Hooray for Breakfast in the Garden: Orange Nutmeg Muffins

This Saturday I am not sure what got into me, but I was on a productivity mission. In the summer, a push for productivity usually means tidying up the garden. Tidying up the garden means planting new flowers (and killing perfectly good ones that I have gotten sick of. A sometimes worries that I sound a little too gleeful when digging up an old shrub), starting the herb garden and getting everything set up for summer weekends of dining outside. 

All day Saturday was spent doing our best imitation of our parents - racing through the suburban sprawl to fight the crowds at Home Depot. When I was a child, these weekends were nothing short of pure torture. The only thing worse than having to schlep to Home Depot with my parents was having to go to Sam's. Now that I am all grown up (!), Home Depot is a place of joyous possibilities. I am not kidding. I could spend hours inspecting hoses and nozzles (and this weekend I did). Light bulbs - did you know how many different kinds there are? Every time I walk into one of those big box stores and realize that I am enjoying myself, I start to feel old. 

The best part about the Saturday clean up is that it meant Sunday breakfast would be the start of our summer meals outside. I had decided early on that muffins were in order and A made a request for his favorite - orange nutmeg - which also happens to be my go-to, no fail recipe for when I want something tasty and homemade that I don't have to think about. I would love to pretend that I created this recipe on my own, but alas, it was something I stumbled across on the internet. Molly from Orangette, I have never met you, or even commented on your blog, but I want to send you a huge thank you for inventing my go-to muffin recipe. 

The addition of cinnamon takes this recipe to the next level, yielding scrumptiously moist muffins. I like to serve them with a simple fruit salad of fresh cantaloupe and strawberries, and a glass of cold-brewed ice coffee. Paired with the FT Weekend, it makes a perfect Sunday morning meal. 

Recipe after the jump!

The Macaron Obsession Continues: Peanut Macarons

A few weeks ago, A and I were watching an episode of No Reservations called "Obsessed", which was all about chefs who were so obsessed with their craft that they had taken it to a level of perfection were food is art. The two of us looked at each other in disbelief, shocked and awed by their devotion, but also agreeing that neither one of us were likely to attain that level of perfection in anything we do. I mean, sure, I like baking and I like bread, but no, I don't have the patience, or even interest, required to determine precisely at which temperature a sourdough loaf should ferment to yield the best taste. Hell, I don't even measure the flour that I use to feed my starter - I just throw it in.

But then last night, standing in my kitchen, in an explosion of flour, egg whites and almond meal, I realized that macarons actually might be my obsession. I spend a really unhealthy amount of time thinking about macarons, when I am not actually making them. That copy of the Flavor Bible I requested for Christmas? Not to help us cook better like I claimed. No, my true motivation was a new source of inspiration for creative macaron combinations. I want to buy a stupidly expensive macro photo lens for my camera so I can photograph them better. I am content to spend hours in the kitchen (and lots of money on almond flour) fussing with the recipe. I never get bored. Instead I just want to make more.

Lately, I have deviated from the standard recipe and started experimenting with different types of nuts. For easter, I tried pistachio, which was delicious. This week - peanut, for a decidedly American macaron. Sure, other cultures eat peanuts, but peanut butter and peanut flavored sweets strike me as pretty unique to American culture. I guess the Euros have nutella, but hazelnuts just aren't the same as peanuts. 

For this batch, I subbed 55 grams of almond meal for ground peanuts, and then sprinkled some crushed peanuts on top to give a visual hint of the flavor. The flavor was pretty striking, with the peanuttiness giving these macs a very different taste that the traditional almond based cookies. I filled them with a peanut gianduja cream, which made them taste almost like gourmet Reese's peanut butter cups. 

While the filling tasted great, the texture was not perfect. I used all natural peanut butter, which for some reason did not set in the chocolate as I expected. After an hour of stirring, the milk chocolate and peanut butter mixture was still too runny to pipe onto the cookies. Adding powdered sugar still did not thicken it enough. Also, I was lazy and did not temper the chocolate, which meant that there was a tiny bit of bloom after the macs cooled. Next time around, I think I will use more typical peanut butter, as the texture will probably lend itself to a better gianduja mixture. 

Recipe for the macarons after the jump!

Easter Supper for Eight: Taking full advantage of spring produce!

Easter weekend marked the first real spring weekend in New Jersey. A few months ago, our friends were kind enough to invite themselves over for easter supper (haha!), so A and I were left with no choice but to pull together a spring-themed feast.

A handled the shopping. Initially, I thought this was a great idea, as it gave me time to grab lunch with one of my girlfriends. Then A got home. I walked into a kitchen filled with more produce than I had ever seen in my life.

- Honey, what is all this?

- You told me to get baby vegetables, so I got everything that could have been considered a baby.

- You what????

- Well, yeah, and I hope that nobody else is planning to buy baby vegetables today because I bought everything they had.

- But we just needed carrots, and a few other root vegetables. Did you get baby beets?

- No, I didn't get beets. But I did get fresh baby corn, baby artichokes, baby fennell, baby turnips, baby potatoes, fiddleheads...

- You bought fiddleheads? But why? We don't even know how to cook those.

- They are baby ferns. I told you, I bought everything they had that was baby.

Seriously? All I could do was shoot him my best "exasperated wifey look" and make a mental note to never let him do the shopping alone again. With hindsight, I must admit, it is a good thing he bought every vegetable they had because everything got eaten. Once the last guest had left, there was scarcely a leftover to be seen.

Here is the menu:

Goats Cheese and Olive Tapenade Crostini

Manchego Crostini with Romesco Sauce

Fresh Fava Bean, Baby Corn and Feta Salad

Grilled Leg of Lamb with Tomato and Fennel Vinaigrette

Roasted Baby Vegetables

Sauteed Asparagus and Fiddleheads with Chanterelles

Strawberry and Orange-Scented Mascarpone Tart with a Port Wine Reduction

Homemade Vanilla and Cinnamon Ice Cream

Pistachio Macarons with Pistachio Gianduja

Guests J-squared (ha!) brought a lovely fig and orange toast with goats cheese that I somehow did not manage to take photos of! Probably because it got eaten too quickly.

Prep for the party took about a day and a half. While none of the recipes were particularly difficult, the sheer volume of vegetables meant several hours of sousing. A decided after peeling 3 lbs of asparagus that we might not ever serve asparagus again. While I do enjoy it, I am okay with sacrificing asparagus if it means I never have to peel them again. Tossed with fiddleheads, chanterelles and tarragon, they were lovely, but probably not worth the trouble.

Crostini is definitely our new go-to appetizer. It is very low stress, as the spreads can be made in advance, and the bite-sized pieces are crowd pleasers. For the two varieties we made this weekend, the romesco sauce was leftover from a week night dinner (shh!) and the olive tapenade can be prepped up to a week ahead of time. Garnish with your favorite cheese (in our case goats cheese for the olive spread and manchego for the romesco sauce) and you are good to go. For the bread, I pulled together a batch of pain a l'ancienne from the Bread Bakers Apprentice, a must have book for anyone who is interested in making bread at home.

The weather was very much in our favor - bright sunshine and not a cloud in the sky. If anything, it was almost too hot! A tossed some lemon and mint into a pitcher of water to keep everyone refreshed, and offered up sun-screen to accompany glasses of white wine.

   

Dessert continued the spring theme. Two of our guests, D and J, gave us an ice cream machine as a wedding gift a few years ago. As such, whenever they come over, I make it a point to whip up a batch of fresh ice cream. Today was no different, and I looked to my favorite recipe for vanilla bean and cinnamon ice cream. A and I had run out of serving dishes, so the ice cream was served as a "palette cleanser" in mini-martini glasses. It looks like we were being fancy, but really, we just didn't have any more dishes.

The ice cream was followed by a decadent strawberry mascarpone tart. I made the mascarpone myself, and added sugar, lemon zest, orange zest, lemon juice, orange juice and vanilla to flavor it. The entire tart was drizzled with a port glaze before serving.

 

We closed the meal with pistachio macarons because I just don't think I can host a party without them anymore. For the macarons shells, I used the same recipe I have referenced before on this blog, but subbed in ground pistachios for half of the almond flour. I also added green food coloring. For some reason these macs had much softer texture than those I have made in the past. Maybe it was the pistachios?

All in all, it was a successful event. Maybe hosting easter supper could become a tradition for us. I honestly think I enjoyed it more than our annual barbeque.

Honestly, there is just too much here for me to write-up all of the recipes. Recipes taken directly from other sites are linked above. After the jump, recipes for the pistachio gianduja, fava bean salad and the ice cream. If you want other emails, leave a note.

Screw winter: Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

Today definitely felt like the first day of spring here in Hoboken. Sure, I suppose it could still snow a few more times before winter is truly over, but the cloudless skies and warmish weather made me forget that snow was still falling just a day or two ago. It is melted now - even the giant mountains of it that plows had pushed to the corners of parking lots are gone. Andstill more exciting than the beautiful weather are the golden crocus bulbs that are poking their way out of the soil.

Sounds idyllic right? It could have been, except for the sounds in the background of drunken revelers that marks the first weekend in March for all Hoboken residents. Yes, today was the annual Hoboken St. Patrick's Day Parade, a drunken orgy where twenty-somthings from the tri-state area descend on my town to "get wasted", vomit, and get in fights. No chirping birds for me - I get whooping ex-frat boys instead. Kill me now.

The stream of green t-shirts passing by my window left me inclined to start the day in a rotten mood. Apparently the kids these days prefer to wear "kiss me I'm shitfaced" over "kiss me I'm Irish". Further annoying me, A had left me home alone for the weekend while he dealt with work in Mexico. Poor lonesome me, holed up in the apartment all day so as to avoid the aggressive drunks outside. It makes me feel so old, as just a few years ago, I might have joined in on the festivities. Ok, maybe not.

Screw winter! Screw the town! If I can't go outside and enjoy the first real day of spring weather, spring would come to me via the kitchen. Time to rebel against seasonal vegetables! Comfort food is in order! I want basil... and chives... and cheese... maybe even a tomato or two. Surely in these "modern times" I should be able to find at least one decent tomato.

Tomato and goat cheese tart seemed like the perfect solution to my mood. Non-seasonal, cheesy goodness. Of course it would be better to hold off on this recipe until summer, but at this point, even mediocre tomatoes would make me feel better than another meal of root vegetables.

Goat cheese and tomato tart was a dish that I discovered last fall, before I started keeping this blog. It was a recipe that I put together after studying a number of different goat cheese tart recipes, both from Epicurious and elsewhere on the web. Specifically I was looking for a savory brunch dish that had components you could do ahead, so as to minimize active prep time in the morning. With this recipe, the tomatoes and garlic can be roasted a day ahead and stored in the fridge. The tart crust can also be prepared and placed into the tart pan ahead of time. If you really want to get ahead, you could probably saute the shallots and mix the custard a day early too. This only leaves pre-baking the crust and assembling/baking the tart the day that you serve it.

Recipe after the jump!

Daring Bakers Follow-Up: Ladyfingers, or Savoiardi

Making the ladyfingers was by far my favorite part of the February tiramisu challenge. I enjoyed it so much that I thought it merited a separate post. I don't really have anything special to say about them, other than a recommendation that if you ever need ladyfingers, you make them yourself instead of purchasing them. 

The recipe required by the Daring Bakers comes from Cordon Bleu at Home. I did think that the cookies tasted just slightly eggy (is that a word?), especially after they had sat out for a while. Fresh out of the oven however, they are deliciously soft and sweet. In the summer, I could imagine serving them as an alternative to tuiles on ice cream. 

The recipe struck me as very similar to macarons, only with egg yolks added and regular flour instead of almond meal. The technique is similar - whip up a stiff meringue and break it down carefully when you add the dry ingredients. Too make ladyfingers, you need the following: 

3 eggs, seperated

6 tablespoons/75gms granulated sugar

3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tbsp corn starch

6 tablespoons confectioner's sugar

Start by whipping the egg whites into a meringue. Once soft peaks begin to form, gradually add the granulated sugar, and continue to beat the whites until they are stiff. Next fold in the egg yolks until the mixture is blended and pale yellow. 

In a separate bowl, blend the cornstarch and flour. Then sift the flour into the eggs and gently fold it in, being careful not to deflate the mixture too much (just like macarons!). The mixture will be shiny, but not smooth, and quite frankly kind of gross looking when its ready. 

Transfer the batter to a piping bag and pipe out into strips about 3-4 inches long. Sprinkle the piped batter generously with about half of the powdered sugar and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. Then sprinkle with the remaining powdered sugar and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes on a baking sheet covered in either a silpat or greased parchment paper. 

Though the recipe says that these will keep for a few weeks in an air tight container, as I mentioned above, they definitely taste the best straight out of the oven. While still good after they have been sitting for awhile, I would not recommend eating them without some sort of accompaniment at that point. 

Challah Bread and a Dessert Free Weekend!

Dessert free weekend... dessert free weekend... means that I guess I will be writing about bread this week. It was a really busy weekend anyway. It was antiques weekend in New York City, which is always full of activity in our household, as A and I have a tradition of visiting all of the fairs to drool over the wares. It also coincides with our anniversary, meaning that the fairs are following by some sort of extravagant dinner out on the town (though I think the economy means cheap pasta, not Michelin stars this year). On top of that I had dinner with D to chat about my first week on the new job. See? No time for baking. Or at least that is what I am telling myself. In the back of my mind, I know that if A was not holding firmly to his dessert ban I would have tried to squeeze a cake in somewhere.

So... on to bread. I decided that this weekend would be a good time to whip up a challah loaf, or egg bread. My new job is in the Jersey suburbs, which means I no longer am able to indulge in the delight that is the tasty, but also very bad for you, lunch of street meats. No more greasy lamb over rice for me. Instead I get to choose from salads in the company cafeteria or a brown bag special. A and I didn't cook much this weekend so the brown bag special for Monday would be a cold-cut sandwich with a banana. To spice things up a bit, I thought that home-made bread was in order in lieu of pre-sliced sandwich bread from the grocery store.

One of my biggest frustrations I have with home made bread is that it goes stale ridiculously fast. Sometimes I feel like my bread has already gone stale by the time I reach for a second slice. To help mitigate this problem, A bought me a bread box from King Arthur Flour last year when I first became serious about bread baking. If you like making bread and having fresh, home made loaves on hand but dislike eating an entire loaf in a day, this box is the solution. I was surprised to learn that a bread box actually helped to partially solve the problem. While the crusts of my loaves do lose some crunch in the box, the bread stays soft for a few days.

Challah is basically an egg bread. It is one of my favorites because the dough is pretty forgiving and the bread has a sweet flavor that goes well with just about anything. Most importantly, it is not necessary to allow the dough to ferment overnight. A beautiful loaf can be put together from start to finish in less than 5 hours. (That is pretty quick for bread. If I have learned anything about bread, it is that a good loaf CANNOT be rushed!)

Recipe after the jump!

Yeasted Banana Waffles and Gingered Orange Macarons

"We've gained weight! NO MORE DESSERTS!" were the words coming from A's lips that brought horror to my ears.

Now that the Christmas party is over and we are diving into the new year, A has decided that I shall be banned from baking desserts (with the exception of my monthly daring bakers challenges... I managed to get a pass for those). Fine. We have gained some weight. We should probably start the diet now. But no more desserts??? Can't I just make them? I don't have to eat them.

To be honest, I don't really love eating them anyway. I am sure that many bakers would agree when I claim that I like baking for the joy of seeing what I can create and the pleasure of watching others enjoy what I have created. I don't bake so that I can eat sweets every weekend. Quite the contrary - if you knew how many times I asked A if I could just throw my latest creation away so that we wouldn't have the sugary calories tempting us on the counter.

Let's see how long this ban on sweets lasts. I have already managed to get around it for this weekend as we have guests arriving from out of town. (A said I could still bake for guests, just not for us!). Next weekend is the antiques fair, and he has asked me to prepare macarons for all of the generous dealers who have set aside tickets at the front door. So I guess the moratorium starts in February?

Having out of town guests for us means a tremendous amount of advanced planning on our part - whether it is one guest or four (I should add that this is something we love doing!). I spend the weeks before pouring over recipes and restaurant reviews and concocting an itinerary around home cooked meals from a carefully selected menu, as well as a number of meals out at our favorite restaurants. As New York has no shortage of excellent restaurants, A and I usually lean heavily on brunches at home that will keep stomachs satisfied until dinner so that we can avoid expensive NYC snacks during the day.

So the menu for this weekend includes 3 brunches, and of course some sort of welcome cake to nibble on arrival. In addition to some of my go-to brunch items (quiche, scones, etc), I decided this was the perfect excuse to try a recipe I had been eying for awhile - yeasted banana bread waffles served with a fresh fruit salad. Waffles are sweet, but not dessert, right?

I originally found the recipe that I used on Seven Spoons. It caught my eye for two reasons - first, it was a recipe that could be prepped the day before, and second, it offered a new twist on an old favorite. The scent of spiced banana bread wafting through the air was enough to make this recipe worth it. The waffles themselves were delicious. Light, fluffy and not too sweet.

Finally, for our guest's wife who was left back in LA, a batch of gingered orange macarons packed for the plane.

Recipes after the jump!

Easy Weekend Breakfast: Cinnamon & Oatmeal Scones

There are few things I love more than lazy weekends at home with nothing to do but relax on the couch and enjoy the break from work. These are the days that I would love nothing more than to indulge in a home-cooking breakfast with fresh-out-of-the-oven baked goods. Of course, who wants to wake up in the morning and pull out the mixer first thing? Ok, me on occasion, but not usually. The answer - baked goods that can be prepared in advance and go straight from freezer to oven. To avoid giving in to an unsatisfying but effortless bowl of cereal, I like to keep my freezer stocked for bouts of laziness or mornings where lingering over coffee isn't really an option.


Scones are the perfect answer when I can't be bothered to cook a real breakfast or brunch but still want something a little more gourmet than cereal. The dough freezes beautifully, and frozen scones can be popped directly in the oven from the freezer. A few times a year, I like to mix up giant batches of dough so that I always have some on hand. I cut the dough into mini-scones and freeze it in zip-lock bags. When it is time for breakfast, I pull out what I want and put them on a cookie sheet into a pre-heated oven for about 20-25 minutes. A spot of jam, and voila, breakfast! 

The secret to this recipe is the cinnamon chips. I used to think that a chip is a chip is a chip... boy was I wrong. A few years ago my mother-in-law introduced me to Wilbur Chocolate and their wide array of chips or "buds", ranging in flavor from milk chocolate to butterscotch. I picked some up and started baking with them, using them as a substitute for Nestle, my previous go-to brand. While there was a noticeable improvement in the flavor of the stuff I baked, I did not realize just how much better the Wilbur buds were until I ran out and had to temporarily switch back to Nestle. A and I, spoiled, found the Nestle version nearly inedible. Now I order the Wilbur buds in bulk to ensure that I always have some on hand. 


There are several recipes for scones that I rotate through, but I think this one is my favorite. These pair well with blueberry jam and a hot cup of coffee. Brushing the tops with buttermilk and sprinkling them with a little demerara sugar will give the scones the slightest crunch - just like the scones from your favorite bakery.
 The recipe is pretty simple - mix all of the dry ingredients together in a food processor...

Add the oats and pulse a few more times. Then add the butter and pulse until you have a fine meal. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and mix in the buttermilk and cinnamon chips. Mix until  the dough begins to come together. Turn out onto a floured surface and pat the dough into a large rectangle. Cut dough into desired size and shape. For this recipe, I like to cut bite-sized triangles.

Brush the tops of the scones with buttermilk and sprinkle them with demerara sugar. At this point you can either freeze the scones to eat later or bake them to enjoy immediately. Frozen scones will keep for months. I think I have cooked scones that have been frozen for up to two months with no deterioration in quality. If you plan to bake them immediately, stick them in a 425 degree pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden.

If you have a sil-pat, I recommend using it to line the baking sheet while the scones cook. I have noticed that the cinnamon chips have a tendency to cook quickly, and occasionally burn if the scones are cooked on parchment paper or directly on the baking sheet.

Cinnamon & Oatmeal Scones
Adapted from Gourmet


8 oz all-purpose flour
3 oz brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
5 oz old-fashioned oats (not instant)
6 oz butter
2/3 cup well shaken buttermilk (plus extra for brushing)
6 oz mini cinnamon chips


See above for baking instructions.

Pear & Hazelnut Tart, Citrus Macarons

I noticed that a number of people are stumbling across my little blog because it is coming up in google search results for "macarons" and "air-pockets"... I am assuming from people who are struggling to solve the problem of air-pockets in their home baked macarons. Since google seems to think that my blog should provide that information, I decided I should probably share some of what I have learned on this subject over the past few months of trouble-shooting recipes.

It took about 3 or 4 months of experimenting for me to find a reliable recipe. As mentioned in a previous post, I started working with a "french" method recipe, but ultimately settled on the Italian method, which seems more complicated at first glance but is actually much more forgiving. See this post for more information on the difference between the french and italian methods. Syrup and Tang also has an excellent explanation of the two.

With the french method, I never solved the air-pocket problem. I tried every oven temperature variation... I tried baking with two sheets to insulate the shells... I tried over mixing and under mixing... each time my shells looked beautiful but the texture was completely off. The exterior shell would crunch when bitten, revealing a large interior air pocket between the softer "cake". A combination of patience and Pierre Herme's italian method helped me fix this problem.

I noticed that even with the italian method, the air pocket problem still exists if you try to eat the shells fresh out of the oven. The air pocket also remains if you try to eat the shells immediately after filling them. Interestingly, if you fill the shells and then refrigerate them for about 24 hours, the air pocket disappears and the macarons have the delicate texture of those you find in a professional bakery. I think it has something to do with the shells absorbing some of the moisture from the filling - it softens the interior and just helps the whole thing come together. Moral of the story - macarons can't be rushed!

Moving on to this week's baking... as the Christmas party in Salem rapidly approaches, I find myself trying to squeeze in a few last test runs to make sure that everything comes out alright. We had a dinner party on Friday night, and as usual, I volunteered to bring dessert. I had a ton of leftover hazelnuts, so I thought I would give the pear frangipane tarts another go. The first time I experimented with this recipe, I did a straight walnut frangipane. It was okay... A loved it... but I did not think that the walnuts were flavorful enough when paired with the poached pears. Hazelnuts did the trick, giving the tart a more interesting flavor. Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream adds a nice touch. A miniature version will be added to the Christmas menu.

And of course some macarons to accompany the coffee. Now that I can make them, I will gladly jump on any excuse to whip up a batch. Leftover meyer lemon curd meant citrus macarons were on the menu.

Recipes after the jump!

Meyer Lemon Macarons

I have never really been crazy about citrus flavors; orange is okay, but lemon and lime are flavors that I usually pass on when served alone. When it comes to candy, I will pick out the reds, leaving anything yellow and green behind. I am one of those red swedish fish people.

As I get older, I find myself more tolerant of the flavors. Though still not my favorite, I am willing to taste lemon or lime flavored things and even occasionally experiment with the flavors myself. I am not sure if my palette is changing, or if maybe I am making an effort since lemon and lime are two of A's favorite flavors. He has been known to polish off an entire key lime pie on his own if given the opportunity.

Over the weekend while grocery shopping, I saw meyer lemons for sale at the produce exchange. Now normally I wouldn't have noticed the lemons, or any of the citrus for that matter, as I only tend to grab the occasional lemon or lime demanded by a recipe. Over the past few weeks, I have noticed a lot of information popping up about meyer lemons on various blogs I frequent, so I have kept an eye out for them. After learning that they are sweeter and less acidic than regular lemons, I hoped that they could be the answer to my citrus aversion. Four made it into my basket, with A announcing that meyer lemon sorbet was just what he was craving. I quickly squashed those dreams and announced that meyer lemon curd would make a perfect macaron filling and that he would have to wait until another day for sorbet.

Honestly, I think my quest for the perfect macaron is making me a little nuts. I have noticed that I now judge food purely on how it might taste inside a macaron!



For the macarons, I used Tartelette's recipe, which you can find here.

I used a lemon curd recipe from Fine Cooking. I followed their recipe exactly, other than substituting 4 meyer lemons for the lemon juice they call for. Lemon curd has proven a challenge for me in the past, but this recipe seems fail proof. For some reason creaming the butter, sugar and eggs before mixing in the lemon juice seems to produce a smooth and creamy curd.

Place a dab of whipped cream on a shell followed by a dab of lemon cream. Gently sandwich the two cookies together. If you really can't wait, you can eat the macarons immediately, but I thought they tasted better after a day in the fridge.



Yum! While I don't think that meyer lemon will be a flavor I make often, I did enjoy it. A did too, though he is still grumbling about the sorbet.

This batch of macaron shells was a vast improvement over past executions. They melted in your mouth. I still had problems with air-pockets despite lowering the baking temperature to 310F. Next weekend I will try them at 300F.

Perhaps even more exciting than the macarons I baked was the arrival of my Pierre Herme cook book! Enfin! I think it only took two weeks for the book to arrive from France, but I feel like I have been waiting for ages. Maybe next weekend could be my first attempt at the "Italian" method for making macarons that he recommends... and maybe I should rename this the macaron blog!