Dried Longan and Longan Jelly Macaron

Hello my fellow followers,

Lately, I have been searching for some idea to create some macaron with exotic and unusual flavour that is inspired from my childhood.

 

Longan fruit

Photo credit to http://genuineaid.com/

Longan has always been one of my favourite fruit. One of my favourite is certainly a dried longan syrup drink. The dried smoked longan is cooked with sugary water and served chill in a recycle glass jar. I remember when I was little, I would order them when we eat out in the Kopi Tiam (coffee shop). It was called Mata Kucing in some places (cat eye).

Dried Longan, photo credit to Rasa Malaysia

This is how I like my longan drink to be served

Photo credit to http://cquek.blogspot.fr/

I managed to get hold of some good quality dried longan from my last trip in Malaysia. So I decide to give it a try and see how it would turn up. To my surprise, it somehow tastes very sublime, quite delicate and I also added some fresh longan jelly on top.

Enjoy !!

For the shells:

Ingredients
* 1 egg white (40g)
* 30g castor sugar

* 50g icing sugar
* 30g almond powder
   (blend together)

* Edible bunnies (optional)

Methods

1. Mix almond meal, and icing sugar together and blend it up in the blender. Sift then set aside.

2. Using electric beater, beat egg white until foamy, then add in half of the castor sugar, continue until the egg white reaches soft peak then add in the rest and beat until stiff peak. if you use gel or paste food colouring, you can add it when the egg white reaches soft peak and continue to beat until stiff peak.

3. Add the dry ingredient to the meringue. Start folding each batter in each bowl until a smooth shiny batter is obtain. The batter should flow down smoothly and formed a ribbon when it's ready.

4. For details and FAQ on folding please refer to this post http://macaron-fetish.blogspot.fr/2010/02/basic-macaron-recipe.html

5. Prepare your piping bag and block the tip. Fill it up. Start piping the batter.

6. Preheat oven to 150 C while the macaron is resting. Bake for 12-14 minutes and let the macaron shells cool down before removing them.

7. Match up the shells by size and get ready to prepare the filling.

For the filling:

*4-5 dried longan
*10g water
*50g fresh full cream
*50g white chocolate (Barry / Valrhona)

*3-4 fresh longan (diced up)
*30g water
*10g sugar
*2g agar agar powder

Methods

* To prepare the jelly, put fresh longan, sugar, agar agar and water in a pot over medium heat , stir constantly. On its first boil, set timer to 1 minutes, keep stirring. Remove from heat, pour into a shallow bowl immediately. Let cool before putting it in the fridge .

* In a small pot, dried longan, water and fresh full cream, warm it up and remove from heat, let infused for 15 minutes. When time is up pour the mixture through a sift and you will need 25g of it. Discard the remaining.

* Rewarm the mixture, and meanwhile melt the chocolate over water bath. Pour the mixture over chocolate, mix until a smooth shiny ganache is obtained.

* Set in the refrigerator until the ganache is harden up slightly. Pipe on the shells.

* to stick the bunny on the shell, place a tiny amount of chocolate ganache on the edible bunny and stick it on the shell.

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Chendol Macaron with Pandan Coconut Jelly

Hello my fellow followers,

First of all, I would like to apologise for my long absence, the last past 3 months with my crash course and internship had been really crazy and I am usually dead tired at the end of the day. However, I managed to find some time today to share a recipe that I had tested a while ago with you guys.

I have also a good news to share. In last December, I was contacted by an independent publisher in New York named Skyhorse. They are interested in publishing my Macaron Fetish book. So I am also currently working on grouping 3 of my Macaron Fetish books and adding more recipes to make a big book with around 100 recipes inside. It is going to be finished soon and as soon as I know the published date, I will surely share it here with you guys. Mean while please take note that all Macaron Fetish books on Blurb are nolonger available for sale to public.

So here it is - the Macaron with Malaysian flavour. Chendol is surely a well loved dish by the Malaysians and I think most Malaysians would agree that one of the best Chendol is found in Penang - my home town. Shandol is a shaved ice dessert, traditionally, prepared with some gula melaka syrup diluted in coconut milk and is topped up with some green tapioca jelly and sweet kidney bean. It definitely sounds like a crazy combination for most foreigners but this dessert is always irrisistable to me especially under the hot weather in Malaysia.

In this recipe, I am using butter cream and pair up with some coconut pandan jelly. I personally love how the combination and it is definitely one of the favourite of my family and my chef loved it :) Hope you enjoy this entry !

Chendol, source : George Town, Penang | Facebook

For the shells:

Ingredients
* 1 egg white (40g)
* 30g castor sugar

* 50g icing sugar
* 30g almond powder
* 1/2 teaspoon green food
   colouring powder
   (blend together)

Methods

1. Mix almond meal, food colouring (if use powder form) and icing sugar together and blend it up in the blender. Sift then set aside.

2. Using electric beater, beat egg white until foamy, then add in half of the castor sugar, continue until the egg white reaches soft peak then add in the rest and beat until stiff peak. if you use gel or paste food colouring, you can add it when the egg white reaches soft peak and continue to beat until stiff peak.

3. Add the dry ingredient to the meringue. Start folding each batter in each bowl until a smooth shiny batter is obtain. The batter should flow down smoothly and formed a ribbon when it's ready.

4. For details and FAQ on folding please refer to this post http://macaron-fetish.blogspot.fr/2010/02/basic-macaron-recipe.html

5. Prepare your piping bag and block the tip. Fill it up. Start piping the batter.

6. Preheat oven to 150 C while the macaron is resting. Bake for 12-14 minutes and let the macaron shells cool down before removing them.

7. Match up the shells by size and get ready to prepare the filling.

For the filling:

* 1-2 pandan leaves
   See glossary page 181-182
* 25g coconut milk
* 10g water
* 1/4 teaspoon agar-agar

* 25g dark palm sugar
   See glossary page 181-182
* 15g water

* 15g castor sugar
* 8g water

* 1 egg yolk
* 60g butter
   (room temperature, cubed)
* 4 tablespoons coconut flakes


Methods
* To prepare the pandan jelly, put pandan leaves, coconut milk, and water in a deep container and blend it up with an immersion mixer. Filter the mixture with a sieve. Pour the mixture into a pot, add agar-agar powder and heat it up over medium heat , stir constantly. On its first boil, set timer to 2 minutes, keep stirring. Remove from heat, pour into a shallow bowl immediately. Let cool before putting it in the fridge .

* In a small pot, add in palm sugar and water to make palm sugar syrup. Cook over medium heat for about 5-8 minutes until a thick syrup is obtained. Set aside.

* Put castor sugar and water in a pot, warm over medium heat. Using the candy thermometer, the sugar should reach 118 °C. Start beating the egg yolk with a hand mixer in a mixing bowl when the sugar reaches 114 °C.

* Once the sugar reaches 118 °C, remove from heat, slowly pour over near the side of the bowl while beating the egg yolk using medium speed. Keep the mixer turning, until the mixture has cooled down slightly. Add in butter one piece at a time, beat and incorporated well between each addition.

* Lastly pour in palm sugar syrup, then coconut flakes. Mix well until a smooth butter cream is obtained

* Fill a macaron shell with butter cream, cut a small piece of pandan jelly, place it on the butter cream and press it down lightly before closing up with another shell.

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Tricolour Satsuma Mandarin White Chocolate Macaron

Hello all,

Sorry that I haven't been posting for a while. Have some great news to share with you guys.

After one year of preparing and doing my research, I am finally accepted and enrolled in a pastry course. I will be in school and working in a pastry shop to learn all the baking base. In 6 months I will be passing the exam and will have my own qualification to open a pastry shop or setting up a business should I decide to pursue the path. I guess for the next 6 months I will be super busy as it is intensive and there are a lot to learn. So I am apologising in advance if I wouldn't be able to post.

As autumn kicked in, I saw some wonderful, juicy Satsuma Mandarin in my organic grocer in the market. Always love fruity flavour in pastry so I thought to give it a try. Love how the flavour turns out, it is refreshing and the acid taste of the fruit balance out the sweetness of the white chocolate ganache.

I hope you enjoy this entry and Happy Baking


FOR THE MACARON SHELL
2 room temperatured egg white(80g total)
100g icing sugar
60g ground almond
60g castor sugar
1 tsp orange powder food colouring
1 tsp green powder food colouring

Tools:
1. Big piping bag with a noozle no.8 placed inside.
2. 3 small size freezer bags, fold the bottom up to a side, then staple, making a piping bag. Repeat for all 3 bags.
3. 2 extra mixing bowls
4. 2 extra rubber spatulas

Method:
1. Put ground almond and icing sugar in a food processor or a small blender. Blend them finely.

2. Sift the blended mixture and set aside

3. With an electric beater, Beat the egg white, start from low speed and increase slowly to maximum speed. Beat until frothy (you will see lots of fine bubbles)

4. Now it's the time to add in the castor sugar, add half of the sugar, continue to beat in maximum speed for around 2 minutes, add in the other half, continue until stiff peak is obtained.

5. Mix the dry ingredients into the egg whites. This process is called Macaronage. Start folding with a rubber spatula. Mix just until you roughly incorporate the mixture.

6. Divide the mixture into 3 parts. Add orange food colouring powder in one part, green food colouring in the second part. Leave the third part without colouring, continue folding until the batter flow like magma, do the same with other 2 parts.

7. For details and FAQ on folding please refer to this post http://macaron-fetish.blogspot.fr/2010/02/basic-macaron-recipe.html

8. I use 3 plastic freezing bags, fold the bottom side up to the right, so that I can fill up the bag via the opening.I get a triangular which will make a cone when open up. Staple along the side. You will fill the batter in the opening of the freezer bag

9. Fill up each freezing bag with each colours.

10. Cut the bottom of each freezing bags

11. Put those 3 bags carefully in the piping bag , pipe your macaron (about 2 cm diameter) it should spread a bit as it settles. The point should slowly disappear if the mixture is the right consistency. If not you could hit the bottom of the tray with your hand to smooth the point. The first few macarons piped might not have 3 colours, depending on how well those 3 bags are positioned. but don't worry they'll come eventually

12. For step by step guide with photos, please visit the following post http://macaron-fetish.blogspot.fr/2010/02/tri-colours-blueberry-white-chocolate.html

13. Let your macarons sit for about 30minutes. This will depend on the humidity in your house and the day. Try touching the macaron softly, after 30mins. it should not stick to your hand.
For the filling.

14. Heat your oven to 150 C on the (heating on the top only). When the oven is ready, put your macaron at the very bottom shelf. Bake for 12 minutes, check them in the mid time of 6 minutes, the feets should already start forming. Turn the baking tray to the opposite direction to allow even baking. When the 6 mins is up, change the heating setting of your oven to Bottom only. This will help cooking the macaron and rise the feet more. Bake for another 6 minutes. You can test if the macaron is cook, touch softly on the shell and when the macaron doesn't slide on the feet, it's cooked. if it's not add another 1 mins each time and check.

(This is the method i found the best that works for me after few trial and error. I baked with heating the oven top and bottom and i had crack macarons. Having said that, every oven is slightly different than another, so please adjust accordingly)



15. Let the macaron cool down before removing them. You could wet your working area and slide the baking sheet on it to speed up the cooling process, but do not let it sit there too long, if not the macarons will become soggy. Other wise you can leave them cool at room temperature and remove them.



For the Satsuma Mandarin White Chocolate Ganache


- 1 Organic Satsuma Mandarin (zest then peel and squeeze out the juice)
- 10g of the squeezed mandarin juice
- 30g full fat fresh cream (30% fat)
- 100g white chocolate

1. Chopped white chocolate finely, and place it in heat proof bowl.

2. In a pot, heat up the cream and satsuma mandarin zest. When the cream is warm pour it over the chocolate, mix well until a smooth consistency is obtained. Add in the juice, mix well.

3. Let cool and place a cling wrap over the surface of the ganache before placing it the refrigerator for it to set. It will take about 1 hour

4. When the ganache is set, pipe it over a shell and close it up with another. Enjoy your macaron!!