Sunday, October 9, 2011

Pumpkin Pie Spice Macarons with Caramel, Sea Salt, and Choclate Ganache

It has been awhile, I know! I actually took quite a break from baking during the getting ready for the wedding, and the post-wedding, then got back into it. I took lots of pictures on my phone to update this blog...and then didn't back them up and my phone broke! Ooops! So we jump back in, with a NON-CUPCAKE recipe. Crazy, I know!

Pumpkin Pie Spice Macarons with Caramel, Sea Salt, and Choclate Ganache

Ingredients

100 grams egg whites (about 3 egg whites)
It really pays to measure exactly!
35 grams granulated sugar
200 grams sifted powdered sugar (I didn't sift, it seemed to be okay)
120 grams sifted almond meal (Again, I didn't sift!)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Caramel (I melted down some Werther's caramels, but you can make your own if you're ambitious!)
This was all I could find at WalMart!

Dark Chocolate Ganache (Heat 3 oz heavy whipping cream until just boiling, pour over 4 oz of chopped dark chocolate and stir until smooth. Refrigerate until solid enough to spread.)
Mix until the cream and chocolate are together.

I added a little cream to get the caramels to melt better.

The more you chop the chocolate, the less you have to stir!

Sea Salt (the recipe called for smoked sea salt, but I used regular.)

Directions

1. Beat the egg whites until they are frothy and white.
Go, go, Kitchenaide!

2. Add in the granulated sugar, and beat for 7 minutes. The meringue should stay in the bowl if you hold it upside down! Don't be afraid, just try it!
3. Fold in the dry ingredients. (You should have them all in a bowl, then add in little bits at a time, and mix together with a spatula) When you're done it should be thick and heavy, like porridge.
It should fall off your spoon in clumps.

4. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper, and the pipe the mixture onto the sheets in blobs about the size of a quarter. Leave space between them, they will flatten out some.
Waiting to be baked.

5. Let them sit for 20 minutes before baking.
6. Preheat the oven to 285 degrees.
7. Bake for 18 minutes, rotating halfway through.
That bottom ledge when they are done is called the foot.

8. Let them cool all the way before making the macaron sandwiches!
9. Spread the caramel on one macaron, add the sea salt. Put the ganache on another macaron, then press together into a sandwich!
Caramel and Sea Salt

Chocolate Ganache


**I had my macarons sliding all around. I would recommend letting the ganache and caramel be as cool as possible before making the sandwich, so they stick together the best.

A tasty macaron-which!

**Make these the day before you want to eat them, let them sit in the refrigerator overnight. The macaron absorbs moisture from the filling and you get a nice chewy inside!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Cherry Coke Cupcakes!!!

Cherry Coke Cupcake Recipe

These cupcakes were a huge hit! In fact, I think only the chocolate wine cupcakes I made last fall beat these out as my favorite yet! I wish I had made double the recipe...although my belly is happy I didn't, since it needs to fit into a wedding dress in less than two months!I got the basic recipe for these cupcakes from Cupcake Project.
The secret ingredient is coca cola extract, I bought the same Kool Kola extract as the original recipe, found ehre: http://homemadesodacompany.com/cola.aspx, but I think any extract used to make soda would work. In fact, I think I'm going to buy some sasparilla extract for my next cupcake adventure!
Yield: 11 cupcakes (true, a dozen would have been a nicer number, but the recipe didn't quite make 12)
  • 1 C cola (The original recipe used Whole Foods brand cola, I used Coke Zero.)
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 3/4 C sugar
  • 1/3 C canola oil
  • 2 tsp Kool Kola extract
  • 1 1/3 C flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 jar of maraschino cherries (the original recipe put 4 cherries in each cupcake, I put 4 in some, and 3 in some, because I only bought one jar and it wasn't quite enough for 44 cherries!)
  1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the soda and vinegar and let stand for a few minutes.
  2. Add in the sugar and oil, whisking vigorously until slightly frothy. (I whisked in the Kitchen-aid mixer!)
  3. Mix in the Kool Kola extract, flour, baking powder, and baking soda until just combined.
  4. Fill cupcake liners approximately 3/4 of the way to the top.
  5. Drop 4 cherries with stems removed into each cupcake (I put them in a square pattern).
  6. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back when lightly touched.

Coke Frosting
  • 4 oz cream cheese
  • 1/2 C unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 C powdered sugar (add more if you prefer a thicker frosting)
  • 1 tsp Kool Kola extract
  1. Beat cream cheese and butter.
  2. Slowly mix in powdered sugar until the mixture looks like frosting.
  3. Mix in extract.
  4. Spread or pipe on cooled cupcakes.
If you like a lot of frosting, you might want to double this recipe. It made just enough for me to pipe a light layer of frosting on each cupcake.