rice krispies - easter bunny wars

Growing up, my family never really celebrated Easter with me. I think I've gone Easter egg hunting once in my entire life, and it was essentially to just babysit my little cousins. If I recall correctly, I was about 14 years old, surrounded by 5 and 6 year olds. Of course I didn't take all to eggs (that would just be too unfair), but I did walk away with a good big purse full of chocolates. Now that I'm an adult (lol), I wanted to delve into these hidden ignored emotions. That one pitiful East egg hunt did not make up for my lack of Easter-love as a child.

So what else is a grown adult to do other than make rice krispie treats in Easter-themed shapes?

Making the rice krispies was the easy part, molding the adorable Easter bunnies was the hard part.

I've come to realize I'm pretty nifty with these little cereal pieces. Remember last Christmas I sculpted an impeccable Holiday House, which was unfortunately destroyed the NY blizzard of '09 (RIP Holiday House).

Okay, so I cheated a little. I used canned vanilla frosting and mixed them into ramekins with food dye. I figured I wasn't going to be eating my little bunnies, so there was no use to whip up a batch of some bangin' homemade frosting.

Decorating was a lot harder than anticipated. I may be a master in the kitchen (har, har), but I'm pretty inept and decorating crudely-shaped bunnies.

The ear of my bunny was too heavy to support its own weight with all that disgusting frosting, hence the breakage. And that obscure pink mishmash to the right would be my boyfriend's stocky-horned concept of a bunny.

Easter-fail.

chocolate easter cupcakes - the birthday girl keeps getting gypped

Recall the decadent flourless chocolate cake my cousins and I created? Well as you know, the cake came out flawless and we were immensely satisfied. But what about the birthday girl who were originally going to bake the cake for? She, unknowingly, had just been denied the privilege of such a cake (or any birthday bakery for that matter). So while at the grocery store shopping for the ingredients in our indulgent flourless chocolate cake, we quickly grabbed a box of chocolate cake mix.


Anyone who knows me (even someone who is barely able to call me an acquaintance) will tell you how much I detest using anything boxed. With that said, this is not my friend's birthday cake, nor am I the one buying the ingredients.


Needless to say, I did not oppose to my cousin's choice of this box cake mix. I mean after all, I have found a great doctored recipe to use on box cake mix. Every time I've used it- the cake had been flawless and extremely delicious. Never any issues whatsoever.


Something I hadn't realized until after we placed the cupcakes in the oven was that this wasn't the typical Betty Crocker cake mix. I reread the box and it appeared to be one of those special fancy super-de-duper moist cakes. Well, I mean whatever. I guess the cake would be superly extremely moist then. No one ever complains when a cake is too moist, right?


Funny thing is that we had so much extra batter (from all my add-ins) that we could make a whole batch of cupcakes plus a little 8x8 tin. We figured my cousin could decorate and give the 8x8 cake to her friend, and we'd keep the cupcakes for ourselves (muaha). Shown here are the cupcakes my little cousins and I decorated. I commend them on their great decorating skills (I'm loving my little cousin's carrot here).


If you haven't got the hint by now, these cupcakes were specifically decorated with Easter themes in mind (given the date and all). This cute little bunny rabbit (don't forget the cute grass as well) was my creation.


Okay- I'll pat my own back on this one. I mean come on, given the circumstances and tools around me, I did an awesome job. We were given a can of vanilla icing, 4 shades of food coloring, a butter knife and a few ziplocks. Voila! Imagine what I could accomplish with fancy cake decorating tools.


After the mini photoshoot with my bunny, it was time for a taste test. We all sat there with our cupcakes in hand, ready to taste my supposedly awesome doctored-up box cake mix. Let's spare the details here. The cupcake tasted fine, nothing spectacular, however was more so on the moist side. Although not technically a fail, I do feel bad for the poor birthday girl who was given the 8x8 inch cake of this stuff. Because of its size, that cake must have undoubtedly been extra moist. Happy birthday to my cousin's friend! (Hehe).

---RECIPE---
Taken from multiple sources and mostly from experience.

1 box cake mix (for future reference, don't get anything already super moist)
1 box instant pudding mix (flavor depending on the type of cake, for this we used chocolate)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Bake as directed on box.

chocolate & strawberry french macarons - am i ready for this?

So after my last bitch entry about how "french macarons are the hardest thing to make", you know what I did? I made another freakin' batch. I'm not going to let one horrible experience cramp my style. I'm going to conquer this recipe, if it's the last thing I do! Okay, just kidding. Apparently they were such a hit last time, that I was essentially begged to make another batch. Sure, whatever, why not. I seriously did want to try it again though; especially since this recipe completely requires practice. And, if practice makes perfect, why don't I just bang out two different types of macarons all at once? Sheesh, I even shocked myself!


Using the same recipe as last time, (seeing as how it included derivatives for other flavors), I began the first batch- chocolate. Basically it's exactly the same, just substituting some of the almond flour for cocoa powder.


I made a basic simple ganache, slathered it on one thin macaron, then placed another on top.


After my little procession line was finished, I took a second to stop and admire my little brown babies. Although they didn't completely replicate the french macarons found in fancy bakeries, they still looked damn cute.


One little bite caused the little air sandwiches to deflate and crack into the gooey chocolate ganache. I think we can all agree that I'm beginning the get the hang of this.


Next batch: Strawberry! This variation was slightly different. Only a tiny dash of strawberry flavor went into the meringue itself. The real strawberry flavor would come from the filling. On a side note: Notice the shape of these little babies. I have almost perfected the form of a french macaron. Look at it's little "legs"! It finally rose like how it was supposed to; yayy!


So why do these little sandwiches scream strawberry flavor? Ahh, a little food coloring does wonders! For some reason we subconsciously associate the physical with taste. Not sure why; but the few drops of red food dye sure did work.


Between the two pink pillows was a good slather of strawberry preserves. With each bite a drop of rich strawberry chunks oozed out the sides.


So was attempt #2 and #3 at french-macaron-creating a success or a failure? Let's just say that I am 100 times better than my last time, but still nowhere near those professional bakeries that I adore.


---RECIPE---
Taken from Martha Stewart.

ingredients:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup almond flour
2 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam, for filling

variations:
Chocolate: Substitute 3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder for 1/4 cup of the almond flour.
Raspberry: Add 1 tablespoon fresh raspberry puree, strained, plus 3 to 4 drops dusty- rose gel-paste food coloring.

directions:
1. Pulse confectioners' sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined. Sift mixture 2 times.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and whisk until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, then add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny.
3. Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, dragging pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks. Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macaroons are crisp and firm, about 10 minutes. After each batch, increase oven temperature to 375 degrees, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees.
4. Let macaroons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. (If macaroons stick, spray water underneath parchment on hot sheet. The steam will help release macaroons.)
5. Sandwich 2 same-size macaroons with 1 teaspoon jam. Serve immediately, or stack between layers of parchment, wrap in plastic, and freeze for up to 3 months.

hint:
Piping the perfect macaroon takes a little practice. Treat it as you would a rosette, bringing the pastry tip to the side of the circle, rather than forming a peak, to finish.

amount:
Makes about 35 macaron sandwiches.

french macarons - the hardest thing i have ever done in my life

Now that the arduous task of making homemade almond flour was finished, I was finally able to begin the French-Macaron-making-process. I found a ton of recipes online but was unsure as to which one I wanted to make because of all the variations with different flavors. I found a recipe by Martha Stewart that allowed me to mix and match different variants so I would be able to make one big batch of almond-flour-meringue and then portion it out for which flavors I wanted to use. First and foremost, I had to make a basic batch to see if I was even capable of such a task.


Egg whites. They may seem like the most glamorous ingredient, but once they're beaten to oblivion, the glossy shiny goop is mesmerizing.


The slightly large grains of my almond flour got folded into the meringue. Then I stuffed the strange mixture into a piping bag which I cut the end to about 1/2 an inch like the directions called for.


I've read about the difficulties one can encounter while making these, but never would I have imagined how difficult it actually is. The suggestions were to not drag the line to the center, but rather end the line to the side. They also suggested drawing the same size circle on parchment paper for which to follow. Also, the directions stated to let them sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before baking, which I found made them pretty hard.


Okay, so my first batch was no success. The little "legs" as they call it appear to be lopsided and the concentric circles are way too evident. They're supposed to look like little round slightly-sloping muffin tops with porous legs. Not happenin' here.


After practicing a few batches, I was just beginning to get the hang of it. Although the swirls on the top are still very evident, I at least managed to make somewhat-correct "legs". Instead of using two to make a sandwich, like you're supposed to, I sliced them in half instead.


For the filling I made a basic chocolate ganache and whipped in some powdered sugar to make it like the consistency of frosting. I was more concerned with presenting my fake french macarons than how they tasted. I already had it in my head that they tasted horrible.


Wow so they tasted almost like actual macarons. They definitely needed to be altered a bit more, and especially needed to have an entire face-lift.


So although this wasn't a success in my book, this was definitely a huge learning experience. My boyfriend and his mother also seemed to like them, which gives me more of an incentive to make these in the future.

---RECIPE---
Taken from Martha Stewart.

ingredients:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup almond flour
2 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
1/4 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam, for filling

directions:
1. Pulse confectioners' sugar and almond flour in a food processor until combined. Sift mixture 2 times.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and whisk until soft peaks form. Reduce speed to low, then add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny.
3. Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, dragging pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks. Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macaroons are crisp and firm, about 10 minutes. After each batch, increase oven temperature to 375 degrees, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce to 325 degrees.
4. Let macaroons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. (If macaroons stick, spray water underneath parchment on hot sheet. The steam will help release macaroons.)
5. Sandwich 2 same-size macaroons with 1 teaspoon jam. Serve immediately, or stack between layers of parchment, wrap in plastic, and freeze for up to 3 months.

hint:
Piping the perfect macaroon takes a little practice. Treat it as you would a rosette, bringing the pastry tip to the side of the circle, rather than forming a peak, to finish.

amount:
Makes about 35 macaron sandwiches.