“A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in.”
Robert Orben
It’s been literally a mac-vacation for me, a vacation I dislike as it keeps me away from a challenge I love with a vengeance. I’m back on board to get in with the fun and beautiful Mac AttackJamie and I host each month. This time our call was for Vacation Macs … and how better could I get there with my mac-a-vacations … Macaron à la Peaches et Crème {pardon my French please}The flavours are reminiscent of one of the best vacations we enjoyed a few years ago in the Himalayas. We’ve had some other fabulous ones include Goa, Sydney, Hong Kong, Gangtok … but the one the ‘now threatening to be quite terrible just turned 13‘ teen remembers every single day is this one at Ramgarh. Nothing like the serenity of the Himalayas to unwind!
That vacation filled in perfectly with our call this month.Our best macarons reminiscent of that ideal vacation or that perfect holiday spot. Mountains, seaside, tiny hamlet lost in the countryside, large, bustling city teeming with restaurants and museums, these are our inspiration. With the best vacation that comes to mind, from that thought, memory or distant dream, create a fabulous Vacation Macaron!
We stayed at a beautiful heritage cottage surrounded by peach trees and since it was peak summer, we walked by peach trees plucking fresh, juicy fruit right off the tree. This is where my lad became a peach monster and developed a deep love for the fruit.Summer is for stone fruit is my chant. I just cannot have enough of these delicious fruit that are reaching us in the foothills of the Himalayas; better quality and quantity every year! This summer I have had a field day with stone fruit…… Apricot Peach Sorbet,Dark Chocolate Cherry Mousse Cake, Mini Quark Vanilla Cheesecakes with Balsamic Cherries, Black Forest Cake, Oatmeal Peach Apricot Mango Smoothie {yet to post}, Dark Chocolate Cherry Wholewheat Cakelets {yet to post} … and my fridge is full of cherries, peaches, mangoes and apricots!I have also been developing some food recipes for Del Monte for their website World Foody. The peach ice cream above is one I made last week from their canned peaches, beautiful cling peaches with a fabulous deep flavour. Will let you know when the recipe is up on the website; until then it’s Macaron à la Peaches et Crème!The macaron shells were going to be perfect, something deep within me said to me when I was done folding the macaronage.BUT … in my hurry to beat the power cut, I switched on the upper element instead of the lower one, so my feet popped out with the thermal shock and the skins developed a ‘peach‘ blush. It was too late to salvage the batch, and the little macronage left proved my feeling right! Aaaargh! And did I tell you that at 45C ice-cream melts SO FAST? I was RACING!I used the several times tried and tested David Lebovitz recipe that lives in my head. It never goes wrong if you mix the macronage correctly and let it rest! However, a little more advice follows …
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?
If you do, you are most welcome to join us for this challenge, or the next. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally post the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
… these cookies are fiddly creatures and are dependent on way too many things. egg whites {aged or not}, almond meal,oven temperature, room temperature, humidity levels, the hand that mixes them, the way you pipe them out … and above all, lady luck!
Before I get onto the recipe, I’d like to thank Chillibreeze for interviewing me. You can read it here if you like.I’d also like to thank the Financial Times, Times of India, for including me so generously in their feature ‘Gurgaon is Blogging & How‘ on Business Street, 21st June, 2012. Last but not the least, thank you Javelin Warrior for adding my Dark Chocolate Cherry Mousse Cake in your delicious Friday Food Fetish.
2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar {I used granulated vanilla sugar}
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 tsp egg white powder
1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder
Peach ice cream for filling
Method:
Run the powdered sugar, almond meal, vanilla bean powder and egg white powder in blender until well blended. Sift into a bowl.
Beat the egg white until foamy, then add the granulated sugar and beat for approximately 2 minutes until stiff peaks form.
Fold in 1/4 of the dry mix until no streaks remain, then add the remainder of the dry mix and gently fold in until you get a lava like batter. {Donot overfold}
Place into a piping bag and pipe circles onto parchment paper.
Tap the trays sharply to get rid of air bubbles and allow to rest for 30-45 minutes.
Bake in double trays at 140C for 12-15 minutes, until the shells are firm and no longer jiggly. {My oven uses just the lower element for baking, so I place the double trays towards the top of the oven}
Cool and sandwich with softened ice cream. Store in freezer and serve directly from there.
“If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.”
Benjamin Franklin
Some days I just dazzle myself with my efficiency, days that are few and far between, but it gives me confidence that I can still achieve quite a bit on better days!! It was a cake for my SILs birthday, AND macarons, all done on fast track. Inspiration came from our MacTweetstheme for January and the Bavarian mousse on this Chocolate Bavarian Mousse Cake; that is how this Strawberry & Kiwi Bavarian Cake with Razzle Dazzle Macarons came about to be.On a day like this I raced and baked a sponge, made a Bavarian cream, then a mousse, layered a cake and even had it chilling in a couple of hours!! Even more dazzling … got the macs piped even as the kids grumbled getting out of bed and into the shower; ffound ‘feet’ before 8am, just after I had banished the kids to school!! Cake demoulded, ganached and snazzed up with my macs and I was a happy baker! The ganache wasn’t in my plan, limited as it seemed because of the time crunch, but the daughter begged for chocolate to be included in the master plan. I think the cake would have looked beautiful without the dark chocolate hues, but teens need to be kept happy, so…The macarons ran with the basic colours of fruit in the cake, pink for strawberries and green for kiwi. I was lucky to find feet so early in the morning. For the boost of mac-confidence I have to applaud the uber talented Stella @ BraveTart…and she is brave. She bakes mean {readGORGOEUS!!} macarons, and did away with many mac myths in a second.Reading her post made me feel ultra confident, and a day old egg white out of the fridge did yield the frills or feet! I also dumped the granulated sugar in with the whites and whipped them altogether, but this time wasn’t nervous. Bravery is a strong emotion, and I was rewarded in under 10 minutes …pretty little mini macs.The sponge is a basic one, a 3 egg recipe that lives in my head… 3 eggs + 1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup flour. Minimal ingredients {with the seed of 1/2 a vanilla bean} and minimal fuss that results in a light airy sponge. This is my to-go recipe for a Swiss roll too!I did try to rustle up some shimmer and glimmer to jazz the macarons to meet the razzle dazzle theme, but the shimmer is rather muted! Well the thoughts {and my morning} dazzled in any case. The macarons were sandwiched with some dark chocolate ganache reserved from the frosting.Bavarian is fast becoming my choice of filling in cakes, one that finds its roots in a crème anglaise of sorts, as we still moan the lack of local whipping cream in India. The mousse compliments fresh fruit beautifully, and is delicately flavoured with vanilla bean. It was a little less firm in the filling as I used kiwi too {I think the high citric content in kiwi interferes with the setting of gelatin}. It did set though, but just. Next time I might stick to just strawberries to get a firmer mousse … like the one below!The weather that whole day {week actually} was cold and rainy, hence the cake pictures aren’t bright and happy. I had some mousse left over as the cake was taller than my desert ring, so I set some in glasses. I absolutely love the idea of doing individual portions like these that can be made ahead, and dressed up with seasonal fruit, as in this case strawberries perked up with some fresh basil!These were GOOD, oh so good! The Bavarian set perfectly, the little vanilla bean specks flavouring it beautifully. I topped the goblets with a strawberry puree, like the one layered in these White & Dark Chocolate Desserts with Strawberries. To add colour and flavour, I snipped in some fresh basil which I am fortunate to have these days. I left these in the fridge for a couple of hours again, and the strawberry, lime and basil flavours matured nicely!The play of textures and the visual appeal was great! Dolled up with a macaron and I have never heard the fridge door opening SO MANY times! The kids were constantly in and out of the kitchen to look at it longingly. The minute dinner was done, it was a race to the fridge again. Door opened again! “Now?”
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?
If you do, you are most welcome to join us for this challenge, or the next. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally do the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
[print_this]Recipe: Strawberry & Kiwi Bavarian Cake with Razzle Dazzle Macarons
Summary:A marriage of flavours and textures, 2 desserts, one basic mousse. Add in some fresh seasonal fruit, top with macarons and you have … Strawberry & Kiwi Bavarian Cake with Razzle Dazzle Macarons, & Vanilla Bavarian Mousse with Strawberries & Basil
1/2 vanilla bean scraped {or pure vanilla extract}
Basic Sugar Syrup
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp granulated sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Vanilla Bavarian Mousse
4 egg yolks {large; 5 if small}
300ml whole milk
200ml low fat cream, room temperature
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
75gm sugar
1 1/4 tbsp gelatin {increase in warm weather}
200ml cream, chilled
2 tbsp powdered sugar
Chocolate Ganache
200gm dark chocolate bits {or chopped}
200ml low fat cream
1 tbsp honey
Fruit for filling
300gm strawberries, chopped {reserve 3-4 for garnishing
2-3 kiwi, peeled, chopped {reserve 1/2 for garnishing}
Vanilla Macarons
1 egg white, aged a day
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
1/4 tsp egg white powder
2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
Strawberry Puree for the Bavarian Mousse Goblets
300gm strawberries, chopped fine
2-3 tbsp powdered sugar {increase/decrease as per tartness of strawberries}
Juice of 1 lime
6-8 leaves fresh basil, chiffonaded
1tbsp water
Method:
Vanilla Sponge
Preheat oven to 190C. Line the base and sides of a 9″ round tin with baking parchment.
Beat eggs, vanilla bean and sugar over simmering water until the eggs are thick and mousse like, about 7-10 minutes. Once they triple in volume, remove from water, and continue to beat until the mixture cools dwon {about 5 minutes}
Fold the flour in carefully, in figure 8 moves, to ensure you don’t release the air.
Turn into prepared tin, and bake for about 30 minutes, until the cake is light golden and springs back when touched.
Remove from tin, take off parchment, and coole completely on rack.
Vanilla Bavarian Mousse
Bloom gelatin in 2-3 tbsp of water. Place in a bowl of hot water to dissolve fully.
Whisk the yolks with the sugar in a bowl.
Heat cream, milk and half the sugar {15gm} until simmering. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar with a balloon whisk, and add 1/3rd of the hot milk mixture over it, whisking continuously until well combined. Pour this back into the pan with the remaining milk mixture. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the cream is thickened and coats the back of the spoon. {Don’t allow it to boil}. It is important to constantly stir to prevent the bottom from curdling or burning. If that happens, take a balloon whisk and whisk vigorously. If you fear your custard curdled too much, remove from the heat and pass it through a fine sieve before proceeding with the recipe.
Thermomix: Place all ingredients in TM bowl, and cook at 90C, Speed 3 for 7 minutes.
Remove from heat immediately and stir the gelatin well into this hot mixture well, then quickly strain this into a bowl. Cool over a bowl of crushed ice, stirring frequently.
Once cool, beat the remaining 200ml chilled cream to soft peaks, and gently stir into the mousse.
Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Glaze
Place chocolate in a bowl.
Heat the cream and honey in a pan until simmering. Pour over the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth. Reserve 1/4 cup ganache in a piping bag for macarons.
Assembling Torte
Cut the sponge horizontally into 3 layers. Place in dessert ring on serving platter. {Dessert ring should fit nice and snugly. I use this adjustable dessert ring I bought in Sydney.} Place one layer of cake, top with the strawberries and kiwi, then half the Bavarian mousse. Repeat with the next layer. Cover and chill overnight for the Bavarian to set.
Unmold from the dessert ring, frost with the ganache and garnish as desired. Chill until ready to serve.
Vanilla Macarons
Preheat oven to 140C.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Blend the powdered sugar, almond meal, vanilla powder and egg white powder briefly in the bowl of your food processor to mix. {you can sift it too}
In a large clean bowl, beat the egg white and the granulated vanilla sugar till it becomes firm and holds peaks, about 2 minutes.
Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the beaten egg white with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and falls in ribbons like molten lave, stop folding. {Do not overmix}
Using a teaspoon, or piping bag, drop / pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1″ circles evenly spaced one-inch apart.
Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then rest for about about 15 minutes {to an hour}.
Bake them for about 15 minutes until the shells feel firm to touch.
Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.
To assemble macarons
Match equal halves of macarons, and keep together.
Pipe a tiny bit of the reserved ganache from above on the flat side of the macaron and sandwich with another half of the same size, squeezing gently. Leave to set.
Strawberry Puree for the Bavarian Mousse Goblets
Lightly crush the chopped strawberries with the powdered sugar with a fork until the strawberries release their juices. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and reserve in a bowl in the fridge. Distribute over the glasses once Bavarian is set, and chill until served.
Notes: I bake my macarons on the upper shelf in my oven, using just the lower element for heat. I also use double baking trays.
“External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty.”
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Scrooge, my sourdough starter let me down. He’s been sitting on my counter for the past few days, being diligently fed, bubbling a bit now and then, showing signs of life. Everyone seems so hungry during the holidays, but Scrooge was the hungriest … after Coco of course. But the sourdough for Daring Bakers wasn’t meant to be. What did ‘happen‘ however were these Lebkuchen and Garam Masala Macarons with a salted butter caramel buttercream!Sourdough trouble! I got up that morning and everything seemed to go wrong. Decided to make half a recipe, and weighed out double Scrooge in error. PLOP … he fell in and almost instantly I tried to fish him out. ACK…don’t even bother if you ever make that mistake. It was the day after Christmas, the coldest in the past 10 years. No way was Scrooge going to lend some warmth to my dough to rise. He just clenched his fists and stayed put! 2 hours later, minimum rise … It rose marginally after beign somewhat shaped; then we ran into yet another power cut for the rest of the day. By the time the electricity was back, the oven preheated, and I bunged the dough into the oven, I was distracted. There was so much more to do. I cranked the oven to the highest setting … and forgot all about the bread!Sigh!! The tops burnt, spewing out black fumes! {No pictures…sorry!} A kitchen filled with smoke was enough to ring the deathknell on my bread! So I am back to the drawing board again, feeding the little bit of miserly Scrooge who sulks on the counter. Must try the drama again, maybe on a warmer day. In the meantime, I am back with some feet that ran faster than Scrooge, that gave me more luck on the not so cheery day! Yes, it gladdened my heart to find success by way of Mactweets, our call this month to let the seasons and her holidays inspire you. We’ve had some stunning macarons join our ranks these past few weeks. I jumped in late and present my humble mac-offering – Lebkuchen Macarons & Garam Masala Macarons with Salted Caramel Buttercream. I had piped out others, colours, flavours … but alas, the power tripped again, so I am glad to have a few.Jamie and I tempted you to Think COLOR: I did {though sadly my pinks and blues didn’t make it}; Think FLAVOR: I did … Lebkuchen and garam masala and salted butter caramel from Jamies recipe that I so love! Think HOLIDAY: Impossible not to. Kids at home 24 X 7, hungry and full of beans, pooch so excited to have kids at home so even she is more full of beans than ever before … always something happening!
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?
If you do, you are most welcome to join us for this challenge, or the next. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally post the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
[print_this]Recipe: Lebkuchen & Garam Masala Macarons
Summary: Lebkuchen and Garam Masala Vanilla Macarons sandwiched with a salted butter caramel buttercream. Holidays are here!
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
Lebkuchen / Garam Masala Macarons
1 egg white, aged 2 days
1/4 cup almond meal
1tsp Lebkuchen spice or Garam Masala {either one}
1/2 cup powdered vanilla sugar
1/4 tsp egg white powder
2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
Few drops orange food colour
Salted Butter Caramel Buttercream
3 tbsp of salted butter caramel sauce {recipe here}, room temperature
1 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
Method:
Lebkuchen / Garam Masala Macarons
Preheat oven to 140C.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Blend the powdered sugar, almond meal, Lebkuchen spice or garam masala {whichever you choose} and egg white powder briefly in the bowl of your food processor to mix. {you can sift it too}
In a large clean bowl, beat the egg white for about 20 seconds till it appears foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue to beat till it becomes firm and holds peaks, about 2 minutes.
Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg white with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and falls in ribbons like molten lave, stop folding. {Do not overmix}
Using a teaspoon, or piping bag, drop / pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1″ circles evenly spaced one-inch apart.
Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then rest for about an hour.
Bake them for about 15 minutes until the shells feel firm to touch.
Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.
Salted Butter Caramel Buttercream
Whisk the salted butter caramel with the butter until smooth and firm.
To assemble:
Match equal halves of macarons, and keep together.
Use a small spoon and deposit a tiny amount of buttercream filling on the flat side of the macaron and sandwich with another half of the same size, squeezing gently. Leave to set.
Notes: I bake my macarons on the upper shelf in my oven, using just the lower element for heat. I also use double baking trays.
“The power of imagination makes us infinite.”
John Muir
It was definitely inspiring and a great wrap on 2010. I’m talking about the Donna Hay Strawberry & Vanilla Macaron Trifle I made over Christmas. It made me look at the endless charm that macarons offer with wonder. Having won sort of won the battle with feet, or rather managing the frills on the fiddly macs more often than never {100% success is yet to land on my platter}, I wanted to explore different ways of incorporating macarons in dessert.Laduree in Paris might have introduced some delicious made in France cupcakes, and the tables might look to be turning around once again making cupcakes the new macarons! Been hearing that sort of mild buzz on the net recently; also that these cupcakes are ‘out-of-this-world‘ good. They do look novel, creative & pretty, but then that’s Laduree for you! Nothing but the best!!However, in my mind, I’m not ready to give up my macaron ‘fascination bordering on obsession’ just yet. Feet still give me endless joy; each batch popped into the oven still a heart-stopping adventure. The kids walk by nonchalantly exclaiming, “Oooh pretty, you got feet! Can I have one?” So many failed batches later and we are a well versed mac household who know the importance and the mood swings that come with the failures & success of the pitter patter!I made this cake, inspired by mac thoughts for a sweet old lady who lives near by. She’s over 80, sprightly as can be and bursting with positive energy. Two days without seeing me and she’s at my gate with her walking stick checking if all is well, filling me up on the neighbourhood happenings, telling me that the lime tree is full of fruit etc. She sends me tangerines from her tree each year to make Bitter Orange Marmalade … one of my absolute favourite pass-times. It gives me as much joy, well almost, as finding feet! Seeing translucent pretty marmalade take shape from the very tart tangerines is in my mind, priceless!It was her birthday a few days ago, and I knew the cake had everything she would love … strawberries, cream and orange. I added macarons around and on top for effect as I was elated to have found enough feet to go around a cake! Gosh, it isn’t often that I find so much mac-success, so mac-inspiration was in order.
Mac-Inspiration is our theme for our monthly macaron event on Mactweets this month …STARTING THE NEW YEAR WITH THE OLD AND THE NEW : MACINSPIRATION! You can combine or integrate your macarons into any dessert, making it a new part of an old favorite, or turn your macarons into your favorite dessert, inspired in flavor, texture, color.
What dessert would you be inspired to see recreated in macarons? I continue to be inspired by fruit in season, the colour palette that nature amazingly offers, textures … and of course macarons! Ever since sweet Jamie & I got together and launched MacTweets{a blog dedicated to making macarons}, there has been no dearth of inspiration! This time, my macarons are inspired by strawberries & cream, a simple dessert that we love to love. I made vanilla bean macarons, and filled them with slices of strawberries and cream {also did a few with candied orange slices and cream}.
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?
If you do, Jamie & I would be happy to have you join us for this challenge, or the next. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally have the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
Strawberries & Cream Mac-o-range Cake Serves 6-8 Orange Sponge
1/2 cup plain flour
1/8 cup cornflour
1/2 + 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 large eggs, separated
1/8cup oil {I used sunflower oil}
3 tbsp water
Rind of 1 orange {I used kinnow, a mandarin orange/citrus hybrid, like a satsuma}
1 tsp orange extract, or pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cream of tartar Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C. Line a 7.5-8″ round tin; grease and dust with flour.
Mix together the cornflour, plain flour, baking powder, salt and1/2 cup powdered sugar in a large bowl {I used a balloon whisk}.
Beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cream of tartar and beat till droopy soft peaks form. Reserve.
With a whisk, lightly mix the oil, water, yolks, rind and extract together. Stir into into the dry ingredients.
Beat with an electric beater on low speed until smooth.
Gently fold the beaten whites into the yolk mixture.
Turn into the prepared tin and bake till well risen and golden brown, about 45 minutes/until done. Check if it is done with a wooden pick. {Slide a sheet of foil lightly over the top if it begins to brown too fast}.
Leave in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on rack.
Once cool, cut into 2 layers. Filling
200ml low fat cream
2-3 tbsps powdered sugar
200gms strawberries, chopped Method:
Whip the cream and sugar to medium peaks. Fold in the chopped strawberries. Whipped Buttercream Topping Method:
200ml low fat cream
1 tbsp melted butter
2-3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp strawberry extract {optional}
Beat the low fat cream, sugar and extract, and pour in the melted butter in a steady stream while beating. This will reintroduce the fat back into the low fat cream and allow it to be whipped to stiff peaks. Assemble
Sandwich the cake with the filling
Frost the sides and top of the cake with the whipped butter-cream.
Garnish with sliced strawberries, candied tangerine slices and macarons
Vanilla Macarons Macaron Batter
1/2 cup powdered vanilla sugar
1/4 cup almond meal
1 large egg white {30gms}, at room temperature
2 1/2 tbsp granulated vanilla sugar
1/2 tsp egg white powder Method:
Preheat oven to 140C.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond meal briefly so there are no lumps. Don’t over work, else you might get oily almond butter.
In the bowl, beat the egg whites until they become frothy. Beat in the granulated vanilla sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.
Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding. {If you draw the spatula through the macronage, the line drawn should disappear to the count of ten.}
Using a teaspoon, or piping bag, drop / pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1″ circles evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.
Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons and get rid of trapped air bubbles, then rest for about an hour.
Bake them for 15-18 minutes, watching carefully. {I bake mine on the highest shelf, as my oven functions on just the lower element}
Let cool completely, then remove from baking sheet.
Sandwich with some whipped buttercream and strawberry and candied orange slices.
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥
May I share with you my 5 minutes of fame which made me do the Happy Feet dance?
I was featured in the January 2011 Indian edition of ‘Better Homes and Gardens’ with an interview and 4 recipes in a 3 page feature.
Yes, still summer here, with the rains that came and went, leaving us in a puddle of hot and humid misery. Not the perfect weather for macs, but then again, it was the finding my feet time of the month. Needless to say, they proved elusive again. The theme Jamie and I picked at MacTweets was ‘SING, SING A SONG‘, asking you to cook up something special, something toe-tapping, sing-along good! Sing I did, and the numbers being belted out in my mind were wide ranging. Primary of course the theme song from Friends, “I’ll Be There For You” which I was going to dedicate my macs to… had they found feet.
It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your year But … I’ll be there for you (when the rain starts to pour) I’ll be there for you (like I’ve been there before) I’ll be there for you (because you’re there for me too)
To Bina who mailed me egg white powder from the States, to Ednah {Janet} who posted the cutest friends card for me, Johnny Depp and all, {a joke we share on twitter at the laundry club}, to Jamie who is the spirit behind my macs, to Ken who inspired the yellow, to Mardi my partner in humid conditions failed macs, to Barbara who’s become a mac-pro …
… and to all the gang at MacTweets for the inspired ‘feet‘ month after month! Thanks for joining Jamie and me at the ‘attack‘!
Songs have always been part of my life. The medley that the juke box plays in my head these days includes Waka Waka, Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Wind Beneath My Wings, Walk of Life, Hey Soul Sister, The Day I Died, Fast Cars, Hey There Delilah. Then Jamie mentioned Cat Stevens and Leonard Cohen; she had me nodding. Add to that Dire Straits, Eagles, Van Morrison, Beegees, Barbara Streisand, Eric Clapton … the list is endless, like failed feet sagas! So well, in my little world, I had many ugly feetless macarons, and one kind of respectable ‘foot’, but they were all delicious. So here, like Cinderellas glass slipper, is my vanilla macaron with a white chocolate ganache cushioned on this Mango Vanilla Bavarian Cream Cake that I made for my Dad’s birthday. The idea was to have a whole bunch of them adorning the cake. Que sera sera, whatever will be, will be …
My Dad is as fruit obsessed as I am, though the choice of fruit differs. Summer means only mangoes for him, and though he doesn’t enjoy eating them, he is obsessed with buying kilos of them every other day. I know if the phone rings in the morning, it’s him on the other end, asking me to drive by and collect a bag of mangoes! I am mad about peaches and cherries, and it now appears that I inherited the fruit obsession from him!
So he called the other day, excitedly to tell me that a new local variety of mango, ‘langda’, that hit the market, and he had bought me some! I don’t even bother buying them now because he has a keen eye for the well ripened good varieties, and always delivers the best! Since it was his birthday in 2 days, and me being the official cake baker at home, I knew just what I wanted to bake! – A Bavarian Cream Cake with mangoes, inspired by this Raspberry Rose Vanilla Bavarian Cream Cake I had seen ages ago on Tartlette.
Baking the sponge is a cake walk {unlike making macs, sigh}, because there’s very little to the recipe. Use your favourite light sponge recipe, or use this one which I used for making ladies fingers in this Tiramisu here. I was going to make the cake in a jelly roll pan, and then decided to pipe it out since the piping bag for a macaron attempt was lying right there. The secret to a good sponge is to beat it well, and then try and retain as much beaten air as possible while folding in the flour. The measures for a 3egg sponge are in my head as I use the same recipe for making a Swiss roll often … 3 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour!
The Bavarian cream is a little time consuming, but I think that’s because I don’t make it often enough. I’ve just made it twice in the past – in this Peaches and Cream Cake and this Strawberry Bavarian Cream Cake. One vanilla bean would do fine in there to dispel off any eggy smells in the pastry cream, but I used 2 because I wanted a deeper vanilla flavour. Also, I have enough vanilla beans on hand,and love using them! I used low fat cream because we don’t get heavy cream here.I halved Helen’s recipe for the Bavarian cream, and used a combination of skimmed milk and low fat cream. You can make this cake with peaches, strawberries or raspberries too. Mango is in season now, so here we are…
3 large eggs separated 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup plain flour pinch salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 sachet vanilla sugar
Method:
Whip the yolks with 1/4 cup sugar till pale and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and beat again.
Sift the flour over the beaten yolks and leave.
wash the beaters clean, whip the whites with the salt to soft peaks, add sugar and whip to a stiff meringue.
Fold the whites into the yolks and flour in 3 goes. Do this gently so as not to lose volume. Divide it into half and bake in 2 parchment paper lined 8″ shallow baking tins, or pipe into 2 9″ circles drawn on parchment paper. The bases will be very thin. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar
Bake for 12-15 minutes till golden brown and spongy.
Peel off paper, and cool completely on racks.
For the Vanilla Bavarian Cream 4 egg yolks 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup milk 2 vanilla beans {One bean will do too. I wanted a DEEP vanilla flavour} 1 1/4 tablespoons powdered gelatin, sprinkled over 3 tbsps water {Can reduce to 1 tbsp in cool weather} 600ml low fat cream {25% fat}
Method:
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until very pale.
In the meantime, in a large saucepan set over medium heat, bring the milk, 200ml cream and the vanilla bean {split open and scraped over the milk} to a boil. Slowly pour the milk over the yolks, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan over medium low heat and cook until the cream coats the back of a spoon {as if making creme anglaise}.
Remove the vanilla bean. Add the softened gelatin and stir until melted completely into the cream. Let cool to room temperature, or cool over an ice bath, stirring from time to time, till it just begins to set. Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold it into the cooled cream base. Use immediately.
Lime Syrup:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
Juice of 1 lime Method: Put all ingredients in pan over medium heat and stir till melted. Remove and cool.
To Assemble:
Trim both the sponges to an 8″ diameter {The idea isbasically to fit snugly into the dessert ring, or Spring-form tin ring that you plan to use. It has to hold the Bavarian cream in place till it sets, else it will ooze out.}
Place the dessert ring on a serving platter, add one sponge base and brush with lime syrup. Top with the cooled Bavarian cream. Add the diced mango pieces uniformly over the Bavarian, and top with the second layer of sponge, keeping the vanilla sugar side facing up. Press down gently, cover the ring with cling-wrap, and chill for 6-8 hours, or better overnight.
