Desserts Collection: Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache (with Chocolate Macaron)

One of my friends at work will be celebrating her 40th birthday next week and had requested a chocolate and peanut butter macaron as chocolate and peanut butter is some of her top favourite food.  Had leftover chocolate macaron shells from the last time I made them stored in the freezer.  Thought this weekend, I might experiment a chocolate peanut butter filling.   Did not want to make it too complicated or sophisticated hence, this filling has only three ingredients.  The result was good and yummy of course!  Have a try...recipe as follows:

Ingredients:
(Can fill approximately 30-40 pair of macarons)
125 g of dark chocolate/chocolate chips
100 ml of thickened cream
1 tablespoonful of crunchy peanut butter (u can add more if u like)

Method:
1) Place the chocolate in a bowl.  In a small saucepan, heat the thickened cream till it boils and pour them over the chocolate.  Use a spatula and stir them till it melts.  (If u have problems melting the chocolate entirely, place the bowl with the chocolate on top of a small pot filled with hot water and placed on the stove.  This will ensure that the chocolate melts entirely.  Do not place the chocolate and cream in another pot and on the stove as this will destroy the mixture)

2) Mix in the peanut butter with the chocolate and cream mixture and stir until melt.  Let cool for about 10 minutes and pour mixture into piping bag and place in freezer for about 10-15 minutes till it has slightly harden (but not too hard as it would be a problem then to pipe them out).

3) The ganache is then ready to be pipe on to the macaron shells.  Enjoy!

Desserts Collection: Chocolate Macaron (with peanut butter filling!)

Am macaron crazy and it is not because of masterchef!  First time I saw this cute little pastries was when I was in Paris about 5 years or so ago.  Just fell in love with the look of it.  About a year ago, I bump into recipes on some blogs and started trying to make them and the first time I would say was a huge disaster, turn out like cats tongue, and 10 tries later, it did not get any better!!  It really does affect me psychologically when every single try ended up in the bin as the look of it turns me off.  I had looked up tons of recipes and even bought books on it but it did not help much as one I could not get a nice looking "feet" (the little bubbles on the base which is called pied) and if I am lucky enough to get any "feet", it would not come off clean from the baking paper.  Finally I decided to attend a one day course just on macaron making and Viola, it worked and I was ecstatic the first time I tried it out as every single one came out perfectly.  However, Chocolate macarons I reckon is the hardest to make and am not quite sure what is the reason, think it must have to do with the cocoa powder.  Funnily, it does not burn as easily as the other macarons I have made which I need to pop a tin foil paper after a certain time to prevent the sides from burning.  To get a perfect macaron, one need to try and test all the time as I think it really is dependent on the type and make of oven you have. Below is the recipe - happy trying them out.  The outcome is always such a joy...soooo cute!

Ingredients:
(Yield about 20-25 macaron pairs)
125 g almond meal
125 g pure icing sugar
100 g egg whites (at room temperature)
A pinch of cream of tartar
100 g caster sugar
13 g icing sugar
13 g pure cocoa powder
Red food coloring (Queen brand, the rainbow food color range.)
Crunchy peanut butter for filling
note:  Egg whites should be separated a day before and left in container, covered at room temperature

Method:
1) Line baking paper onto baking sheets and ensure it fits perfectly.  Using a round tube (size 13 or rounds of approximately 2-3 cm in diameter), draw circles on the baking paper.  (note: You can skip this if u are an expert at piping but doing this ensures u get consistent size of macarons!)

2) Place the almond meal and icing sugar (1st 2 ingredients) in the food processor and whiz until the almond meal is quite fine.

3) Sieve the whizzed almond meal and icing sugar into a bowl (all has to pass through the sieve, if u are not able to sieve them entirely, it is most likely due to the almond meal not whiz to a fine consistency)

4) Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa (last 2 ingredients) powder into another bowl.

5) Place the egg whites and a pinch of cream of tartar in a mixer and whisk until foamy.  Slowly add the caster sugar (in 2 to 3 batches) and continue whisking until sugar dissolves and egg whites at stiff peak form.

6) Add a couple drops (around 5-6) of red food coloring to stiff egg whites and continue whisking until color is incorporated.

7) Pour stiff egg whites into another bowl and in 3 batches, slowly pour the whiz almond meal and icing sugar mixture into stiff egg whites and using a spatula, slowly stir until incorporated (note: ensure that at each addition, it is stir until incorporated before adding on another batch, also do not over stir.  Stir until it is just incorporated)
8) Pour in the cocoa and icing sugar mixture and stir until just incorporated.

9) With a scraper, knead the mixture until smooth and shiny.  (This is the tricky bit - best is to use a scraper and flatten out the mixture around the bowl and at the same time turn the bowl around.  Do this around 30-40 times.  With one finger tip, take a bit of mixture out and if the mixture stands on your finger tip like an upside down letter V, then the mixture is ready!)

10) Place mixture in a piping bag and pipe them onto the baking paper circles (note:  mixture should look flat, if u see bubbles or mixture does not seem round and smooth, tap tray lightly on the bench to even mixture out) and let stand until the top dries around 30 minutes, could be longer depending on the weather (u know it is ready when u touch the top and there is no mixture sticking to your finger!  I usually have the heater on in the room to quicken the drying process!)

11) Preheat oven to 150C, place an empty baking sheet into the oven (u need this as the tray with the piped out mixture will be placed onto this sheet, meaning it will be double stacked.)

12) Once the mixture is dried (step 10), place them in the oven for approximately 30 minutes (note: to prevent them from burning, after approximately 8-10 minutes in the oven, place a tin foil paper on top of the macaron.)

13) Once out from the oven, let cool completely before taking them off the baking paper.  Spread peanut butter onto a macaron shell and sandwich it with another shell.  (Note:  U can either freeze the shell with filling or without filling.  It can be kept in the freezer for approximately 2 weeks in an airtight container.  I find that freezing it without the filling ensures that the shell stays crispy for a longer time!)  Enjoy!

Desserts Collection: Almond Tart (no pie crust needed!)

I am happiest come weekend and with no plans in store as this means I can spent endless time in the kitchen experimenting new recipes:) Came across this recipe in the August 2010 issue of Delicious Magazine. Looks simple (a tart with no pie crust needed?!) and very delicious but the only problem I have got is from the recipe method, seem one have to use a food processor to mix the ingredients and a fairly large one to fit them all in. The food processor I have got will not be able to fit the amount of required ingredients and I did not want to reduce the amount to half or mix the ingredients in 2 batches. I also did not want to run out to buy another food processor just to make it BUT i álso did not want to give up NOT making it. I analyze the recipe (yup, I know that sounds crazy but i tend to do that quite a lot to imagine the process and the outcome of it! lol) and thought, maybe I should use my mixer with the dough hooks, I was imagining it will be the same effect considering the texture will be quite similar to a dough...and Viola, it worked...the Original recipe serves it with Drunken Strawberries but considering the amount of sugar it has, I decided to try serving them with plain frozen raspberries that I have in my freezer and I must say, that created a balance of sweet and sour which was perfect! Recipe for tart as follows..ENJOY! (Warning - this is very yummy as I had 2 servings at one go!)

(Original Recipe from August 2010 issue of Australia 'Delicious' Magazine by Belinda Jeffery, slightly modified)

Ingredients:

1 cup (220 g) caster sugar
7 egg yolks (put 6 in a bowl and 1 in another bowl)
3/4 tsp almond essence
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup (50 g) plain flour
200 g almond meal
225 g chilled unsalted butter, chopped
Frozen Raspberries to serve

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 190C. Grease a 25cm loose-bottomed tart pan and line base with greased baking paper. (I did not do that, but I believe its to absorb the butter that melts)

2) In a bowl, whisk 6 egg yolks with almond and vanilla essence. Place flour, almond meal and sugar in a food processor and whiz until combined (note: As mentioned above, if you do not have a decent size food processor that can fit the amount of ingredients, a mixer fitted with dough hooks works well too, just make sure u have it at a low speed and only increase speed slowly or ingredients will end up splashing all over!). With the motor running, pour in yolk mixture and whiz until it forms a paste. Add butter and whiz again, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides, until thick and creamy. (Don't over process or it will be too soft) (Note: if using mixer with dough hooks, u might see some butter pieces that has not been incorporated fully, that is still ok, as long as it has form a smooth paste, it will still work!)

3) Pour batter into the tart pan and level the surface with a palette knife. Chill for 5-10 minutes until the top is slightly firm. Beat remaining yolk and brush over the chilled tart. Chill for a further 5 minutes. Use a fork to mark long squiggles on top of tart.

4) Place on baking tray (note: this is important as the butter will melt and drip down the tart pan) and bake for 12 minutes. Reduce heat to 160C. Bake for a further 20-30 minutes until golden and just set on top when lightly pressed. Cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely. Serve tart with raspberries (and cream if u like)...enjoy!

Desserts Collection: Mocha eclairs

Since the end of Australia Masterchef season 2, it has been a task trying to occupy my time each night after work.  The 3.5 months when masterchef was on, I would come home from work and quickly organize dinner, have a shower and plop on the sofa by 7:30pm ready for masterchef.  Has been almost a month since the finale and I am slowly getting back to my normal routine which is spending time in my favourite spot at home which is my kitchen:)  If I am not at work, I believe I could spent the whole day at the kitchen trying out different recipes and not feel tired at all by it.  Cooking to me is a stress reliever, once I start out in the kitchen, I feel that I am in a totally different world, all other thoughts on my mind just floats away and my mind is fully focus on churning out a kitchen "masterpiece"!  Saw the picture of the mocha eclairs on July 2010 Gourmet Traveller magazine and can't wait to try the recipe.  The recipe seem long (personally, I don't fancy long recipes) but once I got into it, just seem to flow by itself.  One of very few recipes that I tried that one don't need to be entirely organize yet able to achieve the desired results:)  I rarely order eclairs when eating out but this seem so appealing and it was hard to resist:)  Below is the recipe, have fun with them.
(Recipe from Australian Gourmet Traveller July 2010 Magazine)
Prep time 20 minutes, cook 30 minutes (plus cooling, setting)
Makes about 18
Ingredients:
100 gm butter, coasely chopped
150 gm (1 cup) plain flour, sieve
4 eggs, at room temperature

Mocha creme patissiere
260 ml milk
50 ml espresso coffee
3 egg yolks
100 gm caster sugar
20 gm plain flour, sieved
70 gm milk chocolate, finely chopped
160 ml thickened cream, whisked to soft peaks

Dark chocolate glaze
110 gm (1/2 cup) caster sugar
125 gm dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), finely chopped

Optional (my own add ons): Almond flakes

Method:
1)For mocha creme patissiere, bring milk and coffee to the boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Meanwhile, whisk yolks and sugar in a bowl to combine, then whisk in flour.  Add milk mixture, whisking continuosly until smooth, then return to pan.  Whisk over medium heat until thick and smooth (3-4 minutes), add chocolate, remove from heat and whisk to combine.  Transfer to a bowl, cover closely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, then fold through whipped cream and transfer to piping bag (no nozzle).  Refrigerate until required.

2)Preheat oven to 220C.  Combine butter and 250ml water in a saucepan, bring to the simmer over high heat and cook until butter is melted.  Add flour, beating vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan.  Remove from heat, cool for 5 minutes, then add eggs one at a time, beating well to combine after each addition.  Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 1.5 cm plain nozzle and pipe 8cm lengths on trays lined with baking paper.  Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven to 180C.  Prick base of pastries with tip of a small knife and bake until dry and light golden (5-10 minutes).  Transfer to a wire rack, ccool completely then halve horizontally with a bread knife.

3) For dark chocolate glaze, combine sugar and 60ml water in a small saucepan, stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, then cook until light caramel (8-10 minutes).  Remove from heat, add chocolate and 50ml water (be careful, hot caramel may spit), return to heat and stir until smooth.  Add another 50 ml water, stir to combine, then strain through a fine metal sieve into a heatproof bowl.  Keeping glaze warm over a saucepan of hot water, carefully dip eclair tops into glaze, shaking off excess, (optional: dip them into a bowl of almond flakes) and set aside on wire rack until set (10-15 minutes).

4) Pipe mocha creme patissiere over eclair bases, sandwich with tops and serve.