Under a blue moon

Chocolate Caramels with Sea Salt

Back when I was experimenting with macarons I discovered a baker on YouTube whose channel is called Cupcake Jemma.  While perusing her videos I came across her recipe for chocolate caramels with sea salt.  I thought they would make a great Christmas treat to give out.  

It is a very simple recipe to follow but it does require two kitchen tools to be successful; a kitchen scale and a candy thermometer. 

For baking and candy making it is always better to weigh your ingredients than measure them.  I have this scale that measures in both grams and ounces.  You can also place your dish or bowl on it and set the scale to zero then add your ingredient. 

Jemma's recipe called for golden syrup which is hard to find here in the US.  Corn syrup is NOT a good substitute.  I did find liquid raw sugar and used it in my batch.  I will try to locate the golden syrup for my next batch.

There are only six ingredients which are cream, dark chocolate, granulated sugar, golden syrup, butter and sea salt.  Amounts are listed on her video (I'm always hesitant to post someone else's recipe unless I have modified it in some way).

For the chocolate I used Trader Joe's dark chocolate with 56% cocoa.  It comes in a three pack and I used all three minus seven little squares.  What you do with the leftover squares is entirely up to you.  No judgement here.

A couple of notes on the steps.  Jemma's instructions had precise temperatures for caramelizing the sugar and for bringing the temperature  back up after adding the chocolate.  Both were just slightly above hard crack and hard ball.  I figured I would just use those settings (hard crack and hard ball) and I think I should have followed her specific temperatures.   My carmels turned out a little soft.  Good enough to keep in the fridge but not great for gifting. 

I also want to try the recipe with the golden syrup like I mentioned.  I have read that World Market carries it or I can make my own rather easily.  

In other news I should get my laptop back today.  I took the pictures in this post with my cellphone because I can't get photos from my camera onto my notepad.  So sorry for the poor quality.  Things should be back to normal on Wednesday.

Pumpkin Macarons

Last week I was on a mission to create the perfect macaron.  I haven't succeeded yet but I'm getting closer.  This is my second attempt.

The first attempt was not pretty.

The issue here was I didn't get my egg whites to the appropriate stiff peak stage.  The "feet" didn't develop properly and half of them cracked.

I followed the macaron recipe on the Tasty website with the addition pumpkin pie spice for flavor and for the second batch I added cream of tartar to help with my egg white whipping.  I think this was a mistake as I can definitely taste the cream of tartar.  But it did make my macarons look perfect.  

I found this video helpful for the technique.

Okay let's get down to the lessons I learned.  

Number 1:  Throw all your dry ingredients into a food processor and pulse them thoroughly.  Then sift them through a sieve to make sure they are really fine.  

Number 2:  Powdered sugar is volatile.

Photo doesn't accurately convey how much powdered sugar ended up all over the rug and floor.  

Number 3:  Make sure your egg whites are at room temperature before mixing.

Number 4:  Use more food coloring than you think you will.  The baking process leaches out the color.  My batter for my second attempt was rather garish looking but the end result was the warm, pumpkin-y color I was going for. 

Number 5:  Make yourself a template.  I was rather cocky for my first attempt and tried to free hand it.  I had quite the assortment of sizes.  I just plopped a bunch of 1 1/2" circles into MS Word and printed off two copies.  I put them on my cookie sheet under the parchment and I ended up with almost perfectly consistent macarons.  Just slip the paper out before baking.

Number six:  Really bang the heck out of your pans after you have piped your macarons.  Every recipe and video said to do this to make sure any air bubbles pop.  I did but maybe not enough as some of them had bubble come to the surface during baking that resulted in lumpier looking tops.

Number seven:  Let your macarons rest on the counter for an hour before baking.  I think this also helps with the proper development of feet.  You want the batter to dry out and develop a skin before baking.

Number eight:  Don't over bake your macarons.  Every recipe said to make sure they released easily from the parchment paper before removing from oven otherwise they would be under baked.  I baked for the requisite 20 minutes and then checked and they were really sticking.  So I left them if another three minutes.  Same thing.  Three minutes later they weren't any better.  Finally after the third time I just took them out and after I let them sit for a few minutes they came right off.  I think they would have done that at 20 minutes and I would have had perfect macarons.  

Mine look lovely but the cookie is very crisp and doesn't have that chewy texture it should.  I think it was more an issue with my off brand parchment paper.   

I made pumpkin butter cream for the filling.  My son had made a batch of pumpkin butter and I wanted to incorporate it into the recipe.  

On to the recipe!  

Pumpkin Macarons (adapted from tasty.co)

• 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup almond flour, finely ground
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 3 egg whites, at room temperature
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• Orange gel food coloring

Buttercream

• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup pumpkin butter (or puree)
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the macarons:

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the powdered sugar, almond flour, ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and process on low speed, until extra fine. Sift the almond flour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl.
2. In a separate large bowl, beat the egg whites and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add the granulated sugar until fully incorporated. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form (you should be able to turn the bowl upside down without anything falling out).
3. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add the food coloring and beat until just combined.
4. Add about ⅓ of the sifted almond flour mixture at a time to the beaten egg whites and use a spatula to gently fold until combined. After the last addition of almond flour, continue to fold slowly until the batter falls into ribbons and you can make a figure 8 while holding the spatula up.
5. Transfer the macaron batter into a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
6. Pipe the macarons onto the parchment paper in 1½-inch (3-cm) circles, spacing at least 1-inch (2-cm) apart.
7. Tap the baking sheet on a flat surface 5 times to release any air bubbles.
8. Let the macarons sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until dry to the touch.
9. Preheat the oven to 300˚F (150˚C).
10. Bake the macarons for 20 minutes, until the feet are well-risen and the macarons don’t stick to the parchment paper.
11. Transfer the macarons to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.

Make the buttercream:

1. In a large bowl, add the butter and beat with a mixer for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla, pumpkin butter, and ½ teaspoon of pumpkin spice and beat to combine.
2. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
3. Add a dollop of buttercream to one macaron shell. Top it with another macaron shell to create a sandwich. Repeat with remaining macaron shells and buttercream.
4. Place in an airtight container for 24 hours to “bloom”.

Enjoy! 

I still need a third go at these to see if I can get the cookie part right.  At least they are good enough to photograph and I am hoping after they rest (bloom) for a while the consistency will be good.

 

If you have macaron tips please share!!

 

 

 

Pumpkin Cake

Happy 1st day of October!  The countdown to Halloween officially starts.  I thought I would kick it off with pumpkin cake topped with deliciously light whipped cream cheese frosting.  

As I was taking pictures I realized that this is very close to the apple spice cake I made last month.  The difference is I found a much better cream cheese frosting.  The previous recipe had four cups of powdered sugar where this one only has one.  Much less cloying and oh so much fluffier. 

The cake recipe I used is the One-Bowl Pumpkin Sheet Cake from A Cozy Kitchen.  I followed the cake recipe exactly but used a different recipe for the frosting.   The frosting recipe I used comes from Natasha's Kitchen and it is so fluffy and light and just the right amount of sweetness. 

Here's something that happens behind the scenes...Since I don't eat cake (or any sweets) it is a little ridiculous to make an entire cake just for Rick so I tend to bake on Sundays so I can take it to Sunday dinner at my Dad's.  But I also want to take glamour shots of whatever I make.  I first take pictures of the whole cake then I cut a piece to get pictures of the inside of the cake.  Afterwards I carefully put the piece back and smear the frosting along the cut lines to hide them.  Ha! No one is the wiser.

A Cozy Kitchen decorated her cake with pretty pastel jimmies that she made herself.  Not having the patience or the wherewithal to do that I settled for a mix of white and orange.  But I love the idea of less garish colors when decorating cakes and found this shop that sells a huge variety of different colored jimmies.  I would have done a mix of peach and ivory.  

On Wednesday I'll share the Halloween Party invitations.  They have been all sent off on Saturday so the recipients should have received them and it won't ruin the surprise.

 

Pumpkin Spice

A couple of weeks ago the Minister of Creative Ventures (is that not a fabulous title?) at The Republic of Tea reached out and asked if I would like to try some of their teas.  They had seen a previous post on tea, my beverage of choice, and thought I might like to review some of their offerings.  Free tea?  I'm in!

And just to get the disclaimers out of the way I was sent the tea for free but am not being paid or even required to review it.  And if it turned out I didn't care for it I wouldn't review it all, to be honest.  The old 'if you don't have anything nice to say' adage runs deep in my veins....

I was invited to visit their website and pick anything I like - an old favorite or maybe something new.  I did both.  I am a black tea drinker (English Breakfast being my favorite) and could have stuck with that.  But their line of cozy weather teas caught my eye and I choose the Pumpkin Spice tea.  The pumpkin spice latte folks shouldn't have all the fun.

Of course I had to make a pumpkin pie as a prop.  Even though the temperatures are in the 90's right now.  Fall?  What fall?  

I start every morning with my low-carb muffin which I make with pumpkin pie spice.  I thought the tea would be the perfect pairing for it.  It is a black tea with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.  To me it is a little more sophisticated than pumpkin pie spice you would use to make a pie.  I find that some spiced teas can go overboard with the cinnamon but this is nicely balanced.   I use a vanilla coconut cream and almond milk creamer in my tea and the addition of vanilla is really nice.  

As for the company itself, The Republic of Tea is headquartered here in Northern California and is committed to creating a fair and sustainable tea industry for tea workers, farmers and the environment.  They also routinely donate to a number of non-profit organizations and causes like the American Red Cross for the relief efforts of the Northern California wildfires that have devastated our state.   

Great company with an admirable ethos and lovely tea.  Thank you, Minister of Creative Ventures, for inviting me to try your tea.

Apple Spice Cake

I'm kicking off the fall season with an apple recipe.  Okay I know it's not technically fall yet, and won't be for a few weeks, but to me September is fall and apples especially are fall.  

This is a simple apple spice sheet cake with cream cheese frosting.  I have no idea how it tastes because I don't eat cake but Rick assures me it is good, although maybe could have been a bit apple-ier.  

I will say the whole house smells fabulous.  Since I've been eating low carb I rarely bake.  I am starting to slowly add carbs back into my diet and while I don't think I'll be binging on baked goods anytime soon I think the occasional small treat won't derail my efforts.  

I may or may not have eaten a spoonful of cream cheese frosting while making this cake...

Apple Spice Cake (adapted from The Baker Chick which is adapted from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients

• 2 large Granny Smith (or other tart apple) apples peeled and cut into small pieces (about 3 cups)
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 3 cups all-purpose flour 
• 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, divided
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⅓ cups vegetable oil 
• ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Instructions

1. Preheat over to 350F. Oil and flour a quarter sheet pan and set aside.  If you don't have a sheet pan use 13 x 9 baking pan.
2. In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter and add the apples, 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, and 1 tablespoon of white sugar. Saute for 3-5 minutes, until the apples are slightly soft.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs; mix on high speed until the mixture is fluffy and light. Stir in the vanilla extract.
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients while mixing on low speed until just combined. Add in the apples and gently incorporate.
6. Spread batter in the sheet pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
7. Cool before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time until creamy. Add the vanilla extract.
2. Frost cake in the pan and serve.  Refrigerate any leftovers.