroons, and that’s their prerogative (read here to know when a macaron really is a macaron). The point is not to mistaken these beautiful delicate things for the coconut cookie version ;p And worst still, there are macarons out there that have this awful chunky skin that crunches as you bite them and you’re left with a dry crumble that is absolutely traumatizing to the palate – especially for people who experience their first macarons. They’re not meant to be that way, I can assure you. And the insides should be a little bit cakey and semi-wet; not dry and unappetizing. It’s awful that some patisseries taunt their colourful macarons in their posh glass cabinet and you find that they’ve done it all wrong: from the shell to the filling. I am no expert but I know that it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that appearances alone just don’t cut it – no matter how smooth, and cute the tiny gerbets look.

Maybe I’m a tad too harsh here. After all, the Italian meringue technique does indeed yield a ‘tougher cookie’. It does yield a crunchier skin but not to the extent of utter dryness that you can here a snap when biting through. I used to adore the Italian meringue method, and whenever I made them, the shell was always a lot less moist (hence more robust and won’t crack as easy). But I have to confess that the French meringue method is simply a forte I have learned to claim – perhaps more than anything because of its simplicity, and secondly the resulting ‘shine’ on the shell left by the sugar. Haha that’s a bit of a tongue twister. Anyway, I’m not one to kiss and tell; but the macaron on the left above is a raspberry mini mac that just won’t tear off upon biting that nothing but crummies fell into my mouth! It came from a renowned French pastry chef’s cafe et patisserie right here in Oxford. Enough said ^_^

Hands down, my favourite flavour to date.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that because I wasn’t brave enough, the taste of pink peppercorn in this macaron wasn’t overpowering in any sense. In fact I wish I had put in some of the crushed pepper in the mascarpone filling. Contrasts are wonderful when done right ^_^ (enter Pierre Herme!)

That’s it from me for now, see you again soon!
xoxo

At some point the past two years, baker-bloggers from all over the world started becoming more or less excited & obsessed about green tea powder, or Matcha, as they were about getting that macaron ‘feet’ to rise. You can see evidence of this here at Fanny’s, Kelli’s, Mandy’s, Inne’s, Aran’s, and oh dozens more websites you can just google off! There is an almost macaron-baking-like cult-following for matcha (I say almost because I’m biased as macarons are my first love – but they could be on par; what two things other than macarons and matcha can you see personal blogs being dedicated to?!) Of course, there are those bloggers who use matcha regularly, to make beautiful things for entremet components like genoise and mousses; or simply refreshing panna cottas; cupcakes and yes, macarons.  Do I need say more as to where this post is leading to? ^_^

I have to admit at the outset, I love green tea. It’s not just something to drink as you wash sushis and sashimis down your throat; for me it’s one of the things I can always  rely on if I need a detox. Sometimes I consume them to no end from breakfast to the last thing at night, whilst on other times they’re just a patch for some binge of a series of guilty pleasures – akin to the purpose of maintaining a balance in the world of sinful sweets. One of my colleagues drinks them like water – she brings them in a flask and sips on it all day. I am sure you too have read or heard from somewhere about the healthy benefits of green tea, so I won’t divulge any more here than the stuff you can already find on google or wiki. Although, if you’re not much of a tea fan, or don’t like things flat with no sugar, you may find green teas difficult to consume on a regular basis. Matcha has, after all, a peculiar taste, so if  you’re up for it, why not start with a matcha drink? Cooling, summer staples like frappes or just matcha in milk served with ice can be quite heavenly: I think it’s just the thing to drink as you kick back and unwind after a long day. I love Starbuck’s matcha drink, and Coffebean also has a version of this; so it shouldn’t surprise you by now that I am such a fool for trying to replicate the stuff that I love most, in my little kitchen. It’s like the whole Laduree ‘s macarons story and the Pret a Manger’s tomato mozzarella croissant episode. When you can’t bring good  comfort food that you crave so much to home, the next best thing is to try making them! Lesser carbon footprint, too ^_^

Matcha Melon Frappe
by Nikki A., www.delisioucity.com

1/2 tspn matcha powder (more if you like)
2 Tbspn warm water (not boiling)
150 ml melon milk
(you may also use skimmed milk, and add instant melon powder; or substitute 100 ml milk + a few chunks of fresh melons)*
Lots of ice cubes!
*You may also like to use melon ice cream as a subsitute and adjust the milk accordingly. Add some sugar, or honey, or sugar substitute according to taste. You may not need this if you’re using the melon milk. Another alternative is to use fat-free yoghurt and be rid of the melons completely. The choices are endless ^_^

How to: Mix matcha powder in warm water until completely dissolved. Use a small whisk if you need to. Place milk, matcha paste, and ice into a blender and work it for 1 minute, or until you get the desirable foamy/slushy thick blend of an icy frappe. Enjoy!

Ahhh, just thinking about it sets me back to an imaginary island with the calm blue sea and warm wind in my face. By the way, this drink would be a good base for a protein shake too, if you’re into that for breakfast. Add in a scoop (or according to your required caloric intake) of whey or soy powder and blitz away.

Now we go to our second green-tea-possessed being,

Matcha Sables Viennoise

The thing about the matcha ‘cult following’ in the blogosphere really stood out in 2007 when Kelli’s (now closed) bakery, Amai ‘s recipe won the Golden Scoop Awards. Lots of bloggers have tried and tested this winning recipe,  and have sworn to it’s gorgeous taste. I knew I had to make the sables but decided that I was going to use Pierre Herme’s recipe for chocolate sable viennoise instead. The main reason for this is only because I want to ‘handle’ the batter as little as possible, to create a ‘short’ texture, and also the fact that their recipes vary in their fat source choices: PH completely made do without the egg yolks, while Kelli’s used three. However, there’ much more butter in the former. There is also way much more cocoa powder (which I replaced with matcha, of course) in PH’s recipe, which resulted in an almost green tea overkill if you really dislike the stuff. I liked it though, but after about four pieces I was done for. It’s bittery undertones makes this a surefire dislike for children and tea-haters, hehe.

Finally, how could I speak of love for matcha when my true love for macarons way surpasses tea of any kind? I think I’ve made so much macarons this year last year it’s ridiculous. I only say this because you would have thought by now that my skills have been perfected and I am flawless with the macaronnage process – but I’m not! These petit fours are just so temperamental (no I will never stop saying that) and so dependent on various variables like the weather (humidity especially), the oven temperatures (too low? air pockets! too high? browned shells! undercooked!), and of course the ever elusive number of right turns & folds to create the perfect ‘flow like magma’ batter consistency. Yes, even pro pastry chefs mess it up sometimes, so apatah lagi kediaku?! Anyway, I am glad that I made this during my short trip back to Brunei last month, at least the oven is more predictable than the one I have in UK.

Matcha-Marron Macarons
by Nikki A., www.delisioucity.com

95g almond powder
200g confectioner’s sugar
15g matcha
100g egg whites (aged for 24 to 48 hrs)
25g caster sugar
pinch of salt

Sift the almond powder, confectioner’s sugar and matcha together, making sure you push the larger particles through the sifter using a rubber spatula. Set aside. In a mixer, beat the egg whites with salt until foamy. Add the caster sugar little by little and continue to beat the egg whites until it form a soft peak when lifted with your finger. Then combine the dry ingredients together with the whipped egg white, and fold the two together in a scooping motion. Scrape the sides of your bowl as you scoop and fold, making sure that you don’t over-macaronnage. Once your batter starts to form a ‘ribbon’ or have the consistency of flowing magma (you may want to check national geographic for how that actually looks like!), prepare a piping bag with a round tip. Insert the batter in the piping bag, and start piping the batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets. You may want to pipe big-sized macarons (like the ones you see here), or slightly smaller ones that are easier to bite (hehe). Let the piped batter rest for about 20 minutes (or longer, depending on the humidity of the day), and once they form a ‘skin’ or are dry when you touch them with your finger tip, you can pop them in a preheated oven. Bake at 175C for 15 minutes. Once done, leave them to cool before taking them off the parchment. Fill with your favourite buttercream or ganache and enjoy at room temperature. I used some leftover marron (chestnut) filling from my last macaron project, using a white-chocolate base.

Happy gastroventuring in the new year! See you in my next post ^_^

I had quite forgotten that I have this food blog until I received two emails a  week ago.  One of them was the occasional bake request which I, almost by default nowadays, had to decline. The second email was a wonderful letter from a fellow baker, whose words reminded me of how much passion I have for baking and pastries. It was like a cold splash of water that woke me up to the fact that it has been at least three months since I baked anything worth blogging about – or anything sweet for that matter. Unless of course you don’t mind reading yet another recipe for lazy day, uninteresting but effortless, chicken roast. That, my friends, I have plenty of.

I’ve also come to  realize that my visitor counter has been clocking in even when I’ve been extremely quiet the past months, and I really hate to have disappointed everyone with the lack of updates. It came as no surprise that I felt the pressing need to start writing again – which literally means baking again. So here it is, my much too delayed post that I promise will be a delight to your eyes as it was to our noses and taste-buds; sweet shortcrust pastry with vanilla creme patissier (pastry cream) and fruits of the season, and of course, my part-time love, french macarons (or macaroons, as some may insist) – in the most scintillating floral scent of crushed sugared violets; Belgian dark chocolate, and marron (chestnut) paste, straight from France.

Sugared Violets

Actually, the emails I mentioned came in perfect timing. I thought, apart from updating my blog, it was a good opportunity to introduce some of the products of my baking obsession during my turn to co-host a weekly Coffee & Cake Wednesday event at the Institute where I now study. It’s simply fabulous to have these social and informal gatherings, where we would take turn to bring cakes, biscuits and other baked goodies (or non baked, in the case of chilled cheesecakes, fresh fruits and cheeses!)

I was very excited at the prospect of baking for this event, but knew that I had to plan.. because I simply did not have all my paraphernalia from home save my trusty spoonula, medium balloon whisk, small rolling pin and measuring spoons (all safely flown in by hitch-hiking my luggage bag). I purposely chose to co-host the event at the very last bit of the Michaelmas term, so I could amass my baking arsenal that is so absolutely crucial  for my bake projects, especially for the purpose of the perpetually temperamental macaron. Even so, the macarons still gave me trouble.. because now I was deprived of  the oven at home that I painstakingly learned to master over the past year. Ah well, at least about 100 macaron shells were the right texture, while the rest  were chucked into the bin, accompanied with swear words I’d rather not mention here! (but is featured here).

For the macarons, I’ve always been captivated by the sheer ‘prettiness’ of the violet scent and the nuances of floral sweetness it displays, ever since I tasted Canele’s version of the violet buttercream. Duncan of syrupandtang.com also wrote a post on using violet syrup and liquer but it can be quite tricky to capture the robustness of its flavour. Of course, I was more intrigued when Helene of mytartlette.com (yes, one of my many pastry idols!) used crushed sugared violets to merely top the shells. So when I saw some crushed violets on display at a cake shop in the Oxford Covered Market, I was simply elated…

…but only to discover that the shells didn’t work!! For some reason I thought coarser violet particles would lend more than mere subtlety in flavours to the macarons, which isn’t too much of a long shot.. but the violets sunk into the smooth batter (especially baked at low temperatures of 150C), even after the batter puffed up! So in the bin they went. Basically, learning the lingo of a completely different oven involves A LOT of experimentation. With the low temperatures that I started with, it meant that I had to increase the amount of time to bake the shells. This substantially and in effect ruined the shells because they would by then produce ‘tough cookies’ that crunch upon each bite. NO way, hozay! Macarons are supposed to be very delicate with a super-light crack and not crunchy by any means. I can only be thankful for the cheaper prices of almond meal in UK, compared to Brunei.

Apart from the largely failed (save 10 pieces?) violet macarons, I also made the usual chocolate ones with the dust of cocoa… only this time I used Belgian dark chocolate instead for the filling. French Valrhona can get very expensive and after spending a hefty sum on my new baking paraphernalia, I thought I’d just stick to Belgian from Tesco’s (ooooooh the shame!!) which firmed up too well thanks to the cold weather and/or possibly some steam escaping into the chocolate whilst I tampered it into a ganache. Still, nobody complained; instead the wonderful people from the Institute were only too kind to say the nicest things to me ^_^

For the third macaron flavour, I used chestnut paste that I found at this awesome delicatessen also at the Covered Market; a purveyor of fine foods and ingredients that is forever going to be bookmarked in my list of places to go.  Every winter that I was in London, I always always had roasted chestnuts by Oxford Street from the stocky man with the charcoal-dusted fingers, who sells them at a pound per (tiny) bag. So chestnuts have become a traditionally winter flavour in my book, and yes, I did make sure that  I bought some of the roasted ones from the very same man last week! For the macaron filling, you may find that it can be a bit watery so I thickened it with white chocolate (ganache) and a few grams of almond to lend some texture. If you’re in the mood to make your own paste, you can find some good pointers from my favourite Singaporean blogger, Karen.

Finally, the fruit tartelettes were really done on a whim so I must admit that I did not use my usual pastry recipe  (although I did find there was no trouble in having cold fingers to work the dough, thanks to the weather). I have no shame to admit that I used ready-to-roll sweet shortcrust pastry from Jus-Roll (they’re good); and here’s a recipe for creme patissier (pastry cream) that you may like to try for your mini tarts.  Simply top with any fruit you like, excluding durian, I should think:

Remember to not overwork your pastry; make sure your fingers are cold; and that the pastry cases are baked blind with parchment and pastry weight/beans/rice to hold them down.

Lastly, our little get together was co-hosted by my friend Francesca, who brought along a gorgeous semi-freddo and a block of authentic Italian Parmigiano!

See you in the next gastroventure, and do tell me what you’ve been up to!

My good friend D wrote to me some weeks ago about creating a set of desserts  and other baked goodies for her in-laws. I ended up making two desserts, one savoury, and three petite fours (I don’t know if scones qualify as one, but I did make them small!) In making these, I nearly went ‘mentalist’ (if there’s a word) due to anxiety, and because there was so much preparation to do for each of the components. Naturally, some dessert parts should be made in advance to give time for resting (pastries); and chill (mousses and creams). Mind you, as I have no  formal training whatsoever with pastry chef-ing, (or professional kitchen management for that matter),  I was very likely to be a difficult person to live with at that time, as I wanted everything to go well

I’ll have you know though, that I was simply elated with this bake request, because to be honest, I was getting sick of baking cupcakes that keep on pulling out of their liners (the fate of scrumptious, milky & buttery recipes)… and decorations that  remind me too much of my play-doh-playing youth. I thought, now’s the real dessert deal, with plenty of careful planning, and opportunities to learn. Thank you D, for trusting me with this project; it actually resuscitated me from all the monotonous work of my side business and reminded me why I enjoy baking as a hobby in the first place ^_^

So come, on with the gastroventure!

D gave me the liberty to choose desserts with the only prerequisite of making them ‘not too sweet’. Of course, this was a little bit difficult to achieve because I don’t really like tweaking recipes too much for fear of disrupting the chemical reaction between ingredients and resulting in a flop :-/.  It doesn’t help either that I am yet to sit for a Pastry 101. I wanted to make them as presentable as possible too, so I went over to Canelle et Vanille for inspiration. The author and ex-pastry chef  of that website, Aran Goyoaga, amongst others, is instrumental in shaping the way I look at food and food-styling. I picked a recipe that was to be an ode to her and followed it almost entirely (which I sort of regret because the recipe uses a glucose base to make a dry caramel, which resulted in an uber sweet ‘dish’). However, I picked this because of the simplicity and straightforwardness of the flavours, and Aran’s impeccable taste and neatness is reflected in the presentation. For her full recipe, click here.

Dessert 1 – Dark Chocolate Mousse with Banana Caramel, Honey Roasted Peanuts, and Caramel  Fleur De Sel Ganache. The components for this dessert are:

1) Chocolate tartelette cases (I used Pate Sucree, short, but not too crumbly. In fact the cocoa turned it a bit tough). I know I owe some people the recipe and method.. it will come! I promise. If you could find a good recipe online, then the only things I would pass on to you here is not to overwork the dough and to chill it for at least two hours before rolling.

Baking it blind:
After a couple of hours of resting in the chiller, flatten your dough but do not knead. Roll it to a reasonable thickness, and lift it with your rolling pin to line the mould/case. Press with a small piece of dough to create an even surface. Cut excess dough. Take a piece of parchment and cover the pastry case. Pop in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill again, then add rice or dried beans on the parchment to hold down the pastry while it is baked. You may also want to prick the bottom with a fork. Bottom of the tartelette cases, that is.

2) Banana Caramel. Here you make a dry caramel, which is essentially burnt sugar, and add bananas to it. C’est simple! But beware of the spitting and spluttering.

After the baked cases have cooled, add the banana caramel, then top off with some honey roasted peanuts! Non, zis is not fogh ze allerjhic pipew.

3) Salted Caramel (Caremel Fleur De Sel) Ganache. I love this the most! Imagine salty chocolate.. with a distinctive taste of warm, burnt sugar. I know you can’t really see the layer in this picture, but it’s there ^_^

4) Dark Chocolate Mousse. Now I wish I had just made this using my usual mousse recipe. This was a tad too sweet even for fat old me. Anyhow, just use a round tip and a piping bag to get the effect, then sprinkle some chopped roasted peanuts. Finally, make curliques from tempered chocolate and place on top with a good dusting of cocoa. Or, just scrape a block of chocolate with a knife (hehe… cos either way, I’m not good at this). Observe/:

Dessert 2 – Summer Berry Charlotte with Fresh Berries and Italian Savoiardi fingers

I think Charlottes are the most aesthetically pleasing desserts on the face of this earth. You often end up wondering what is inside that wall surrounding the innards of a Charlotte- a mousse? what kind? what flavour? And what’s up with the wall? I opted to make this up as I went. The ‘wall’ was made of Savoiardi cookie fingers, straight from Italy, which are quite an upscale type compared to the generic “sponge fingers” you might find at Supasave. Inside was a Summer Berry Bavarian Cream, which is a mellow but subtley zesty, summer-fruity concoction that could only be described as perfectly heavenly and refreshing. Ok, I realise that’s a bit of a tongue-twister. Nyaman wah! I am confident of it because I made a tarte version and presented that to my family and everyone was craving for more (that I ended up buying loads of berries lately). If you can fork up for the expenzive berries, I would make them everyday Now why can’t berries be grown in Brunei?! Note to the Department of Agriculture.

Whilst the frozen mixed berries are perfectly fine for the bavarian cream (since you pulverize them into pulp anyway), you’d definitely need fresh berries for decoration.. which is why I love this time of the year!  It’s summer in the northern hemisphere and the chilled aisles are packed full of beautiful harvests, and I wish I just had the time and energy to make proper patisseries out of them.

To make the berry Bavarian cream, you’d need egg yolks, heavy cream, sugar, gelatine (of course I use the Halal ones), milk, and a bit of lemon juice. A lot of people have been requesting for this dessert lately (since I loaded up the pictures on FaceBook), and have subsequently been shocked to discover how much I charge for them ‘per charlotte’. Cutting the story short, let me just clear the air and say that these berries are seasonal and they’re imported and they are extremely expensive! A punnet of blueberries? $11 to $12.  And strawberries? $5-$6. What about cherries? $4-$6. I find it awefully distasteful that sometimes people do not appreciate how much actually goes into making food from imported items. Unless you have a secret berry garden tucked in your backyard, and you eat the harvest all the time, paying premium price for imported goods seems to be the only option for non-producers like us in this country ^_^ Big sigh.

Since this post is becoming too long,  and I’ve edited this draft more than 20 times (no joke!), I’m just going to post the pictures of the rest of the spread and possibly write about them when I have the energy next time ^_^ So do visit again for updates… as I understand that some of you actually do read my posts and not just come here and copy/paste my designs without acknowledging my work ^_^ (yes, it has happened, and it is very uncool to plagiarize ;p).

No. 3 – Macarons Assortement.

If you have been following my blog, you’d notice how big my macarons have become. I suppose my only explanation is that I have broken even from my initial investments and can now offer these temperemental gems at your money’s-worth. It’s also a result of  the fact that my batches turn out well after baking and I get little or none of the cracked dome/feetless effect. This has certainly helped in minimizing my losses. I can also assure you that my macarons are, though not consistently porcelain-perfect on the surface, are relatively superior than the alternative ones you may find here. I am confident of my product because I make them individually out of passion and that I do not sacrifice taste for branding. Mind you, I researched and trained myself to make these diva of a petit four for at least 6 months.. and have finally perfected them in a year’s time. Finicky little things.

No. 4 - Another berry entree; Fresh Blueberry Honey Scone. The recipe for this is beautiful in all its simplicity, in that it uses honey and buttermilk which gives a nice balanced taste. I packed them with fresh blueberries and served with a jar of German wild berry conserve. To make fluffy yet flaky scones, reserve the batter for about half an hour and also do not overwork/overknead the dough.

Again, if you need the recipe, I am more than willing to share Just write me a note in the comment box and I’ll make sure I post up the recipe as soon as I find the time.

No. 5 – Cannele Bourdelais. These are amazingly familiar to our tastebuds, surprisingly. I have always wanted to make these french petite fours, which originated from the region of Bourdeux in France. Reading through some blogs, I realise that they are quite difficult to make too, despite the fact that the ingredients are simple. The original recipe contains a good amount of rum; of which we cannot consume as Muslims so I replaced that with vanilla. I suppose I can never attain the authentic taste because of this replacement ^_^ The traditional way of making canneles (pronounced Ka-na-Lay) is by using copper moulds and brushing the insides with beeswax for easy release. They also take a loooong time to bake.. traditionally 3 hours. But nowadays, you can use those nifty silicon moulds (I got myself a couple of Gugelhopfs) which may be cheaper where you are (they certainly are not where I am!) and make way without the beeswax. I also read somewhere that it makes no difference when you bake these with the absence of beeswax – which may be difficult to obtain in the first place.

Cannele purists will argue that these petite fours should have a burnt look on the surface, which is like eating the edges of our local Bingka. Very nice.

No. 6 – Smoked Salmon and Spinach Petite Quiche with Fresh Ricotta and Poppy Seed. This was the one savoury dish that had the potential to overtake the sweetness of the other items in the spread. Mainly because it’s fish ;p Not too bad either. I loved the crust the most though, because it is not a ‘proper’ pastry, rather it is made from cream cheese combined with other things. The marriage of flavours is intoxicatingly pleasant, and this one fills you up rather easily too. Finally, this was the one item that I had some a little help from the husby, and subsequently had him enjoy eating ^_^

If I may repeat myself, I had so much enjoyment and gained plenty of experience with this project. I’d have to say I’m better now with kitchen management. Sans the help, washing, cleaning, and getting on with the baking and final touches with la presentation can be all a tad too overwhelming. Perhaps my Monica Geller-esque, obsessive-compulsive, anally organising type of behaviour might have come in handy after all.

The event covered in this post happened yonks ago and I’ve finally finished editing the draft after so much procrastination ^_^ Happy reading, and glad to have met you that day!

Oh the sparkle in his eyes! What a stick of Cuppiepop can do to a boy.

It was the 6th anniversary celebration of ranoadidas.com on Friday 12th June, and I was very excited to have been invited by Rano himself to participate in one of the booths there. Actually that’s quite understated. I was over the moon, and simply couldn’t contain myself, as witnessed by my much understanding and extremely supportive husby ^_^ So on we went! We planned and we planned for the official debut of Delisioucity’s fine desserts and patisseries, and yet we still found there was SO much to learn out of the whole experience. Customer preferences, logistics, product testing… oh just to name a few. We did get a few things right though, exemplified by the 100+% turnover that I got out of sales. At the end of the day, it’s great to have been given such an opportunity, which is why I want to thank you, Rano! It helps a lot too that www.ranoadidas.com is the 3rd most visited site in Brunei, and not surprisingly, its author  is one the most popular figures in local innovative entrepreneurship in the country.

But most importantly, if you came to the soiree and ate from my booth, thank you too! Even if you just dropped by to say hello; I really enjoyed talking to all of you ^_^ I hope you liked the food… because some of you actually looked like you did (hehe). So here Im showing some pictures that husby took of everyone who seemed delighted with Delisioucity! Bless

Simply delighted with the Banana Crumble Tartelettes

Personally,  the event gave me an advantageous platform to gauge the market; albeit a small one. It was really my first time, proper, in running my own business unaided by the Internet. In making a presence in the blossoming local food industry, I feel slightly triumphant that day, because always in my mind since I opened up this blog, there is this desire to own a share of that lucrative food-industry pie. Besides, I’m known to easily tire of monotonous routines from work etc., and I think the food-blogging/business thing is taking my attention away quite successfully It’s sort of my take on balancing my life with reasonable doses of diversions and occasional difference… with the hope that I later get tired of it, and spring back to normality with much needed energy and inspiration.

Her daughter’s face tells it all!

You can’t fake a candid & genuine reaction to deliciousness!

Speaking of inspiration, I believe I got plenty from that event. I think chefs and cooks have the most satisfying jobs  in the world – because judging from the looks on peoples’ faces, I feel thankful and positively overwhelmed with their acceptance of the kinds of treats that I make.  Of course, my regular job can be very rewarding too ^_^ (note to my colleagues who are reading this :p ) But I suppose this is somewhat different; when you bake something and it’s made out of passion and love (and a whole heap of OCB), then  it’s completely fullfilling to see the looks of joy and contentment when the food is eaten. It’s kind of touch and go, I realise that too. All is well nonetheless. Why? Because number one, I’ve been getting a steady stream of an average 100 unique visitors per day to this website since the event, and number two, a barrage of orders right into my inbox. Unfortunately, I just do not have the capacity to make so much (believe me, the past days I’ve been wishing I had octopus tentacles). So as much as I am uber greatful for the attention, I am also very humbled and wish to convey that the reason why I put up recipes in this blog is so that everyone can try a hand at baking themselves It’s very therapeutic, mind you!

Keeran & dad running an analysis of my goods ;p They ended up being our biggest buyers!

Finally, here’s a log of some of the items available that day. If you did eat from our booth, get ready for a jog down memory lane!

Banana Crumble Tartelettes

Macarons

Cuppiepops, with Cookies & Cream cake inside

Till next time! xoxo

Note: This is a very sweet coincidence: a recipe win and my 100th post. I present to you now, macarons (yes, again!) and a report on the recent Foodie Bloggers’ Challenge, in celebration of my 100th blog entry!

Oui, ouui, absolutement! Troisieme place! These Pandan (pandanus plant) French-Malay dessert fusion were among the macaron flavours that I entered in the Foodie Bloggers’ Challenge on Sunday, 26th – and subsequently won third place for! I was so excited that I couldn’t stop grinning like a fool. It was like getting a healthy dose of endorphine (ok, sugar rush rather), especially after meeting up with people whose written words you read on a regular basis. These bloggers, amongst who I lurk/stalk in the comforts of cybertopia, are all the nicest and most generous people you could get possibly acquainted with! The amount of knowledge and information, food-wise, that was inherently part of the din yesterday, were all but not muted by the scraping off of Pablo’s pumpkin soup, Reeda’s champion lamb, and Eleanor’s roasted garlic & anchovies. Ouh my God, you know. The spread was amazing. I truly am very honoured to even achieve a third spot seeing that the competition was in effect a showdown of everyone’s culinary talents. And it was mixed genre too!

Here is a full list of the winners:

1) Quick & dirty lamb – Anak Brunei.
2) Roasted Garlic & Anchovies – Foodie Tales
3) Macarons – Delisioucity (Homygosh!)
4) Sea bass - Chef Pol of Self taught Chef
5) Lolita Macaroni – Hajah Zarinah
6) Cheesy Fruity Triffle – Hajah Tom
7) Tangy Prawn delight – Maria Rahimin
8)  Herbal Chili Chicken – Zulfadly of Soul Connection
9) Chinese Chicken Salad - Foodie Tales
10) Lamb Herb Jus - Creative Chefs
11) King prawn tomato – Hajah Sabtuyah
12) Red Snapper – Creative Chefs

As you can see from the list, only two were desserts! I am so tempted to have a desserts showdown in the future, and wonder if there would be many to participate? Other people who brought desserts that day included Maurina (lovely & funny girl!) with her chocolate pudding and some other entries that I was too busy going here and there that I didn’t get to taste them. In fact, I shamefully didn’t even get to eat the winner’s entry But no matter though. The book that is to be the result of this event will be available soon, and will be sold for charity Double excitement ^_^ A recipe for the French method macaron shell (au blanc monte) is going to be in the book, so I can finally sleep well at night with the thought that I at least have brought this piece of dessert to some well-deserved attention (hehe). I mean, many have called macarons “gifts from the Gods” on one end, and on the other, (especially those who have tried at least 7 times before they can get a perfectly domed and collared shell), often call these “divas” or even devil cookies. Sigh, such repute.

Here are some pictures from the event itself, which includes the desserts entries, the main dishes, and a cooking demonstration from local chefs from the infamous Empire Hotel (omg, woooot!!) Flambe-d too, they did!

The host, Senor Pablo‘s wife, Bunny, has a business selling all sorts of desserts. I absolutely loved her apple maple cakes (top left), they’re so gorgeous and classic. They just melt and melt in your mouth… *rolling in fields sensation* And it is no surprise she is also a sweet lady Just imagine the aromas coming out of Pablo’s house thanks to her!

The following are some main entrees, sans Reeds’s winning lamb. Sigh. Drool.

And finally, the Creative Chefs. Work it!

It was such a fun evening, and the weather was also simply beautiful. I’d like to thank Pablo for hosting this event and hope that the good deed of the charity recipe book sale will bring you and your team great blessings! A final shout out to Eleanor, Chef Pol (I had a good chat with this guy and thank you for putting my macarons on par with that of Laduree’s! I’m humbled), Maurina, Thanis (omg u are such a foodie!! fun talking to u), Hani, Azian, and Reeds’ lovely wife!

Oh and the local paper, the Borneo Bulletin also did a coverage (albeit an erronous one: apparently I am an  ingredient in Eleanor’s roasted anchovies dish!) Cheers for that.

P/s: Macaron flavours that day: Le Signature Chocolat (nude, cocoa-dusted shells), milk chocolate (pink shells), pandan (green, with painted shell), and a rather daring mango cinnamon in cream cheese base (dense yellow). This one went soggy fastest, and I have to say, needs terrible adjustments. Oh well, food is after all about experimentations too!

Some fond moments often occur on birthdays, and in anticipation of that, I made these to be served and celebrated today. Mangoes and myself have come a long way in the walk down memory lane,  but the fondest of memories with these juicy fruits has got to be the ones to do with my parents. As simple as it is, they both  loved mangoes. Mum still does, of course, but she gets the tummy bugs when she eats too much of it so she has to settle with only a slice or two nowadays. A fond and funny story is when my dad used to just throw mango seeds out into the backyard like it’s nobody’s business and they’d grow healthily as if planted with care. Green thumbs indeed, and one that I’ve never been able to inherit. So our family home is dotted with lots of random mango trees of various types and sizes sprouting mainly at the back, and strewn randomly around outside the house. Mangoes seemed to have invaded my life, growing up

Last night at 12 am I officially joined the ranks of those who are at the dusk of their twenties (boohoo).  Yes, I was actually born at 12 am (it says so in my birth certificate!) so I’m both an Aries and a Taurus, if you’re into that sort of thing. I finished making all the components of this birthday dessert for today at about 10pm and let me tell you.. I am smittened by the pistachio joconde layer! Husby also practically gobbled up some leftovers of it after I shaped them into the circular discs.

Pistachio Joconde (adapted from Aran)

55g almond flour
56g pistachio flour
80g icing sugar
30g all purpose flour
130g eggs
100g egg whites
40g sugar
20g butter, melted
Pinch of salt

Whip almond, pistachio, icing sugar, flour, and eggs in an electric mixer until a thick ribbon forms (about 5 minutes). In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt until a light meringue forms. Slowly add the sugar one tspn at a time whilst whipping the egg whites. Continue until you get an almost stiff peak consistency.

Now mix a third of the meringue into the first mixture. Fold in the rest gently and finally incorporate the melted butter into the whole batter. Slowly now! Pour the batter into a sheetpan lined with parchment and bake at 375F (about 190.2C) for about 10 to 12 minutes. Watch it at the last few minutes, as you should be aiming to get a lightly browned top.  Let cool, wrapped in greaseprof paper and foil until ready to use.

The joconde is the bottom cake layer and fourth layer from the top. I’d probably want it a bit greener than it is appearing here, but the taste far offsets any shortcomings. The entremet is then layered with a Mango Bavarian Cream, and topped with a layer of Mango Gelee and White Chocolate Chantilly.

Mango Bavarian Cream

3 Tbsp gelatin
1 and 1/2 C strained mango puree (about 5-6 Thai mangoes)
5 egg yolks
2/3 C sugar
1 and 1/2 C milk
1Tbsp lemon juice
Several drops of yellow food colouring
1 and 3/4 C whipping cream

Sprinkle the gelatin over the puree and set aside until spongy. Combine egg yolks and sugar in a mixer bowl and beat until light. Boil milk in a saucepan and pour into the egg mixture, while stirring with a wooden spoon. Return this mixture into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whilst constantly watching and stirring. It is done when your finger leaves a clear trail in the sauce when drawn across the back of the wooden spoon. If you overcook this mixture, chuck it in the bin because you would have produced curdled, finely scrambled eggs remove immediately from the heat and stir in the softened gelatin/puree. Get a bowl of ice ready with some water, and immerse the mixture into this bowl and let it cool. It will stiffen up as it cools, so stir occassionally as it thickens with time. Whilst you are doing this, prepare your mixer bowl and beat the whipping cream until it holds soft peaks. Add food colouring at this point. When the gelatin/puree mixture is ready and resembles softly whipped cream, fold the whipped cream carefully into the gelatin/puree mixture.

Mango Gelee

After you’ve pureed your mangoes for the Bavarian cream, you will obtain a nice thick mango nectar which you can then sprinkle with about 2Tbsp of gelatin. Add a tspn of lemon juice and some yellow food colouring. Let sit. It might take a while to thicken.

White Chocolate Chantilly (adapted from Aran)

This is my next favourite component! I could just eat this as dip for fresh mangoes!

100g heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
50g white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

Add a third of the whipped cream into the chocolate and whisk vigorously. Then add in the remaining cream and fold gently with a spatula.

If you love mangoes, this is definitely a must try/must make. The mousse-like effect can be a tad overwhelming for this one though.. but I think the joconde did the trick with a dimension of texture. The macaron shells (orangey round domed discs you see in the picture) also lay a hand in providing a nice crunch and some sweetness. The gelee is rather sour, but like I said, the macaron does the job well. All in all, I love this birthday ‘cake’ for myself and I will probably start developing a taste for fancy entremets from now on! (Read carefully as: signs of ageing). hehe.

In case you were wondering (though I’m sure nobody was, as I am just perasaan that I have lurking readers out there apart from bots who spam me), I am still obsessed with macarons. I still get thrills out of staring at the rise of their dainty little collar (a.k.a “feet”) in the first 7 minutes of baking in the oven. Yes, I still do sit on a tiny stool in front of my Ariston and stare at the macarons in their process of either blooming to wondrous joy, or exploding/cracking much to my utter demoralization. When the latter happens, and believe you me, they do (even after a year of *ehem* ‘cracking’ my way to finally be able to make them), I get quite a bit of loss. Let me indulge you in the following: Almond meals are not precisely cheap. They are $20 for a kilo. Meanwhile, icing sugar vary in prices, some shops sell them for nearly $2 for 500g, while others, selling the less-than-pure mixture of icing sugar + corn flour (= confectionary sugar), will cost less than a dollar. Next, the eggs. Eggs are fine but their prices do fluctuate as any home-economist will know.  The loss really, is in terms of wastage of the egg whites in which had to be separated from yolks. Subsequently I never know what to do with the tonnes of yolks I get as a result of macaronventuring. Not that I have an ice cream truck in which I could churn ice cream and sell them to kids. Or maybe that’s an investment worth looking into, one wonders?

In the next post I will show you what I did attempt with some leftover egg yolks, though. But let me move on with more macaron stories. I had made quite a bit in the past weeks, and the Italian meringue (au sucre cuit) method seemed to please. Perhaps it was the weather that day or maybe I macaronaged (folded) the batter with near-precision (*koff koff*), which led to nicely domed shells and no cracking at all. But when I tried this method again the next day, it all went down the bin. I still don’t know what it was  that went wrong, and I can’t even bother to speculate anymore other than the fact that sometimes you get plain jinxed for being so kambang (joyous, over the moon). They all failed miserably. So later, on I went with the au blanc monte method, or also known as the simple meringue, or French method. I concede to this: the simpler method is better. (As with all simple things, I suppose). *eye roll*

It is quite ironic though, because in all my research and reading, everybody seems to say that the Italian method will produce more consistent and reliable yields! ARGH! I know I have delved into this subject before, and some of you may find this a bit too repetitive on my side. But you see, I am at an utter loss as to why I can’t seem to master “the more reliable recipe”! *Pulling hair* The thing is yea, I would be more than happy to resort to only using the French method if it weren’t much sweeter than the Italian method. For some God-given reason, that’s the way it is. Some clients don’t mind it, but others cringe with a full glass of water on their other hand. Upon wallowing to some of my favourite bloggers who make beautiful macarons to no end (tartelette; madbaker; mercotte; veron) , I have been adviced (1) to take no heed to such complaints,  (2) learn and educate the fact that the French really do eat only one of these at a time, and (3) that Americans, at least, love things sweet. Now I know we are not USA, or Paris, but the one thing I do want to share with everyone is that like in all things in pastry, there is much chemistry between ingredients to be respected. No, I cannot tweak

I do try to balance the sweetness with fillings that aren’t designed “for the kill” though. But still, I suppose this petit four still remains a foreign culture to many who have really yet to taste the real deal in the likes of Pierre Herme, Laduree, or Cristophe Michalak (yummy bloke, by the way). Till then, I remain your humble purveyor of macarons, who will use the French method for as long they don’t jinx me instead (in which if they do, I will proabably retire from this obsession at last).

The French Method macaron recipe:

100g almond meal
90g aged egg whites
190g icing sugar
25g castor sugar
Pinch of salt
A few drops of food colouring

Sift your almond meal and icing sugar together twice until you get a fine powder. In a clean mixer bowl, beat egg whites with salt till foamy. Then add castor sugar a little at a time. Continue to beat till glossy/satiny and the meringue should hold soft peaks. Add about 1/4 of this meringue into the dry mixture and beat rapidly to break the mass. Add food colouring at this point if you like. Then incorporate all of the meringue into the mixture and fold gently without deflating too much of the batter. Do not overfold (or over-macaronage). You should aim to achieve a texture that is often called ‘flowing like magma’. Though I have never really been to a live volcano spewing hot magma, I will tell you that what you need to look for is a batter that holds a little beak, when picked with a finger, and that which will then fall back to the batter with little reluctance. Spoon into a piping bag attached with a round tip, and pipe onto a baking parchment. If you can find a silicon baking parchment, that is even better. Let sit for a while for the macarons to form skin on the surface (around 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the humidity level of that day), then proceed to bake at a temperature that best suits your oven type. That means you have to experiment (gasp!) Mine works best at 165C for about 12 minutes. Some people will bake at 170C, then go down to 160C after 5 minutes. If your batter was macaronaged with care, they should form nicely domed shells with a collar around it, called ‘feet’. Let cool, and do not pry the shells off the parchment! They should come off easily after cooling. Then, pipe in a filling of your choice, which includes jams, buttercreams, mousses, and ganaches. Enjoy, and bonne chance!

*In the pictures above, the flavours are my signature whipped chocolat (with the cocoa dust), and coffee ganache. Bonne chance!