Lavender and Blueberry Macarons

Posted by whiskitforabiscuit

I came across this flavour combination flicking through Zumbo’s ‘Zumbarons’ book, and at first, I wasn’t really sold. I can’t say I’ve ever really been a fan of the smell of lavender, and the thought of eating it, ergh. However, I first thought the same thing about the Vegemite Macarons, another genius brainchild of Zumbo’s, and I really loved them. So, I thought I would give them a go, and it turns out, they aren’t so bad after all!

Zumbo’s ganache recipe calls for white chocolate, however, I boldly decided to change things up a little! I decided to make a buttercream instead of a ganache, I’m not entirely sure why I decided to do this, but it worked, I think. I put as little sugar as possible into the blueberry jam, to counteract the sweetness of the buttercream, and with little bit of salt with the butter, it was nice. I literally used like three drops of lavender oil because I was so worried it would be too strong. The idea of eating flowers doesn’t really excite me. Three drops was definitely enough. Enough to get the aroma of the lavender, with the hit of blueberry and sweetness of the macaron shell. Would I make them again? Maybe, if they were requested, but other than that, probably not. It would be interesting to taste the white chocolate ganache version, though. And, yay! For awesome shells.

Macarons:

This recipe is Adriano Zumbo’s, and was published a couple of years ago in the Herald Sun. You will definitely need kitchen scales to make macarons.

135g almond meal
135g icing sugar
125g caster sugar
45g egg whites
50g egg whites
40g water
1/4 tsp colouring gel, violet
Food colouring liquid, blue

Spray four oven trays with cooking oil spray around the edges, and line with baking paper and set aside. Place almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl, and sift together 3 times. Set aside, along with the 45g egg whites. Put 50g egg whites in a separate bowl. Heat caster sugar and water in a small saucepan, over a low-medium heat, until the sugar completely dissolves (if it slightly burns my tongue, it’s done!). If you do not want to burn your tongue, Zumbo suggests investing in a candy thermometer and heating the syrup until it reaches 118 degrees C (244 degrees F). If the syrup becomes thick and powdery in appearance, you will need to start again. This is because the sugar has been heated too much, too quickly, and instead of dissolving, it has cooked.

Begin beating the 50g egg whites with one hand, and with the other, stream the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl to create an italian meringue. Beat until stiff peaks form, the meringue should be thick and very glossy. If you want to add flavouring/colouring, now’s your moment. So add the colouring now. Just lightly beat them into the meringue. Pour meringue into the almond meal, icing sugar and 45g egg whites mixture and mix roughly to combine. When combined, fold mixture together (one single stroke) until there are no air bubbles left. Make a spread across the top of the mixture, and it should disappear in about 20 seconds. Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle. (If you don’t have a piping bag set, most supermarkets sell plastic ones, they are Multix brand, in an orange box and contain 5 piping bags with a few different nozzles, plus they’re only about $3. You should be able to find them in the baking aisle). Lock the bag by spinning the top around 4 times. Pipe 3-4cm rounds on the oven trays prepared earlier. Tap the bottom of the trays on the kitchen bench and let them sit for about half an hour, or until mixture is dry to the touch. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 145c (135c fan forced).

Place all of the macaron shells on wire racks. My needed two. Place paper towel underneath, so your kitchen bench does not come into contact with the blue colouring. Place approximately 15 drops of the blue liquid colouring in small dish. Gently dip a pastry brush in the colouring and lightly flick the macaron shells, resulting in the blue dots like my shells have. Leave shells to dry – this won’t take long.

Macarons keep really well (about 5 days in the fridge) and some say that the longer they are refrigerated, the more the flavour is likely to develop. Macarons taste best when they are stored in the fridge, then brought down to room temperature to eat.

Lavender Buttercream:

100g salted butter, softened, not melted
3 drops lavender oil (edible, of course – FYI, I bought mine from http://www.bakingpleasures.com.au)
1 cup icing (confectioner’s) sugar

Beat the butter until pale and creamy (about 5 minutes). Gradually add the icing sugar and beat until well combined. You can add as much sugar as you like, really. It depends on how sweet you like your buttercream. Add the lavender oil – you can always add more to taste.

Blueberry Jam:

1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup caster (white, granulated) sugar
2 tbs water

Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat on medium until mixture begins to boil. Turn down heat to low and simmer until thick. Pour into a bowl, and let it cool completely. If you are not using immediately, store jam in the fridge once it has cooled.

Assembly:

Pair up likely macaron shells. Place lavender buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle. Pipe round onto one shell, and spoon a very small amount of blueberry jam on top of the buttercream. Sandwich together. Store in airtight container in the fridge. Bring down to room temperature to eat.

I really wanted some fresh lavender sprigs in my photos, but unfortunately it was not to be. I was desperately trying to find some, madly roaming my local neighbourhood at 10km/ph on the hunt for lavender! Tis’ not the season.

Happy Baking! And…please come and follow me on Instagam – @gemmaash 🙂

Redskin Macarons

Posted by whiskitforabiscuit

This is now the second time I have made these, and round two definitely didn’t disappoint. I LOVED redskins when I was little, and when I saw this flavour popping up around local markets and food blogs, I just had to give them a go. They are ahhhhh-mazing! A winner with the crowds, too 🙂

Another awesome thing about these macarons, is that the ganache is super easy to make. You just melt down some redskin lollies, cream and add in the white chocolate and you’re done! Chocolatey, creamy, raspberry gooey deliciousness 😉

Macarons:

This recipe is Adriano Zumbo’s, and was published a couple of years ago in the Herald Sun. You will definitely need kitchen scales to make macarons.

135g almond meal
135g icing sugar
125g caster sugar
45g egg whites
50g egg whites
40g water
1/4 tsp colouring gel, purple

Begin beating the 50g egg whites with one hand, and with the other, stream the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl to create an italian meringue. Beat until stiff peaks form, the meringue should be thick and very glossy. If you want to add flavouring/colouring, now’s your moment. So add the cocoa now. Just lightly beat them into the meringue. Pour meringue into the almond meal, icing sugar and 45g egg whites mixture and mix roughly to combine. When combined, fold mixture together (one single stroke) until there are no air bubbles left. Make a spread across the top of the mixture, and it should disappear in about 20 seconds. Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle. (If you don’t have a piping bag set, most supermarkets sell plastic ones, they are Multix brand, in an orange box and contain 5 piping bags with a few different nozzles, plus they’re only about $3. You should be able to find them in the baking aisle). Lock the bag by spinning the top around 4 times. Pipe 3-4cm rounds on the oven trays prepared earlier. Tap the bottom of the trays on the kitchen bench and let them sit for about half an hour, or until mixture is dry to the touch. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 145c (135c fan forced).

Place in oven and bake for 16-20 minutes. Check macarons at 16 minutes, and to test if they are cooked, pull a macaron off the baking paper. If it is stuck, keep cooking and checking regularly. Cool on trays for 5 minutes, then peel off and place on a wire rack. The mixture should make about 12 -15 large macarons, and about 25 smaller macarons. Macarons keep really well (about 5 days in the fridge) and some say that the longer they are refrigerated, the more the flavour is likely to develop. Macarons taste best when they are stored in the fridge, then brought down to room temperature to eat.

Redskin Ganache: (I think the recipe is orginially by Adriano Zumbo, but I can’t find it for the life of me! I saw a random photo on my Mum’s Facebook page – have no idea whose it was, with all the ingredients laid out, and made my own measurements. Compliments to to whoever’s photo it was…oops!)

8 redskin lollies (I’m fairly certain redskins are available worldwide, made by Allen’s in Australia, and possibly by Wonka in the US)
1/2 cup thickened cream
1/2 cup white chocolate, chopped

Place the redskins and the cream in a small saucepan, over a low-medium heat, stirring with a metal spoon until the redskins are completely melted – this should take up to 5 minutes. Add in the white chocolate, and stir until everything is combined well and melted. Leave ganache at room temperature until firm enough to pipe.

To assemble, pair up likely macarons shells, and spoon the ganache into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle. Pipe small rounds on one shell, and sandwich with the other. TIP – don’t put too much ganache onto the shells, the ganache is quite runny and sticky, and if you have too much filling the shells will slip and slide all over the place!

FYI – This will be my last recipe post for a while, as whiskitforabiscuit will temporarily turn into a bit of a travel blog! I am off to Europe for 3 months, so I will do my best to post regularly and will attempt to focus it around food, of course…but that shouldn’t be too hard!

Follow me on Instagram – GemmaAsh!

Cinnamon Donut Macarons

Posted by whiskitforabiscuit

I had been wanting to try this flavour for some time, but I was just trying to figure out the best way of making the filling, and incorporating as much donutty flavour as I possibly could into the it, instead of say, just making a buttercream and flavouring it will a crapload of cinnamon. This time, I went all out Zumbo-style, and creeped a little bit out of the box, and my comfort zone. Thankfully, it kind of paid off. This flavour was quite delicious.

I’m not going to write out a recipe for the filling, because I did so many things and added so many little bits and pieces that I cannot remember it to the tee! I will try to explain it as best as possible 🙂 I was extremely lucky with my shells this time, they were a particularly good batch and I didn’t have to throw ANY out – this never happens! Totally wish it was like that everytime! Again, apologies for the shadow-y night time photos.

Macarons:

This recipe is Adriano Zumbo’s, and was published a couple of years ago in the Herald Sun. You will definitely need kitchen scales to make macarons.

135g almond meal
135g icing sugar
125g caster sugar
45g egg whites
50g egg whites
40g water
1/4 tsp colouring gel, brown

Cinnamon Donut filling:

As I mentioned earlier, I am not going to write out a recipe for this filling. I’ll briefly go through what I can remember 🙂

So, firstly, I placed the donuts in the container with the cream, and left it from about 12 midday to 3 or 4pm the next day. I pulled all of the donuts out, except for 2, and in hindsight, I think I really should have left 3 to give it a little bit more of a donutty flavour. The cream was not as flavoursome as I hoped for, so with the remaining 2 donuts in the cream, I blitzed it all up together, to make a cinnamon donut whipped cream like thing. After this, the mixture was still a little lumpy, so I put it through a fine sieve which made it separate – which was actually not a bad thing. I then whipped up about 3/4 cup thickened cream, and added some icing sugar and cinnamon sugar (you can buy this in a glass jar at the supermarket or just add cinnamon and sugar separarely), and folded it into the donut and cream mixture. It was very runny after this, so I stirred in about 1/3 cup cornflour, and left it overnight to thicken. I then just placed the filling in a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle and filled the shells. Due to the amount of cream in the filling, it was a bit more runny than usual, which made the shells a bit fragile. They still tasted pretty awesome, though 🙂

Follow me on Instagram – GemmaAsh 🙂 x

Toasted Marshmallow Macarons

Posted by whiskitforabiscuit

One thing I can say about these: yum, yum, yum! I was a bit down in the dumps this week, so the best thing to do when you’re feeling like crap – bake 🙂 These macarons were just delicious, and tasted just like a marshmallow that had been freshly toasted in a fire. The creme patissiere was such a great base for the filling, and added a nice custardy creaminess to the slight charcoal flavour from the toasted marshmallows. Definitely onto a winner with these!

The past few times I’ve made creme pat, it has not turned out well at all. Both times I had lumpy custard with bits of cooked egg and a thick skin, sounds delicious, hey?! This time I used Zumbo’s recipe in the trusty Zumbarons: A Fantasy Land of Macarons, and once again, Zumbo’s recipe worked perfectly. The custard was smooth and vanilla-ey and I could have eaten the whole thing then and there. But that’s not anything out of the ordinary. I got to whip out my blowtorch again this week, it seems to be getting quite a workout at the moment 😉 It took me a while to blowtorch the marshmallows because you have to make sure you cook every side and end so they’re all nice and melted, and I was stupid enough to put baking paper underneath them, and burnt half the paper off in the process. Silly me. Don’t do that at home!

Macarons:

This recipe is Adriano Zumbo’s, and was published a couple of years ago in the Herald Sun. You will definitely need kitchen scales to make macarons.

135g almond meal
135g icing sugar
125g caster sugar
45g egg whites
50g egg whites
40g water
1/4 tsp colouring gel, pink

Crème Patissiere: (recipe from p. 104 of Zumbarons: A Fantasy Land of Macarons)

1 cup (250ml) milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste/extract/seeds
60g egg yolks
60g caster (superfine) sugar
25g cornflour
100g butter, chopped and softened

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla over a medium-low heat until almost boiling. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a bowl until it is thick and pale. Gradually whisk in the hot milk, and return mixture to saucepan. Return to medium heat until custard comes to boil (it will be very foamy at this stage, but don’t worry as it will go down and turn into a thick custard). Boil for 1 minute. Transfer to a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap onto the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Cool mixture to 50c – this will take about 15-20 minutes. When crème pat is 50c beat in the butter until smooth. Refrigerate if not using immediately.

Toasted Marshmallow filling: (I used the full quantity of this recipe as I will use the rest of the filling for something else. If you are using the macaron recipe I use, you could certainly halve it. Adapted from p. 61 of Zumbarons: A Fantasy Land of Macarons)

150g marshmallows
170g butter, chopped and softened (make sure it’s salted butter)
Crème patissiere

Place the marshmallows on a baking tray (NOT with baking paper!), and use a blowtorch to toast on all sides. Place the butter in a large bowl and beat until pale and creamy. Add the crème patissiere and mix with a spoon until smooth. Add the freshly toasted marshmallows (ensure they are very melted) and mix well.

Assembly:

Match up likely pairs of macaron shells. Spoon marshmallow filling into a piping bag fitted with a wide round nozzle. Pipe filling onto the shell and sandwich with the other.

Place in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight. Take macarons out of the fridge and consume at room temperature. I don’t need to ask you to enjoy, because I already know the answer to that 😛

Salted Butter Popcorn Macarons

Posted by whiskitforabiscuit

Macs are back! This makes me very happy. Very happy indeed. As you would have seen earlier in the year, the last time I made macarons, it didn’t go so well. These still weren’t perfect, that’s for sure, but they do look like macarons, and they taste pretty amazeballs. And that’s all I really care about 🙂

This mac flavour is from Zumbo’s Fantasy Land of Macarons (p. 57), and the recipe had intrigued me for a quite a while, but I was just a bit scared to give them a go. I’m very glad I did though, because they were definitely worth it. Surprising or not, they taste exactly like a big mouthful of butter popcorn, just with a few different textures. I am a massive fan of sweets with salt, so these were a major winner in my eyes! The only thing I think I would do differently next time, would be to blitz the popcorn a bit more, because I had some big chunky bits on my shells, so they didn’t look quite as dainty as Zumbo the Great’s.

Macarons:

This recipe is Adriano Zumbo’s, and was published a couple of years ago in the Herald Sun. You will definitely need kitchen scales to make macarons.

135g almond meal
135g icing sugar
125g caster sugar
45g egg whites
50g egg whites
40g water
1/4 tsp colouring gel, yellow

Buttercream: (from Zumbarons: A Fantasy Land of Macarons, p.57.)

(I still made the full recipe, even though it could have filled double the shells I had. I am sure I will use it for something…maybe eating it from the bowl…maybe…)

100g caster sugar
38g water
75g lightly beaten egg
45g egg yolks
200g butter, chopped and softened
Sea salt, to taste

You will need digital scales and a thermometer to make this buttercream. The thermometer I use is just an ordinary one used for coffee. You can find them at homeware or discount stores.

Beat the butter until pale and creamy, about 4 minutes. Put the egg and egg yolks together in a large bowl, and set aside. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water, and cook over a low-medium heat until sugar dissolves. Turn the heat up to medium, and cook mixture until it reaches 121c. Begin beating the eggs for a minute or so, and then very slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture. Continue whisking the mixture until it is thick, and cooled to 50c. A teaspoon at a time, add the butter to the egg and sugar mixture, and mix well after each addition to ensure there is no lumps. Once all the butter has been incorporated, fold in the salt to taste. It should look a little something like this:

Assembly:

Cook the microwave popcorn according to instructions. Blitz approximately half of the popcorn in a food processor, until they look like small chunky crumbs. Place popcorn on a large plate or in a shallow bowl. Pair up macaron shells. Spoon buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle, and pipe 1/2 tsp onto shells, and sandwich with another. Melt 1 (if you want to brush 1 shell) or 2 tablespoons of butter (if you want to brush both shells) and completely brush the shell/s with the melted butter.

Immediately place buttered shell/s into the popcorn and place on an oven tray with baking paper. Once you have completed all of the macarons, place in fridge to set overnight. This will help develop the flavour. After 24 hours or so, place macarons in airtight container if not serving immediately. Store in fridge, and bring down to room temperature to serve.

Best of 2012!

Posted by whiskitforabiscuit

Here is a collection of photos that sums up the best foodie moments of 2012. I have loved every minute of delving into the blogging world, and cannot wait to continue next year 🙂 HNY!

Macarons:

Cakes:

Bits and Pieces:

Pizza making class, High Tea with Zumbo, myself with Gary Mehigan

Homemade Ravioli and Gnocchi, Curries cooking class on a boat, Sipping cocktails at Sea Links Resort in Mui Ne, Vietnam.

Treats from Little Cupcakes and La Belle Miette, Pasta and Black Risotto at Grossi Florentino, Homemade dumplings

Homemade Caramel Ice Cream, Homemade Apple Pie, Sipping sparking in the Yarra Valley, making Neil Perry’s Mac and Cheese.

Chocolate Dumplings and Custard Buns at Yum Cha @ David’s, Prahran.

Melted Snowmen Shortbread, Candy Cane Macarons, Dessert @ Malvern Hotel, Salted Caramel Profiteroles.

Happy New Year! 🙂 Xo

Choc-Mint Candy Cane Macarons

Posted by whiskitforabiscuit

I do love the combination of chocolate and peppermint. Bittersweet dark chocolate with a cool minty kick made these macarons quite the tasty ones. They were somewhat a tribute to the humble candy cane, which is definitely one of my favourite Christmas treats. I realllly wanted to make these macarons into a candy cane shape, but it didn’t work for me this time 😦 I overcooked the shells for one, and piped them all the same way – which was fine until I needed to sandwich them together…silly! I think I will try it again though, now that I know what not to do. I’d love to try some gingerbread men shapes as well, but knowing my luck they would turn out like lumpy pancake men. Yum!

Macarons:

This recipe is Adriano Zumbo’s, and was published a couple of years ago in the Herald Sun. You will definitely need kitchen scales to make macarons.

135g almond meal
135g icing sugar
125g caster sugar
45g egg whites
50g egg whites
40g water
Wilton’s colouring gel, Red (I used ‘Rojo Intenso’)

Preheat oven to 170c (160c fan forced). Spray four oven trays with cooking oil spray baround the edges, and line with baking paper and set aside. Place almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl, and sift together 3 times. Set aside, along with the 45g egg whites. Put 50g egg whites in a separate bowl. Heat caster sugar and water in a small saucepan, over a low-medium heat, until the sugar completely dissolves (if it slightly burns my tongue, it’s done!). If you do not want to burn your tongue, Zumbo suggests investing in a candy thermometer and heating the syrup until it reaches 118 degrees C (244 degrees F). If the syrup becomes thick and powdery in appearance, you will need to start again. This is because the sugar has been heated too much, too quickly, and instead of dissolving, it has cooked.

Begin beating the 50g egg whites with one hand, and with the other, stream the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl to create an italian meringue. Beat until stiff peaks form, the meringue should be thick and very glossy. If you want to add flavouring/colouring, now’s your moment. So add the cocoa now. Just lightly beat them into the meringue. Pour meringue into the almond meal, icing sugar and 45g egg whites mixture and mix roughly to combine. When combined, fold mixture together (one single stroke) until there are no air bubbles left. Make a spread across the top of the mixture, and it should disappear in about 20 seconds. With a skewer or a cake tester, spread 3 or 4 lines of the colouring along the sides of the bag. Spoon mixture into the piping bag fitted with a round nozzle. (If you don’t have a piping bag set, most supermarkets sell plastic ones, they are Multix brand, in an orange box and contain 5 piping bags with a few different nozzles, plus they’re only about $3. You should be able to find them in the baking aisle). Lock the bag by spinning the top around 4 times. Pipe 3-4cm rounds on the oven trays prepared earlier. Tap the bottom of the trays on the kitchen bench and let them sit for about half an hour, or until mixture is dry to the touch.

Place in oven and bake for 8 minutes. Turn tray around in the oven and bake for another 7 minutes. To test, pull a macaron off the baking paper. If it is stuck, keep cooking and checking regularly. Cool on trays for 5 minutes, then peel off and place on a wire rack. The mixture should make about 12 -15 large macarons, and about 25 smaller macarons. Macarons keep really well (about 5 days in the fridge) and some say that the longer they are refrigerated, the more the flavour is likely to develop. Macarons taste best when they are stored in the fridge, then brought down to room temperature to eat.

Choc-Mint Ganache:

100g good quality dark chocolate (I use Green and Black’s 70%)
1/2 thickened cream
1/2 tsp natural peppermint extract (available from most supermarkets)

Place chocolate and cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir with metal spoon until melted. Stir in the peppermint extract. Pour into bowl and let cool. Refrigerate until firm enough to pipe or until when you need to use. If you are leaving the ganache in the fridge overnight, it may need 10 seconds in the microwave to be pliable enough to pipe.

To assemble, match up likely macaron pairs. Spoon ganache into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle, and pipe small rounds of ganache onto a shell, then sandwich with another. Yum!

I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season so far, I cannot believe how quickly it has come! I think the best part of this time of the year is definitely the food, surprise, surprise! Although, it’s a scary reminder of how much I have to cook and bake before next Tuesday – luckily most of my shopping is done!

Happy Baking 🙂 X

Salt and Vinegar Macarons

Posted by whiskitforabiscuit

Salt and Vinegar has always been my favourite potato chip/crisp flavour. When I saw these Salt and Vinegar Macarons in Zumbo’s crazy book, I just had to make them, especially after the success of the Vegemite Macarons!

Similar to the Vegemite Macarons, the ganache was subtle however you could really taste the balsamic vinegar in the background in addition to the kick of salt. It was a great balance, Zumbo really is a genius! These were not my best shells overall, it was quite weird, some turned out perfectly and some were cracked all over :S When I come to think of it though, it is the second time this has happened in the past few months, with the last time being when I also added quite a lot of food colouring. May have to watch that…

I really love using flavours and products that I grew up with in the nineties, such as Nesquik and Nutella and turning them into something different, such as a macaron, that everyone can enjoy and can readily make themselves if they wish to.

I also made these macarons for the Mactweets Challenge #30 – ‘School’s Out.‘ This theme was created to encourage people to make macarons that reminded them of their summer holidays. I thought this was a great theme, as there are so many beautiful summery flavours you could use such as tropical fruits, cocktail inspirations or even something along the lines of a soft drink/soda. So, although it is not Summer here in Australia, and is school in still ‘in’ (we have our Summer holidays over December/January when Summer falls), and it is absolutely freezing here in drizzly Melbourne, I still really wanted to make a kind-of summery mac.

Salt and Vinegar reminds me of Summer at the beach – eating hot chips lathered with vinegar and spinkled with salt on a balmy night. Yum!

Macarons:

This recipe is Adriano Zumbo’s, and was published a couple of years ago in the Herald Sun. You will definitely need kitchen scales to make macarons.

135g almond meal
135g icing sugar
125g caster sugar
45g egg whites
50g egg whites
40g water
Wilton’s Violet Colouring Gel, I used a lot but I think it may have contributed to some of my shells cracking. Maybe add 1/4 tsp and don’t put them too close to the top of the oven, otherwise the colour is likely to bake out a little.

Preheat oven to 170c (160c fan forced). Spray four oven trays with cooking oil spray around the edges, and line with baking paper and set aside. Place almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl, and sift together 3 times. Set aside, along with the 45g egg whites. Put 50g egg whites in a separate bowl. Heat caster sugar and water in a small saucepan until it is hot and syrupy (if it slightly burns my tongue, it’s done!). If white, thick, powdery bubbles begin to form around the edges, start again!

Begin beating the 50g egg whites with one hand, and with the other, stream the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl to create an italian meringue. Beat until stiff peaks form, the meringue should be thick and very glossy. If you want to add flavouring/colouring, now’s your moment. So add the colouring now. Just lightly beat them into the meringue. Pour meringue into the almond meal, icing sugar and 45g egg whites mixture and mix roughly to combine. When combined, fold mixture together (one single stroke) until there are no air bubbles left. Make a spread across the top of the mixture, and it should disappear in about 20 seconds. Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle. (If you don’t have a piping bag set, most supermarkets sell plastic ones, they are Multix brand, in an orange box and contain 5 piping bags with a few different nozzles, plus they’re only about $3. You should be able to find them in the baking aisle). Lock the bag by spinning the top around 4 times. Pipe 3-4cm rounds on the oven trays prepared earlier. Gently tap the bottom of the trays and let them sit for about half an hour, or until mixture is dry to the touch.

Place in oven and bake for 7 minutes. Turn tray around in the oven and bake for another 7 minutes. To test, pull a macaron off the baking paper. If it is stuck, keep cooking and checking regularly. Cool on trays for 5 minutes, then peel off and place on a wire rack. The mixture should make about 12 -15 large macarons, and about 25 smaller macarons. Macarons keep really well (up to 5 days in the fridge) and some say that the longer they are refrigerated, the more the flavour is likely to develop. Macarons taste best when they are stored in the fridge, then brought down to room temperature to eat.

Salt and Vinegar Ganache: (page 39 in Zumbo’s cookbook – I have halved the recipe from the book)

75g thickened cream
125g good quality white chocolate, chopped or broken up
30g balsamic vinegar
Sea salt, about 1/2 tsp

Place chocolate in a bowl. Place the cream in a saucepan over a medium heat until it comes to the boil. Pour hot cream over chocolate and set aside for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Stir in balsamic vinegar and fold in salt. Cool in fridge until firm enough to pipe.

Assembly:

Pair up identical macaron shells. Fit a medium sized piping bag with a round nozzle, and fill with the ganache. Pipe about half a teaspoon of ganache on a shell, and sandwich with the other half.

Don’t be afraid to try some new flavours, you will be surprised at what random flavour combinations will work! (Eg. Salt and Vinegar and White Choc!) X

Our Date with Adriano Zumbo at Fenix Restaurant

Posted by whiskitforabiscuit

I was lucky enough to receive a ticket to ‘High Tea with Adriano Zumbo’ for my birthday from a close friend, and what a great day it was! This event was held as part of the 2012 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, at Fenix Restaurant and Events, which is owned by Masterchef Australia’s Gary Mehigan.

The highlight of the afternoon was of course the delectable treats we got to sample from Adriano Zumbo, and meeting the King of the Macaron himself. There were many options on offer, including ‘Zumbarons’, Decorated Chocolate Fondant, Citrus Tarts, Chocolate Marshmallow Tart and an array of savoury pies and sausage rolls. I think I tried all of these things :O

My favourite Zumbaron was definitely the Cola one! It was really buttery but still tasted of Cola – so weird, yet so good. The Salted Butter Caramel was also amazing, but who doesn’t love Salted Caramel?!

Zumbo also did a demonstration making vanilla custard macarons, then he deep fried them! So weird. He is a very shy person, but he was really happy to answer anyone’s questions, and talked us all through the processes of creating the humble Macaron. One thing I learnt was that whilst the Italian meringue method is best used for making sweet macaron flavours, when attempting to make a less sweet version or even a savoury flavour, the Swiss meringue method is the best to use. His reason for this is that there is simply less sugar in Swiss meringue. I have never tried making Swiss meringue before, and it sounds a bit tricky. You apparently need to heat the egg whites in a waterbath until they reach a certain temp, then beat them back down to room temperature to create the meringue. Sounds complicated…

We had a great day at Fenix, and tasted some amazing sweets! It was awesome to meet Zumbo, he was happy to have a conversation with everyone there and to pose for photos…AND…contain your excitement fellow Melbournians…!!! We should expect an Adriano Zumbo store, possibly in Fitzroy or South Yarra, by the end of the year!!! Yessssssssssssssss 😀

Welcome to whiskitforabiscuit!

Posted by whiskitforabiscuit

Welcome to whiskitforabiscuit!

I’m Gemma. I’m 21, born and raised in beautiful Melbourne, and am currently a full-time student at university. More importantly, these days my life seems to be focused around macarons. And other tasty treats alike. But mainly macarons. I have spent many, many hours attempting to perfect the fiddly french delights, and as a result have subjected my family and friends to a diet of almond meal, icing sugar, buttercream and ganache. Poor things!

So, I hope you enjoy the beginnings of my blog. I’ve never done this before so bear with me while I figure this whole new world of blogging out!

Gem x

whiskitforabiscuit

it's worth the whisk…

Zumbo Inspired

Lavender and Blueberry Macarons

Redskin Macarons

Cinnamon Donut Macarons

Toasted Marshmallow Macarons

Salted Butter Popcorn Macarons

Best of 2012!

Choc-Mint Candy Cane Macarons

Salt and Vinegar Macarons

Our Date with Adriano Zumbo at Fenix Restaurant

Welcome to whiskitforabiscuit!

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