Merry Christmas 2015

HO HO HO! It's that crazy time of year again where we drive ourselves a little mad with all the holiday hustle and bustle. Christmas time is especially busy in my kitchen. This year I almost didn't have enough time to bake for myself and gifts for friends and family! I found time and luckily got it done though! *phew* 

I watched a bunch of TV baking specials this year which is something I typically don't do but I was really inspired and learns A LOT from these fellow bakers. I had no idea what "pate a choux" was ( I do now) or how to make petit fours. 

Tacky Sweater Cookies

So my New Year's Resolution is to branch out and explore more baking recipes and styles. I also want to concur my free and resistant of cakes so I have signed up for the Wilton Method classes at my local craft store and I actually could not be more excited! 

This year I baked many shapes and designs but probably one of the biggest crowd pleasers are the Tacky Sweater cookies. These cookies are always a big party hit! Especially since ugly sweater parties have become more and more popular every year. 

The hardest part of making these cookies is coming up with all the different designs. I try to channel my inner "tackiness" to come up different ideas for the sweaters. These featured above are just a few of the ones I did. Check my other blog posts for other designs. 

Holiday Cookie Dessert Platter

 Here are some other holiday cookies I made this year. I did a variety of Santa Claus faces, mittens and stockings, snow flakes, snowman and wreaths just to name a few. I have a whole drawer full of cookie cutters dedicated to holidays and christmas is about half of them! 

Holiday Cookie Dessert Platter

Another treat I made for the first time this year was Red Velvet Whoopie Pies! Nothing says "holidays" more than red velvet! I made it from scratch too. Did you know that red velvet has cocoa powder in it? That is what gives it that distinct taste...I did't know that until I made it. These were a party hit too this year. They are small and easy to eat and a perfect mix between cookie and cake. 

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

And lastly, the dessert I have really been working on this year and trying to perfect are my French Macarons. Man those buggers are little stinkers! They are so delicate and easy to mess up. Luckily I discovered earlier this year the right cookie time for my oven - we bought a house this year which means learning curve with the oven. 

Mini "Mac"

One thing I still struggle with these guys is their size. I for some reason can't get mine to be bigger than a quarter and I would like them to be more like a silver dollar size. Because they are so small, filling them can be quite tricky especially if you want to combined flavors like a chocolate ganache with a raspberry fruit filling.

French Macaron Tower

For this holiday season I made Chocolate Peppermint which I made with the red dye on top of the tower. In the middle a Chocolate Spiked Eggnog which ended up tasting more like straight gingerbread according to my professional taste tester aka my husband - lol. I kind of agree with him though. It was eggnog spiked with rum, anyways that is the flavor in the middle. And lastly I made a apple pie which was my favorite. It had really bits of apple in it and lots of cinnamon yum yum. 

Some other usual suspects made it to the party too. Those were my chocolate and vanilla cake pops and cupcakes. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! See you next year... as they say in show biz...THAT'S A WRAP! 

French Macarons

I have noticed a new dessert trend and obsession recently with French Macarons. They seem to be a hit when it come to mini treats. Up until about 2 years ago, I don't think I even knew what they were until I visited a friend in SF and we went wine tasting in Napa. She told me that we HAD to go to Bouchon and get French Macarons because they were to die for! I was pictures in my mom coconut Macarons which I love but when we got to the shop I was in for a surprise.

Macarons come in all different flavors and colors as I have come to admire them on Pinterest. They look beautiful on dessert table displays as I had seen at some bridal shows I went to. In preparation for my own wedding, I decided to take a class and learn how to make them.

If you have a Sur La Table (S.L.T as I will reference in this post) store in your neck of the wood, I highly suggest looking up some of their cooking classes. Not all locations do them but they have a lot of cooking and baking classes to choose from. So I signed up for this class and went last sunday. The chef that was teaching said he was new to S.L.T. but had been in the industry for 5+ years. We were divided up into 4 groups but we had to share the wet ingredients between 2 teams and long story short, no ones Macarons turned out. They were too runny and they didn't cook them long enough so they were breaking when we took them of the pan. Bummer.

In my group, I was talking with 2 ladies (mother and daughter) who took the class after many failed attempts at home. I learned a little bit more through their trials and errors as well. So I left the class with my recipes feeling a little perplexed about the class, but I guess I at least got 10% off the shop.

So I prepared myself to make them on my own at home the following weekend to make sure I didn't forget what I had learned. I followed the recipe to a T and then some and sure enough...IT WORKED! I guess the class wasn't a total lost cause then!

Piped batter on the pans

The recipe said that you have to let them dry on the pan for about 15-20 minutes to let them crust over and when you lightly touch them they shouldn't stick to your figure. I ended up letting them sit for about an hour and they still stuck to my figure but I put them in anyways...

Hot out the oven!

... and they seemed to turn out fine. A couple of them didn't but thats ok...they still tasted yummy.

The Finished Product! 

I was super proud of how these came out and now I am ready to get even more creative with colors and flavors! I decided to stick to the basics the first time though in the trial run.

Chocolate Ganache Filling French Macaroons

French Macarons

Since my batch made about 5 dozen "tiny hamburgers" as my fiance called them - LOL - I packaged some up and gave them to friends to enjoy! I have a wedding dress to fit in after all ;)

Packaged and Ready to Go!

The best thing about these treats that I didn't know is that they are Gluten-Free! They are made with Almond Flour! Super cool! Thanks for reading!

If you would like to order some, they are $15/dozen, minimum 2 dozen per order.