Italian macaron class

For my birthday, Michael signed us up for a macaron class taught by a pastry chef in San Francisco.  We went this last weekend and, in a group of 6, finally got some formal training :)

pictures coming soon.  recipe is after the page break.  here are the results of our labor. 

The flavors were

• strawberry balsamic
• passion fruit
• yuzu
• coffee
• chocolate
• peanut butter

I'm excited to try this again and experiment with some flavors.  I have a few ideas: ginger peanut butter, lavender, earl grey, key lime, rose water.

Victorian Star Wars and other coolness

This artist has some pretty interesting things in his gallery including, but not limited to, Victorian-style drawn Star Wars characters :)  Fun.

http://gregpeltz.blogspot.com/

2 more project ideas

Wanted to write these down before I forget them.

- make my own mp3 player
- make my own little felt creatures based off my little doodles.  maybe make some for friends that are shaped after themselves.

macaron notes

Here are the things I did different in this latest macaron experiment:

• used fresh egg whites instead of the "Just Whites" from a carton
• let egg whites warm to room temperature before whipping
• used the copper-lined pot
• whipped egg whites to stiffer peaks
• used silpat instead of parchment paper to bake on

Here are the things I learned:

• getting stiff egg whites is the key to averting flat macarons
• macaron biscuit is a bit too sweet
• raspberry cream filling is too liquidy
• bottom of biscuit is empty.  might need to cool completely before pulling it off.

Things to experiment with in the future

• pulverize powdered sugar and almond meal mixture in food processor.  will it give smoother texture?
• let egg white "age" for a day or two before whipping
• try different filling recipe
• try less powdered sugar so biscuit is not so sweet
• will letting it cool completely before pulling it off keep it from being hollow on the bottom?
• how to get more uniform shape? - mold?
• how to get the smooth surface like the one's from Paulette's?
• how to dial it from airy to chewy?
• can I add flavoring to the biscuit without changing the chemistry of it too much?
• if putting a glaze on the outside, when should it go on?

macarons with raspberry buttercream filling

Behold!  My first successful batch of macarons!  Michael was such a great help and these turned out so much better than last time.

macaron batter piped onto the silpat.  (with a few fun shapes)

the macaron biscuits baked

 

close up on the macaron biscuits

Can I interest you in a delish little macaron? 

I'm ridiculously happy with the results right now.  Will post what I've learned from this time soon!

Self-imposed screen writing homework

In an effort to understand how my favorite animated movies construct interesting scenes and plotting, I'm going to rewatch some of my favorite animated movies this weekend and write out how they're plotted.

Here's what's on my list of candidates so far:

• Lion King
• Castle in the Sky 
• Paprika
• Howl's Moving Castle
• Wallace and Gromit - Curse of the Wererabbit
• Wallace and Gromit - The Wrong Trousers
• Coraline

I'll post my findings when as I go through this list :)

elbooga's art and plushies

Found her on musthavecute.com.  She makes some really charming plushies and portaits, that's a much more refined version of some of the doodles I do.  So cute!  She's currently not taking anymore commissions, but may again in the future.

elbooga's deviantart site