French Macarons Galore!

Fellow food bloggers/ bakers, I have a question for you! So I have this problem... sometimes, when I bake the various things that I bake, I really want to be truthful in my description of how the things taste, how they turned out, or how difficult they were to make. The most difficult thing for me though is how things taste.

I know, I know! It really shouldn't be that hard to tell you guys if something is delicious or not but sometimes I really over-think things and examine things to the fine details rather than focusing on the overall deliciousness of the thing! Weird, but I can't help it. Anyway, that's why I always have taste testers - they sure do help a lot with my weird taste bud issues!

So, after all that, on to these macarons! Along with the lavender & vanilla bean macarons I posted a while ago, I made ALL of these too! It was my best friend's birthday and I knew that these would make thee perfect gift, and would let me practice my macaron-making skills, well so I'd hoped.

Weirdly enough, some came out perfect. As for the others, I could not say the same. This was probably due to the fact that I was rushing my macaron making. At first, when tasting them, I was blinded by their slight imperfections. I overcooked the green tea macarons a bit, so they were a bit brown. They were also oddly shaped and didn't have the perfect little feet that I so dreamed of! The lemon though, looked flawless. But besides all of this, my friend told me that they were everything she could have asked for. Yay!

Her favorite were the green tea flavored ones, both the adzuki bean and the passionfruit. I liked the passionfruit a lot because of the tangy and sweet passionfruit buttercream. I also really liked the earthiness that the green tea added to the shells. The lemon mascarpone were also really delicious, super tangy but sweet and I think one of the most beautiful, with perfect smooth shells and some feet!

Green Tea & Adzuki Bean French Macarons

Yields: 2 dozen macarons

Adapted from here.

For the macarons:

1 cup powdered sugar + 4 tsp.

1/2 cup almond powder or meal + 2 tsp.

2 tsp. matcha powder

2 large egg whites, room temperature

5 tbsn. granulated sugar

green food coloring

For the adzuki bean SMBC:

1/2 cup sugar

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup prepared and sweetened Adzuki beans, or more if desired

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2 inch) ready. In a blender or food processor, grind together the powdered sugar, almond powder/ meal and matcha to make sure there are no lumps. Add the green food coloring to your desired shade of green into the granulated sugar and mix until combined. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the dyed sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes. Carefully fold in the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is smooth and there are no streaks of egg whites, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag. Pipe the batter on the prepared baking sheet in 1 inch circles (about 1 tbsn. each), evenly spaced 1 inch apart. Tap the baking sheet a few times on the counter to flatten the macarons and let air 'dry' for 1 hour. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool completely before removing them.

To make the SMBC, put the sugar and egg white in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick, shiny meringue, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment, and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Beat on high speed until it is thick and very smooth, about 6 - 10 minutes. To assemble the macarons, pair the shells off into similar sizes. Take one shell and pipe about 1 tbsn. of the adzui SMBC onto it. Top with the other shell and enjoy!

Lemon Mascarpone French Macarons

Yields: 2 dozen macarons

Adapted from here. Filling recipe here.

For the macarons:

1 cup powdered sugar + 2 tbsn.

1/2 cup almond powder or meal + 1 tbsn.

2 large egg whites, room temperature

5 tbsn. granulated sugar

yellow food coloring

For the lemon cream filling:

4 oz. mascarpone cheese, room temperature

2 - 3 tbsn. lemon curd

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a pastry bad with a plain tip (about 1/2 inch) ready. In a blender or food processor, grind together the powdered sugar and almond powder/ meal to make sure there are no lumps. Add the yellow food coloring into the granulated sugar and mix until combined. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the dyed sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes. Carefully fold in the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is smooth and there are no streaks of egg whites, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag. Pipe the batter on the prepared baking sheet in 1 inch circles (about 1 tbsn. each), evenly spaced 1 inch apart. Tap the baking sheet a few times on the counter to flatten the macarons and let air 'dry' for 1 hour. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool completely before removing them.

To make the filling, beat all the ingredients together until thick and creamy. Chill for 2 - 3 hours before using. To assemble the macarons, first pair off the shells into similar sizes. Take one shell and pipe the lemon mixture on top (about 1 tbsn. each), then top with the other macaron shell. Enjoy!

Green Tea & Passionfruit French Macarons

Yields: 2 dozen macarons

Adapted from here.

For the macarons:

1 cup powdered sugar + 4 tsp.

1/2 cup almond powder or meal + 2 tsp.

2 tsp. matcha powder

2 large egg whites, room temperature

5 tbsn. granulated sugar

green food coloring, if stronger green color is desired

For the passionfruit SMBC:

1/2 cup sugar

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

passionfruit syrup, if desired (found at Asian supermarkets)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2 inch) ready. In a blender or food processor, grind together the powdered sugar, almond powder/ meal and matcha to make sure there are no lumps. Add the green food coloring to your desired shade of green into the granulated sugar and mix until combined. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the dyed sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes. Carefully fold in the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is smooth and there are no streaks of egg whites, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag. Pipe the batter on the prepared baking sheet in 1 inch circles (about 1 tbsn. each), evenly spaced 1 inch apart. Tap the baking sheet a few times on the counter to flatten the macarons and let air 'dry' for 1 hour. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool completely before removing them.

To make the SMBC, put the sugar and egg white in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick, shiny meringue, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment, and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Beat on high speed until it is thick and very smooth, about 6 - 10 minutes. Add passionfruit syrup to taste, but be careful not to add too much or else the buttercream will start to separate. To assemble the macarons, pair the shells off into similar sizes. Take one shell and pipe about 1 tbsn. of the passionfruit SMBC onto it. Top with the other shell and enjoy!

Lavender & Vanilla Bean French Macarons

After I 'mastered' the macaron, I was flying on air! I couldn't wait to dirty up my hands and have a go at them again. I had this perfect little package of almond flour waiting for me to use it up (more about this perfect almond flour below) - but I was waiting for the special opportunity to use it. My friend's birthday was just around the corner and I knew there was one thing that would make her heart explode - a plethora of French macarons!

These lavender macarons are especially pretty! I love the color of the light violet and the speckled buttercream in the center. These came out perfectly - lucky me! The lavender flavor is very prominent, even though I just sprinkled the tops with the dried lavender. It's very floral, so if you aren't used to it, you might be surprised by the flavor. My favorite part though is the vanilla bean buttercream! It's so fabulous, I cannot even express! It literally tastes like a delicious vanilla bean ice cream.

About this perfect almond flour, Sam, from Oh Nuts!, was kind enough to send me some fabulous and very generous samples of anything I fancied from their website. Trust me, I was having a hard time picking the things that I wanted, because there's every kind of dried fruit and nut a girl could ever want! I finally decided on the almond flour, dried peaches, Antwerp pistachios and hazelnuts. Everything was delicious, and I swear I'm not just saying that!

I've never tried dried peaches before but these were wonderful and I can't wait to stuff them into a cookie! The Antwerp pistachios were an extreme treat because they are unlike the regular pistachios you get from the supermarket, they are smaller and have this great flavor. Of course, I had to get the almond flour for macaron making! This flour was perfect and especially great because the skins had been removed, which makes for a prettier macaron!

If you need some fine quality fruit & nut products, go to the Oh Nuts! website immediately!

Lavendar & Vanilla Bean French Macarons

Yields: 2 dozen macarons

Adapted from here.

For the macarons:

1 cup powdered sugar + 2 tbsn.

1/2 cup almond powder or meal + 1 tbsn.

2 large egg whites, room temperature

5 tbsn. granulated sugar

purple food coloring

culinary lavendar buds, about 2 tbsn.

For the vanilla bean SMBC:

1/2 cup sugar

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 vanilla bean, split & seeded

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a pastry bad with a plain tip (about 1/2 inch) ready. In a blender or food processor, grind together the powdered sugar and almond powder/ meal to make sure there are no lumps. Add the purple food coloring into the granulated sugar to your desired shade and mix until combined. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the dyed sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes. Carefully fold in the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is smooth and there are no streaks of egg whites, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag. Pipe the batter on the prepared baking sheet in 1 inch circles (about 1 tbsn. each), evenly spaced 1 inch apart. Sprinkle some violet buds on top of each macaron. Tap the baking sheet a few times on the counter to flatten the macarons and let air 'dry' for 1 hour. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool completely before removing them.

To make the SMBC, put the sugar and egg white in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick, shiny meringue, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment, and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Beat on high speed until it is thick and very smooth, about 6 - 10 minutes. Fold in the vanilla beans and extract. To assemble the macarons, pair the shells off into similar sizes. Take one shell and pipe about 1 tbsn. of the vanilla bean SMBC onto it. Top with the other shell and enjoy!

Oops! I guess I didn't properly mix in the purple food coloring :/

Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Salted Caramel & Black Magic Cake, a match made in heaven.

When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it. I mean how could I not when the author basically named them 'the best cupcakes she's ever tasted'? Good thing I did, cause I feel exactly the same. I was inspired by the flavor combination but used my own favorite chocolate cake and a traditional swiss meringue buttercream as the one in the recipe seemed like it was a lot more complicated then need be.

Black Magic Cake has officially become my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. Do you know why I love black magic cake? For one, the ingredients are easy. The recipe requires no butter and no melting of chocolate. And if you don't have buttermilk? No problem, just use the substitution. Secondly, I am always delighted with the result. Perfectly domed cupcakes that are moist with a tender crumb.

My go to frosting? Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Don't be afraid folks, it's not as hard as they say! It's really quite simple and the results have never failed to please me either, as well as anyone whose tried it! I usually despise, hate, am appalled by most frostings. I actually used to NOT like cupcakes?!?! Can you believe that? Most of the time they are way too sweet but swiss meringue buttercream came to my rescue. It's easy and customizable beyond belief, as seen here, here and here. It's the perfect amount of sweetness that doesn't make your teeth ache after you eat it, plus it pipes like a dream with its utterly perfect consistency. And this caramel version? My absolute FAVORITE. Using salted butter cut down the sweetness even more, but paired with caramel?!?!??! Oh geez, too good to be true.

This recipe is a bit time consuming as there are lots of steps, but it really was worth it, I think this could be one of my favorite cupcakes I've made so far! But if needed, I'm sure you could easily replace the Black Magic Cake with a box mix and instead of making the caramel, use canned dulce de leche or caramel sundae topping. But please, please, please whatever you do, don't skimp on the frosting. It-is-WORTH-it. I promise.

The caramel shards were for pure decoration but they are definitely edible. I tried attempting Tartelette's "Bubble" Caramel but failed. Caramel? Yes. Bubbles? No. I don't know what I did wrong but the shards were still pretty despite being bubble-less. Oh well, next time.

Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Yields: 12 - 14 cupcakes

Inspired by this recipe but I made significant changes.

Original "bubble" caramel recipe can be found here.

Printable Recipe

1 halved recipe of Black Magic Cake

For the caramel:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsn. water

1/4 cup heavy cream

pinch of sea salt

For the buttercream:

2 large egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 sticks of salted butter (12 tbsn.), cut into 12 pieces

Caramel, to your taste

For the "bubble" caramel (for decoration/ optional):

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsn. water

1 tbsn. corn syrup

rubbing alcohol (in a spray bottle)

Bake cupcakes according to directions, let cool completely. To make the caramel, add the sugar to a saucepan and pour the water over it. With the heat on low, stir sugar until it is nearly dissolved. DO NOT let it boil, if it get too hot, remove it from the heat for a few seconds. Once mostly dissolved, raise heat to medium high and bring to a boil, cover immediately and boil for 2 minutes. Uncover and continue swirling mixture until it becomes dark amber BUT not burnt! Take off heat and IMMEDIATELY, but slowly pour in cream, stirring with a whisk (I waited a few minutes and it completely hardened and I had to start over). Whisk until combined, set aside.

To make the buttercream, put the egg whites and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water making sure the bottom does not actually touch the water. Stir the egg whites until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and place into the mixer stand. Beat until it becomes white and doubles in size. Add the vanilla on low speed, then add the butter, one piece at a time, making sure it is well mixed after each addition. Do not worry if it looks curdled, it will take some time for it to come together. Continue beating for 5 - 10 minutes until everything comes together. Add the caramel until the taste suits you. Frost your cupcakes, sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy!

To make the caramel shards, combine all of the ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring them to a boil. Bring the mixture to 300 F. While the caramel is reaching the desired temperature, take a sheet of parchment paper and crinkle it lightly with your hands, then flatten it out a bit (this will help form the bubbles). Spray rubbing alcohol on the parchment paper right before the caramel reaches is temperature, don't do it ahead of time or else the alcohol will dry. When caramel is ready, pour over the parchment paper and watch the bubble form. Spread if necessary by lifting the sheet but watch out, because mixture is hot. Let cool completely before breaking into shards. This is more for decoration than eating, but you can eat it.

Spooktacular Cupcakes

These are some cupcakes I made for an upcoming event for my club at school, The Flying Samaritans. It's an amazing club and I'm so proud to be a part of it! It was only a matter of time until I made some cupcakes for them. We are gonna be selling these to help fundraise for our club, I hope people will like them!

Furry Swamp Monsters!

Blood Bones!

Brains!

Spiderwebs!

Mummies!

I didn't have much time so I used boxed cake mixes. But I did make my own Swiss meringue buttercream! I used Martha's recipe but let me warn you, this recipe makes SO much frosting. I made 36 cupcakes and I still think that I had enough frosting left over to frost another 36! Even though the recipe said it was only for 28! Make sure to cut the recipe in half if you aren't making a ginormous amount of cupcakes!

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Yield: enough for 40 - 50 + cupcakes

Original recipe can be found here.

Printable Recipe

2 1/2 cups sugar

10 large egg whites

8 sticks/ 4 cups of unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Place sugar and egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a pan of simmering water and whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers, it should feel completely smooth. Transfer the bowl back to the standing mixer and using the whisk attachment, whisk on high speed until mixture has cooled and forms stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes. Add the butter, a little at a time and beat after each addition. DO NOT WORRY if it starts to look like it curdled, keep mixing and it should eventually become smooth again. Beat in vanilla and just mix until combined. Enjoy!

To make the furry swamp monsters:

I used a smaller star tip and just piped small stars around the whole cupcake surface until it was covered. I used M&Ms for the eyes and edible ink pens for the irises.

To make the blood bones:

I used a 2D closed star tip to frost on the frosting. To make the bones I used red candy melts, melted them, then put them into a ziplock bag with the tip cut off to pipe out bone shapes. After they hardened, I added them to the cupcakes.

To make the brains:

I used a medium sized circular tip, first divided the cupcake through the center then swirled the tip around to fill each hemisphere of the brain.

To make the spiderwebs:

I used an offset spatula to spread some dark grey frosting in a thin layer across the top of the cupcake as a base. Then I used a small circular tip filled with white frosting to pipe concentric circles on the top of the cupcake. Then I used a toothpick to drag the frosting from the center out to the edge of the cupcake.

To make the mummies:

I used a rectangular basketweave tip to pipe lines in random ways across the top of the cupcake. I used M&Ms for eyes and used edible ink pens to make the irises.

Chai Cupcakes with Cinnamon-Honey Buttercream

So here is my fantasy (maybe a possibility): That I would be able to finish college, take a year off and then continue on to Medical School. But then somewhere after, in between, or even during I would open my own bakery. I don't know how or even if those two would work together, but hey, I want it ALL! And my best friend, Cherish, would finish up her film school program at USC and become a successful director/ producer in LA and we would live in a cute little apartment that we would make all our own. Back to the present day is where it begins, here, where I have been hired to bake cupcakes for her "310 purple" class screenings - and let me tell you the film shorts were fantastic and an honor to view! In total I baked 4 varieties, here is one: Spiced Chai with Honey-Cinnamon Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

These cupcakes were fantastic. I just received Sky High in the mail the other day, and I knew I HAD to make these cupcakes because one, I LOVE chai, and two, because I heard that her recipes were fantastic, mind-blowing, amazingness. And trust me they were indeed. I didn't use her frosting recipe as I wanted to use something that would hold its shape but I did use her notes of honey which added a nice touch. Make these NOWWW!

Chai Cupcakes with Cinnamon-Honey Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

Yields: an 8-inch triple-layer cake (serves 12 - 16) OR

Original recipe from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

Printable Recipe

For the cupcakes:

1 1/3 cup milk

6 chai tea bags

4 whole eggs

2 egg yolk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 3/4 cup cake flour

2 cup sugar

4 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cardamom

1/2 tsp. salt

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

For the swiss meringue buttercream:

2 egg whites

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 tbsn.), room temperature

6 tbsn. honey

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat to 350 F. Line with cupcake liners, set aside. In saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. Add the tea bags. Remove from the heat and allow to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the bags and squeeze out the remaining milk. Let the milk cool completely. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, yolks, vanilla and 1/3 cup of the chai milk. In the bowl of a mixer sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Beat on low for about 30 seconds, then add the butter and remaining chai milk. Mix on medium low speed until light and fluffy. Next, add the egg mixture in three additions, making sure to scrape the bowl well after each. Divide the batter among the cupcake tins, about 2/3 full, and bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely. For the frosting, place all ingredients into a stand mixer or food processor and incorporate well until smooth, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.