The initial seed for this macaron sandwich had a rather esteemed pedigree. It was while I was interviewing Adriano Zumbo that he mentioned watching Ferran Adria speak of making a strawberry shaped item made of something else entirely. And because Zumbo is know for his gorgeous macarons my mind wanders to macarons when talking with or about him.
I wanted to do a macaron strawberry that looked kind of like a strawberry. The only issue is that I have an issue with the Wilton colouring gels that I purchased. The colours fade, and badly at that, so I tend to resort to using liquids if I want a bright red colour. So I was only able to add a certain amount of liquid before stopping, worrying that I would affect the texture of the macaron. This week was also the week of horrifically hot weather so my mind was muddled when I made these macarons and I accidentally mixed in the icing sugar to the egg white mixture. It didn’t quite beat as glossy stuff as it would have and I think this is why I didn’t get the “foot” on the base. However taste wise, these are gorgeous.
Like all divas, it’s a little bit of trouble, the entire thing can’t be assembled too far ahead of time as the mousse will make the macaron too wet. Also affixing the black sesame seeds as “pips” might be frustrating unless you try and convince yourself that it’s an adult’s version of the game “Operation” where a steady hand is paramount.
Strawberry season is nearing an end here, as witnessed by some truly woeful looking strawberries on offer. But I picked through 3 punnets in order to get some decent looking specimens. You could of course make these in a heart shape for a special romantic dinner or anniversary, although as a strawberry it does evoke a similar reaction of lust. This is fiddly, but it is deliriously light and melt in the mouth. The white chocolate mousse is the perfect foil for the sweet macaron.
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| February 24th, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella
I have to confess something, I cheated on this Valentines Day. Not in any matrimonial sense, but in a cooking sense. I used the same macaron batter mix for these Strawberry and Red peppercorn macarons as I did for another macaron recipe. Given the high temperatures I couldn’t bear to do much baking and I thought that killing two birds (or in this case dishes) with the one mix would do.
We don’t do anything particularly huge for Valentines Day as our wedding anniversary is only a couple of weeks afterwards. This year we’re celebrating by going to New Zealand’s South Island (if anyone has any tips on the South Island I’d love to hear them). Still we felt the need to celebrate it in some way so what better way than with food. Sure, Valentines Day is, like weddings, pretty much for the girl in the relationship. I had a debate with my husband about Valentines Day – he asked what we were doing and I reeled off a list of girly themed things including movies, food and perhaps a picnic, weather permitting. He asked why there weren’t any guy things scheduled and, exasperated I reiterated that Valentines Day is really a female thing. That’s why things are shaped like hearts, not power tools.
However Men, at the very least, if you whipped these up, you would score some major points with the woman in your life and for many men, that’s about as romantic a notion as you would get. I have to say though that for all of his bloke-isms, my husband is a romantic where it counts. My engagement ring was one thing that I was thrilled and surprised by. We were never the couple that people would have pictured together, yet somehow it works. And another unlikely pair that is said to go well together is strawberries and peppercorns and for this occasion what better shade of pepper to use than pink peppercorns.
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| February 14th, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella
My friend M is a neverfail cook. By that I mean that everything that she cooks is fantastic. Without exception. But in the time I’ve known her, I’ve never seen her make a cake. When she mentioned that she would be making an Austrian cake for Australia Day I knew it would be good (duh!) but I was excited to learn that this was her family’s recipe and a genuine Austrian cake as well. I think I actually rubbed my hands together in sheer happiness and bounced up and down on my Swiss Ball.
It’s an Austrian cake rich with a whipped cream buttercream and sponge fingers, much like a Tiramisu without the coffee flavour. She is proud of the fact that it is a standalone cake too so that the skill of the cakemaker is evident in ensuring that the structure has integrity and evenness. These Austrians are a precise bunch 
She even took photos of the assembly process from the day before so I would have step by step instructions. What a great friend!
Made over two days so that the sponge fingers soften, it is flavoured with rum and topped with a stiff sweetened whipped cream and strawberries and it quite a sight to behold. It’s a cake designed to impress, in fact it was a special occasion cake made just for birthdays in the Baer household. Thanks to M for sharing her cake recipe with me and all of my readers and for giving me a slice of heaven on a plate.
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| February 4th, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella
I was really excited about this month’s Daring Bakers challenge…Tuiles, those delicate buttery thin crispy biscuits (ones that caused me so much drama when I was making the Gordon Ramsay RHR dessert). I was excited as I had a clear idea as to what I wanted to make and how I wanted to style it so when it came to the Australia Day weekend coming up in which we would eat it, my excitement grew. For those of you that read this blog, first of all thankyou for doing so and secondly, you would also know that I have a leaning towards desserts and sweets. This is mainly because I can use a colour palette that I like more with pinks and all sorts of pastels so it’s probably a surprise that when give a choice of sweet or savoury, I’ve chosen savoury.
The reason why I wanted to do a savoury tuile was that I wanted to pair this with Taramasalata, that deliciously creamy Greek caviar dip in a delicate pink hue. I liked the idea that people may have thought that this was a sweet item but once they tried it, they’d know it was savoury. I was also taken with how it would look, almost like a Paul & Joe Powder container I had many moons ago and how I’d love to sit that on my makeup table as it looked so gloriously art deco and pretty. Hence the jewelry and other dressing table acoutrements that feature in the images.
I don’t like buying new equipment for just one use as my cupboards are already bursting to full but when I saw some Tuile Silpats on sale I eagerly snatched them up. It occurred as serendipity often does, I saw them a few days after I read the recipe so I was grateful for the help as I was needing all the reinforcements after having a hard time with the December Ispahan Yule Log challenge. I needn’t have worried, the tuiles themselves are incredibly easy and the recipe is very straightforward which I was very relieved to see. The only thing that may pose a challenge is shaping them. Also, it was 31C the day that I made them. There I was, standing in front of the very hot 200C oven in a bikini and apron and I felt like I was melting but madness spurred me on. I don’t think I’m the only person that bakes in a bikini-or am I?
This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They chose Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux and Savoury Tuiles from Thomas Keller “The French Laundry Cookbook”.
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| January 29th, 2009 by Not Quite Nigella
Springtime is the time for weddings and this being the last month of Spring, I do realise that I’m a little late to offer up any suggestions for wedding favours or bombonierre for a special touch for a bride so please excuse my tardiness-let’s call it fashionably late if you will.
This is Bride’s Honey or Miel de la Mariée, prepared in Moroccan custom for engagements and weddings where guests are offered honey before the wedding. Honey plays a significant part in many cultures during weddings, its innate sweetness and seductiveness is not lost on many. It is a common sign of fruitfulness and fertility and along with Moroccan culture, Jewish, Croation, Balkan, Indian and German cultures also use honey in their rituals.The history is long with ancient Babylonian families including a standard 32-pound gift of honey in bridal dowries.
If you didn’t know about the origins of the word Honeymoon, one of the most often repeated stories is one where mead, which is a mixture of honey and water, was drunk before the Champagne toast. Also after the wedding a married couple were said to drink a cup of mead every night for one month. As time was recorded by the cycles of the moon, this period became known as the “honeymoon”. Whether this is truly the origin of the word is unclear but it’s great folklore nevertheless.
Taking this further, you could offer this in little pots to give as bombonierre (although honey is not offered during the ceremony in Moroccan custom as it is reserved for the cult of the dead and is associated with death in Egyptian and Russian culture). But the idea of a flavoured honey is no doubt a sweet, yet practical notion. Guests can use the honey with their tea and think of the bride and groom. This spiced honey imparts a Chai like spice to the tea. I love it so much that I’ve made it over and over again (it’s fantastic on toast with peanut butter, over natural yogurt and in cakes). I confess I’ve even microwaved it successfully on very low heat (30% of the power) for 2-3 minutes when I was feeling particularly lazy.
Almonds are the usual accompaniment with the Bride’s Honey and in the styling I’ve taken a few cross cultural liberties and used some Greek sugared almonds which are traditionally given as bombonierre. The heart shaped tea strainer shown was actually the wedding favour that we gave our wedding guests (and yes I spent hours tying the personalised ribbon just so so that our names and the dates would show correctly). I wanted people to think back to our wedding with some fond memories at a time where they would be cherishing a cup of sweet tea.
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| November 21st, 2008 by Not Quite Nigella
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