VANILLA MACARONS WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE AND STRAWBERRY FILLING

     It was a while ago I shared the first photos of our macarons and it took me some time to write the recipe. But good things take time and this is what I like to think about this recipe. An authentic macaron recipe in the sense that it uses a simple recipe for french meringue and no tricky ingredients. If you feel like treating your guests or...yourself then this is the recipe for it. 

    Macarons are often used to describe French pastry. They were always served in french cafes and found in patisseries around Paris, but it's only the last 20 years or so that these french deserts have become the epitome of elegance when it comes to pastry art. The almond flavour makes the meringue based cookies taste less eggy and be enjoyed at big quantities. In Paris, you can find many different flavours depending on the season and...innovative ideas of the pastry chef. Whatever your taste may be with deserts, this is a must try if you want to explore the French cuisine the right way.

    If you look at the macarons we made, they look like they were taken out of Sofia Copolla's Marie Antoinette. Pastel colored cookies with a delicious, yet colorless, white chocolate and strawberry filling. The secret for success in the buttercream was the use of white chocolate powder in the flavour of strawberry from Whittard of Chelsea. We found out about this brand of teas and chocolate on our trip to Edinburgh and we were in love from day one. They have so much variety in hot chocolate that makes it tempting to try them all. For the recipe I would say if you cannot find a white chocolate powder with strawberry to simply use plain white chocolate.

Vanilla Macarons with White Chocolate and Strawberry Filling

Ingredients (for 15 macarons)

100g almond powder 

100g icing sugar

80gr egg whites

80gr crystal sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon rum extract

pink color

For the buttercream

150gr butter in room temperature

250gr icing sugar (shifted)

50gr white chocolate powder with strawberry from Whittard of Chelsea (link) or white chocolate powder of other brand

splash of milk

How do I make it?

1. Pulse together in a standing food processor the almond powder and icing sugar until combined. Don't overmix them, because you don't want to start forming a dough. Sift the mixture well in order to skip big lumps in your final batter later. Place the mixture in a large bowl.

2. Start with the french meringue. In the bowl of a standing mixer  (or regular bowl if you have a hand mixer) place the egg whites and start mixing in medium speed. Mix until the egg whites become bubbly and have doubled in size. Then start adding some of the crystal sugar in small doses and increasing the speed of the mixer each time. Continue mixing for about 5 minutes until you end up with a very white and shining meringue that holds itself on the spatula when you pick it up.

3. Right here you can add the vanilla and rum extract and mix one final time. Also, add some pink coloring according to the instructions. A tip for you is to use either gel or powder coloring and not liquid. 

4. Now it's time to incorporate the meringue into the almond & sugar mixture from step 1. Little by little with a wooden spatula add some meringue to the almond mixture and very slowly start mixing with the spatula. This is an important step, because if you mix too quickly or too roughly the meringue will lose the air  that was created during mixing at step 2 and your macarons will become flat. When you have added all the meringue in the almond mixture you will have a fluffy and airy dough.

5. Take a large pan and place a baking sheet. Transfer half of the quantity of the macaron dough into a piping bag. Once you have the quantity you want in the bag, twist around the end of the bag  to secure it. This way your dough won't fall of the bag when you put pressure . Cut the tip of the bag and get ready to start forming some macarons. Keep the bag vertically to the pan and squeeze the dough until you have a round shape that is about 4 cm diameter and twist at the top to create a nice surface and stop your bag from continuing excreting dough.

6. Take the pan in your hands and tap it into a firm surface of your kitchen. This will help the tops of the macarons to flatten and give you a nice flat surface when baked. Leave the pan into a cool area for at least 1 hour before baking.

7. While you're waiting, you can make the buttercream. Place the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer and start mixing in medium speed. Mix well (about 2 minutes) until you get a fluffy appearance and rather white. Start incorporating the icing sugar little by little and increasing the speed gradually. Also, start adding the white chocolate in the mixture. Stop at times to scrape the sides of the bowl that haven't been mixed. Continue mixing until everything is together and you have a fluffy and rather stiff buttercream. Add a splash of milk if it has become too stiff and not fluffy enough. Then place the buttercream in a piping bag and using similar technique as described in step 5. Place the bag with the buttercream in the fridge.

8. Heat your oven to 150 C. Take the pan of macarons and place it in the oven. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, depending on your oven. What I do with macarons is after 12 minutes have passed, I check them by trying to lift one slightly with a not sharp knife. If the macaron cannot be lifted and the dough sticks in to the baking sheet, then your macarons need about 2 to 3 more minutes.

9. When your macarons are ready, take them outside of the oven and let them cool completely (for about an hour). About 10 minutes before starting to fill the macarons, take the piping bag with the buttercream outside of the ridge. When you're ready to start take one macaron (bottom) in your hands, fill it with some buttercream (not too much) and then place another macaron on top (top). Practice a little bit with the quantity of buttercream you put into your macarons. You will see in the photos that some of my macarons have more filling than the others. 

STRAWBERRY CHARLOTTE

     Happy May! My favourite month of Spring is here. It's the time when the weather starts getting warmer and it almost feels like summer is here, but not really. Also, the month where all my allergies hit (end of April to be precise) and when fruit like strawberries are in season. Running around my neighbourhood yesterday I admired some of the flowers on my way and explored different paths of the forest next to my house. I live in a small town or village (dorf) 15 minutes outside of Zurich and I feel that everything is slower and calmer here. There is a big forest here where I go whenever I want to connect with nature or simply a quiet place to think. You can hear only the singing of birds and the breeze from the wind that it instantly calms you down.

     My friends know me as this romantic girl that always thinks of Paris and lives in her bubble. Which I have to admit is true. I'm more of an idealist, if not romantic, in the sense that I believe in values and ideas that shape the world we live in. I also believe in cake! Cake can bring people together, can lighten up your mood and can bring out the creative mind you have. Experimenting is something I like to do, with some caution. When I saw a video in youtube of a french girl preparing a strawberry charlotte, I knew this was my next recipe to make. 

     This dessert is so elegant, like a French woman sipping on her café au lait, while she's reading french poetry and fixing her lipstick. As most french desserts, this is a tough one. There are different versions, but the classic one is made using savoiardi cookies (lady fingers) and a strawberry custard cream. If you like desserts with berries, then this is a good choice for you. It is light, fruity and very creamy. 

     The most difficult part of this dessert is placing the lady fingers around the cake pan that you will use. I suggest you use a small pan , if you have one. I used the normal one I use also for cakes, but this meant more lady fingers I had to make stand tall and not collapse. But in the end I was rewarded with a beautiful and tasty dessert that looked amazing.

Strawberry Charlotte

ingredients

15 to 25 savoiardi cookies (more or less depending on the size of your pan)

400ml heavy cream (at least 35%)

500gr fresh strawberries

4 gelatin leaves

5 tablespoons icing sugar (powdered)

1 tablespoon strawberry liqueur or amaretto

topping

250ml whipped cream

berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)

how do I make it?

1. First step, fill a bowl with cold water and place the gelatin leaves inside and let aside. Wash your strawberries really well and then keep 8 that are firm for later. Cut the rest in half, while taking their top off as well, and put them in a food processor. Pulse in high speed until you get a juicy pulp from the strawberries.

2. Pour half of the strawberry pulp in a small pot and heat over medium fire. Put the other half pulp in a bowl for later Take the gelatin leaves from the water with your hands and squeeze the water out of them. Then, put them in the heated pot and mix with a spoon to get them completely liquid. After 2 minutes take the pot out of the heat and pour the pulp into the bowl with the other pulp (which is cold) and mix very well.

3. In a big bowl pour inside the heavy cream and the icing sugar and beat in high speed until you get a whipped cream. By then, soft peaks will have appeared in your mixture and the whipped cream should be light and airy. Save four tablespoons of the strawberry pulp in a bowl for later and pour in a tablespoon of liquer.

4. Start adding the remaining strawberry pulp into the bowl with the whipped cream little by little. Use a rubber spatula to very slowly mix everything together. You don't want to make rough or quick moves as the whipped cream will loose its air and you will end up with a flat mixture in your cake. 

5. Assembly of the savoiardi begins! For this you can use a medium to small round pan with removable sides, as it will be easier to put the cookies, but you will get a smaller dessert. Your choice! Start by taking a cookie and dipping it in the bowl (from the bottom side) with the strawberry and liquer. Place the first cookie completely standing tall on the side of the pan if you can or let it have an angle for the beginning and you fix it later when you get cookies at the bottom as well. Repeat the dipping and placement of the next cookie right next to where you places the other and continue repeating the step until you have covered the sides of the pan. Then do the same with the bottom of the cake, placing the cookies laying down until you cover the whole bottom as well. Now is the time if your savoiardi at the sides are not standing completely tall to fix them by adjusting the savoiardi at the bottom. It sounds pretty difficult, but it is totally worth it. You want your cookies at the sides to be touching each other and almost squeezing. If you have a void between them then you won't be able to transfer the cake to a plate later and perhaps won't get a stable cake.

6. When the placement of cookies is complete, cut the 8 strawberries you kept in step one and add them into the strawberry cream you made in step 4. Then, pour the cream into the bottom of the pan making sure it covers the sides. Then, in a large bowl again beat 250ml of heavy cream into whipped cream again and pour it on top. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours before serving. When you want to serve you can decorate the charlotte with more berries on top!

FRENCH TARTE TATIN (APPLE TART)

      How quickly time passes us? Not long ago, I was talking to my friends in Greece and planning what we're going to do during Christmas time in Athens, and now it's only 4 weeks until I go back for Christmas time. The best time of the year (after summer)! It just feels so cozy, so warm and so comforting being with friends and family. Your mum still treats you like a baby (although you are 28), your grandmother is thrilled to see you again (who treats you like you're a newborn and in need of attention). Everyone is happy, everyone is eating holiday cookies and all is jolly.

     Not so quickly...there are people that this year and maybe the previous as well, didn't have the chance to experience all this joyous time. I am talking about people that have lost their home due to some sort of devastating incident (recently a lot of people in Athens lost their homes due to floods) or other are all alone in this world. With this thought, I would like to say that instead of buying expensive things this holiday, and with Black Friday yesterday, give your money to help these people that need us. 

     On another note, I had an unending want the previous week to do something with all these apples I had at home. First thought was to make a simple apple tart or a pie, you call it how you want. But then I felt like challenging myself and decided to have a go at a tarte tatin, the french delicate reversed tart. The French love it and I have to give it to them, they are masters when it comes to tarts. And this reversed tart is no different. If you like experimenting and aren't afraid to make a mess in the kitchen, this one is for you.

     My boyfriend loved it, he said that it was better than he expected it to be and the apple slices were perfectly cooked. What I found was a bit strange is that around the internet everyone was doing it quite differently. For example, some would cook the apples while cooking the butter with sugar. Others (like this recipe), first cooked the butter with sugar to make a buttery sauce and then they would put the apple slices on top and cook immediately in the oven. I think this works the best, especially if you don't handle well the heat and aren't experienced in cooking sugar.

Classic French Tarte Tatin

ingredients (for 6 to 8 persons)

500gr pate brisée (buttery dough)

3 to 4 apples

150gr butter (cut in pieces)

170gr sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

how do I make it?

1. In a large pan pour the sugar and start heating it on medium heat. You will need to stir quite often in the beginning so that the sugar doesn't stick on the pan. You want the sugar to caramelise and become a golden liquid. This takes a few minutes. When the sugar has melted completely take off the heat. After a few seconds, pour in the butter and vanilla and start stirring quickly to combine the butter with the sugar syrup. Be quick, otherwise you might create a sticky mess on the pan. There should be a thick sauce on the pan, like a thickened syrup. 

2. Using a medium pan for the oven or a pan for tarts, pour inside the buttery sauce you have created in the previous step. Then, take your apples and start peeling them off. Cut in half and take out the cores. Try to cut them in thin slices (not too thin) and start placing them on top of the sauce on the pan. I tried to do it in a circling motion, placing every slice next to each other. You should have at least two layers of apple slices. If you wish to have more apples, it's up to you. I used 3 apples for 2 layers of slices.

3. When you are done, take your dough and on a clean surface try to shape it into a round shape. It should be about 1cm thick, but don't overstress about this. Just make sure it's not super thick. Once done, place the dough on top of the apple slices. If the dough exceeds the barriers of the pan, just use a knife to cut the exceeding dough. With your hands, press the dough at the sides of the pan, so that when the tart is baking there won't be juices coming from the sides.

4. Place your pan in the oven and bake for up to 40 minutes at 180C or until the dough is golden brown. Take out of the oven and let it cool for up to 10 minutes. When you wish to eat it, simply use a large plate, put on top of the pan and very carefully try to reverse the pan, so that the dough is on top of the plate. Be very careful with this step. You can sprinkle some powdered sugar on top if you want.