Vanilla Bean French Macarons with Fresh Raspberries

I love French Macarons. They're petite, pretty, and so versatile. For this version, both the cookie and the swiss meringue buttercream the cookies are filled with are made with vanilla bean.

One of my favorite baking items right now is Nielsen-Massey Madagascar vanilla bean paste. Using vanilla bean paste is so much easier and economical than whole vanilla beans.

I also love the look (and taste!) of fresh berries in desserts.

For the Macaron Shells: (For directions, see this post)

Ingredients
3/4 cup almond flour
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 egg whites, at room temp and aged for at least 24 hours
1 pinch cream of tartar
1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste, or 1/2 of the seeds from a vanilla bean

*NOTE: For this recipe, I made the cookies a bit larger than a typical French Macaron with a ganache/buttercream/jam filling

For the Swiss Meringue Butter Cream:
2 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Generous 1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (at room temp)

Combine egg whites and sugar in heat-safe mixing bowl. Fill a saucepan 1/3 way full of water and bring to a simmer. Make sure that the mixing bowl fits inside the pan nicely because if the pan is too big, water will splash and it could get dangerous! Place mixing bowl into pan and whisk sugar and whites together until sugar is fully dissolved and mixture is slightly frothy. Transfer mixing bowl to stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-high until mixture is fully cooled and has a thick, meringue-like texture. Add the butter a piece at a time, mixing well after each addition. Switch to a paddle attachment, add vanilla bean, and beat for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Assembling the Macarons:

Spread a very thin layer of butter cream on one shell. Add four small dollops of butter cream onto four edges of cookie. Place a raspberry on each each of the cookie (you can cut them lengthwise if they look to large or awkward inside the cookie). Sandwich the cookie together and pipe small dollops of frosting in spaces between raspberries. Apply edible gold glimmer dust with a dry paintbrush, lightly covering entire top cookie. Place a small dollop of buttercream on the top of a raspberry and stick on top of cookie. Lastly, dip paintbrush in gold dust again and flick on top of cookie and raspberry.

Sparkling Mariposa Alfajores (Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies)

This was my first time making dulce de leche and I must say, it’s pretty amazing that this confection comes out of such simple ingredients as milk, sugar, and a bit of baking soda. While the ingredients and technique are very simple in making this treat, it is time consuming. I suggest making it a couple of days in advance and then making the cookies and putting them together another day.

I chose to make the cookies butterfly or “mariposa” shaped, but you could certainly do any shape such as a flower, heart, or the standard circle.

For the cookies (recipe courtesy of Marcus Samuelsson)

Alfajores (Dulce de Leche Cookie Sandwiches) Recipe
Makes 20 round cookies and 30 butterfly cookies

Ingredients:
1⅔ cups cornstarch
1¼ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
⅔ cup sugar
10 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon cognac or brandy
½ tsp. lemon zest
4 egg yolks
1 cup chopped milk or dark chocolate, for dipping cookies

Heat oven to 350°. In a bowl, sift together cornstarch, flour, and baking powder; set aside. In a mixer fitted with a paddle, beat together sugar and butter until fluffy. Add cognac and zest; beat. Add yolks one at a time; beat. Add dry ingredients; mix. Transfer dough to a floured surface, knead briefly; divide into 3 pieces. Working with 1 dough piece at a time, roll dough to 1/4″ thickness. Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut out cookies; transfer to parchment paper—lined baking sheets, spaced 1″ apart. Reroll scraps and repeat. Bake until golden (about 10 minutes for smaller cookies and 12-15 for larger shaped ones). Let cool.

For the Dulce de Leche (recipe courtesy of Alton Brown)
Ingredients
• 1 quart whole milk
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped OR 1-2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine milk and sugar in a 3-4 qt sauce pan. Simmer over low-medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved. Switch to low heat and add the baking soda. Mixture will begin to foam. As the mixture slowly caramelizes, it will continue to foam throughout- scrape the foam off of the top of the mixture (DO NOT REINCORPORATE), being careful to not discard any of the liquid with the foam. Stir occasionally as mixture cooks. Continually cook mixture over low heat, following the same process of scraping/removing foam from top and stirring for about 2 hours. Remove mixture from heat once it’s reached a dark caramel color and thick consistency (should be reduced to about a cup- it will thicken slightly more once cooled). Before dulce de leche is cooled, pour through a sieve to ensure smoothness. Allow to cool before filling cookies. Mixture can be stored in fridge for about 2 weeks, however, for best results, use within one week of making (sometimes it can crystallize in the fridge).

To assemble the alfajores:

Put about a teaspoon of dulce de leche between two cookies and sandwich together. Once all of the cookies are assembled, place back onto a baking sheet and place in freezer for about 30 minutes (to ease the dipping process).

Melt 1 cup of semi-sweet or dark chocolate in double boiler. Dip the top and sides of each cookie and place on wax paper lined baking sheet to harden. Once cookies are completely dry (you can put them in the fridge after dipping to speed the process). Decorate as desired.

Andes Mint Chocolate Cupcake

I actually made these Andes Mint Chocolate cupcakes the same day as the Peanut Butter Ball cupcakes. My office mate and friend asked me if I would make cupcakes on Friday, either a peanut butter chocolate cupcake, or a mint chocolate cupcake, so I decided to do half and half. If you want to make a couple of flavors of cupcakes for a party or special event, these are two good recipes to use together to make less work for you, and give your guests two equally delicious, but different options.

These cupcakes are a chocolate cake base, filled with Andes chocolate ganache (made with actual Andes mints) and topped with a white chocolate mint swiss meringue buttercream. I prefer using swiss meringue buttercream when the rest of the cupcake (i.e. ganache) is on the richer side of the spectrum, rather than using a heavier American or French buttercream.

For the cupcakes- refer to chocolate cake recipe used in Peanut Butter Ball Cupcakes.

For the Andes Mint Ganache:

-2 4.67 ounce packages Andes Parfait Thins (56 mints)
-1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
-1-2 ounces good quality dark, semi-sweet, or bittersweet chocolate
-1 cup cream
1 tbsp butter

HINT: I used a mixture of chocolate because I didn't want the ganache to be overwhelmingly sweet or minty, but Andes mints are pretty well balanced, so you should be able to simply use 2.5 packages of just the mints if you don't have other chocolate on hand.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan placed on the stove on medium-low heat. When the cream becomes bubbly on the sides of the pan, turn the heat off. Stir in the chocolate. Once totally smooth, add the butter and stir until fully mixed. Set aside to cool.

For the White Chocolate Ganache:

-4 oz good quality white chocolate
-1/2 cup cream
-1 tbsp butter

Follow same process as above, but place in fridge immediately after making so that mixture becomes cold and more solidified.


For the White Chocolate Mint Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

-4 large egg whites
-2/3 cup granulated sugar
-3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
-White Chocolate Ganache
-2 tsp mint extract
-blue and green food coloring (I used one drop teal Americolor and two drops green)

NOTE: If you have or can find creme de menthe extract or liqueur, it would be tasty to use that instead of plain mint extract. Also, in that case, you could probably just leave out the white chocolate and skip a step without skimping on Andes flavor.

Fill a saucepan halfway with water and bring to a light boil. Combine egg whites and sugar in heat proof mixing bowl and place mixing bowl in simmering water. Whisk mixture together over heat until sugar is fully dissolved and it measures 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Place mixing bowl on stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whisk until mixture forms a fluffy meringue and is fully cooled. Mix in butter a piece at a time, whisking well after each addition. Switch to a paddle attachment and mix for an additional 1-2 minutes. Add the mint extract, cold white chocolate ganache, and food coloring and mix for another minute.

To assemble the cupcakes:

Core each cooled cupcake with a paring knife. Cut the corner off of a large freezer bag (or use a pastry bag without a tip) and fill bag with ganache. Pipe ganache into the cavity of each cupcake. Pipe frosting onto each cupcake and decorate as desired.

Chocolate Cupcakes with a "deconstructed" peanut butter ball filling and peanut butter frosting

One of my favorite nostalgic childhood treats is the peanut butter ball. I was originally planning to bake a peanut butter ball inside a chocolate cupcake, but I ended up creating this "deconstructed" filling instead.

It turns out that baking a peanut butter ball inside of a cupcake has already been done and when I saw the picture of how one recipe turned out, I observed that when baked inside a cupcake, the peanut butter ball seemed kind of isolated in the cake, rather than more disbursed throughout the cake and imbuing the whole thing with flavor.

These turned out pretty irresistibly good. Even Mr. Pixie Crust, who is not the biggest fan of dessert or sweets, thoroughly enjoyed them.

For the Cupcakes:
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake Recipe
Yields 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup boiling water

Sift the flour and set aside. Whip the butter in an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment until creamy. Add the brown sugar to the butter and mix for 2-3 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time. Continue mixing until light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla extract and melted baking chocolate. Mix in the baking soda last.

Add the flour in batches, alternating with sour cream. Mix on medium until well combined- do not over mix!

Lastly, remove the bowl from the mixer stand. Add in the boiling water and hand stir until combined.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until cake springs back to the touch and/or an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

For the "deconstructed" Peanut Butter Ball filling:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups natural peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 cups Cocoa Krispies cereal
2-3 tbsp milk

Put Cocoa Krispies and powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl and stir until well combined. Set aside. Melt peanut butter and butter over stove pot in pan. When the mixture is completely melted, pour over powdered sugar and cereal. Stir in milk and continue stirring until ingredients are evenly disbursed. Place bowl in fridge or freezer to cool and thicken.

For the chocolate ganache topping (to pipe on top of the peanut butter ball filling):
Ingredients
6 oz dark belgium chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp butter

Heat cream in pan over stove top until bubbly. Turn off heat and add chocolate, continually stirring until chocolate is fully melted. Add in butter last. Put in fridge to cool.

For the peanut butter frosting:
Ingredients
1 stick butter (room temperature)
1 cup peanut butter
2 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whip butter and peanut butter together in stand mixer using paddle attachment until well combined and creamy. Slowly add in powdered sugar and milk. Beat until light and fluffy.

To assemble the cupcakes

Once cupcakes are completely cool, core out the center of each with a paring knife.
Tip: If you refrigerate the cupcakes or pop them in the freezer for 15 minutes, they won't get as crumbly when the core is removed).

Spoon peanut butter ball filling into core of each cupcake. Add ganache topping on the top of each cupcake "hole." Lastly, pipe peanut butter frosting on the top of each cupcake and decorate as desired.

More Macarons!

This batch of macarons are vanilla flavored, teal colored cookie shells with chocolate ganache filling. The ganache filling is courtesy of David Lebovitz.

I really like the look of the teal colored cookie with the ganache center- and to be honest, I was looking for an excuse to use my awesome Americolor Teal food coloring. Additionally, I made this batch with Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour, instead of the cheaper almond mill from Trader Joe's. Using the finer almond flour seems to create cookies with more rounded tops and smaller, more delicate feet.

For the Macaron Cookie Shells:

See Macaron Marathon (Part 1)

Chocolate Ganache Filling (from David Lebovitz)
½ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used chocolate chips)
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces

Heat the cream in a small saucepan with the corn syrup. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth. Stir in the pieces of butter. Let cool completely before using.

French Macaron Marathon (Part One)

I'm finally writing a post about one of the most coveted cookies in popular baking right now- the French Macaron. They're beautiful, colorful, versatile...and irritatingly hard to make.

The following recipes are for Strawberry Macarons with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream filling and Apricot Macarons with Peach Champagne Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

Apricot Macarons with Peach Champagne Buttercream Filling

Strawberry Macarons with Strawberry Buttercream Filling

There are multiple baking blogs written by talented bakers with really great advice about how to make a successful batch of these delicate cookies. There are SO many details to experiment with and master when making these cookies- how many times to sift the almond flour and confectioner's sugar, how long you age your egg whites, piping techniques, double lining baking pans or not, making sure you don't over mix or under mix the batter. And trust me, the list goes on...

Before attempting these lovelies, be cautioned that you will most likely be frustrated by how they turn out. They may not turn out how a macaron should look- they could crack, not develop a "foot," develop a lopsided "foot," or turn out different sizes and awkwardly shaped circles.

BUT- the good news is, even if your cookies don't turn out on the first or second, or even third or fourth try, you will learn A LOT. If you're the type of baker that feels like the "rules" don't apply to you, you're more likely to mess up the first time. And I can say that because I'll humbly admit that I fall into that category. I tend to arrogantly feel like I can change recipes at my leisure OR, worst, that I can take shortcuts without repercussions.

Here are some tips of my own that I've come to learn purely from past failed macaron attempts. I must say, I've been making some pretty good batches lately (including these that are featured), but I'm still working on my own techniques to improve the aesthetics of my macarons.

My tips:

1. Read some blogs

Sprinkle Bakes

David Lebovitz

Tartelette

2. Follow the Rules of the Almighty Patisserie Gods

Some of the steps sound ridiculous-
*Will aging my egg whites (overnight or for a few nights) really make a difference?
*Do I really need to sift my dry ingredients twice?
*Can I really over mix the batter by adding in one or two folds too many?

The answer to all of these questions is a resounding YES. And I learned it the hard way...

3. Practice baking with the cheap stuff

I've never attempted making my own almond flour, but it's certainly possible. There are multiple cooking/baking blogs with tutorials. However, if you're planning to buy the almond flour, I would recommend starting with a cheaper, coarser brand and then moving on up to the expensive stuff. I used the Trader Joe's almond meal ($3.99/bag) in both of these macarons, which I think causes them to bake a little higher and not quite as elegant as they look when made with finer almond flour. Bob's Red Mill is much finer and higher quality and does not include any small pieces of dark shell. Now that I've baked multiple batches of macarons successfully in a row, I caved and bought the good stuff for my next macarons and post.

4. This is a repeat from #2, but it's so important, I'm repeating it- AGE YOUR EGG WHITES.
You must separate your eggs and place the egg whites in a covered container on your kitchen counterpart at least overnight and for up to a few days. If you don't age your whites, you will not get a foot. If you're still a novice macaron baker, set aside a few batches of egg whites for mess ups, that way you won't have to wait another day to make a second attempt.

5. Don't overmix your batter and don't overbeat your egg whites- you WILL end up with funky misshapen macarons, possibly with lopsided feet (or no feet) too.

6. Find a circular object with a 1.5 inch diameter. Trace Circles 1-inch apart on your parchment paper prior to baking, especially if you're completely spatially challenged like me. It makes for fool-proof same-sized cookies.

7. Make the cookie shells one day and refrigerate overnight. Fill and serve the next day. If you do not finish all of the cookies within a few days, they freeze very well in freezer bags lined with parchment paper.

8. Be patient. It's so rewarding when you're successful at making these cookies. They're NOT like baking other cookies, cupcakes, or cakes. They're far more tricky and technique-based.

For the Macarons (yield-about 32 cookie shells)(Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart Online)
Ingredients
3/4 cup almond flour
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar
1 tsp flavoring extract (I used 1 tsp apricot extract/1 tsp strawberry extract)
1 tsp food coloring

Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Sift almond flour and confectioner's sugar 2 times. Set aside. Whisk egg whites on low-medium until foamy. Add a SMALL pinch of cream of tartar. Whisk on medium-high until whites are whipped and have soft peaks. Slowly add in 1/4 cup sugar and food coloring, continuously whisking until whites form stiff peaks. TIP: Whites should form a peak on the whisk attachment, but should not be whisked to the point that they are too stiff to fall off the whisk when tapped on the mixing bowl. Sift dry ingredients over egg whites in three parts- do not stir, but fold gently with a rubber spatula into egg whites. Continue folding batter until it "ribbons" off rubber spatula.

Scoop batter into a 14-16 inch pastry bag fitted with a medium round tip. Pipe circles onto pre-drawn parchment paper lined baking sheets (make sure you're using the heaviest baking sheet possible to prevent cookies from cracking).

After piping, hit baking sheet on the counter a few times to remove air bubbles. Allow cookies to sit for 15-20 minutes before baking so that they form a protective "skin." This step also helps to avoid cracking.

I start baking my macarons at very low heat about 230 degrees- which I'm also convinced helps to prevent cracking. After they appear to be set and a foot begins forming, I increase the oven temperature to 250-275 degrees. Bake about 12-16 minutes, until you can lightly touch the cookie and it doesn't slide (the foot is stiff and baked through).

Be sure to experiment with temperatures to see what works best with your oven at home.

For the Filling:
Make a batch of vanilla swiss meringue buttercream. Separate in two parts.

For the fruit purees:
Peach puree
2-3 whole ripe peaches (skin removed) OR canned peach halves

Directions
Puree the peach using a blender set to "puree." Pour puree through fine mesh sieve into a small pot. Simmer on low heat on stove top until reduced to about half it's original volume. Put in freezer for quick cooling (or fridge overnight).

Strawberry puree
1 cup fresh or frozen unsweetened strawberries, thawed

Directions

For the Peach Champagne Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
Ingredients
1/2 batch swiss meringue buttercream
3 tbsp peach puree (or more, as long as frosting doesn't become too thin)
1 tbsp reduced champagne (simmer 1/2 cup champagne until reduced to 1 tbsp)
1 tbsp champagne from bottle
Yellow and pink/red food coloring (add and mix in until desired color is reached)

For the Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
1/2 batch swiss meringue buttercream
3 tbsp strawberry puree (or more, as long as frosting doesn't become too thin)
1 tsp strawberry extract
Pink food coloring (and mix until desired color is reached)

Pipe about 1 tsp filling onto a macaron shell. Carefully place another macaron shell onto the filled shell so that the cookie makes a sandwich.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Ever since I spotted Anne Byrn's (i.e. The Cake Mix Doctor) recipe for chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes, I have really wanted to experiment with a homemade version.

My version is a homemade yellow cupcake filled with homemade chocolate chip cookie dough (the Nestle Tollhouse Recipe), topped with an eggless cookie dough swirled vanilla swiss meringue buttercream, a dollop of whipped cream, and a miniature chocolate chip cookie. There are many ways to decorate and present these delicious creations, but I chose to take inspiration from things like a kid's birthday party and ice cream sundaes.

In the spirit of Anne Byrn's wonderful recipes, I'm going to post two versions of the recipe: one, which is the simpler to make "doctored" version and the other which is the made from scratch version. Both are delicious, so take your pick!

For the (homemade) yellow cake cupcakes (makes 24+ cupcakes-you will have leftover batter!):
Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder/soda together in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and sugar together until creamed. Mix in vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in dry ingredients and sour cream and milk in 3 parts, alternating between the wet and dry ingredients. Mix until well combined. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for a few seconds longer, but do not over mix batter. Stir in the chocolate chips last.

Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 way full with batter. Place a piece of frozen cookie dough (with about 1-inch dimensions) on the top of each cupcake prior to baking. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Cupcakes may sink a bit in the middle because of the weight of the cookie dough. Also, some may have cookie dough peek out (see picture) and some may not!

***For (altered) Cake Mix Doctor recipe:
Use 1 box yellow cake mix (without pudding) and DO NOT follow box recipe at all.
Combine cake mix with 1 stick unsalted butter, 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup cold water, 3 eggs, and 1 package dry instant pudding (mix in last).

For the Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (for mini cookies and cupcake filling):
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

***I would recommend cutting the recipe in half, or be prepared to bake some extra cookies- you will have a lot of leftover dough.

Put cookie dough in a freezer bag. Shape with hands until it is shaped in a large square or rectangle with about 1/2 inch thickness. After dough has been in the freezer for at least a couple of hours, cut into 1-inch squares and place on each cupcake liner filled with batter.

Cake Mix Doctor Version
***Use your favorite "break and bake" version instead!

For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

4 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter
1 tbsp vanilla

Simmer water in medium sized saucepan. Combine egg whites and sugar in large heat resistant mixing bowl and place mixing bowl inside of saucepan (DO NOT allow water to enter mixing bowl). Whisk continuously until sugar is fully dissolved and mixture is slightly foamy and bubbly (should register 160 degrees on a candy thermometer).

Place mixing bowl on stand mixer with whisk attachment. Beat on high for several minutes until mixture is thick and whipped, like meringue. Once mixture is fully cool, beat in butter one piece at time, mixing well after each addition. After all butter is added, switch to a paddle attachment and beat for an additional 2-3 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract and beat to combine.

Once frosting is done, create "eggless cookie dough" by using the Tollhouse recipe, sans eggs and WITH miniature chocolate chips. Add in additional flour bit by bit until the mixture is somewhat crumbly and able to clump together. Pour cookie dough pieces in frosting and stir in with rubber spatula or spoon.

Frost cupcakes as desired, once cooled.

TIP Be sure to use miniature chocolate chips in the frosting ESPECIALLY if you plan to pipe the frosting on. I wasn't thinking and used regular sized chips, so I had to spread my frosting on each cupcake instead.

"Doctored" whipped cream frosting:
Ingredients
1 quart heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
cookie dough pieces (use homemade cookie dough, pre-made dough that uses pasteurized eggs, OR even sprinkle "Cookie Dough" Candy onto the top of each frosted cupcake).

Pour whipping cream into mixing bowl and whip on high with whisk attachment until it is thick and fluffy. While mixer is still running, slowly add in the sugar bit by bit. Lastly, remove bowl from mixer and stir in cookie dough, OR pipe directly on cupcake and top with cookie dough pieces.