Les Macarons

Fears. We all have them. Many are exaggerated or irrational.. such as globophobia (the fear of balloons) or katsaridaphobia (fear of - ew - look it up if you have to, I can't even say what it is).

But none of my fears have been more irrational, more ridiculous and more worthy of conquering than my fear of making macarons.

I know. It's terrifying - the thought of making those perfect little pastries. What if they don't rise, what if they aren't light and airy, what if the ends don't crust up and give the wafers their distinct character?! There is so much room for failure.

But today, I tell you, there isn't! It's so much easier than it seems, and you TOO can conquer your fear of making macarons (as far as google tells me, there isn't a word for this condition yet, but do not worry, you are not alone)!

That's right my friends. Today, I liberate you from the emptiness you feel when you think of Paris, the envy you feel when you pass by your local patisserie (or four.. macarons are so trendy right now!) and look inside to see the delightful pastry perfectly executed inside.

Okay, so maybe your suffering doesn't exactly mirror mine..... but who cares! It's time to talk about cookies!

photo credit: urbanspoon.com

I first encountered the macaron in Paris. In a shop window, I distinctly remember walking by with my group of girls, and longingly gazing back at the filled wafer cookie. What was it? Why were there so many colors? How did they all look SO perfect? I will one day return to Paris and reunite with the birthplace of the cookie I have since learned so much about.

I often wondered about the macaron, as I later found out was the name for the elegant wafer filled with ganache, jam or curd. I needed to know more. Why didn't I just go inside?! Only a couple of years later, I began to notice macarons everywhere I went. Small gourmet food shops, pastry shops, literally everywhere. Well not, everywhere. Not to be confused with the American coconut macaroon, these are reserved for high end bakeries - for now. There is something special about the macaron, and an unlimited number of flavors and fillings to experiment with as I've learned.

Over Thanksgiving, I got to talking to Chris' mother, and she mentioned that she was going to make some for the very first time. I shuddered.

MAKE THEM?! FIRST TIME!? BUT........

This was it. No more buts.

"I'll make them with you!" I exclaimed. "I'm just..... intimidated.." I explained sheepishly.

She nodded, and together we cried and hugged. She understood! Okay, that last part didn't happen, but she did understand. And we agreed to make them.

We settled on a classic almond cookie filled with dark chocolate ganache. The flavor was fantastic! While they did not come out as "perfect" as I had seen in stores, they were delicious, and the experience was a breakthrough! We had a starting point, and we discussed our mistakes, learning where we had room to grow. I've since made macarons three times, even as gifts for coworkers (mini almond macarons with strawberry ganache filling). I have even taught another friend how to make them for the first time (vanilla buttercream). Things have really turned around.

Check that out! Happy Holiday's at the office!

For Christmas, I gave Chris' mother a backordered magazine with a spread about macarons. I book marked the page and thanked her for the experience, promising to master the art with her. Sweet, I know. However, I don't think I could have better expressed my gratitude to her for pushing me to conquer this baking hang up.

I'm not printing the recipe we used yet because I'm continuing to master and tweak the art, but my own recipes will follow. Until then, feast your eyes, and go try to make macarons! Lay that deliciously light and crisp foundation, and together we will fill it with ganache! With that, I leave you with today's lesson - in the wise words of former Nike marketing executives: Just do it.

'Tis Better to Give...

You've probably heard that one before, but it's something that's been instilled in me over the years. As much as I love receiving presents (really I do), I love the art of gift giving.

I love wrapping, thinking of new ways to wrap, and of course, handing over the carefully wrapped present. There's a selfish part in all of it, the ultimate wow factor the package brings, but I just love giving gifts. I'm a retail dream. What are you getting your parents, your siblings, your favorite maitre d? (Yup, that last one was feature in a Saks gift giving guide catalogue. You betcha.)

But there is something extra magical about food gifts. Taking the time to make something delicious catered to the person it is for. One year, I made my father miniature black and white cookies, since he's moved out of New York City and misses his favorite Italian Bakery treat. My former roommates and I seem to have begun a tradition of making large batches of jam in different flavors, canning it, and giving it to everyone we know.

Having just moved into a new apartment, I was faced with my first year with not only a concierge desk, but an entire building management team. What to do.... but bake! This tray is composed of home made biscotti, mexican wedding cookies, a tower of star shaped sugar cookies of different sizes, stacked to resemble a christmas tree, nutty maple sour cream bread, and of course home made jam for spreading.

What are you giving this year?

An Ode to the Dutch Apple Dumpling

One of my favorite parts about fall is the apple the creeps up in desserts. Unlike pumpkin, apple desserts don't smack you in the face like the pumpkin flavored everything that literally attacks over night somewhere in September. Apple is classy like that.

I distinctly remember the first time I tried apple butter at an apple orchard. It was a "how have I never discovered this!?" moment. I believe I was around 6 - high expectations from food. I grew up loving apple pie, candy apples, apple strudel, apple muffins, apple donuts, the apple crisp at Applebee's (don't judge, I went to high school in East Brunswick, NJ. Applebee's and the tiny mall are pretty much what there is to do), and one of my all time favorites: apple dumplings.

The traditional dutch apple dumpling is constructed with a simple dough wrapped around a cinnamon and brown sugar buttered apple. What's not to love?

The chain restaurant Cheesecake Factory, (which I find consistently good and if I am going to a chain restaurant, that's the one I want to go to.. I will defend Cheesecake Factory against chain restaurant critics any day!) used to have an apple purse on their menu and it was a must every time I went there (we had a Cheesecake Factory in a surrounding town's mall - NJ loves their malls - that I worked in for a summer. After work, CF apple dumplings became routine). The dough was slightly more puff pastry (but not quite) than the traditional apple dumpling, but it was - as most of their desserts are - awesome sauce. I was heart broken to find in college that the item was taken off their menu.

But as my passion for baking and cooking only grew in college, I was delighted to find how easy it is to make them yourself! There are tons of recipes out there for apple dumplings, so try several and find one that works for you. Mine is an adaptation of different ones I've tried over the years, a mix between super thin dough and a flakier crust, a seasoned buttery apple with an addition of nutmeg to the traditional cinnamon and brown sugar and some pecans for added nuttiness and crunch.

While I've seen them served with caramel sauce, whipped cream, ice cream, etc., I prefer mine stand alone with a glass of ice cold milk. Yes, I put ice in milk.

It's easy to forget, but my home of Philadelphia is fairly close to Pennsylvania Dutch Country. The simplicity of this dessert mirrors the life style of it's origins. There is no pretense, no fuss about fluting your pie crust, no pressure to be anything but delicious. In fact, the non-uniform overlay of the dough creates a beauty in itself, that is easy to dress up with decorative leaf cut outs of dough, sanding sugar, or nothing at all. Let the dessert do all the work for you.

Dutch Apple Dumplings

For the Dough

5 cups flour

2 tsp sea salt

3 sticks butter, cubed and chilled

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 - 2/3 cup ice water

1 egg, beaten lightly

For the Apples

4 apples, peeled, cored, halved

4 Tbsp butter, cubed

1 cup brown sugar

3 tsp cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, plus more for spinkling

1/2 cup pecans (halves) or almonds (slivers) - optional

Preheat Oven to 350° F

Blend the butter reserved for dough, salt, salt and baking powder until crumbs form - this can be done in a food processor, or with some motivation and a pastry blender. Use two forks if you don't have one handy. Blend in just enough water to create a soft dough (you may not need to use it all, so sprinkle in a little at a time).

Divide the dough into four pieces and flatten into disks. Wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, but you can do so overnight.

When firm, unwrap one disk at a time and roll out onto a floured surface to about 8 inches.

In a clean bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Roll apples in the mixture to coat. Add butter and nuts to remaining sugar mixture and blend roughly.

Set one apple half on each dough round, cut side up. Layer the sugar/butter mixture on top of the cut side (try to divide evenly among 4 apples), and lay the other half of the apple, cut side down, on top. Wrap dough around filled apple by pulling the ends up and pinching together, or wrapping with kitchen twine. Repeat for each apple, you should have four dumplings. Brush each with egg, and sprinkle with cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg, if desired.

Place on a baking sheet or pie plate lined with parchment paper, and bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown and apples are tender.

It seems that fall is fully here, and that means no more out door markets in Rittenhouse square for awhile (noooooo).

I perused through my last market of the season a couple of weeks ago and made sure to pick up another box of John & Kira's Chocolates. You may remember I first discovered John and Kira's at the Rittenhouse farmers market earlier this year when I tried their tiny chocolate bumble bees! Their hand crafted chocolates are so delicious and unique, it was hard not to fall in love.

This time I went for a 15 piece assortment of 10 different flavors, and every single one blew me away. I could hardly wait to try what was next, only to find that each one was just as amazing and different as the last. These aren't your average peanut butter filled or odd sugary nougat filled chocolates. The fair trade hand crafted chocolates are each filled with ganaches infused with flavors like Lavender Honey, Bergamot Tea, Coffee Whiskey, and Lemongrass. I know, right.

If I didn't like making food gifts for others around the holidays so much, I'd totally share these with everyone I love. But instead, I'll probably just buy another box for myself!

Check out all the fun for yourself on their website, your mouth will water just reading about the concoctions they've dreamed up even if you don't get anything!

Halloween Bleeding Cupcakes

Happy Halloween!!

These gory cupcakes caught my attention in October's Martha Stewart Living, and I just had to make them myself! So I cued up the Top Chef Just Desserts finale and got baking to work.

Sugar work is always impressive to me, but in this recipe the sugar work is so easy and creates a creepy illusion that definitely gets some oooohs and aaaahhhs.

They appear to be bleeding from "glass" shards sticking out of the top, it doesn't get much more chilling than that. I made some for the management group in my apartment building and they were a hit, obviously.

I've been absolutely petrified of bugs as long as I can remember, so creepy crawly cakes and cookies really don't jive well with me. Blood, however, not so much a problem, and these cupcakes drove home the chill factor without making me lose my appetite.

You can use any cupcake recipe, and top them with a cream cheese or butter cream frosting. Martha recommends using strained cherry preserves for the "blood," but I didn't have any and red food coloring (just a couple drops) did the trick just fine. Get it. Trick.

The glass is just caramelized sugar that hasn't been allowed to achieve it's golden caramel color. Poured into a thin sheet, it looks like glass shards when shattered. Too... cute?

Has anyone else created some creepy Halloween desserts, tricks, or treats? Stay safe, and remember kids, don't use real glass! Muahahahaha!

Pizza Obsession and Night Market

In college, my boyfriend, Chris and I were both RAs. Yeah. I know. Fun police. Losers. Whatever, laugh it up. You really can't knock free rent for two years though. You just can't. Or the unofficial license to buy your friends... errrr.. "residents" pizza, ice cream, and snacks in unreasonable quantities.

Right? Now remember how poor you were in college..... and how awesome that sounds now. Or maybe you weren't a poor starving college student, in which case, you should probably stop reading this. Unless you really like pizza. Otherwise you're going to get hung up on the RA thing and the rest of this will go over your head.

So anyways, yeah, free pizza budget. Which brings me back to my story. At a hall program (stop snickering) that Chris was running, he ordered a large quantity of pizzas, as per usual. The security desk attendant (stop snickering...) in the building exclaimed that she was in fact a "PIZZA FREAK" when the delivery came and Chris offered her a slice. Seriously, that's what she said. I can't make this stuff up.

Now, I also really happen to like pizza, perhaps even to a level that rivals even that of the "pizza freak" desk attendant. Sometimes, I get really excited describing my love for pizza. This has of course prompted Chris to start calling me a "pizza freak" sometimes in public places. It's kind of embarrassing, but pizza is SO GOOD. So good. So fine, make fun, but I am a self proclaimed PIZZA FREAK!

Last Thursday, I met some friends at the Chinatown Night Market in Philadelphia to check it out. What a scene. There were people EVERYWHERE. I arrived around 7pm as the market was just getting started, and wandered around before my friends got there, scoping out the scene. Then around 7:20 hoards of people started showing up. Literally, half the population of Philadelphia and all of Chinatown's residents crammed into a 4 block radius to enjoy delicious gourmet food fare. Jose Garce's taco truck, soul food trucks, hot dog trucks, cupcake trucks, and even mobile wood oven pizza trucks lined up and served lines of hundreds of people. When we finally decided to commit to a line, we ended up in Pitruco's line for what had to be 35 minutes, but it was WORTH it.

Check out their facebook page here. I seriously recommend stalking out their location now and proceeding to said location. It was delicious. And I don't think that it was just because I had been standing in line for 35 minutes. That pizza was delicious, and I was totally impressed that it was made in a truck. Pizza freak was pleased.

In Pitruco's honor, I leave you with two pizzas I've made recently that were just delicious combinations of late summer and fall ingredients. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Prosciutto and Mozzarella Pizza

Crust: Whole wheat

Toppings: Fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, micro greens (after baking)

Portobella Mushroom and Kale Pizza

Crust: Whole wheat

Toppings: Fresh mozzarella, kale greens, sauteed or roasted garlic cloves, portobella mushrooms chopped and lightly tossed in olive oil, caramelized onions, and sauteed or grilled chicken

Both are delicious. I'm not usually for wheat crust, but Trader Joe's makes a really good one! Either of these would be delicious with regular or pesto crust as well! I've not made my own pizza dough, it looks hard. Anyone have any good recipes for that? I've always felt like pizza dough is totally something worth cheating with, and I'm someone who makes my own puff pastry, so what do I know? Thoughts?

Happy eating!

Girls Night In, Game plan: Game Hens

I love to cook with friends. I'm not very good with visual art, and I have a lot of creative type friends. Really, I can't draw, can't paint, and really don't have the patience for learning how to sketch. I love fashion, home decor, and obviously cooking, and this is where my creativeoutlets shine. I can so play those games.

So I love love love cooking with friends. It's awesome to feel that ownership over creation, and the best part is, then you get to eat when you're done. One of my favorite people to cook with, is a friend of mine going on 4 years, Sophie. To date, we have made all kinds of fun things, eaten delicious meals out, and I even took my first and only cooking class with her (knife skills, check it). I can't express how much I love our cooking nights. They always involve a bottle of wine (or two...), experimentation with new flavors, and lots of laughs. It's the best way to eat.


Most recently we started our cooking night at our local Whole Foods, loaded up on cornish game hens, which neither of us had ever cooked before, delicious herbs, citrus, and fennel. Some awesome choices if I do say so myself.

Sophie hates HATES touching raw meat, but is quite the serious foodie. I'm determined to break her of this fear. She's doing pretty well! Look at her go! Finally trusting in the modern technology of antibacterial soap.



And it's great, because all that hard work paid off. Our roasted hens, with fennel, rosemary, thyme, lemon, orange, olive oil and wine were succulent and delicious, coated with a crisp, golden skin. We stuffed the citrus under the skin, a technique I love. It seals the citrus flavor into the chicken, and makes a really pretty impression on the skin as it takes on a golden brown finish and tightens up around the fruit. Impressive for large birds around the holidays!

And of course there was the wine. We're partial to Laurenz and Sophia when we see it... because... well.... get it? Lauren.... Sophie... Laurenz... Sophia.... ahhhh! Yup, we're that cool.

But really, it is a tasty wine. Check it out.

We topped the night off with sweet. A shortcake topped with honey and balsamic poached strawberries and a homemade lavender honey ice cream. Delicious. And of course some moscato for good measure. What are your thoughts on dessert wine? I love it after dinner. It's a great compliment to most desserts, and I've heard that it's supposed to help settle your stomach. Not sure if that's true, but it sounds good to me!

All in all it was another successful night, and I'm looking forward to our next food adventure!