Balmain + Adriano Zumbo patisserie

As a fan of chef Adriano Zumbo, I was hoping to visit his patisserie whilst in Sydney.

Well, as luck would have it, the store is just up the road from the Balmain East ferry terminal. We jumped off the ferry and jumped on a bus and there I was in his store, surrounded by amazing cakes, fresh bread and his famous macarons. Yum!

I chose macarons in the flavours...grapefruit, smarties, raspberry/chocolate and green apple. Yum.

I also treated myself to a piece of cake. I don't remember the name but it was a raspberry and chai tea concoction. I wasn't keen on one of the layers (it had a strange consistency) but the chai, vanilla and raspberry parts were yummy :)

Well, that's Sydney done and dusted. It was fun.

Back to regular programming :)

xx

Macarons take 2 + recipe

Thanks for your lovely comments about my macarons - I would have liked to have sent one to you all to enjoy with a cuppa.

The other day I made Raspberry macarons and the results were good, in fact they taste more like I imagine a macaron should taste. I didn't add enough colour to the mixture and then overdid it with the filling (which is unbelievably sweet) but they're quite nice I think.

A few of your asked for the chocolate recipe from the other day so here it is. It's really not difficult so give it a go.

Chocolate Almond Macarons
Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1/4 cup (55g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 cup (160g) icing (confectioner's) sugar
1/4 cup (25g) cocoa powder
1 cup (120g) ground almond (almond meal)
2 teaspoons cocoa powder, extra
1/4 cup (60mls) pouring cream
150g (5 ounces) dark eating chocolate, chopped finely

1. Grease oven trays, line with baking paper (I just dabbed a tiny bit of oil under the paper to hold them in place). Use a good non-stick baking paper.
2. Beat egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add caster sugar, beat until sugar dissolves; transfer mixture to large bowl. Fold in sifted icing sugar and cocoa and ground almonds, in two batches.
3. Spoon mixture into piping bag with 2cm plain tube (I just used a snap-lock bag and cut off the corner). Pipe 4cm rounds (or a little smaller) about 2cm apart onto trays. Tap trays on bench so mixture spreads a little. Dust macarons with extra sifted cocoa powder, stand 30mins.
4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 150degrees C/ 300degrees F (if fan forced reduce by 10degrees).
5. Bake macarons about 20 minutes. They should feel crisp and dry on top but will still be soft inside. Cool on trays.
6. Bring cream to the boil in small saucepan, remove from heat; add chocolate, stir until smooth. Refrigerate about 20mins or until spreadable.
7. Sandwich macaroons with chocolate filing.

Note: unfilled macrons will keep up to a week in an airtight container. Fill them just before serving.
This recipe came from the new Womans Weekly Macaroon and Biscuit cookbook. Enjoy!!
ps I must comment on the spelling of macaron. In the book it says macaroon but I have read in numerous places that it should only be one 'o'. Who knows? Doesn't matter, they still taste good!

I'm linking up with Joyce from I Love Pretty Little Things for her Friday Pretties posts. Please drop by for a look!
Have a wonderful weekend bloggies!! It's a long weeend in Tasmania so YAY!!

Marvellous macarons!

I have been a bit obsessed lately with French macarons. I've never eaten one but really wanted to make some. I used a fairly simple Woman's Weekly cookbook recipe and results are quite good...

...of course I haven't anything to compare them with. These are obviously chocolate (they taste like a chocolate bomb) and my next attempt will be raspberry, mostly because I like the colour. Of course I should be sanding this or painting that, or making jewellery for the gallery. It will all happen in time.