I like all the eye candy on this blog. It's nice to get some inspiration from here every once in a while :)
Lovely Package
Friday, April 29, 2011
matcha azuki macaron
The macaron is not the featured dessert here, but still the combination intrigues me and I might try that mousse recipe and see how it goes at the center of the macaron.
match azuki entremet
match azuki entremet
Thursday, April 28, 2011
cool animated gifs
These are some truly artistic animated gifs that quietly capture a moment. (Editted because the blog where I first found the images, doesn't have them anymore.)
Animated Gifs That Savor a Passing Moment
Animated Gifs That Savor a Passing Moment
Monday, April 25, 2011
macaron update
I made another batch of macarons this weekend with great success!
It took half a day to make a batch on my own. I did half a batch of mango ganache filling and half batch of red bean paste filling.
The mango ones turned out perfect, but the red bean paste ganache didn't chill long enough and was runny at first. The red bean ones were also on parchment paper instead of the silpat and also came out mis-shapened.
I had no problems with oven bake times. I put the oven on 300 degrees and baked the biscuits in the top-middle rack about 16 minutes total.
The macarons were good but still a bit too sweet. I think next time we can cut back on the powered sugar and compensate for the same amount of almond meal so the dry mass stays the same.
Oh and here's a recipe I found from a blog and it has pink bunny macarons. Cute. I will try to do some fun shapes again soon, but a bit differently.
Easter Bunny Macarons
It took half a day to make a batch on my own. I did half a batch of mango ganache filling and half batch of red bean paste filling.
The mango ones turned out perfect, but the red bean paste ganache didn't chill long enough and was runny at first. The red bean ones were also on parchment paper instead of the silpat and also came out mis-shapened.
I had no problems with oven bake times. I put the oven on 300 degrees and baked the biscuits in the top-middle rack about 16 minutes total.
The macarons were good but still a bit too sweet. I think next time we can cut back on the powered sugar and compensate for the same amount of almond meal so the dry mass stays the same.
Oh and here's a recipe I found from a blog and it has pink bunny macarons. Cute. I will try to do some fun shapes again soon, but a bit differently.
Easter Bunny Macarons
Monday, April 4, 2011
Great article of an artist's perspective
How to steal like an artist and 9 other things nobody told me
Despite the title, it's not about stealing, but a reflection on what it means to create, and an analysis how an artist or a person is influenced to create.
I love this article because it solidifies a lot of what I've realized over the years.
Despite the title, it's not about stealing, but a reflection on what it means to create, and an analysis how an artist or a person is influenced to create.
I love this article because it solidifies a lot of what I've realized over the years.
- I don't have to forbid myself from creating art until "I'm good enough"
- I need to create stuff that I enjoy. Only then can I make my own decisions and only then can I fully love the results.
- I can love and mimic another artist's style and work, but ultimately I need to find my own style and process.
- Be brave. If I want to learn something, I will go learn it and try to do it. Practice even if I'm disappointed with the results. Especially when I'm disappointed with the results.
- Edit. Each technique and tool I accumulate should just be something available to be used judiciously. I should not apply every tool at every possible time.
latest macaron news
We hauled ass the weekend of 3/26-27 and made 2 full batches of Italian-meringue macarons for a fundraising bake sale at work.
It was a spectacular success and people seemed to really enjoy them. Though it made me nervous when French people bought one since I'd imagine they would have even higher expectations.
The flavors we made:
- red bean paste ganache (stumbled onto this recipe which happened from Thip's blog. we had just taken a class from Thip 2 weeks before. yummy! will try just straight red bean paste sometime too.)
- mango ganache (I cooked down some mango puree for the flavoring. really good!)
- lychee filling (cooked down and blended some canned lychee. it got easily overpowered by the white chocolate flavor. I ended up making a pretty pulpy lychee filling.)
- white chocolate ganache (pretty simple and pretty good)
We ran into some trouble with getting the macaron shells to cook fully. Baking the standard 8-10 minutes seems to leave it a bit gooey on the inside. We ended up baking them at least 20 minutes.
- is our oven weak?
- does it make a difference that our heating element is on the top?
- or is it okay that it's a bit gooey on the inside at first? will it cool and harden?
It was a spectacular success and people seemed to really enjoy them. Though it made me nervous when French people bought one since I'd imagine they would have even higher expectations.
The flavors we made:
- red bean paste ganache (stumbled onto this recipe which happened from Thip's blog. we had just taken a class from Thip 2 weeks before. yummy! will try just straight red bean paste sometime too.)
- mango ganache (I cooked down some mango puree for the flavoring. really good!)
- lychee filling (cooked down and blended some canned lychee. it got easily overpowered by the white chocolate flavor. I ended up making a pretty pulpy lychee filling.)
- white chocolate ganache (pretty simple and pretty good)
We ran into some trouble with getting the macaron shells to cook fully. Baking the standard 8-10 minutes seems to leave it a bit gooey on the inside. We ended up baking them at least 20 minutes.
- is our oven weak?
- does it make a difference that our heating element is on the top?
- or is it okay that it's a bit gooey on the inside at first? will it cool and harden?
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