Parisian Macarons

Parisian macarons... as opposed to macaroons, have given me baking grief since I first ever tried to make them. The very first batch (from a Martha Stewart recipe) turned out good, but never again. No matter which recipe, which method, which six magical steps I followed (let them dry, old egg whites, bake with oven door propped open, recite incantation.. etc.) nothing worked.

Successful (but not neatly-filled) Swiss Meringue Macarons

Cream Puffs and Eclairs for Mother's Day (and brownies too)

Having recently learned how to make Pâte à Choux I thought I'd give my Mum some freshly made cream puffs and eclairs for Mother's Day. Also made a batch of brownies in the as-seen-on-tv brownie pan that my Mum gave to me a while ago.

The pâte à choux recipe is one that I learned in a croquembouche making class that I took at the Bonnie Gordon School of Confectionery Arts just last week. Much easier than I ever thought. Takes a little planning and some time commitment, but the results are well worth it.

Croquembouche = crunch in the mouth

Maple Mousse in Maple Pecan Bacon Cupcake Cups

THE DARING BAKERS’ APRIL 2011 CHALLENGE: MAPLE MOUSSE SERVED IN AN EDIBLE CONTAINER

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com! of the blog

Maple mousse? Hmmmm maple is not one of my favourite things, thought that might actually be sacrilege to say that as a card-carrying Canadian. However, all my guys are fond of the stuff so I was pretty sure it would get eaten. I quite like the concept of the 'chowder in a bread bowl' and thought I could adapt that here. So, the Maple Pecan Bacon cupcake cup was created.

Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes

Yes, Peanut Butter Cookies in the form of cupcakes. Sweet, peanut-buttery tasting with a lovely creamy frosting.

The white marks are from icing sugar left over from the fork used to make the cross-hatch design (intended to make them look for cookie-ish).

The basic recipe is from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book but I recommend a couple of slight changes.

Banana Ice Cream

When I started making ice cream a couple of years ago, it never occurred to me that one of the most intense flavours would be one of the easiest to make. Not only that, there are always at least three very freckly bananas sitting in the fruit bowl crying out for attention.

I love banana stuff.....way more than actual plain bananas. Something about touching the peel bugs me. Anyway, artificial banana flavour is absolutely horrible and I tend to avoid most banana flavoured stuff unless i know it's pure banana.

Slow-Carb Southwestern Chicken Soup

Not everything is about cake, and sadly while 'slow-carb'ing it, there is very little cake!

I came up with this soup recipe in an attempt to put together several ingredients that are relatively 'slow-carb' okay.  The only thing in this soup that is not okay are the corn niblets, but they are such a key ingredient (in my opinion) I chose to put them in. It's a very small amount so I decided to just let it go.

I usually always have fresh cilantro in the fridge, you may not. I do suggest that you grab a bunch and use it in this recipe. Cilantro is generally one of those things that you either love or hate. 

Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

THE DARING BAKERS’ MARCH, 2011 CHALLENGE: YEASTED MERINGUE COFFEE CAKE

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

I made the sweet version provided by Jamie and have only included that recipe here. It was very nice, more bready than coffee-cakey though. I think this dough would be great for cinnamon buns too. 

They guys all liked this, of course dog #2 liked it as well as she stole the 2nd one off the counter when I was distracted. Managed to wrestle it away from her with minimal damage. (Note.. damage to bread, not dog.. all I had to do was say her name sternly and she slinked away in shame.

Dog #2 - The Bread Thief

However, this will happen again and again whenever bread-like products are left within the reach of bread-loving standard poodle. In this house, bread must be protected!