Parisian Macarons

I recently had a chocolate macaron with a goat cheese and honey ganache at the The Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, New York (Swoon! I dream of the day I will be able to go there... to learn!) while on my Christmas vacation to the east coast. Mostly I had to try it because the flavor combination was so intriguing.
It was one of the most delicious things I've ever had.

So never having made a macaron in my life, and only having one, yes one! while I was in Paris last summer (epic FAIL) I had to try making them and of course I had to try this flavor combination.

I couldn't find a recipe for goat cheese and honey ganache, probably because it's so strange. So I made up my own, it turned out pretty good I think. I especially liked that you could taste the tartness of the cheese with just a hint of honey in the background. I really liked that you could taste them both.

Unfortunately while making up the recipe I just started throwing things in the mixer and didn't write down what I was doing. (duh!) So I hope next time I go to make these I can remember what I did!

While researching how to make macarons I learned that they are, apparently, very difficult to make and that it's all about the technique. Also I guess it's incredibly hard to get that little "foot" on the bottom of the cookie if you don't mix it just right. In France, if your cookies are cracked, don't have the foot on the bottom, or aren't smooth on top... they're unsellable, and end up in the garbage!

I guess I must have been having a great day, because I only had a few minor problems really. You have to use almond meal/flour instead of regular flour with these cookies, and I didn't have any, so I made my own and my first batch of cookies weren't smooth on the top, they were kind of chunky. I didn't sift the almonds enough.

So I ground up some more almonds and sifted them through a fine sifter this time, twice, which gave me more of a flour than just tiny chunks of almonds. My second batch turned out right, they had the little "foot" on the bottom and were perfectly smooth on top!

Also, while researching I came across all this stuff about aging the egg whites, and letting them sit on the baking sheet for at least 2 hours before putting them in the oven, as well as a number of oven temperatures to cook them at... overwhelming, to say the least. This recipe though seemed very simple... and I followed it pretty closely, and my macarons turned out great, I thought!

Enjoy.

What's in your Sugar?

I was shocked to learn from the cookbook Organic & Chic, by Sarah Magid  I recently acquired as a gift, that most of the regular white sugars you buy in the grocery store are made from sugar beets and not sugar cane?

So what's the difference you ask?

The difference, Sarah says in her book, is that most sugar beets are cheaper and require only one form of processing to turn them into sugar, which sounds nice I guess. But the problem is that although the two types of sugars may look similar they can act very differently when using them for baking, and they taste different too.

AND the most astounding thing I learned: sugar made from sugar beets is typically processed using Bone Char-or Animal bone charcol to give it that "white" color. Gross!
There's more, most sugar beets are genetically modified too. Double gross! I don't want to eat something that has had it's DNA altered! Do you?

Sugars made from pure cane sugar, on the other hand, do not use this process; hence it's light brown hue-because it is closest to it's natural state.

Although organic pure cane sugar is usually more expensive it tastes better and is better for you because it's grown and processed without using harsh chemicals, or pesticides. Nobody wants to eat pesticides!

So next time you're in the market for sugar check out the organic or natural section of your grocery store. Most store brands, including those from Target, Costco and even Wal-Mart have organic and all natural products that are usually cheaper than name brands. So spend the extra dollar, trust me it's worth it!

Check out Sarah's book for more information about sugar, and other baking ingredients.

Now you know.

Utah Jazz Basketball Cake

Mini Basketball with the Utah Jazz logo. 

 Yellow butter cake colored with the Jazz colors.  Chocolate frosting. Covered in orange fondant with black fondant lines. The ball has the texture of a basketball it's just very faint and hard to see. 

The logo is hand painted with food coloring on fondant.