• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Indulge With Mimi

  • ♥ Home
    • Conversion Charts
    • Privacy
  • ♥ Macarons
    • Best French Macaron Recipe
    • Macaron Troubleshooting Guide
    • Macaron Tutorial Video
    • Macaron Art
    • Macaron Baking How To's
    • Macaron Recipes
    • Macaron Templates
    • Subscriber's Only Area
    • Macaron Knowledge & Books
    • Mimi's Macaron Friends
    • Reader's Questions
  • ♥ Sweets
  • ♥ Recipes
  • ♥ Life
    • Afternoon Tea
    • Travel
    • Party Ideas, Home Decor, Design
    • Easy Meal Recipes
    • Social
    • Fertility, Pregnancy, Family
  • ♥ SHOP
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Macarons
    • Best Macaron Recipe
    • Macaron Troubleshooting
    • Macaron Techniques
    • Macaron Recipes
    • Macaron Art
    • Macaron Knowledge
    • Subscriber Area
  • Sweets
    • Fluffy Cake Rolls
    • Cakes
    • Frosting
    • No-Bake Desserts
    • Cookies
    • Cupcakes
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Recipes

    Blog

    Afternoon Tea at H Tasting Lounge in the Westin Bayshore Hotel Vancouver

    Feb 17, 2018 · Leave a Comment

    Afternoon tea sweets and savouries served on a silver open book shelf display.

    Coal Habour's Newest Afternoon Tea Spot

    I was on twitter one day when I noticed a tweet from H Tasting Lounge promoting their new afternoon tea service. A real sense of excitement came over me as I LOVE discovering new afternoon tea spots. Actually, the week before, I had checked if the newly revamped Westin Bayshore Hotel would be offering afternoon tea since I was in charge of arranging a tea date for a group outing. To my dismay at the time, there was no afternoon tea service listed on the menu. After seeing the twitter post about their new tea set, we decided to head down not knowing anything about the new tea service but totally willing to try anything.

    The Glamorous New H Tasting Lounge

    The new tea service is held in the H Tasting Lounge which is one of the two newly unveiled dining establishments in the Westin Bayshore, the other being H2 Rotisserie which serves homestyle, upscale comfort food. The design of the lounge and menu selections are influenced by the glamourous Hollywood era of billionaire Howard Hughes, one of the most successful men of his time and a previous penthouse resident of the hotel.

     

    The New Western Afternoon Tea Set

    Instead of tea sets of different sizes at various price points, guests can choose between two dramatically divergent tea sets: Western or Eastern. I was really impressed with this unique offering and found it an exciting proposition since I always choose the grandest tea set possible if given the choice. This one was different and I liked that. It reminds me of TWG Tea where they offer so many different types of tea sets that it reads almost like a novel.  At H Tasting Lounge, they make it a bit simpler for you; I chose the Western tea set because it had a macaron in it. Yes, the macaron made me do it and it was a good choice 🙂

    Thanks for joining me on another tea date. Until next time.

    XOXO,

    Mimi

    The lounge uses some of the most high quality dishware with a woodsy floral theme.
    A perfectly made lemon macaron pop.
    Left to right: bacon filo cup, lobster roll, orange duck wrap.
    Left to right: taro chips, smoked salmon and cucumber sandwich.
    Left to right: lemon meringue tart, passion fruit mousse, tiramisu.

     

    Left: Alcoholic beverages can be ordered as it is a fully licensed establishment. Right: green tea panna cotta in a dainty shot glass.

    Notable Points:

    - One of the newest afternoon tea offerings in Vancouver. (Hy Tea Lounge being another one.)

    - Uber photogenic fairy floss tree.

    - Unique tea selection including a Canadian/Pacific Northwest collection, two of which uses a Canadian-pioneered processing technique and Canadian ingredients, respectively.

    - Glamorous new lounge setting with lots of natural light.

    - Alcoholic beverages available for order.

    - Good selection of coffees.

    - Valet parking.

    Ambience: Glamorous and chic lounge that is newly renovated. Although it is big and spacious - making it conducive for big parties and events - the many nooks and booths sparingly placed around the lounge provide a sense of intimacy and privacy for smaller parties. Large skylights allow plenty of natural light to pour through. This is the place to be inspired with a perfectly balanced dose of millenial pink, powder blue and brushed gold.

    Scones: The regular sized raisin scone is so crumbly and buttery. Like the famous scones at the Fairmont, they are one of the best scones I've had in the city. It's served with vanilla butter and house made berry confiture. I loved them!

    Savoury: 4 savouries & a dish of taro chips. Although not listed on the menu, the taro chips were a surprise hit as they were very fresh and crispy. I also enjoyed the bacon filo cup. The smoked salmon, duck wrap and lobster roll all left just a little something to be desired.

    Sweets: Between the savouries and sweets, the sweets are the stronger offering in this tea set. They were all delicious and I was impressed with my delicious and perfectly baked lemon macaron pop. I loved how each piece was so dainty and multi-dimensional. They were all on the small side.

    Tea: Unique tea selection including a Canadian/Pacific Northwest collection. Within it, one uses a Canadian-pioneered processing technique, and the other, Canadian ingredients.

    The tea selection is small but unique. Instead of separating the teas by type, they are separated into these 4 different categories: Canadian/Pacific Northwest (4), Chinese (4), Traditional (4), Health and Wellness (4). There is a mix of caffeinated and non-caffeinated selections among these 16 different teas.

    Tea Ware: The lounge uses some of the most beautiful and high quality tea ware in the city. The mint green fairy floss was spun on a silver "tree trunk" display and was perched on top of a marble plate adorned with brushed gold flowers. Following this woodsy floral theme, the scones were served nestled inside a matching silver bowl that had a white and gold calla-lily flower spiraling along the outside. Next, the savouries and sweets were brought out on a chic 3-level open back book case display in silver. The elegant porcelain gold tea cups matched the general theme while the glass tea pot with a separator was more utilitarian.

    Alcoholic Beverages: Alcoholic beverages are available. It is a also a licensed drink lounge in the evenings.

    Service: There was only one server for the entire lounge along with one manager serving 3 groups, including us. We were checked on constantly and never felt neglected. The server did not know much about the afternoon tea service; as per my intro, it is a very new offering for the lounge. Later, the manager did come by to provide more information and offered us some bubbly.

    Other notes:

    ♥ Western Afternoon Tea Set $48/person. Reservations not required.

    4 savouries, 5 sweets, 1 scone, 1 fairy floss tree, 1 dish of taro chips & 1 pot of tea

    Easter Afternoon Tea Set $48/person. Reservations not required.

    7 savouries, 3 sweets 1 pot of tea

    ♥ H Tasting Lounge full menu here

    Reserve on Open Table

    Served exclusively on its own on the weekend. Served along with lunch from Monday to Friday 11:30-5pm.

    ♥ Parking:  Valet parking available. Meter parking immediately around the hotel is surprisingly $1/hour.

    ♥ Tel: 1-604-691-6962

    Adress: 1601 BAYSHORE DR, VANCOUVER, BC V6G 2V4

    Eastern Afternoon Tea at the Westin Bayshore

    More here about the Eastern Afternoon Tea service at the H-Tasting Lounge.

     

    [pt_view id="d749ae79dr"]
    [pt_view id="342f946uh1"]

    Afternoon Tea at Audrey Moment in Burnaby

    Feb 15, 2018 · Leave a Comment

    Afternoon tea treats displayed in a bird's cage display.

    Burnaby's First Afternoon Tea Spot

    I was so delighted that my HK Bestie flew in to visit me last week and I planned for her to join my Vancouver BFF and two close girlfriends for afternoon tea. Since we all live in different parts of Metro Vancouver, I wanted to find a location which would serve as a mid-point for everyone. The Metrotown area in Burnaby was a good choice since it was easily accessible by skytrain from Downtown while also offering plenty of parking spaces for those arriving by car. I knew just the place to go, a place that had been on my list for a very long time - Audrey Moment. (And yes, that is Audrey Moment and not Audrey's Moment") It touts itself as Burnaby's first afternoon tea spot.

    A Doll House in a Strip Mall

    From all the photos I've seen of Audrey Moment, I understood that the inside was like a sweet little doll house similar to Patisserie Fur Elise  which is located downtown but in an actual heritage house. In contrast, Audrey Moment is situated in a strip mall just a few blocks down from the third largest mall in Canada - Metropolis at Metrotown. It's outer appearance did catch me by surprise but the inside was sweet and cute like I had imagined. It's just a bit more toned down from Fur Elise and a lot more than Avery Cakes. The server placed us in a small nook in the tea house which made gave us a feeling that we were truly alone. With that taken care of, we felt free to share secrets and giggle freely without disturbing the other patrons. And that we did. I don't know about you, but I always feel that in any room, my girlfriends and I are always the ones laughing the loudest. Oh, good times!

    Bird's Cage Afternoon Tea Set

    It was definitely a very memorable experience as I haven't had all my best girlfriends together in one place since my wedding. The private spot we were given allowed us to indulge freely while the beautiful Rose Memories "Birdcage" afternoon tea set (requires 24hr. advance notice) gave us a reason to spam our friends on social media with beautiful #foodporn pictures of our gorgeous tea set.

    I felt so blessed to have these wonderful friendships in my life and I'm happy we shared a special moment together in such a pretty and welcoming establishment. I would highly recommend it for those who live near... or far.

    XOXO,

    Mimi

     

     

     

    Notable Points:

    - Burnaby's first afternoon tea spot.

    - Insta-famous "Bird's Cage" afternoon tea display.

    - Serves KUSMI branded tea.

    - Great price position and value.

    - Pretty space without the pretension.

    - Easy to find parking, close to skytrain. Good choice for those living in the suburbs.

    Ambience: Cute and girly "doll house" theme with plenty of white molding and carved furniture. The main room sits approximately 20 people comfortably while the nook in the back can seat an additional 6-10 people. A nice unpretentious atmosphere for boisterous baby or wedding showers.

    Scones: There was 1 small scone per tea set and it was served with clotted cream and raspberry already assembled on top.

    Savoury: 6 mini savouries. The size of the items on the tea set are on the smaller side but not teeny-tiny. Both the savouries and sweets are equally good. In terms of value for the quality, quantity and size, it definitely meets its mark but doesn't exceed it.

    Sweets: 4 mini sweets. See above.

    Tea: Rose Memories "Bird Cage" Tea set includes one pot of KUSMI branded tea. It's worth noting since the shop went out of their way to provide extra value in their tea selection.

    Tea Ware: Mismatched tea ware of all sorts. We had a cute modern polka dot tea pot and vintage-looking gilded teacups.

    Alcoholic Beverages: No alcoholic beverage service. See other tea services with alcohol here: Fairmont Vancouver, Trump Hotel, Laduree, Mosquito.

    Service: There was only one server for the entire shop during a full house. He was very friendly but was unable to be fully attentive due to a big party celebrating a baby shower at the same time.

    Other notes:

    ♥ Rose Memories "Bird Cage" Tea Set $34.95/person
    (includes one pot of tea)

    24 hours advance reservation is required.

    5 savouries, 4 sweets, 1 scone & 1 pot of tea worth $7.95

    Classical English Afternoon Tea Set $28.50/person

    4 savouries, 2 scones, 4 mini desserts & 1 pot of tea worth $7.95

    Delectable Savouries Tea Set $24.50/person

    7 savouries & 1 pot of tea worth $7.95

    Signature Sweet Tea $14.50/person

    4 petite sweets & 1 pot of tea worth $7.95

    ♥ Reserve online only

    Served on Mon-Sat from 3-5pm, Sunday at 12pm and 2pm

    ♥ Parking:  Meter parking available around the area. Free parking spaces available inside the mall complex.

    ♥ Address: 120b-6540 Burlington Ave, Burnaby, BC

    BUSINESS HOURS
    WED-MON :12PM-6:30PM
    TUESDAY: CLOSED

    ♥ 604-559-9789

    [pt_view id="d749ae79dr"]
    [pt_view id="342f946uh1"]

    Delicate Lychee Rose Macarons in a Heart Shape (Template)

    Feb 14, 2018 · 10 Comments

    A stack of delicate pink lychee rose macarons with some rose buds on the side.

    Lychee & rose is a delicate and sophisticated macaron flavor pairing. This is a great filling to elevate your macarons for bridal parties, tea time or celebrations. Recipe uses real lychees with heart macaron template provided.

    Stack of pink lychee rose macarons on a marble counter.
    [feast_advanced_jump_to]

    Exotic Fruit Macarons

    I've always wanted to make lychee-flavoured macarons. This exotic fruit from China has a hard, rough, pinkish-red shell. The bouncy, translucent flesh within is both sweet and sour. Its juiciness and fleshy composition is comparable to that of grapes. Every time I go back to Asia, I would make a conscious effort to find these delicious treats. Since there is a large populace of Asians here in Vancouver, we constantly have access to fresh lycee as it is flown in.  Despite this, I've decided to use canned lychee for this recipe since I know many of you are from different parts of the world and may not have access to fresh ones. I also think the stability and consistency of canned lychees is better suited for this recipe.  Fresh lychees are hit and miss and can sometimes be too sour or dry.

    Where to Buy Canned Lychee

    After touting the convenience and quality of canned lychees, they just aren't readily available everywhere!  I knew this because I was on my way to one of the larger grocery stores with an Asian food aisle but had missed the exit; the next potential store with lychees was in a neighbourhood with a cluster of Filipino convenience stores. On the shelves lined with canned jackfruit and palm seeds, I couldn't find anything remotely resembling lychees.  I almost wanted to abandon this lychee macaron recipe and make something with palm seeds instead. After missing the first exit, searching two stores and driving around the city, I resolved to going home empty-handed. The next day, Hubby had to run some errands and drove me to  one of the big Asian grocers locally named T&T. Later on, I discovered that they could also be found in the Asian food aisle of both Wal-mart and Superstore.

    Heart macarons on a pink scalloped plate.

    Using Real Lychees to Make a Low-Moisture Filling

    One of the considerations in making this recipe is the fact that lychees are by nature a very juicy fruit. As you may have already experienced, moisture of any sort is not very kind to our dear macaron babies. A lot of time and effort was spent to create this recipe since it had to be flavorful but not too high in moisture, in spite of using real lychee and rose water. The sweetness also had to be put into consideration since the canned lychees I used also contained sugar. Be sure to check if your canned lychees do contain sugar.

    Close up of lychee macarons with two more perched onto a gift box at the back.

    The Battle among Lychee Ganache, Lychee Curd and Lychee Butter Cream

    Because of the inherent problem of extracting flavour from such a high-moisture fruit for our not-so-moisture loving macarons, I experimented with a dozen different versions for this recipe. I wanted to find the best way for the lychee to shine through, but both a simple ganache and a curd turned out to be a flop. The lychee flavour was getting completely lost in the sweetness of the white chocolate ganache. I played with a variety of ratios, but the lychee just wasn't coming through without compromising the structure of the ganache. The almost passable version of the ganache (out of 6) started out okay during the first 24 hours, but just wasn't strong enough after 48. Yes, I have to taste test all my macaron recipes over several days to see how the fillings hold up :).

    Next, I tried making lychee curd. It was flavourful and true to the taste of lychee, but the flavor wasn't nearly as sturdy as I'd like it to be for a curd to be used in a macaron. As you remember, I finally perfected a lemon curd that is super macaron-friendly and can sit in a macaron for days without making it soggy. This one didn't even come close.

    While the flavour of the curd was good and true to taste, it lost a lot of its vibrancy after being heated for long periods of time. Subsequently, the only lychee filling I wanted to publish was the one that would allow the lychee to retain its fragrant, subtly sweet profile with a bit of the acidity that's present in real lychees. This is how I've known lychees for the entirety of my life and it's what I think should translate into this recipe. This final version uses a combination of buttercream, chocolate cream and pulp to resemble the real fruit.  It has a bit of it's natural tartness along with the fragrant addition of a bit of rose water. The taste is so heavenly and just as important, its structurally sound.

    Lychee macarons in heart shapes topped with edible flowers.

    An Inexpensive Bottle of Rose Syrup

    I knew lychee would be the star of the show in this recipe, but as I tasted my first batch, I immediately thought it needed something to pair with to make the flavors a bit more multi-dimensional. I had just the thing in my cupboard: a brand new bottle of rose water.  I bought it a couple of months ago and I never had a chance to use it for anything. It wasn't anything fancy, just purely a "Wow! I can't believe I found this in a grocery store" type of product. This particular rose water was located in the ethnic food aisle of my local grocery store. Made in Lebanon and intended for use in traditional Lebanese foods, it didn't have "gourmet" written on it so it didn't cost a fortune. I added some of it in the first batch of macaron filling and it tasted wonderful.

    This recipe brought me on a little grocery store adventure, but I'm really happy that I was able to bring the flavours of two cultures together into a single delicious macaron. If there is one special macaron recipe you'd like to add to your collection, I think this may be the one.

    I really hope you enjoy it!

    XOXO,
    Mimi

     Free Heart Macaron Templates 

    These heart templates are all available for download for Newsletter Subscribers. Just sign up for the newsletter and wait for the double opt-in confirmation email. Confirm your subscription and you’ll be sent the password to the Subscriber’s Only Area.

    Recipe

    Yield: 24 macarons

    Delicate Lychee Rose Macarons Made with Real Lychees

    A stack of delicate pink lychee rose macarons with some rose buds on the side.

    A lychee rose macaron that is both fragrant and flavorful. This recipe takes care to retain the naturally sweet and slightly sour taste of this unique fruit. 

    Ingredients

    Mimi's Best Macaron Recipe

    • 130 grams almond flour
    • 130 grams icing sugar
    • 100 grams egg whites
    • 90 grams granulated sugar
    • ¼ tsp. cream of tartar
    • A few drops of pink gel color (a drop of Americolor's Super Red was used here)

    Lychee Cream

    • 2 ½ teaspoon corn starch
    • 90 ml strained juice from lychee puree, (from 1 can of lychee in syrup)*
    • 50 grams granulated sugar
    • 50 grams white chocolate
    • 50 grams butter at room temperature

    Rose Buttercream

    • 65 grams egg whites
    • 130 grams granulated sugar
    • 195 grams butter at room temperature
    • 2 ½ tsp. rose water
    • A few drops of rose extract

    Instructions

    Macaron Shells

    1. Using the above ingredient quantity, follow the instructions on my Best Macaron Recipe to make the shells. 

    Lychee Cream Instructions

    1. Set butter out at room temperature.
    2. Open canned lychees. Discard syrup. 
    3. Pulse whole lychees in food processor until you get a fine puree.
    4. Pour puree through a strainer to separate the pulp and juice. Keep 90 ml of the juice for use in this recipe. With a spoon, push out as much liquid out of the pulp as possible.
    5. Place the pulp in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Poke a few holes in it and place it in the fridge to "dehydrate". Tip: if you have the time, do this the night before. 
    6. Chop up white chocolate into small pieces. 
    7. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon of lychee juice and corn starch until no visible lumps can be seen.
    8. Heat remaining juice and sugar on med-high heat until sugar fully dissolves. Take off heat before it comes to a full boil. 
    9. Pour a little bit of the hot juice into the corn starch mixture while whisking vigorously.
    10. Take this mixture and pour it back into the pot of hot lychee juice while whisking vigorously.
    11. Place pot back onto the stove on low-medium heat. It will thicken up considerably within 30 seconds to 1 minute. Take off heat.
    12. Pour onto the chopped white chocolate. Wait one minute.
    13. Mix well with a spatula until all the chocolate has melted.
    14. Add butter and mix together until incorporated.
    15. Pour into blender and blend on high for 1 minute.
    16. Place in the fridge to set before putting in piping bag.

    Rose Buttercream Instructions

    1. Set butter out at room temperature.
    2. Bring a small pot of water to a boil.
    3. Place egg whites and sugar into a heat proof bowl. Stainless steel is light and safe.
    4. Gently whisk the whites & sugar mix over the boiling water.
    5. Pay attention to whisking the mixture when it starts getting hot, you don’t want to cook the eggs.
    6. Whisk the mixture until the temperature reaches 160F**
    7. Pour the mixture into the Kitchenaid mixer with the balloon whisk attached. Whip on low to start, then increase to medium.
    8. Once the mixture is stiff and the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch, stop mixer. Change the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment.
    9. Add butter a little bit at a time while beating with the paddle attachment on medium speed.
    10. The mixture might look curdled or separated for a while but keep mixing. It will all come together.
    11. Keep 200 grams of the buttercream for use in our current recipe. Freeze the rest of the buttercream for use at a later date.
    12. Add rose water and rose essence and beat until incorporated. 

    Assembly

    1. Find two similar sized macaron shells to make a pair.
    2. Pipe a ring of rose buttercream onto one shell as a dam then fill it with a small dab of lychee cream. Spread the cream out evenly so that it creates a "barrier" between the shell and the lychee pulp which is to be added next.
    3. Add a bit of lychee pulp on top of the lychee cream. 
    4.  Cover the pulp with another dab of lychee cream.
    5. Assemble the shells together, place in fridge to mature for 24 hours. Enjoy!

    Notes

    *Canned lychee was used in this recipe. The brand I used contained lychee, sugar, water and citric acid.

    **This temperature is generally accepted to be able to kill salmonella in eggs.

    Nutrition Information

    Yield

    24

    Serving Size

    1 grams

    Amount Per Serving Unsaturated Fat 0g

    Did you make this recipe? Share your results with me 🙂

    Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

    © Mimi
    Cuisine: Chinese
    • Earl Grey Macarons with Mouth-watering Lemon Swiss Buttercream (Heart Template)
    • Bear macarons on heart macarons.
      Ultimate Guide to Valentine's Day Macarons & Templates
    • Cinnamon heart candy macarons on a small plate.
      Spicy Cinnamon Heart Candy Macarons
    • Close up of donut hole cake pop bears propped inside a cup.
      Easy No-Bake Valentine's Day Bear "Cake" Pops

    Easy No-Bake Valentine's Day Bear "Cake" Pops

    Jan 19, 2018 · Leave a Comment

    Close up of donut hole cake pop bears propped inside a cup.

    A super cute bear cake pop that requires no baking! Quick, fun and absolutely adorable! Perfect for birthday parties and Valentines Day.

    Bear cake pops in a floral cup, below are several process shots of donut bears being made.
    [feast_advanced_jump_to]

    Donut Throw Those Away

    Every weekend my hubby likes to buy himself a box of Timbits from Tim Hortons. For those who are not familiar with Timbits, they are basically the trademarked version of donut holes by the iconic Canadian coffee chain, Tim Hortons. They come in a box of 10 filled with different flavours of your choice. Although delicious (as I'm told by hubby), without fail, he always leaves 3-4 leftover in the fridge. After many months of watching these leftovers go to waste in the compost, I decided there must be something we could do with them. Although eating them would be the path of least resistance, I never do. I try to limit my carb and sugar intake throughout the week and my quota is usually all used up by the time I finish taste-testing my macarons and desserts. However, a couple of weeks ago, a thought came into my head. Maybe I could use these to make a quick and easy Valentine's Day project - no bake "Cake" pops.

    Donut cake pops ingredients on a marble counter surface.

    How to Make "Cake" Pops Without Baking

    By substituting the cake ball with these donut holes, you can quickly finish these cute "cake" pops quickly with less stress and mess. You save time by skipping the baking and forming of the cake balls with frosting. Without using cake balls, you'll also eliminate the risk of oil seepage from weak points, and the cake balls expanding, causing cracks.

    The end result is so adorable that no one will know how easy it was. The real bonus is that it actually tastes so good. I don't have any special affinity towards candy melts but somehow it works really well as a sweet coating on top of an "old fashioned" donut hole. Ok, so I have a small confession to make, I actually didn't know what an "old-fashioned" donut was until hubby explained it to me. (That's how much I eat donuts, which is never.) I requested that he buy me some donut holes on his usual Timmy's run but they had to be simple and plain. Apparently, that was the exact description of an Old-Fashioned donut. Their simple composition makes them the perfect pairing with a sweet coating of candy melts.

    Tips for this Project

    1. The bear's ears are made of candy. You can use chocolate like M&M's but the best candy is a soft caramel one like Milk Duds. You can mold them into an arch which helps them stay flushed against the head after assembly.
    2. Use plain donut holes with no glaze or sugar on top. The surface of your donut should be smooth to allow for better dipping.
    3. The lollipop stick will not stick as easily to a donut than with frosted cake crumble so a little bit of edible glue is needed inside the donut. You can also use the melted candy coating as well.
    4. The freezer is your friend. Use it to set the donut in between steps. It will also prevent the ears from falling off during the hot dipping process. Unlike regular cake pops, I found there wasn't much expansion (that causes cracking) when exposed to temperature differences so they can be dipped straight out of the freezer.
    5. Longer 6-inch lollipop sticks were used in this project. It allows the candy pop to sit nicely in a tall cup and simply looks sleeker.
    6. If you don't have a styrofoam cake pop stand for drying your cake pops, you can place some grains in a cup instead.
    A hand stirring white candy melts in a mini crockpot with a small spatula.

    How to Melt Candy Melts Perfectly Every Time

    It is difficult to control the heat when melting using the microwave, and overheating will cause the candy melts to seize up. To prevent wastage, try to use a small slow cooker/warmer or the method below:

    1. Put the candy melts in a small but deep heat-proof bowl.
    2. Wearing an oven mitt, hold it over boiling water and stir gently until it melts.
    3. Take off heat before completely melted so that it doesn't over heat. Stir until completely melted and it will be ready for use. A cooler candy melt is easier to use than a piping hot one.
    4. If it starts hardening up, put it over the boiling hot water again and stir until it becomes usable again.

    Tips for Using Candy Melts

    1. Always use utensils and bowls that are completely dry. Water will seize up your candy.
    2. It's easier to melt more candy melts at once than less.
    3. Do not let candy melts overheat as this may cause it to become clumpy and ultimately seize.
    4. If candy melts seize, you can add a bit of shortening to thin it out and get it going again. There is also a product made specifically to thin out candy melts called EZ Thin Dipping Aid. Link can be found below in Shopping List.
    5. Use enough candy melts to dip the bear into the candy melt quickly with one take.  If you twirl it around too much, the ears might fall off.
    6. Use a deep bowl with a smaller diameter so you won't need to use as much candy to coat your bear.
    7. Do not use the gel colors you use for macarons to color candy melts. Oil based candy color must be used to prevent the candy from seizing.
    8. This goes for flavourings too. Make sure any flavourings added into the candy melts are oil-based.

    Step By Step

    Start melting candy melts by placing in a warmer/mini slow cooker. If you don't have one, use the other method as outlined above in "How to Melt Candy Melts Perfectly Everytime". If using that method, melt the candy melts AFTER you have fully assembled the bear donut onto the stick and put them into the freezer to set.

    Add ears onto the donut with white edible glue. 

    Knife cutting a chocolate caramel and edible glue being applied onto a donut hole.

    Cut modable candy in half for the bear's ears. Sculpt candy into a rounded arch to help it stay flushed against the curve of the donut.  Place in the freezer for 5 minutes to set. Tip: When working with the donuts later, take only a few out at a time to prevent them from falling apart at room temperature.

    Hand adding caramel onto a donut hole  to make bear ears.

    Using a skewer, push halfway into the donut from the bottom. Tip: mark an approximate distance on the skewer with your fingers and do not push the skewer in further than that point Pipe some white edible glue into the hole. In the same hole, gently insert a lollipop stick halfway into the donut.

    A skewer is puncturing the bottom of the donut hole, the next picture is lollipop stick being inserted in the same hole.

    Place into the freezer to set. Work on the rest of the bears. Candy melts should now be melted and ready for use. Take the frozen bear heads out one at a time. Dip the bear heads into the candy melt and quickly bring it back up. Be decisive. Try not to dip it too many times as the ears might start to come off. You can twirl it a bit to get the excess candy melt off. Let it dry on a styrofoam cake pop stand. Work on the rest of the bears. 

    Donut cake pop shaped like a bear head being dipped into melted candy.

    Once the candy melts on the bears have dried, dab a bit of the edible glue onto the top of the bear's head. Place heart sprinkles on each side to resemble a bow. Draw in the nose and eyes with the black glue/icing.  Wait until icing and candy melts dry completely before packaging. Approximately, 2-3 hours. 

    Eyes being added onto face of bear cake pops.
    Close up of bear donut hole lollipops with red heart sprinkle bows.

    I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you are looking for another easy recipe for Valentine's Day, try this simple marbled heart cookie recipe, it requires no decorating at all but looks incredible! Happy V-day!
    XOXO, Mimi

    Recipe

    Yield: 10 "cake" pops

    Valentine's Bear "Cake" Pop Made with Donut Holes

    Close up of donut hole cake pop bears propped inside a cup.

    A super cute bear cake pop that requires no baking! Quick, fun and absolutely adorable!

    Prep Time 5 minutes
    Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
    Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

    Ingredients

    Ingredients & Supplies for Edible Glue/Icing

    • 40 grams icing sugar
    • 1 tsp. meringue powder
    • water in a spray bottle
    • 2 small piping bags
    • Black gel color

    Ingredients & Supplies for Bear "Cake" Pop

    • 12 oz. candy melts (1 bag)
    • 10 plain donut holes
    • 20 large heart sprinkles
    • 10 round moldable soft candy (ex. Milk Duds)
    • 10 6" lollipop sticks
    • Sharp skewer
    • Warmer or small deep heat-proof cup & pot combo
    • Spatula
    • Styrofoam cake pop holder

    Instructions

    Edible Glue for Gluing Ears and Securing Lollipop

    1. Combine the dry ingredients in a glass bowl. 
    2. Spray the water onto the dry ingredients a little at a time and then blend everything together until you reach a thick consistency.
    3. If it’s too runny, add more sugar. If it's too thick, add more water, one spray at a time. 
    4. Put ½ of it in a small piping bag. Add black gel colour to the remainder, mix well and place in the other piping bag. 

    Bear "Cake" Pop

    1. Start melting candy melts by placing in a warmer/mini slow cooker. If you don't have one, use the other method as outlined above in "How to Melt Candy Melts Perfectly Everytime". If using that method, melt the candy melts AFTER you have fully assembled the bear donut onto the stick and put them into the freezer to set.
    2. Cut modable candy in half for the bear's ears. Sculpt candy into a rounded arch to help it stay flushed against the curve of the donut. 
    3. Add ears onto the donut with white edible glue. 
    4. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes to set. Tip: When working with the donuts later, take only a few out at a time to prevent them from falling apart at room temperature.
    5. Using a skewer, push halfway into the donut from the bottom. Tip: mark an approximate distance on the skewer with your fingers and do not push the skewer in further than that point
    6. Pipe some white edible glue into the hole. 
    7. In the same hole, gently insert a lollipop stick halfway into the donut.
    8. Place into the freezer to set. Work on the rest of the bears. 
    9. Candy melts should now be melted and ready for use. Take the frozen bear heads out one at a time. 
    10. Dip the bear heads into the candy melt and quickly bring it back up. Be decisive. Try not to dip it too many times as the ears might start to come off. You can twirl it a bit to get the excess candy melt off. 
    11. Let it dry on a styrofoam cake pop stand. Work on the rest of the bears. 
    12. Once the candy melts on the bears have dried, dab a bit of the edible glue onto the top of the bear's head. Place heart sprinkles on each side to resemble a bow. 
    13. Draw in the nose and eyes with the black glue/icing.  Wait until icing and candy melts dry completely before packaging. Approximately, 2-3 hours. 

    Notes

    Donut pops can be kept at room temperature for 2 days. They can also be placed in the fridge in an air tight container without packaging. To prevent condensation, bring them out of the fridge and package after it comes back to room temperature. 

    Nutrition Information

    Yield

    10

    Serving Size

    1 grams

    Amount Per Serving Calories 279Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 7mgSodium 67mgCarbohydrates 56gFiber 0gSugar 37gProtein 1g

    This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although indulgewithmimi.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

    Did you make this recipe? Share your results with me 🙂

    Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

    © Mimi
    Cuisine: american
    • Cinnamon heart candy macarons on a small plate.
      Spicy Cinnamon Heart Candy Macarons
    • Marbled Valentine's Cookies - No Decorating Needed
    • Bear macarons on heart macarons.
      Ultimate Guide to Valentine's Day Macarons & Templates
    • A stack of delicate pink lychee rose macarons with some rose buds on the side.
      Delicate Lychee Rose Macarons in a Heart Shape (Template)

    Ultimate Guide to Valentine's Day Macarons & Templates

    Jan 11, 2018 · 10 Comments

    Bear macarons on heart macarons.

    Make perfect Valentine's Day Macarons with Mimi's best French macaron recipe. Download free V-day templates, instructions for DIY gift box and video included.

    A variety of different Valentine's Day themed macarons plus DIY gift box for holding macarons.
    [feast_advanced_jump_to]

    Say I Love You with Valentine's Day Macarons

    For the longest time, I thought that Valentine's Day in my adult life was meant to be celebrated with the person I was romantically involved with. It was only until I started to receive little tokens of love from friends, colleagues and children that I started to consider it as a somewhat inclusive celebration. It's a day that you can use to show others your appreciation and love. Well, that's what the chocolate and flower companies want us to believe right? I think Bill Maher said it best, "It's the one day when the whole country is telling you to buy flowers." Instead of flowers this year, maybe you can try your hand at making these sweet V-day macarons from the heart. I've included a variety of heart and Valentine's themed macaron templates, my best macaron recipe, macaron troubleshooting guide, shopping list and more. I hope this Ultimate Guide to Making Valentine's Macarons will help you get started and offer you some V-day inspiration. Wishing you a lot of love, hugs and kisses this V-day... and oh, flowers... we can't forget flowers, can we now? 🙂

    XOXO,
    Mimi

    Useful Macaron How-To Tutorials

    Before we get started on different Valentine's Day Macarons you can make, here are some useful links which will help you get started:

    • Best French Macaron Recipe
    • Macaron Troubleshooting Guide
    • Yummy Macaron Filling Ideas
    • How to Whip Perfect Meringue for Macarons
    • How to Use Your Home Oven for Baking Macarons
    • How to Make Multiple Colors from One Batch of Batter

    Valentine's Day Project Inspirations & Macaron Templates

    First of all, here are some Valentine's Day macaron inspiration and free macaron templates for you. Print out the ones you like to get started. Just sign up for the newsletter and you'll be sent the password and link to download these templates in the subscriber's only area.

    Bear Macarons Hanging Onto Red Hearts

    These little bears on heart macarons have been a reader favorite for quite a while. They are so cute and looks wonderful packaged in individual bags for Valentine's gift giving. I also love that they require only two different macaron batters and then you can decorate them with sprinkles of your choice.

    Macarons in the shape of bears hanging onto red hearts.
    Bear on macaron hearts wrapped in little bags.
    Bear on hearts macaron templates.

    ♥  BROWN BEAR BATTER INGREDIENTS:
    – 65 grams almond flour
    – 65 grams icing sugar
    – 45 grams castor sugar
    – 50 grams aged egg whites
    – ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
    – Brown Gel Colour (3-4 drops of Light Brown from Americolor)

    ♥ RED HEART BATTER INGREDIENTS:
    – 65 grams almond flour
    – 65 grams icing sugar
    – 45 grams castor sugar
    – 50 grams aged egg whites
    – ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
    – Red Get Color (3-4 drops of Super Red from Americolor)

    Tips for making Valentine’s Bears on Heart Macarons:

    • Follow my BEST MACARON RECIPE for the step-by-step instructions to creating a strong and healthy macaron batter that’s perfect for piping macaron art.
    • Prepare all the ingredients in advance in order to make two batches of different colored macaron batters back to back. Here’s  how I like to create 2 different colored macaron batters.
    • Piping order for batter should be:
      • pipe red batter for heart (Wilton 10 tip)
      • pipe brown batter for head (Wilton 10 tip)
      • gently apply the heart sprinkle on the side of the head
      • once bear heads have developed a skin, pipe brown batter for ears (Wilton 5 tip)
      • pipe the bear’s snout
      • once heart dries, pipe brown batter underneath head for the paws (Wilton 5 tip)
    • After baking, use an edible pen to draw in nose and mouth

    Sweet Heart Macarons

    You can never go wrong with using hearts to express your love on Valentine's Day. Below are a variety of projects and heart macaron templates you can use this season.

    These Earl Grey heart macarons were filled with a mouthwatering lemon buttercream. The hearts were piped with the small heart template provided below. Once baked, sugar roses and fondant leaves were applied to the top with edible glue. Recipe to the Earl Grey Macarons and Sugar Rose Tutorial here.

    Heart macarons on a plate.
    Heart macaron template
    Heart macaron template
    Large macaron heart template
    Heart in a row macaron template
    2 in a row macaron heart template

    These open-heart macarons were piped using the medium heart template provided above. To eventually fill them with sprinkles after baking, pipe a solid heart for the bottom shell and pipe an open heart for the top shell. You can also leave it an open-heart design by  piping an open-heart for both top and bottom shells.

    Large heart macarons with sprinkles poured inside.
    Heart macarons with sprinkles inside shot on an angle.

    Who says V-day has to be all about pink and red? You can also try non-traditional colors in pastels such as aqua and purple. This is a batter-on-batter technique. The aqua macaron batter was piped first and once it develops a thin skin, the purple was piped on top.

    Turquois macarons with hearts piped on top.
    Side profile of Valentine's Day macarons showing dainty small macaron feet.

    Marbled pink macarons can be achieved by following my Galaxy Macaron tutorial and mixing up the batter a bit more before sealing the piping bag.

    Marbled pink macarons on a plate adorned by hearts.

    Cute & Cuddly Animal Macarons

    Bear bear macaron pop using the batter-on-batter technique. Follow my Rilakkuma Bear Macaron tutorial to learn how to make 3D macaron art.

    Bear on lollipop stick with hearts on side of his face.
    Bear macaron templates

    If you already know how to make 3D macaron art, follow this piping order to make these bear macarons hanging onto their huge marshmallows.

    1. Prepare macaron batter in three colors: white, purple, pink.
    2. Pipe marshmallow with purple batter.
    3. Apply sprinkles onto marshmallows before a skin develops.
    4. Pipe head with pink batter.
    5. Once the head develops a thin skin, pipe the ears.
    6. Once the marshmallows develops a thin skin, pipe the paws directly below the bear's head.
    7. Pipe the bear's snout with white batter.
    8. Fill in the ear details with white batter.
    9. Wait until your macaron dries completely before baking.
    10. After baking, draw in the nose and eyes with edible pen. (I used black macaron batter instead.)
    Very cute bear on heart marshmallow macarons.
    Bear on marshmallow macaron template.

    How to Pipe Heart Macarons

    Using piping tip Wilton 10 and my small heart template, squeeze a dollop of pink macaron batter into the rounded curve of the heart on one side. You don't need it to fill entirely as it will spread later. Pipe slowly on a slant while decreasing the amount of pressure as you move further down to the tip. To stop piping, flick quickly back upwards towards the center. Do the same for the other side. Smooth out further with a toothpick.

    Top Flavors for Valentine's Day

    After making the macaron shells, you can choose to fill your Valentine's Day macarons with the fillings below. They are classic flavors that everybody loves so they are perfect for gift giving!

    • Basic chocolate macaron filling using 3 ingredients
    • Basic white chocolate macaron filling - easy and adaptable
    • Earl grey macarons with lemon buttercream
    • Low-moisture lemon curd macarons
    • Lemon lavender macarons
    • Strawberry basil macarons
    • Ispahan Rose Raspberry Macaron Cake
    • Spicy cinnamon heart macarons

    • Top down view of macaron lollipops filled with chocolate filling.
      Basic Chocolate Filling for Macarons - Only 3 Ingredients
    • White chocolate macaron filling ingredients on a counter.
      Basic White Chocolate Macaron Filling - Easy & Adaptable
    • Earl Grey Macarons with Mouth-watering Lemon Swiss Buttercream (Heart Template)
    • Lemon Macarons Made with a Sturdy "Macaron-Friendly" Lemon Curd Center
    • Dainty Lavender Lemon Macarons
    • A stack of strawberry basil macarons with green and pink shells in front of a cup of strawberries.
      Strawberry Basil Macarons made with Real Strawberries (Template)
    • Ispahan macaron cake with fresh raspberries on a little cake stand.
      "Ispahan" Inspired Macaron Cake with Fresh Lychees & Raspberries
    • Cinnamon heart candy macarons on a small plate.
      Spicy Cinnamon Heart Candy Macarons

    DIY Macaron Box for Gift Giving

    Once you're done piping, baking and filling your macaron art, you'll need a pretty box to put them in. Here is a tutorial that will teach you how to make a flat box which has a window for visibility and is shallow enough to show off your beautiful macaron art nestled inside. Full tutorial on DIY Macaron Gift Box here.

    Bunny macarons in a DIY gift box adorned with flowers.

    Macaron Troubleshooting Guide

    Before you start baking, I wanted to give you this handy macaron troubleshooting guide if your macarons aren't as perfect as you'd prefer. The guide explains some of the reasons behind wrinkly, cracked, hollow macarons and how to fix them.

    Valentine's day bears on heart macarons.

    Basic Recipe Using the French Meringue Method

    Finally, here's a basic macaron recipe to help you get started. It utilizes the easy French method of whipping up meringue by adding sugar gradually into egg whites that are beating, eliminating the need for heating up a sugar syrup.

    Recipe

    Yield: 12 macarons

    Valentines Macarons

    Valentine's Bear on Heart Macarons in Valentine's shaped measuring cups.

    Make perfect Valentine's Day Macarons with Mimi's best French macaron recipe. A variety of flavored fillings, free V-day macaron templates, DIY gift box and video instruction included.

    Prep Time 45 minutes
    Cook Time 15 minutes
    Resting Time 30 minutes
    Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

    Ingredients

    Macaron Ingredients - recipe can be doubled, tripled and so forth

    • 65 grams – almond flour (Note 1)
    • 65 grams – powdered sugar
    • 45 grams – castor sugar (a.k.a “berry” sugar or extra fine granulated sugar, Note 2)
    • 50 grams – egg whites aged (Note 3)
    • ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar OR 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
    • GEL color of your choice (Note 4)

    Supplies

    • Electronic scale
    • 2 very clean and dry mixing bowls absolutely free of oil or water – preferably NOT plastic.
    • Hand mixer
    • Sifter
    • Flexible spatula
    • Piping bag
    • Round piping tip (Note 5)
    • Good quality baking pan
    • Template with macaron outline
    • Oven thermometer
    • Parchment paper or Silpat mat (Note 6)

    Instructions

    1. If you're new to macaron baking, please read all the additional information in Best Macaron Recipe before starting.
    2. Set aged egg whites out on counter to bring back to room temperature.
    3. Print out your favorite Valentine's macaron template from the post.
    4. Sift almond flour and powdered sugar together, mix well.
    5. Whip room temperature egg whites with a handheld mixer until foamy, add cream of tartar. (Further reading: How to make perfect meringue for macarons.)
    6. Once the beater starts leaving tracks in the egg whites and the bubbles have tightened up in size, add granulated sugar ⅓ at a time.
    7. Once all the sugar has been fully incorporated and before reaching stiff peaks, add 1-3 drops of gel color to your liking. Whip until stiff peaks.
    8. Test meringue stiffness. Pull the whisk out, the points left in the egg whites should point upwards instead of drooping on itself.
    9. Pour a third of the almond/powdered sugar mixture into the egg whites. Gently fold it into the egg whites. Then add the rest of the mixture and fold.
    10. Stop folding once the dry ingredients have been fully incorporated and the batter has reached a “lava” like or honey consistency. The batter should pass the figure-8 test. (Watch video: How to Macaronage for No Hollows)
    11. On a baking tray, place Valentine's Day macaron templates underneath the parchment paper or silicone mats. Pipe the batter to the shape of the design. (Further reading: Proper macaron batter consistency while piping.)
    12. Remove the paper template from underneath the parchment paper or mat.
    13. Rap the tray several times on the counter to rid of excess bubbles.
    14. Before the batter dries, pop any remaining bubbles with a toothpick.
    15. Let it rest on the counter for 30 min. AND until a firm “skin” has developed. This will prevent the shells from cracking during baking and it's especially important for character macarons. (Further reading: Resting the macaron shell.)
    16. Preheat oven to 320 F. (Further reading: How to use your home oven for baking macarons.)
    17. Place the tray on the middle shelf and bake for 12-14 minutes. Bake only one tray at a time.
    18. Take them out and test doneness. The feet should not push back and the shell should not be wobbly.
    19. Let them cool off on the pan (or off if they are overdone).
    20. Fill with your favorite Valentine's Day macaron filling.
    21. Leave them in the fridge in an airtight container and let them mature for 24 hours. (If making ahead for a holiday party, read: can macaron shells be frozen and made in advance?)
    22. After 24 hours of maturation in the fridge, bring them back to room temperature 30 min. before serving. ENJOY!

    Notes

    1. Read this post on How to Make Your Own Almond Flour

    2. Regular granulated sugar can be used by castor sugar is preferable.

    3. Measure out 50 grams of fresh egg whites and then age it before using. Read this post on how to age egg whites. Do NOT use meringue powder

    4. Do not use liquid color.

    5. Wilton #12 or Wilton #1A. I prefer Wilton #1A or Ateco #805 Plain Seamless Tip for regular round macarons or Wilton #12 for more control with character macarons.

    6. I prefer the Macaron Silpat mat with macaron outline. Do not use wax paper

    8. This recipe yields 12 assembled macarons. It can be doubled, tripled and so forth.

    Recommended Products

    As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    • Wilton Jumbo Heart Sprinkles - 3.25 oz.
      Wilton Jumbo Heart Sprinkles - 3.25 oz.
    • Mini Heart Sprinkles
      Mini Heart Sprinkles
    • Wilton Valentines Sprinkles 4-pack (Valentines A)
      Wilton Valentines Sprinkles 4-pack (Valentines A)
    • White Fondant Icing, Decorator Preferred, Ready to Use, 250g (8.8oz)
      White Fondant Icing, Decorator Preferred, Ready to Use, 250g (8.8oz)
    • Rainbow Dust Professional Cake Decorators Food Pen Jet Black
      Rainbow Dust Professional Cake Decorators Food Pen Jet Black
    • Wilton FoodWriter Neon Colored Edible Markers, 5-Piece
      Wilton FoodWriter Neon Colored Edible Markers, 5-Piece
    • Gel Food Coloring AmeriColor Junior Kit, 8 Colors.75 Ounce Bottles
      Gel Food Coloring AmeriColor Junior Kit, 8 Colors.75 Ounce Bottles
    • Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Gluten Free Almond Flour, 3 Pound
      Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Gluten Free Almond Flour, 3 Pound
    • Toaster Oven Size Silpat Non-stick Silicone Baking Mat
      Toaster Oven Size Silpat Non-stick Silicone Baking Mat
    • USA Pan Rimless Baking Sheet for Better Airflow to Macaron Shells
      USA Pan Rimless Baking Sheet for Better Airflow to Macaron Shells
    • Wilton Decorator Preferred White, 5 lb. Fondant, Pack of 1
      Wilton Decorator Preferred White, 5 lb. Fondant, Pack of 1
    • Regular Sized Silpat  Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat
      Regular Sized Silpat Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat
    • Manetti 23K Edible Gold | Semi-Loose Leaves | 3.4" x 3.4" Inches | 5 Leaves Booklet
      Manetti 23K Edible Gold | Semi-Loose Leaves | 3.4" x 3.4" Inches | 5 Leaves Booklet
    • Wilton White 6-Inch Lollipop Sticks, 100-Count
      Wilton White 6-Inch Lollipop Sticks, 100-Count
    • Callebaut White Chocolate Chunks 16 oz
      Callebaut White Chocolate Chunks 16 oz
    • Cuisinart CTG-00-3MS Set of 3 Fine Mesh Stainless Steel Strainers
      Cuisinart CTG-00-3MS Set of 3 Fine Mesh Stainless Steel Strainers
    • Round Piping Tip #10
      Round Piping Tip #10
    • Cuisinart CTG-00-SMB Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls with Lids, Set of 3
      Cuisinart CTG-00-SMB Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls with Lids, Set of 3
    • PaperChef Culinary Parchment Multipurpose Non-Stick Paper, 205 sq ft
      PaperChef Culinary Parchment Multipurpose Non-Stick Paper, 205 sq ft
    • Oven Thermometer 
      Oven Thermometer 
    • Batter Piping Tool
      Batter Piping Tool
    • Ateco Disposable Piping Bags, 12-Inch, Pack of 100
      Ateco Disposable Piping Bags, 12-Inch, Pack of 100
    • Kitchenaid Handheld Mixer
      Kitchenaid Handheld Mixer
    • RYBACK Stainless Steel Egg White Yolk Filter Separator Cooking Tool Dishwasher Safe Chef Kitchen Gadget
      RYBACK Stainless Steel Egg White Yolk Filter Separator Cooking Tool Dishwasher Safe Chef Kitchen Gadget
    • Digital Scale
      Digital Scale

    Nutrition Information

    Yield

    12 macarons

    Serving Size

    12

    Amount Per Serving Calories 403Total Fat 40gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 36gCholesterol 0mgSodium 10mgCarbohydrates 11gFiber 1gSugar 10gProtein 2g

    Did you make this recipe? Share your results with me 🙂

    Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

    © Mimi
    Cuisine: french / Category: Macarons
    • Close up of two non-hollow macarons assembled with fillings.
      The Best French Macaron Recipe w/ Video & Template
    • 3 different colored bowls with meringue and almond flour inside to make different colored macaron batter in one batch.
      How to Make Multiple Colors from One Batch of Macaron Batter
    • purple macarons on a dish with lavender and lemons
      How to Price Homemade Macarons
    • Freezing Macarons and Making them in Advance

    January 2018 Daily Microposts and Inspirations

    Jan 8, 2018 · Leave a Comment

    January 22nd, 2018
    Keep calm and greet the mailman.

    A few days ago I received a wonderful package in the mail from @scribesbyVS. She sent me these handmade scribes for my royal icing work. I was so touched to see that she even incorporated macaron charms in the design. One is made of clay and the other one glass with the logo from my site embedded underneath. It's all so pretty. One of my goals this year is to work with different mediums like sugar cookies and cakes, they'll come in handy, I can't wait to use them.


    January 19th, 2018
    "Better days are coming. They are called Saturday and Sunday."

    On Wednesday night, I was invited to the opening of The Victor, one of the newest restaurants in the glamorous Parq Casino. It's located on the 6th-floor rooftop and features "a contemporary and seasonally inspired menu highlighting a wide array of Pacific Northwest seafood and a tiered selection of specialty steaks." It was a fabulous night and another enjoyable experience at the Parq for me.

    Have a great weekend!

    XOXO,

    Mimi

     

     


    January 11th, 2018
    Piglet: "How do you spell love?"
    Pooh: "You don't spell it, you feel it."

    I remember giving many a Valentine's cards to classmates in elementary school. If my memory serves me correctly, we used to write out our cards and hand them to the teacher who would then distribute them to the respective recipient on Valentine's Day. For the most part, they all had "punny" sayings and cute graphics. None of them were very memorable except for one which I chose specifically for my grade school crush: a card that featured a bean with a happy face and a greeting on the back that said, "I've bean thinking about you." Oh gosh, it was so adorable, if I can say so myself, and it totally makes me laugh out loud right now as I type.

    Here are 3 Valentine's projects I found which are so easy and perfect for V-day. (Disclaimer: no beans were harmed in the making of these crafts.)

    NO BAKE alert! Make these adorable bear Valentine's treats without turning on your oven! Photo courtesy of: www.inthekidskitchen.com

    No bean innuendos here. Just straight up, "I love you." 🙂 I love how you can reuse this Valentines for keeping trinkets. Photo courtesy of: adventuresofadiymom.com

    I just watched The Last Jedi last night so these Star Wars inspired V-cards caught my eye right away. Super cute interpretation of the characters! Photo courtesy of: thismamaloves.com


    January 9th, 2018

    "Sometimes renewal comes in surrender"

    Had a good cry this morning over this unsuspecting Facebook post about a donkey. I don't want to spoil it for you so give it a few minutes of your day. It will resonate with anyone who needs that reset button in their lives for 2018.


    January 8th, 2018

    "If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed. The vision pulls you." - Steve Jobs

    When I wrote my first post of the year on New Year's Day, I probably knew I'd break my resolutions before the first week of January was out. One of them was to do do daily updates here and indeed, I haven't posted here for the last 3 days. I was working on some needed upgrades for the site since it has outgrown some of it's resources due to reader traffic so thank you so much to all of you for reading. Although it was time consuming and I had anxiety over whether or not the site would be down (it didn't, thank goodness), I'm glad that part is over and I can get back to getting in touch with you guys. There are more changes underway but I hope you're enjoying everything on the site so far including the mini re-brand. Thanks again for reading, it means so much to me.

    XOXO,

    Mimi

    These mermaid macarons were made with 2 different colored macaron batters but it looks like there's more colors there when you blend the two batters together. You achieve this look by following my galaxy macaron tutorial (click on photo) and using the colors pink and aqua. After baking, I splattered some edible gold paint onto the shells.


    January 4th, 2017


    There's plenty of fishes in the sea, swim with the ones who appreciate you. They have good taste. 

    A favourite saying of mine written by me 🙂 People who like you reinforce the good feelings you have about yourself and lift you up. As I grow older, I find they are the only type of people I choose to surround myself with.

    Nemo fish macarons I made for a Finding Dory Birthday party. I didn't know if they would turn out at first but I'm pretty happy with the end results. I did forget the fin details on one guy hehe.

    This is how I package individual macarons as party favors.

    If time allows, I always try to photograph my macarons with a darker, moodier styling so I can practice my photography skills. They don't always make it onto the blog though because it doesn't really fit with what I'm doing here. Thought I'd share one with you today.

     


    January 3rd, 2017

    "You always have time for the things you put first."

    A few years ago, I used to play Candy Crush before going to bed as a way to unwind before bedtime. However, as soon as I started an Instagram account, I quickly abandoned my game for the new (of the day) social media platform. Truth be told, I was stuck on a really difficult level and little did I understand at the time, I was no longer getting any positive feedback from the game so my interest started to wane. On the other hand, Instagram was providing the positive feedback loop my mind was craving, with their little hearts (likes) and comments from other engaged users, my brain was hooked. In the last year, I started to come across so many articles about how addictive social media apps were. In fact, they are specifically created to be addictive. Every time you receive positive feedback (aka likes) on your posts, dopamine is released and that makes humans react to it like any other addictive drug or habit. It all made sense. I merely replaced one addictive substance for the other as a "soothing" bedtime ritual. Here is a great interview from FORTUNE on Sean Parker, one of the founding presidents of Facebook, where he calls the social media giant, '"a social-validation feedback loop” that exploits a core vulnerability in the human psyche' and wonders what Facebook Is "doing to our children's brains".

    Recently, instead of checking my social media apps before bedtime I decided to use that time to read, and I discovered a new app which captured my interest - TEXTURE. No, it's not a social media app, it's a collection of hundreds of magazines that you'd see on your local news stands right now. Some of my favourite magazines includes Vogue, Bazaar, National Geographic, History, Times, Inc., Newsweek, People and Town and Country, just to name a few. There's magazines from every genre: fashion, finance, home, cooking, lifestyle and more. In the morning I like start my day reading something motivational from Inc. or Fortune. When I find leisurely time, I'll look through the latest fashions in Vogue or Harper's Bazaar and finally at the end of the night, I like to read a little from History or National Geographic, basically something a bit more mellow and dare I say - sleep-inducing 🙂 The best part is how environmentally friendly it is. I can carry hundreds of magazines with me in my phone and read it while waiting at a doctor's office (no more germ ridden mags!) or in bed. I would highly recommend it as a little gift for yourself in 2018.

    This is NOT sponsored. I have used and loved Texture for 8 months and I wanted to share this with you all.

    XOXO,

    Mimi


    January 2nd, 2018

    "I'm such a fabulous cook, even the smoke alarm is cheering me on!"

    I'm sure many of you are getting back to the grind this Tuesday and cooking a weeknight dinner is probably on your list tonight. Here are a few quick meal ideas I found that are delicious and most importantly - easy! What makes them real winning recipes for a weeknight is the short list of simple ingredients. That should cut down on time spent going to the grocery store and weighing them out. Quick, easy, delicious!

    WEEKNIGHT LEMON BASIL PASTA. The name says it all! Weeknight is the keyword here and this pasta uses only 6 simple ingredients. Sounds easy enough doesn't it? Photo courtesy of berlyskitchen.com

    SUPER EASY DAIRY FREE CREAM OF CAULIFLOWER SOUP. It's also gluten, dairy, egg, soy, nut & sugar free, vegan and paleo. This is a great choice if you're feeling fancy and need a healthy starter for your meal. It can also be eaten as a light meal for those who are cutting back on portions for their NY's diets. Photo courtesy of theloopywhisk.com

    15 MINUTE SWEET CHILI CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS. I am completely sold on this 15 minute meal that looks oh so fancy. It's such a creative addition to the weekday meal plan. Photo courtesy of saltandlavender.com

    BASIL GARLIC BBQ BAKED CHICKEN WINGS. These wings look so scrumptious! Michelle shows us how to bake bbq wings without the mess. I'm sure we've all done enough holiday cleaning by now. Photo courtesy of thebrooklyncook.com

    For those of you who were lucky enough to receive an Instant Pot for the holidays, this guide will really help you navigate the use of your new pot. There are many photos and recipes too. I will come back to this post myself as soon as I get my hands on one. Photo courtesy of amindfullmom.com


    January 1st, 2018

    "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."

    Happy New Year! I hope that your 2018 will be a bright and happy one. It's time again for New Year's resolutions and I know from experience that it's often easy to start one but sticking to it can become a challenge after a month or two, sometimes even after just a few days. After the initial failure to keep up with one's resolutions, it's easy to fall off the wagon completely. I think it's completely OK to take a break here and there as long as we resolve to keep moving forward with our plans and stick to our goals. At least that's what I tell myself... I haven't exercised in 2 months! I'll follow my own advice, focus on the picture; it's never too late to follow up on our resolutions because, "today is the first day of the rest of your life".

    Now here is something I had wanted to do for quite some time last year and never had enough time to complete. Throughout the year, so many of you have been tagging me and sending me your lovely macarons using my Best Macaron Recipe. I've chosen a few of my favourites and I'm sharing them below. As usual, I will also post the pictures you send to me in Mimi's Macaron friends  on a continuing basis. Thank you so much for reading and sharing your macarons successes with me. I appreciate it so very much!

    Wishing you even more sweetness in 2018!

    XOXO,

    Mimi

    Top row: I just adore the multicolored cream on the unicorn by Lyna. Nancy is known for her creative homemade boxes using the Cricket machine. Bottom row: look at the fluffy non-hollow macaron Praseetha made.

    Vanessa made these mesmerizing Galaxy Macarons! Click to see my tutorial.

    I love it when a reader tries my new macaron recipes. Click to view my Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Recipe.

    Top row: it looks like Vicky has been busy making that amazing macaron tower! I really love the ombre effect on Erica's macarons. Bottom row: I'm amazed how many colors Lesley was able to fit into her multi-color macarons.

    Katherine made these sweet unicorns with my recipe. The gold horn looks really elegant. Click to get free template.

    SEE MORE WORK BY OTHER BAKERS HERE ON MIMI'S MACARON FRIENDS

    [srp post_limit='5' post_random='yes' category_include= 24 widget_title = 'More Macaron Art You'd Love']

    New Years Sparkling Wine Panna Cotta - 2 in 1 Drink and Dessert

    Dec 19, 2017 · Leave a Comment

    Champagne panna cotta in mini cups adorned with berries dusted with sugar.

    Beautiful no-bake champagne panna cotta dessert. Easy, creamy and fragrant, made with ingredients found at every grocery store.

    Champagne panna cotta in small cups topped with berries.

    A Sparkling New Years Wish

    With New Years Day quickly approaching, it's time to start thinking about dinner and dessert ideas for the big day. When I think of New Years desserts, inevitably, I think of anything made with champagne or sparkling wine. A proper new years countdown is never complete without it so here's one dessert that will take care of both the new years toast and your tummy. It's a vanilla panna cotta  with sparkling wine jelly in a tall flute glass that is finally filled with bubbly. The acidity and minerality is so mouthwatering and makes a for a nice light pairing with the heavier panna cotta.

    Make-Ahead Dessert

    If you're thinking of making a few desserts or even just one hassle-free one for a holiday event coming up, this one will be a great choice since it's no-bake and you can make it ahead of time. Once made, you can keep these individual panna cottas in an air-tight container for up to 3 days. If you're making the version with the berries, hold off decorating it with the berries until serving since the dark juices inside the fruit tends to seep out. Note: panna cotta doesn't freeze well so I would avoid doing that. 

    To Champagne, Prosecco or Sparkle?

    The usage - or to some, the abuse - of the term champagne has been talked about to death so I won't go into it here. As you can see, I made this recipe with Prosecco but decided to ultimately name it Sparkling Wine Panna Cotta to make it more aligned with my original idea. I didn't have much time during the busy holiday season so I was elated and surprised to find this small bottle of Cupcake Prosecco in my cupboard. I remember receiving it as a favor at an event I attended earlier in the year. I just couldn't remember where. Well, whomever gave this to me, I seriously thank you. In the end, this panna cotta dessert ended up being made with Prosecco but you can also substitute it with your favorite Champagne or sparkling wine. Whichever wine you choose, I think you'll really enjoy this sweet way to ring in the new year with your loved ones.

    Wishing you a super bright and *sparkling* new year ahead!

    XOXO,
    Mimi

    top view of tall flute glasses filled with champagne panna cotta.

    Recipe

    Yield: 16 glasses

    New Years Sparkling Wine Panna Cotta – 2 in 1 Drink and Dessert

    Champagne panna cotta in mini cups adorned with berries dusted with sugar.

    Champagne panna cotta is a beautiful and fragrant no-bake sparkling wine dessert, served in individual cups all ready for party guests.

    Prep Time 15 minutes
    Cook Time 15 minutes
    Total Time 30 minutes

    Ingredients

    Vanilla Panna Cotta

    • 1 ¼ cup half and half*
    • 1 ¾ cup heavy cream
    • 2 teaspoon unflavoured gelatin
    • 45 grams granulated sugar
    • Pinch of salt
    • 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

    Sparkling Wine Jelly

    • 2 cups Champagne, Prosecco or sparkling wine**
    • 2 teaspoon gelatin
    • 4 teaspoon granulated sugar

    Instructions

    Vanilla Panna Cotta

    1. Put 2 tablespoons of the half and half in a small cup (preferably with a larger surface area) and sprinkle the gelatin on top evenly to bloom.
    2. Put the rest of the milk, sugar and salt into a sauce pan on low heat but do not let it boil. If it does, immediately remove it from the heat. Keep a constant watch over as it can over-boil very quickly.
    3. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.
    4. Add the cream and stir until fully incorporated. 
    5. Whisk in the bloomed gelatin. Do not let boil.
    6. Take off heat.
    7. Add vanilla extract.
    8. Stir gently until the mixture has come to room temperature.
    9. Pour the mixture into shot glasses or tall flute glasses. Before pouring into each new glass, gently stir the mixture to prevent it from separating.
    10. Place in an air tight container in the fridge to set before adding champagne jelly on top. Approximately 2-4 hours. 

    Sparkling Wine Jelly

    1. Put 2 tablespoon of sparkling wine in a cup, sprinkle gelatin on top to bloom.
    2. Place sugar and Prosecco in a small pan and heat on low heat. 
    3. Once sugar is dissolved, add bloomed gelatin while whisking. Do not let boil.
    4. Once it cools down to room temperature. Pour on top of set panna cotta. Gently stir mixture before pouring into each glass. 
    5. 2 IN ONE DESSERT OPTION: Once the jelly sets, immediately before serving, gently place some berries of your choice on top. Fill rest of glass with champagne. Swirl the glass around to let the juices of the berries come out. The flute glass will now have three different layers of color. 
    6. SHOT GLASS OPTION: Immediately before serving, lightly dust clean and dried berries of your choice with icing sugar. Place on jelly and add gold leaf if desired. Be careful not to place berries too far in advance as the juices may seep out of the fruit and discolor the jelly. 

    Notes

    * Whole milk can be used to substitute but half and half is preferable to prevent separation into different layers after setting.

    ** Cupcake Prosecco was used in this recipe and it has an alcohol content of 11.5%

    This recipe contains alcohol. Take caution when serving to children, pregnant women, the elderly or those with compromised immune systems. 

    Nutrition Information

    Yield

    16

    Serving Size

    1 grams

    Amount Per Serving Calories 166Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 36mgSodium 30mgCarbohydrates 7gFiber 0gSugar 6gProtein 2g

    This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although indulgewithmimi.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

    Did you make this recipe? Share your results with me 🙂

    Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

    © Mimi
    Cuisine: american / Category: No-Bake Desserts

    Mixed Berry Panna Cotta

    Here is another version you will like. It's a panna cotta topped with a slightly tart mixed berry sauce that is so mouthwatering!

    • A square slice of pumpkin Tres Leches cake rests on a plate with a small pumpkin and a small bowl of spice next to it.
      30 Minute Pumpkin Spice Tres Leches with Cake Mix
    • Mango mousse cake on a serving stand topped with fresh slices of mango.
      Chinese Bakery Mango Mousse Cake
    • Close up of a slice of tres leches cake showing the fluffy yellow crumbs and white whipped cream frosting.
      Easy Tres Leches 3 Milk Cake with Box Mix
    • Side view of a mango cake roll revealing the fresh cream swirl and fresh mango chunks inside.
      Mango Cake Roll with Fresh Cream

    Vegan Gluten-Free Afternoon Tea at Indigo Age Cafe in Downtown Vancouver

    Dec 18, 2017 · Leave a Comment

    Vegan afternoon tea treats served on a clear glass 3-tier tea tray.
    Part 3 of 4 Vancouver events and/or recipes I shared with Deborah Moore on AM1470 on December 26th, 2017

    A Healthy Afternoon Tea

    I recently experienced a truly healthy tea set in Indigo Age Cafe located in Gastown. The cafe itself specializes in vegetarian, organic, raw, vegan, gluten free and diabetic friendly food. Besides afternoon tea, their menu offers a variety of healthy meals, smoothies, kombucha and Ukranian dishes.

    The tea set we had was both vegan and gluten-free which means that there was an absence of wheat, meat and dairy. Normally, the fat in the dairy is what makes a dessert great for me (even more than the sugar) so I was intrigued by how the desserts would turn out. Most of the fat and sugar in the sweet items derived from coconuts and dates respectively. It wasn't really like the high fat desserts I was used to but I appreciated it for what it was. The savouries were a lot more satisfying and afterwards, I felt like I ate a very clean and lean lunch. The healthy selections didn't end with just the food, even the included pot of tea was organic. I believe this may be the only vegan and gluten-free afternoon tea set being offered in Vancouver right now. In addition, usually, at other establishments there are extra charges for the gluten-free option and that is only if they offer it to begin with. Indigo Age Cafe is a must-visit for those who normally would not be able to partake in afternoon tea otherwise.

    Until our next tea date.

    XOXO,

    Mimi

     

    Gluten-free and vegan desserts on the dessert tier starting from left to right: COCONUT CREAM PIE - coconuts, dates; KEY LIME PIE - avocado, coconut, blue agave nectar, spinach, dates, almonds, plant fibre; GANACHE - raw cocao paste and powder, coconut oil, blackcurrant, maple syrup, dates ,almonds, carob powder.

    From left to right: FRESH CUCUMBER with tzatziki sauce and dill; STUFFED TOMATO with raw fermented coconut-almond cheese, cashew sauce and pesto; STUFFED MUSHROOM with guacamole and salsa.

    Sunflower-pumpkin veggie patty with cucumber, fresh greens tomato topped with guacamole.

    Notable Points:

    - One of the healthiest afternoon tea offerings in Vancouver.

    - Vegan afternoon tea with other vegan dishes available on the menu for those on a plant-based diet.

    - Gluten-free afternoon tea offering that doesn't cost extra.

    - Teas are orangic

    - Homely, down-to-earth atmosphere

    Ambience: Cozy little underground enclave that's unpretentious and welcoming. Tree trunk tables adds a nice touch to the natural decor in the room. There are approximately 9 tables that can seat 2-4 people each. Only one small bar table by the window and it is elevated on a platform. It's a small space that may not be well suited for large groups.

    Scones: No scones included in tea set.

    Savoury: There were 6 savouries that were plant-based and gluten free. They were all of a good size. Most were surprisingly delicious and satisfying. The stuffed tomato was my favourite.

    Sweets: There were 3 sweets that were very small in size. They were all gluten-free and diary free which made them less creamy and buttery than usual desserts. I didn't enjoy them very much for that reason but I did appreciate the fact that they were dairy free.

    Tea: 

    An added bonus is the kombucha tea offering, on tap for $4.50. Healthy cold pressed juices and smoothies are also available for an added price.

    Tea Ware: Simple modest tea ware consisting of a 3-tier glass tray and solid coloured ceramic tea pots.

    Alcoholic Beverages: No alcoholic beverage service. See other tea services with alcohol here: Fairmont Vancouver, Trump Hotel, Laduree, Mosquito.

    Service: Friendly and down-to-earth service. Servers checked on us occasionally.

    Other notes:

    ♥ Vegan Gluten-Free Tea Set $34/for one, $65/for two people
    (includes one pot of organic tea)

    6 savouries, 3 sweets

    ♥ Reserve online only: (604) 622-1797

    Served on Mon-Sat from 3-5pm, Sunday at 12pm and 2pm

    ♥ Parking: Limited meter parking available around the area. Closest parking lot is at 535 Richards St. called Easy Park and it also has spaces for EVO Car share cars.  There are 2 spaced for Car2Go share cars on 592 Richards St.

    Mon-Fri 6:00am - 12:00am
    30 MinsC$2.50
    DaytimeC$11.50
    (In after 6am Out by 6pm)
    EveningC$6.50
    (In after 6pm Out by 6am)
    Sat-Sun 6:00am - 12:00am
    24 HoursC$6.50
    (ends at 6am)

    Granville Skytrain Station is a 4 minute walk away.

    ♥ Address: 436 Richards Street Vancouver, BC V6B 2Z4 Canada

    ♥ TEL: (604) 622-1797

    [pt_view id="d749ae79dr"]
    [pt_view id="342f946uh1"]

    Gingerbread House Lane at the Hyatt Hotel Vancouver

    Dec 16, 2017 · Leave a Comment

    Part 2 of 4 Vancouver events and/or recipes I shared with Deborah Moore on AM1470 on December 26th, 2017

    The only gingerbread house that is not edible but makes a great photo op for the whole family.

    After my festive Christmas themed afternoon tea date with my girlfriends at the Fairmont Hotel, I took a 3-minute walk to the Hyatt Hotel to see the Gingerbread Lane Display featuring 30 different gingerbread houses made by various secondary schools, professionals and amateur culinary artists. The displays are situated in the lobby of the hotel and there is a donation box for guests to leave a donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation which helps grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Gingerbread Lane will be displayed from December 1st through the 29th.

    I hope you'll get a chance to see this wonderful display for a great cause.

    XOXO,

    Mimi

    Edible stained glass windows! I also really like the wreath idea with sprinkles.

    Look at that clear blue skating pond!

    This is a very grand replica of the parliament buildings. It's one of the bigger gingerbread displays there.

    A Disney mansion complete with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy.

    Daisy looks so cute! And I almost missed Donald there.

    They even have a car with a Christmas tree strapped on top.

    This house has gone vertical!

    This texture on this cathedral makes it look so realistic.

    [srp post_limit='5' post_random='yes' category_include= 58 widget_title = 'Mimi's favorite afternoon tea places in Vancouver']

    Christmas Themed Afternoon Tea at Notch8 in Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

    Dec 15, 2017 · Leave a Comment

    Part 2 of 4 Vancouver events and/or recipes I shared with Deborah Moore on AM1470 on December 26th, 2017

    The themed tea sets at Fairmont Vancouver was ranked as #1 of Vancouver's Best Holiday Attractions by USA Today.

    A Festive Christmas Tea Date

    It has been an incredibly busy holiday season so far (which year isn't?) filled with baking, gift deliveries to loved ones and Christmas get-togethers. After making 900 cookies for gift giving, I was happy to sit down for a festive tea date with two lovely girlfriends at the Fairmont Hotel. The Notch8 Dining room is one of my favourite places to have tea because the private room is so cozy as it is shielded from the hustle and bustle of the larger dining space outside. You still get the luxury hotel service and amenities but in a more intimate boutique setting.

    #1 of Vancouver's Best Holiday Attractions

    This was my fourth visit to the Fairmont for afternoon tea this year and it's not hard to find a reason to come more often. The hotel offers different themed teas every season like Easter Tea on the Roof, Canada150 Celebration Tea, Evening Tipsy Tea to name a few.  USA Today even ranked the themed tea experience #1 of Vancouver's Best Holiday Attractions. This holiday season, the theme is a traditional Christmas and the room is decorated with pretty lights, stockings, mini Santa clothes and the like. The food veers towards the traditional side and you'll see many classics that incorporates the use of wine soaked fruit and nuts.

    It was another great tea date and my girlfriends really enjoyed my pick too. Wishing you a very festive holiday season as well.

    XOXO,

    Mimi

    Take a small flight of stairs down to the "hidden" Notch8 private dining room where all the themed tea services take place.

    Exclusive tea ware made for the Fairmont hotel. Napkins are folded into the shape of a Christmas tree.

    Lot35 is the new upper tier tea collection from the supplier of Fairmont Hotel teas. There are 8 different tea selections to choose from.

    From left: Pumpkin Spiced Panna Cotta; Ginger Bread Scone and Raisin Scone with currant compote and clotted cream.

     

    LEFT: Rum and Eggnog Speculas Tart; Christmas Cake, Mince Meat Tartlet, Pistachio and Chocolate Battenberg Cake, Florentine Sqaures. TOP RIGHT: Ice Fishing Cured Trout, Smoked Arctic Char Caviar, Bottarga Creme Friache, Chive Blini; Pine Nut Snow Man made with goat cheese on Pomegranate Fig Walnut Crostini. BOTTOM RIGHT: Confit Quail, Spiced Pear, Hazelnut Pie; Chestnuts, Roasted Mushroom, Smoked Ham, Blue Cheese on Pumpernickel Loaf; Truffle, Wild Cranberry, Turkey Sandwich

    The room looks small but it can also accommodate lager parties too.

     

    OTHER NOTES:

    Notable Points:
    - Family friendly traditional Christmas treats that will delight the older generations.
    - Festive and cozy dining area in the private room at Notch8
    - Scones are always a highlight and they have special flavours each season.
    - Alcoholic beverages can be ordered with your tea set.
    - Fairmont themed teas are rated #1 Best Holiday Attractions in Vancouver by USA Today
    - Luxury hotel service in an intimate boutique setting.

    Ambience: Afternoon tea at Notch8 is held in the elegant and dimly-lit private dining room providing an intimate atmosphere for you and your guests to chat and indulge. There are different configurations of tables for various party sizes. All the tables have a good amount of spacing between them. The room layout is also conducive for large parties as well.

    Scones: The scones are always a highlight at the Fairmont and they are offered in different flavours each season. This season, the two flavours are gingerbread and raisin served with a currant compote and clotted cream.

    Savoury: There were two savoury items which really stood out and they were fittingly placed on their own tier. This was the cured trout blini and the pine nut snow man made with goat cheese. I also really enjoyed the confit quail pie which had a crumbly and buttery crust.

    Sweets: The sweets veered on the traditional side with classic Christmas desserts that composed mostly of liqueur soaked fruit, citrus and nuts. Personally, I don't like those flavours but I believe this dessert selection will be much appreciated by older family members who like traditional flavours.

    Tea: Lot35 is the new upper tier tea collection from the supplier of Fairmont Hotel teas. There are 8 different tea selections to choose from.

    3 black, 1 green, 2 fruit and 2 herbal

    I always have cream with tea so I chose the Imperial Breakfast tea blend. It was soft and approachable for a black tea and tasted divine with the scones.

    Tea Ware: Exclusive to the Fairmont teaware that is adorned with a single crown and flower motifs. Most of the savouries and sweets were brought out on traditional 3-tiered trays in white.

    Service: Attentive and knowledgeable service. We were constantly checked on and the our server made sure that there were substitutions provided for certain items on the menu for one of my dining companions who was pregnant.

    Other notes:

    ♥ Runs from November 29th - January 2nd (excluding Dec. 24. 25 & 31)
    Daily sittings, 11am, 1pm & 3pm

    Adults $65 (includes one pot of tea); Children $32.5 (ages 12 and under)
    (not inclusive of tax & gratuities)

    ♥ The website is a bit of a maze. Here's the direct link to the afternoon tea section which can be reserved online.

    ♥ Parking: No street parking directly outside the Hotel but available down the street on Hornby where there is also a pay parkade. There are over 20 parking spots reserved for Car2Go on the rooftop parkade at 777 Hornby which is right next to the hotel. Closest Skytrain station is Vancouver City Centre (on the Canada Line) which is 2 blocks away from the hotel.

    ♥ Address: 900 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6C 2W6

    ♥ TEL + 1 604 684 3131

    ♥ Contact: [email protected]

    [pt_view id="d749ae79dr"]
    [pt_view id="342f946uh1"]

    Baby Pooh Bear Macarons with Batman Halloween Costumes (Template)

    Oct 22, 2017 · 8 Comments

    bat macarons with big black wings on a white counter.

     

    Baby Pooh Bear Macarons All Dressed Up For Halloween

    What will you be for Halloween this year? Everyone says that it's the one day of the year when you can be whatever you want... so I'm not sure why in prior years I decided to be a panther, a bumble bee or even a Playboy bunny along with other questionable costume choices LOL. If you were to ask me now if there was one thing I'd like to be, I'd say something that didn't involve cheesy costumes. Perhaps being invisible for a day would be nice so I could see for myself how interesting (or uninteresting) the secret lives of other people are. Well, since that's probably not going to happen anytime soon, I thought I'd leave the cheesy costume wearing to my little baby pooh bears here.

    2 Different Methods to Dress Them Up

    There are two different ways to dress these bear macarons up. One is the more complicated method of piping the bear body and wings completely from macaron batter. In this case, you'd want to wait for each section of the body to develop a thin skin before you start piping another section so that they don't run into each other. Start with the head, then ears, legs, wings and snout. Watch the video I provided below to see the order in which I pipe each section and here's a separate tutorial for macaron art: Piping Bear Macarons.

    The second method would be to pipe the bear heads only and then create the wings from gum paste that's been colored black. Once it's dried, use black royal icing to outline the wing to give it some more depth and dimension. I decided to use gum paste instead of fondant since it dries much harder and doesn't droop once it's assembled. You'll have to remind your guests to discard the wings and head piece before eating since it's very hard. Once the wings have dried, put a dollop of filling on the bottom shell and then place the wings gently on top. Pipe a little more filling on top of the wings so it acts as an adhesive when the top shell is assembled.

    Thank You! & Silpat Giveaway

    I'm doing another Silpat giveaway to thank you all for being such wonderful and loyal readers. I'm very humbled each time to receive such nice comments from you and I also wanted to give a special shoutout to all my newsletter subscribers too. Since this giveaway is just for you, all you have to do is let me know you want to be included on my recent Instagram post and that's it! The winner will be chosen by random on November 6th. You must also be a resident of Canada or the USA.

    Take a look at the video before you start the project and I hope you have a safe and happy Halloween!

    XOXO,

    Mimi

     

    Mimi's Best Macaron Recipe

    OPTION #1 - bear body only + gumpaste wings

    Makes 15 bears
    Use templates provided at the bottom of this post.

    • 98 grams almond flour
    • 98 grams icing sugar
    • 75 grams egg whites
    • 68 grams
    • a small drop of yellow food gel colour (Americolor's Gold was used here)
    • ready to use gum paste (product link below)
    • black royal icing to outline the wings
    • pink shimmer dust for cheeks

    OPTION #2 - bear body + macaron batter wings

    Makes 12 bears
    Use templates provided at the bottom of this post.

    • 130 grams almond flour
    • 130 grams icing sugar
    • 100 grams egg whites
    • 90 grams castor sugar/granulated sugar
    • a small drop of yellow food gel colour (Americolor's Gold was used here)
    • pink shimmer dust for cheeks

    Use the quantities above and follow the method below to make the macaron batter:

     

    Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Macaron Filling Recipe

    Here's a Fall-inspired macaron filling you might want to try to use for your filling: Pumpkin spice macaron filling. 

     

     

     

     

    Free macaron templates for this project:

    Available for download for Newsletter Subscribers. Just sign up for the newsletter and wait for the double opt-in confirmation email. Confirm your subscription and you’ll be sent the password to the member’s only area. 

    There are two ways to make this character. You can either pipe out the whole character with batter or pipe the bear heads only. If piping only the heads with batter, cut out the single bat wing template and trace it onto the gumpaste.

     

     

    BONUS PIGGY UNICORN MACARON TEMPLATE

     

     

    • Strawberry mousse cake on a plate with some fresh strawberries in a bowl in the back.
      Easy Strawberry Mousse Cake - 2 Hours Active Time
    • A slice is cut out of a golden brown Japanese gingerbread cheesecake.
      Soufflé Gingerbread Japanese Cheesecake
    • Side profile of Japanese cheesecake showing its smooth outer edge and part of it's golden top.
      Cotton Japanese Cheesecake without Cracks
    • Many mini pumpkin cupcakes decorated with buttercream to look like pumpkin leaves on a round plate.
      3D Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes without a Mold

    How to Make a Cute Macaron Box for Your Character Macarons (Template)

    Oct 15, 2017 · 7 Comments

    process shots making homemade macaron gift boxes.

    Forever Searching for Cute Macaron Boxes

    I have been searching for years to find a suitable box for my character macarons. It's only in the last little while that macaron boxes for regular round macarons have been easily accessible to the general public while there still seems to be a complete absence of boxes made specially for character macarons. Such a box should ideally be shallow since the best way to show off their sweet faces is when they are shown face up instead of on its side. And, of course, the box needs to have a clear top in order for the gift recipient to take a peek and be absolutely blown away by the cute mac babies inside the box 🙂 Ok, I might be exaggerating a little but you get the point. And if you are thinking of making character macarons, here's a great tutorial to start with. Rikuma Bear Macarons using All-Batter Technique.

    This is one of my favorite projects so far and I hope it makes your baking life just a bit easier too.

    XOXO,
    Mimi

    Supplies for Homemade Gift Boxes

    Now back to making these boxes. Take a look at the short video showing you how I did it and you'll also need all the supplies listed below:

    • 2 colorful round plates of your choice (Plate size in video is 7inches, purchased at the Dollar Store for $1.50 for 8 pcs)
    • Piece of ribbon (Ribbon length in video is 30 inches which allows for tying a small ribbon on the bottom.)
    • Food-safe acetate film. Here's a link to a manufacturer who sells it (affiliate link):  Baking Acetate Roll - Transparent Membrane ACETATE SHEET. If you can't get access to it, you can also use clear overlay film like this one found at Michaels  - direct product link. Just make sure that your box has enough height clearance so that the film doesn't directly touch your macarons.)
    • Round object a bit smaller than your plate.
    • Flower shaped hole puncher. (The one used in video is Daisy 1 inches/2.54 centimeter from Recollections at Michaels.)
    • Foam adhesive mini circles for creating 3D flower effect. These double sided "foam tape" adds dimension to your projects. (Purchased at Michaels - direct product link)
    • Reinforcement labels. Take the small center dot and use it as the pistil for the flower.
    • Glue gun
    • X-acto knife
    • Scissors
    • Tape
    • Hole punches
    • Foam cutting board

    Bunny Macaron Templates

    Available for download for Newsletter Subscribers. Just sign up for the newsletter and wait for the double opt-in confirmation email. Confirm your subscription and you’ll be sent the password to the member’s only area. 

    [pt_view id="f56aea0p7b"]

    Game On Afternoon Tea & Tipsy Tea at Notch8 in Fairmont Vancouver

    Oct 9, 2017 · Leave a Comment

    Themed afternoon tea set featuring treats that look like board game pieces.

    Game On!

    Being social is one of the fundamental aspects of an afternoon tea outing so besides just drinking tea, eating sweets and catching up on a little bit of gossip, there is another activity you can now add to that list: table games. For the month of October, Notch8 in the Fairmont Vancouver will serve a games-themed afternoon tea set that comes complete with treats that are reminiscent of game pieces from various beloved board games. The aptly named Game On tea set will be served in a unique bookshelf display unseen elsewhere in Vancouver. And of course, the experience won't be complete unless there are actually games being played; the restaurant also offers various table games and trivia cards which you are welcome to play at the table with your partner. How fun is that!

    Game On tea spread. Photo courtesy of Fairmont Vancouver.

    Game Step - How it Works

    1. Set it up

    Select Lot35 loose leaf tea. Lot35 is the new upper tier tea collection from the supplier of Fairmont Hotel teas. There are 8 different tea choices to choose from. I had the Creamy Earl Grey which has a smooth body and creamy flavour containing cornflower petals. And, obviously, it pairs very well with cream!

    This season, Fairmont's signature scones are offered in two flavours: chocolate chip and Apple Cinnamon served with a tangy cream cheese infused clotted cream and berry compote.

    2. Play

    Select a tea-infused cocktail (4 different choices) or wine/bubbly. Mocktail selections are available too.

    In front: new mocktail selection. In back: MISS SCARLET Tanqueray Ten Gin, Rosebud Tea, Simple Syrup, Lemon Juice, Raspberry Jam, Egg White. There are four different cocktails, 2 white wines, 2 red wines or 2 sparkling wines to choose from.

    3. Game Pawns

    Partake in scones, 4 savouries and 6 sweets. This season, Fairmont's signature scones are offered in two flavours: chocolate chip and Apple Cinnamon served with a tangy cream cheese infused clotted cream and berry compote. The scones are always a big highlight for me at the Fairmont. There are only a few places in Vancouver that perfectly executes this traditional tea time item.

     

    Unique bookcase display for the Games On afternoon tea set at Fairmont Vancouver.

    Game On Tea Menu

    Top left: Checkmate Battenberg Cake - sacher torte and lemon madeleine wrapped in almond paste, chocolate chess piece, red velvet macaron with cream cheese icing. Top right: Chess-nut Tart - candied chestnut, duck confit, Chanterelle mushrooms, duck prosciutto, wild berry. Bottom right: Game of L.I.F.E Sandwich - Italian sausage and fig mostarda. Bottom left: King Me - smoked salmon, caviar, herb cream cheese and baby dill.

     

    Games Night Tipsy Tea for October 2017 & Afternoon Only Slots in November

    The Game On tea set will be available from September 20 - November 26, 2017 on Wednesdays to Sundays with sittings at 11AM, 1PM & 3PM. During the month of October only, in addition to the afternoon slots, there will also be an evening sitting which is referred to as "Games Night Tipsy Tea". Tipsy tea is a London-inspired interpretation of tea time which includes serving tea sets in the evening with some alcoholic beverages. The Games Night Tipsy Tea Set includes two alcoholic beverages along with the same treats found in the Game On tea set. Guests are encouraged to stay as long as they like (until 1pm) so you can make a complete night of your experience. Ever since I experienced this evening version of tea last year, I knew it would be a real winner and I'm happy that the Fairmont has brought it back. This year, the sitting times are only on every Friday in October so make sure you plan ahead since you definitely don't want to miss this!

    XOXO,

    Mimi

     

    NOTES:

    Game On Afternoon Tea runs from September 20th – November 26th, 2017, with sittings Wednesdays – Sundays at 11AM, 1PM & 3PM. Adults $59, Children $29.5 (ages 12 & under).

    Game Night Tipsy Tea runs Friday evenings from October 6th – November 17th, 2017, at 7PM. $75 per
    person. Tipsy Tea includes a tea tier of mouthwatering fare, LOT35 Tea, and two cocktails per person. Guests must be 19+ years of age.

    Options catering to guests with specific diet-dependent conditions such as gluten-free, as well as dietary preferences like vegetarian and vegan diets are available with advance notice at time of booking.

    Clockwise from front: Raspberry heart shortbread card with icing sugar; smoked salmon, caviar blini (Russian pancake); Go Fish - Ahi tuna, poached egg, anchovy olive tapenade sandwich; Checkmate Cake - lemon madeleine wrapped in almond paste, Double Domino lemon tart.

     

    Disclosure: I was invited to preview the new afternoon tea set. All drinks and food were complimentary. All opinions are my own.

    [pt_view id="d749ae79dr"]
    [pt_view id="342f946uh1"]

    Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Macarons

    Oct 7, 2017 · 6 Comments

    Pumpkin spice macarons on a heart shaped plate with pumpkin

    Pumpkin spice cheesecake macarons with extra flavorful shells infused with holiday spices. Filled with a ring of smooth pumpkin cheesecake buttercream and a dollop of pumpkin spice curd - a classic fall flavor re-imagined in macaron form.

    Pumpkin spice cheesecake macarons stacked on a plate.

    Table of contents

    • How to Make a Sturdy Pumpkin Cheesecake Macaron Filling
    • Ingredients & Substitutions
    • How to Fix a Curdled Cream Cheese Frosting
    • Pumpkin Macaron Template

    This year I was actually inspired to get on this Fall bandwagon a bit early. Maybe it’s that ever impatient push in our commercialized world to have Halloween themed products out on the shelves before summer BBQ equipment is even put away that had me thinking about pumpkin spice since late August.

    Tip: almond flour can be made by grinding blanched almonds together with the powdered sugar in the recipe. See paragraph below on how. Even when using ready-made almond flour, it can be ground to a finer texture (than what is shown in the photo above) for a smoother macaron shell.
    Pumpkin spice cheesecake macarons on a heart shaped plate.

    How to Make a Sturdy Pumpkin Cheesecake Macaron Filling

    I decided early that this year’s fall project would be a recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Macaron. Sure, there were a few other recipes out there already with variations of pumpkin, spice and or cheesecake but I wanted to create one that didn’t involve mixing cream cheese with powdered sugar (too sweet).

    For this recipe, I've infused the shells with pumpkin spice to give it that extra flavor. Then I followed up with a cheesecake filling with a meringue buttercream instead of American buttercream which contains powdered sugar. A ring of this cheesecake frosting is piped on the outside to create a dam and the inside is filled with a dollop of pumpkin spice curd. This combo is structurally sturdy and tastes delicious!

    Open faced pumpkin cheesecake macarons waiting to be assembled.

    Ingredients & Substitutions

    • Almond flour - I prefer to make my own almond flour via this tutorial but many bakers have used this brand successfully.
    • Icing sugar  - also referred to as powdered sugar by some. Note: icing sugar in North America usually contains corn starch as an anti-caking agent.
    • Aged egg whites for the macaron shells - measure it before aging.
    • Castor sugar - Castor sugar is an extra fine granulated sugar also known as berry sugar. Castor sugar is easily dissolved, making it preferable for meringues. It can be substituted with granulated sugar.
    • Ground Cinnamon - Try to get cinnamon and at least one other of the spices, then substitute the remaining missing spices with what you have. Use a mixture for a more multi-dimensional flavor.
    • Ground Nutmeg
    • Ground ginger
    • Ground Cloves 
    • Cream of tartar – its used to stabilize the meringue and usually found by the spices in the baking aisle. It can be substituted with lemon juice or vinegar in double the amount. Or left out completely if you cannot find it.
    • Cream cheese - use block cream cheese as the tub versions are too soft for this filling.
    • Egg whites for the buttercream - make sure this is separated carefully in a clean bowl, taking care not to get any yolks inside. It's hard to whip up egg whites that are compromised with fat or oils.
    • Granulated sugar
    • Butter - it should be at room temperature. It will clump up and not incorporate into the meringue if it's too cold.
    • 100% pumpkin puree - a simple can of store- bought pumpkin puree was used in this recipe. There's a lot of discussion that the pumpkin puree found in canned pumpkins isn't really pumpkins but different types of squash. This is because of the looser restrictions allowed on labelling this product, read more here. If you're a stickler for using real pumpkins, try making your own.
    • 1 egg for the puree
    • Butter - for the puree

    How to Fix a Curdled Cream Cheese Frosting


    One of the challenges of working with cream cheese is that it can separate if over beaten. You’ll see that the mixture will become curdled, sweaty and very lumpy. One of the extra steps taken to combat this is to cream and soften the cream cheese ahead of time so that it can be easily incorporated into the buttercream without the need for much more beating.

    Now let's just say, despite all your best efforts to prevent the cream cheese frosting from separating, it does. You'll see that the mixture will become broken, sweaty and lumpy. Normally, a broken looking buttercream can usually come back together after beating some more. With the addition of the cream cheese, this doesn't happen. The water separates from the cream cheese and the more you beat it, the worse it gets. Don't throw the mixture away in frustration. I know, it will look so ugly that you might be tempted to.

    To fix it, boil a pot of water and once it comes to a boil, hold the mixture (in a heat-proof boil) over the boiling water and let it heat up. Stir it gently to keep it moving. Once it has melted to an almost smooth consistency, immediately remove it off the heat. Let it cool to room temperature. ( I like to put it in the fridge for a few minutes to speed it up.) Beat it on low speed with the paddle attachment on a stand mixer. Now watch as it slowly and miraculously turns from a runny mixture into a thick and fluffy cream cheese frosting!

    A stack of pumpkin spice cheesecake macarons in front of a pumpkin.

    I hope you enjoyed reading a little bit of the thought and journey that went into creating this recipe. Recipe development for me takes days and multiple test batches because I like to work from scratch, I'm always excited to share the end result with all of you. Print out this recipe, try your hand at it and let me know how it goes.

    Thanks so much for reading. If you need another idea for Fall, try my super fluffy Japanese Carrot Spice Cake Roll, Asian Style Pumpkin Cake Roll or 3D Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes. Oh, I've also included a special pumpkin macaron template for you all to download too. See below.

    XOXO,
    Mimi

    Pumpkin spice cheesecake macarons close up of side profile.

    Pumpkin Macaron Template

    Available for download for Newsletter Subscribers. Just sign up for the newsletter and wait for the double opt-in confirmation email. Confirm your subscription and you’ll be sent the password to the member’s only area.

    Pumpkin macaron template.
    Sign up for my newsletter and receive the password for the Member's Only Area.
    Scattering of pumpkin spice cheesecake macarons.

    Recipe

    Yield: 24 macarons

    Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Macarons

    Pumpkin spice macarons on a heart shaped plate with pumpkin

    Pumpkin spice cheesecake macarons with spice infused shells that make it extra flavorful. In the middle is a smooth pumpkin cheesecake filling - a classic fall flavor re-imagined in macaron form.

    Prep Time 1 hour 18 minutes
    Cook Time 12 minutes
    Rest Time 30 minutes
    Total Time 2 hours

    Ingredients

    Pumpkin Spice Macaron Shells

    • 130 grams almond flour
    • 130 grams icing sugar
    • 100 grams egg whites
    • 90 grams castor sugar* see note
    • 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
    • ½ teaspoon ground ginger (powder)
    • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
    • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

    Cheesecake Frosting

    • 40 grams cream cheese* see note
    • 65 grams egg whites
    • 130 grams granulated sugar
    • 195 grams butter at room temperature

    Pumpkin Spice Filling

    • ½ cup 100% pumpkin puree* see note
    • 1 egg
    • 50 grams granulated sugar
    • 45 grams butter
    • ½ tsp. grated ginger root
    • ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
    • ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
    • ⅛ tsp. ground cloves

    Instructions

    1. Pumpkin Spice Macaron Shells

      1. Print out the big macaron template provided in post.
      2. Set aged egg whites out at room temperature.
      3. Pulse spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves) with the almond flour and icing sugar together in a food processor.
      4. Sift dry ingredients. Discard big pieces of almond that can't be sifted.
      5. IF YOU ARE NEW TO MAKING MACARONS, please read the instructions to my BEST MACARON RECIPE before attempting to follow the rest of the instructions since it is condensed for the advanced macaron baker
      6. With the balloon whisk attached, whip the room temperature egg whites on low-medium speed.
      7. Add cream of tartar when it becomes foamy.
      8. Turn up the speed to medium.
      9. Once the whisk starts to leave tracks in the egg whites, add sugar a little at a time.
      10. Turn the speed up to medium-high and whip until firm peaks, stop mixer and
        add gel food color if desired. Continue whipping on medium-high until
        stiff peaks.
      11. Fold the dry mix and meringue together until the batter becomes a "lava" or honey-like consistency.
      12. Transfer batter into a piping bag fitted with a #6 round piping tip.
      13. On parchment paper or silicone mats, pipe the big macaron cake shape. 
      14. Rap the tray hard on the counter to remove any excess air bubbles. Use a toothpick to pop any remaining bubbles. 
      15. Wait until the shells become completely dry before baking. Depending on the humidity, this can be between 30 min. to an hour.
      16. Bake at 325F for 25-35 minutes. Every oven is different, you may need to adjust your own temperature settings. Please read How to Use Your Home Oven Properly for Baking Macarons if you are unsure.
      17. Macarons are done when the foot doesn't push back and the tops don't move when you wiggle it. 
      18. Once baked, let cool completely before removing from the baking mat/parchment paper.
      Instructions for Cheesecake Frosting
      1. Set butter and cream cheese out at room temperature. 

      2. Beat the softened cream cheese until creamy. Do NOT over beat since it can cause the water to separate out from the cheese. 

      3. Bring a small pot of water to a boil.

      4. Place egg whites and sugar into a heat proof bowl. Stainless steel is light and safe.

      5. Whisk the whites & sugar mix over the boiling water.

      6. Pay attention to whisking the mixture when it starts getting hot, you don’t want to cook the eggs.

      7. Whisk the mixture until the temperature reaches 160F. This temperature is generally accepted to be able to kill salmonella in eggs.

      8. Pour the mixture into the Kitchenaid mixer and whisk on low with the balloon whisk, then turn it up to medium.

      9. Once the mixture is stiff and the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch, stop mixer. Change the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment.

      10. Add the room temperature butter a little bit at a time while beating with the paddle attachment at medium speed.

      11. The mixture might look curdled or separated for a while but keep mixing. It will all come together.

      12. Keep 100 grams of the buttercream for use in our current recipe. Freeze the rest of the buttercream for use at a later date. 

      13. Add the softened cream cheese into the buttercream and beat until incorporated. It should look very smooth and creamy. Do NOT over beat. Once the water comes out of the cream cheese, the mixture will curdle. If this happens, see how to fix it in the introduction to this post. 

      Instructions for Pumpkin Spice Filling
      1. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. 

      2. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger root and mix until incorporated. 

      3. Add egg and mix until incorporated. 

      4. On the slowest speed, mix in the pumpkin puree until incorporated. 

      5. Pour mixture into a pot and cook it on med. heat until it reaches 180F. 

      6. Take off the heat and drain the excess liquid out with a strainer. Let
        mixture sit on the strainer until all the liquid is drained out. 

      7. Place in the fridge for a minimum of five hours or overnight. 

      8. Pipe a ring of cream cheese frosting on the macaron shell and fill the center with a dallop of pumpkin spice filling. 

      9. Assemble the shells together, wait at least 12 hours and enjoy!

    Notes

    1. Castor sugar is an extra fine granulated sugar also known as berry sugar. It can be substituted with granulated sugar.

    2. 100% pumpkin puree from a can was used in this recipe

    3. Use block cream cheese, not the type that comes in a tub.

    4. If cream cheese is over beaten, the water will start to separate from it. Read the introduction in this post to learn how to fix it.

    5. This is a higher moisture filling so it's best to consume it within 12-36 hours.

    Recommended Products

    As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    • McCormick Gourmet All Natural Cream Of Tartar, 2.62 oz
      McCormick Gourmet All Natural Cream Of Tartar, 2.62 oz
    • McCormick Ground Cloves, 0.9 oz Shaker
      McCormick Ground Cloves, 0.9 oz Shaker
    • Simply Organic Nutmeg Ground CERTIFIED ORGANIC 2.3oz. bottle
      Simply Organic Nutmeg Ground CERTIFIED ORGANIC 2.3oz. bottle
    • McCormick Ground Cinnamon, 7.12 oz
      McCormick Ground Cinnamon, 7.12 oz
    • McCormick Ground Ginger, 1.5 oz
      McCormick Ground Ginger, 1.5 oz
    • Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Gluten Free Almond Flour, 3 Pound
      Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Gluten Free Almond Flour, 3 Pound
    • Cuisinart CTG-00-3MS Set of 3 Fine Mesh Stainless Steel Strainers
      Cuisinart CTG-00-3MS Set of 3 Fine Mesh Stainless Steel Strainers
    • Toaster Oven Size Silpat Non-stick Silicone Baking Mat
      Toaster Oven Size Silpat Non-stick Silicone Baking Mat
    • Regular Sized Silpat  Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat
      Regular Sized Silpat Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat
    • Food Processor for Almond Flour
      Food Processor for Almond Flour
    • Heavy Duty Rimless Baking Pan for Macarons
      Heavy Duty Rimless Baking Pan for Macarons

    Nutrition Information

    Yield

    24

    Serving Size

    1

    Amount Per Serving Calories 183Total Fat 12gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 5gCholesterol 31mgSodium 85mgCarbohydrates 19gFiber 1gSugar 17gProtein 2g

    This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although indulgewithmimi.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

    Did you make this recipe? Share your results with me 🙂

    Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

    © Mimi
    Cuisine: french / Category: Macarons
    • bat macarons with big black wings on a white counter.
      Baby Pooh Bear Macarons with Batman Halloween Costumes (Template)
    • Many mini pumpkin cupcakes decorated with buttercream to look like pumpkin leaves on a round plate.
      3D Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes without a Mold
    • Carrot cake roll on a wooden cutting board flanked by fondant carrots.
      Japanese Carrot Cake Roll with Stabilized Mascarpone Cream
    • A stack of 3 gingerbread spice macarons on an agate plate.
      Easy Gingerbread Macarons with Chocolate Spice Filling

    My Night at My Shanti for a 5 Course Northern Divine Sturgeon Dinner

    Oct 4, 2017 · Leave a Comment

    Since I do 99.9% of the grocery shopping in my home (the other .01% is when hubby runs out to get himself ice cream), I have the responsibility of picking out produce that is both healthy and delicious so organic produce is a big part of our diet. To consumers, the organic food movement is a somewhat easy sell since the end user can easily comprehend the benefits it brings to their own lives but with the earth’s precious resources under rising threat, it’s become increasingly important to think about the ramifications of how and where we obtain our food.

    Sustainable, Organic, Local

    The harvesting of sustainable food requires that we replenish the same resources that we take away so that there is supply for incoming generations. And doing all of this locally adds to these efforts since resources used for transportation and packaging are reduced. Having said that, it’s not always easy to buy such foods (sustainable, organic and local) since companies need to adopt new harvesting practices at the expense of their bottom line. Doing the right thing is not always easy but its good to find perfect examples of these organizations in my own backyard.

    Northern Divine is a local fish farm based on the Sunshine Coastt which produces organic sustainable sturgeons certified by the Ocean Wise program. These fish are grown to a size of several hundred pounds and in the Fraser River waters they take about 11 years to mature and start producing caviar. It's a long term investment in the region and Northern Divine has several thousand of these fish, at one time, all in different stages of their life cycle.

    Sturgeon is Not Just For Caviar

    Although the sturgeon is most notably known for producing some of the best caviar in the world, it turns out that it is also a very delicious tasting fish on its own. I had a chance to experience this for myself last night when I was invited to a 5 course dinner featuring Northern Divine’s sturgeon, prepared by Chef Robert Clark and the legendary Chef Vikram Vij’s at the latter's restaurant, My Shanti, in South Surrey.

    Chef Vij and Chef Clark cleverly incorporated a different part of the sturgeon in every course so nothing goes to waste. We had a few sturgeon steaks in the classic filet style but more interestingly - the sturgeon fin soup and sturgeon liver pate. I loved how the fish is boneless, non-fishy and had a firm texture, without which causes kids to dislike fish. Come to think of it, its actually a very family-friendly fish.

    And if I’ve got you a little bit curious about sturgeon, you can also try your hand at it at home. It can be found at Choices market in the lower mainland and here are some sturgeon recipes you can follow.

     

    Sturgeon fin soup with coconut and fish pakoras and caviar by Chef Vikram Vij. Paired with Trading Post's Vikram's Weissen Beer.

    Sturgeon steaks 3 ways. Left:) Grilled marinated sturgeon, pickled vegetables, Vietnamese Salad by Chef Robert Clark paired with Kettle Valley Riesling. Center:) Maple smoked sturgeon, buttered spinach, horseradish mousseline by Chef Clark paired with Gray Monk Pinot Auxerois. Right:) Sturgeon steak with Fenugreek curry with torched spices by Chef Vij paired with Meyer Pinot Noir.

    .

    Go Local

    Lastly, I'd like to impart that this dinner experience had a big impact on me. Besides the amazing sturgeon dishes and the well thought out beer and wine pairings, the night highlighted the amazing things that a group of committed citizens can achieve together when they help each other succeed. It was inspiring listening to Chef Vij talk passionately about his partnerships with local breweries, wineries and bakeries to create new products and bring new dishes to his restaurants, thereby, supporting the local economy and it's people. Some of those collaborations came in the form of a specially formulated beer with Trading Post Brewery - a beer that comes in a small and stylish apothecary jar because as he muses "it's always nice to hold onto a bottle of beer", and chocolate cake by Langley's Tracey Cakes paired with sturgeon caviar. Meeting the people behind the sustainable Northern Divine fish farm, the owners of local wineries, breweries and bakeries, you can see how much people thrive when they are supported by their local community. You can never go wrong when you go local.

    Until our next outing.

    XOXO,

    Mimi

    Chef Vij gave a heartfelt closing speech about supporting the local economy and what is means to be a Canadian in our multi-cultural society.

    Disclosure: I was invited to attend this dinner event. All drinks and food were complimentary. All opinions are my own.

    Dainty Lavender Lemon Macarons

    Sep 26, 2017 · 11 Comments

    Lemon Lavender Macaron Recipe with lavender infused shells and a sturdy macaron-friendly lemon curd. Naturally flavored and so mouthwatering!

    Dinner Party Macarons

    When I was on Deborah Moore's radio show last time, I told you about our private dinner experience prepared by Chef Travis Petersen and showed you the macarons I made for the event. I promised a recipe as well so I'm finally sharing it with you all tomorrow morning on the show along with some of the other activities I've been up to: Cooking a Gourmet Meal at the Dirty Apron and Tea at the new Avery Tea House.

    In case you didn't read about our private dinner party experience last time, here are some photos:

    Our ladies' floral themed night. Our host decorated her place with fresh flowers and a faux flower wall made from tissue paper. Click to see more pictures from the night.
    Building on the floral theme, I decorated these lemon lavender macarons with some lavender colored flowers made with gumpaste. For this 3D flower shape, I used gumpaste instead of fondant so it can retain it's shape. The pistol is a white dragee and I also brushed some gold shimmer dust on the shell to give it a subtle shine.

    3 Part Recipe

    This recipe consists of three parts:

    1.  Lavender infused shells: For this, you'll need to pulse three teaspoon of lavender buds along with the almond flour and icing sugar then use my Best Macaron Recipe to finish making the shells. This is a great way to add additional flavoring to the shells without compromising it's structure.
    2. Lavender white chocolate "ganache": We'll be adding food grade lavender oil to the white chocolate ganache which we then pipe into a circle creating a dam. Then we fill the center with a dollop of lemon curd
    3. Lemon Curd.

    A Strong and Sturdy Lemon Curd

    A very important element of this recipe is the strong and sturdy macaron-friendly lemon curd. Most macarons containing lemon curd tends to be wet and soggy since lemon curd is a high-moisture filling. Today, we'll be making one that is strong and sturdy and it keeps well in a macaron for a few days.

    This recipe is multi-part but I think the results are worth the effort since the flavours really shine through. Any recipe with flavour infused into the macaron shell is going to be very flavourful and I hope you get a chance to try it.

    XOXO,
    Mimi

    Recipe

    Yield: 45 macarons

    Lemon Lavender Macaron Filling

    Lemon Lavender Macaron Filling
    Prep Time 2 hours
    Cook Time 30 minutes
    Rest Time 30 minutes
    Total Time 3 hours

    Ingredients

    Lavender Macaron Shells

    • 3 teaspoon finely pulsed lavender
    • 245 grams almond flour
    • 245 grams icing sugar
    • 185 grams egg whites, aged, room temperature
    • 165 grams castor sugar (Note 1)
    • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar

    Lavender White Chocolate "Ganache"

    • 50 grams heavy cream
    • 150 grams couverture white chocolate (not chocolate chips)
    • few drops of food grade lavender oil

    Sturdy Macaron-Perfect Lemon Curd

    • zest of two organic lemons
    • 76 grams organic lemon juice
    • 2 eggs
    • 50 grams butter
    • 180 grams granulated sugar

    Instructions

    Lavender Macaron Shells

    1. Set aged egg whites out at room temperature.
    2. Pulse almond flour, icing sugar and lavender buds together in a food processor to further break down any large pieces of almond flour and lavender.
    3. Sift dry ingredients: almond flour, icing sugar & lavender. Discard big pieces of almond and lavender that can't be sifted
    4. If you are new to macaron baking, please read the instructions to my BEST MACARON RECIPE before attempting to follow the rest of the instructions since it is condensed for the advanced macaron baker.
    5. With the balloon whisk attached, whip the room temperature egg whites on low-medium speed.
    6. Add cream of tartar when it becomes foamy.
    7. Turn up the speed to medium.
    8. Once the whisk starts to leave tracks in the egg whites, add sugar a little at a time.
    9. Turn the speed up to medium-high and whip until firm peaks, stop mixer and add gel food color if desired. Continue whipping on medium-high until stiff peaks.
    10. Fold the dry mix and meringue together until the batter becomes a "lava" or honey-like consistency.
    11. Transfer batter into a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip.
    12. On parchment paper or silicone mats, pipe out round shaped macarons. 
    13. Rap the tray hard on the counter to remove any excess air bubbles. Use a toothpick to pop any remaining bubbles. 
    14. Wait until the shells become completely dry before baking. 
    15. Bake at 325F for 12-14 minutes. Every oven is different, you may need to adjust your own temperature settings. Please read How to Use Your Home Oven Properly for Baking Macarons if you are unsure.
    16. Macarons are done when the foot doesn't push back and the tops don't move when you wiggle it. 
    17. Once baked, let cool completely before removing from the baking mat/parchment paper.

    Instructions for Lavender White Chocolate "Ganache"

    1. Chop up couverture chocolate into small pieces. 
    2. In a pot, heat cream on medium heat until just before boiling. 
    3. Take cream off heat immediately once you see steam and a few bubbles along the edge. 
    4. Pour cream onto chocolate. Wait one minute. 
    5. Stir the  mixture until incorporated. 
    6. Add a few drops of food grade lavender extract to the mixture to your taste and stir until fully incorporated. Add only one to two drops at a time since you don't want it to end up tasting like soap!
    7. Put into fridge to firm up a bit before placing in pastry bag. 

    Instructions for Sturdy Macaron-Perfect Lemon Curd

    1. Zest the organic lemon, set aside.
    2. In a heatproof glass bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Do not use metal bowls as it will react to the acidity in the lemon juice. 
    3. Add egg and beat until incorporated.
    4. Add lemon juice and beat until incorporated.
    5. Place over a pot of boiling water. Do not let the bottom touch the water.  
    6. Whisk gently to keep the mixture moving as it heats up. 
    7. Occasionally, check the temperature of the mixture. You should see the curd thicken up and it will coat the back of your spoon. Allow the mixture to reach 180-185F. It might take a while (10-15 min), so be patient. 
    8. Take the mixture off the heat, add the lemon zest into the hot mixture to release the oils and mix until combined. 
    9. Pour through a sieve into another bowl for a smooth curd. 
    10. Let it cool down then place in the fridge. It will set up into an even firmer and thicker curd after you've chilled it in the fridge. 


    Assembly

    1. Pair two similar sized shells together.
    2. Pipe a ring of lavender ganache onto the macaron shell then fill the center with a dallop of lemon curd. 
    3. Assemble the macaron shells together. Place in fridge for 24 hours so it can mature before eating. Enjoy!

    Notes

    1. Castor sugar is also known as extra fine granulated sugar or berry sugar. Granulated sugar can be used by castor sugar is preferable.

    Recommended Products

    As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    • Round Piping Tip #10
      Round Piping Tip #10
    • Ateco Disposable Piping Bags, 12-Inch, Pack of 100
      Ateco Disposable Piping Bags, 12-Inch, Pack of 100
    • Ateco Disposable Piping Bags, 12-Inch, Pack of 100
      Ateco Disposable Piping Bags, 12-Inch, Pack of 100
    • Braun 4-in-1 Immersion Hand Blender, Powerful 350W Stainless Steel Stick Blender, Multi-Speed + 2-Cup Food Processor, Whisk, Beaker, Masher, Easy to Clean, Black, MultiQuick MQ537BK
      Braun 4-in-1 Immersion Hand Blender, Powerful 350W Stainless Steel Stick Blender, Multi-Speed + 2-Cup Food Processor, Whisk, Beaker, Masher, Easy to Clean, Black, MultiQuick MQ537BK
    • USA Pan Rimless Baking Sheet for Better Airflow to Macaron Shells
      USA Pan Rimless Baking Sheet for Better Airflow to Macaron Shells
    • Regular Sized Silpat  Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat
      Regular Sized Silpat Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat
    • Gel Food Coloring AmeriColor Junior Kit, 8 Colors.75 Ounce Bottles
      Gel Food Coloring AmeriColor Junior Kit, 8 Colors.75 Ounce Bottles
    • McCormick Gourmet All Natural Cream Of Tartar, 2.62 oz
      McCormick Gourmet All Natural Cream Of Tartar, 2.62 oz
    • Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Gluten Free Almond Flour, 3 Pound
      Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Gluten Free Almond Flour, 3 Pound
    • India Tree Superfine Caster Baking Sugar, 1 lb. bag
      India Tree Superfine Caster Baking Sugar, 1 lb. bag
    • C&h Powdered Sugar 4 Lbs (1)
      C&h Powdered Sugar 4 Lbs (1)

    Nutrition Information

    Yield

    45

    Serving Size

    1 grams

    Amount Per Serving Calories 122Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 13mgSodium 21mgCarbohydrates 17gFiber 1gSugar 15gProtein 2g

    This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although indulgewithmimi.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

    Did you make this recipe? Share your results with me 🙂

    Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

    © Mimi
    Cuisine: french / Category: Macarons

    [pt_view id="bf4423c0yu"]

    Afternoon Tea at Avery Cake & Tea House

    Sep 25, 2017 · 2 Comments

    Newest Afternoon Tea Offering in Richmond

    Richmond is now home to a brand new tea salon called Avery Cakes & Tea House. This new salon joins the ranks of the city's other tea offerings like L'Opera Patisserie and Adorabelle. It's located in a shopping plaza on the corner of Garden City and Alderbridge. The outside looks like any of the other shops in the plaza but inside the space is filled with opulent looking furnishings, gold gilding and crystals everywhere complete with a self-playing grand piano in white. Basically, the same level of opulence you see at L'Opera but on a much larger scale.

    Crystals and gold gilding everywhere you look.

    Tables were comfortably spaced apart and was large enough for two 3-tier trays plus additional dishes.

    Left: A beautiful dessert showcase display where you can order regular sized desserts to go or eat-in. Right: a self-playing grand piano.

    Size Matters

    The space is so large that it has the capacity to serve over 60 guests at a time. Space is usually so tight at most tea houses (ex. the notoriously cramped Adonia) that this is quite a nice surprise. There is a good amount of spacing between each table so you can sit comfortably without bumping the seat behind you. The chairs are big and comfy, and the tables for four are large enough to place two 3-tiered trays comfortably along with all the other dishes in the tea set.

    While we're on the subject of size, the tea set itself features some of the biggest dessert pieces I've ever seen in an afternoon tea set (even bigger than at Neverland). One such piece - the fruit tart - was actually sold on its own inside their display case as a regular sized dessert. This is definitely a tea set that will satisfy those with a heartier appetite. I had so much leftovers that it could have made a completely new tea set.

    The starters were brought out on an adorable white push cart.

    Left: organic red potato salad and creamy spinach soup. Right: Strawberry cream puff with mixed fruit

     

    So much details! The macarons were carefully plated with sugar decorations and strawberries.

     

    That "Je ne sais quoi"

    Avery cakes really has it all - almost. It's a big and brand new space that we heard took one year to renovate. Tons of thought was put into the furnishings and even the menu - fully illustrated and listing the ingredient composition of each tea. There is branded takeaway boxes and even Avery branded tea ware! The tea set itself was also of a good quality and size. Even the extra thought put into plating the macarons really impressed me.

    So, naturally, with all these over-the-top offerings, we were excited and wanted to know more about this place. Except, there was no one there who could answer even simple questions like whether the shop was a chain or an independent (it's an independent). Firstly, the staff were not very attentive and secondly, when reached, one didn't have the answer and had to refer us to another staff member who answered without much enthusiasm for the brand. We were the only table in the tea salon for well over two hours and there were four front line staff who spent the majority of the time chit chatting with each other at the counter. I appreciated that they were all willing to help once we were able to get their attention. However, I feel like they may possibly be the missing link; the company needs a mouthpiece to convey its grand ambitions to their clients and who better to do it than front line staff? I can just see so much potential with all the infrastructure they have in place but also feel that it's missing something - an intangible energy.

    That elusive quality may not be what everyone chases when it comes to tea and I would definitely recommend Avery on all it's other merits - location, ambiance and quality. All of it which it has in spades.

    Until our next tea date.

    Xoxo,

    Mimi

     

    Left: Avery branded tea ware. There was a unique design for each of us. Right: Tea pots were kept warm with teapot warmers.

    My takeaway box can make a completely new tea set!

     

    Notable Points:
    - newest tea offering in Richmond
    - huge spacious tea salon
    - many seats accommodate big parties
    - many dessert offerings aside from tea sets
    - big tea menu
    - free parking
    - Asian style desserts that are less sweet
    - regular sized dessert offering will take you by surprise

    Ambience:
    Luxurious old world style furnishings including lots of crystal chandeliers, crystal waterfall display, self playing piano, plush chairs with carved design and shelves displaying tea ware. It's a spacious salon that accommodates well over 60 people. There is sufficient space between each table and many of them benefit from receiving natural light as the salon is a corner unit with floor to ceiling windows.

    Scones: no scones came with our tea set

    Savoury: They were all fresh and tasty. Compared to the desserts, they were smaller in size but comparable to any other tea set currently being offered by other tea houses. There wasn't a particular piece which stood out for me though. They were good enough but not memorable.

    Sweets: The regular sized desserts were truly a surprise after seeing the unusually small ones from other tea houses (ex. Rose House). One of these desserts were even offered in their dessert display case as an a la carte item. The tea set itself is very dessert heavy so there are a lot of items to choose from! The macarons with special plating was a nice thoughtful touch and they were super fluffy! The Creme Brulee in a little ramiken cup was very rich and creamy. The cream puff was filled with a smooth pastry cream that was perfectly sweetened (not too sweet). The mango cheesecake was dense and creamy, delicious but didn't exhibit any cheesy flavours.

    Tea: Big tea menu! There were 12 Rooibos flavours to choose from which is a lot compared to other tea houses, 12 greens and 17 blacks.

    Each tea was also accompanied with a description of its composition which helps greatly when ordering.

    Teaware:
    Very grand looking tea tray adorned with "Hermes inspired" horses. There were many designs for tea cups so everyone had their own design which helped to distinguish between who's who. It was a surprise to find that the cups were branded with the companies logo as well. Tea Warmers with candles kept the pot of tea warm - something not usually offered (seen at the Rose House).

    Alcoholic Beverages: No alcoholic beverage service. See other tea spots in Vancouver which serves alcohol - Mosquito, Trump Hotel, Laduree, Fairmont Pacific Rim, Notch 8.

    Service: There were at least four servers on staff for our one table during a time when the restaurant was totally unoccupied but the staff spent a majority of the time standing around the counter chatting with each other. We were not checked on but occasionally when we caught their eye, one member would come by (happily) to refill hot water. They were all willing to help when requested but lacked the motivation to do so on their own.

    Other notes:

    ♥ Tea Set $49/per person
    (Does NOT include one pot of tea, tea is ordered separately)

    No scones, 6 savouries, 9 sweets

    ♥ Reserve by phone: (604)-285-7771

    ♥ Parking: Free parking is available in the shopping plaza where the tea house is located. Closest Car2Go drop off and pickup is at Kwantlen College which is 9 minutes away by foot.

    ♥ Address: 112-4751 Garden City Rd, Richmond, B.C. V6X 3M7

    [pt_view id="d749ae79dr"]
    [pt_view id="342f946uh1"]

    Lemon Macarons Made with a Sturdy "Macaron-Friendly" Lemon Curd Center

    Sep 14, 2017 · 74 Comments

    Macarons filled with a lemon cream and curd that won't make macarons soggy. It's a mouthwatering and delicious macaron recipe made with REAL lemons - no artificial flavours.

    Three macarons sitting on three lemons with flowers.
    [feast_advanced_jump_to]

    Why You'll Love This Recipe

    • Low-moisture lemon curd prevents macarons from getting soggy.
    • Uses all natural ingredients, no artificial flavors.
    • Uses simple ingredients that can be found at most grocery stores. 
    • Mouthwatering and delicious. Cuts down the sweetness of the macaron shells. 

    How To Prevent Soggy Lemon Curd Macarons

    I don't know about you, but I found that every macaron filled with lemon curd I've had in the past has been soggy since fruit curds are higher in moisture than other fillings. So in this recipe, I created a lemon curd recipe that would not cause the macaron shells to become soggy. The curd itself is low in moisture so it won't start eating away at the macarons shells (get my Best Macaron Recipe here). A lemon curd is made first and then added into a Swiss meringue buttercream to create a lemon buttercream. The buttercream is piped into a ring shape, creating a dam, which will then be filled with the low-moisture lemon curd. The end result is a very sturdy and lemon-y curd that holds up inside the macaron for days. I'm so pleased with the results and I hope you will get a chance to test out this new recipe. It's perfect for those who are looking for a macaron that is "less sweet".

    How To Make Macarons Less Sweet?

    One of the most common complaints about macarons is that they are "too sweet", I am from the camp that you should take macarons as they are. Either you like them or you don't and forgo manipulating the sugar level in the shells to make it less sweet. Sugar is one of the few but basic ingredients in the shells and you need a certain amount of it for it to be stable. There are still ways to get around the perception of it's sweetness and one of them is to consider the fillings that it's being paired with.

    The type and flavour of the fillings can greatly impact how sweet the resulting macarons will be. An American Buttercream - one that is made with icing sugar and butter - will be considerably sweeter than the Swiss or Italian version.  Learn more about different Macaron Filling Types here.   My personal preference is to never use an American buttercream with macarons. It may be a sweet indulgence on cupcakes but it's sugary taste can be too much when paired with an already sweet macaron shell.

    Tart Lemon Filling Cuts the Sweetness in Macarons

    Another quick remedy to reduce the sweetness in macarons is to fill it with a tart fruit filling. The acidity in fruit fillings is a perfect mouthwatering contrast to the sweet shells. One of my favourite fruit fillings is the lemon buttercream with a lemon curd center. I really appreciate how this flavour can be achieved entirely with the fruit itself without the need for artificial flavourings.

    Sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs and butter sitting on a placemat.
    Granulated sugar, butter and egg whites plated on top of a placemat.

    Ingredients and Substitutions

    For the Lemon Curd and Buttercream

    • Organic Lemons - This recipe requires using the zest of the lemons so organic lemons will be preferable.
    • Eggs - large size.
    • Butter - Use unsalted. For use in the buttercream, ensure that the butter is at room temperature. This is crucial for it to incorporate into the meringue mixture.
    • Granulated sugar

    For the Basic Macaron Shell

    • Almond flour - it should be ground from blanched almonds. Some brands are more "oilier" than others so for the most consistent results, I like to make my own homemade almond flour. Alternatively, many readers have had good results with this brand.
    • Powdered sugar - this is also known as icing sugar or confectioner's sugar. The type sold in North America usually contains a bit of corn starch as an anti-coagulant.
    • Castor sugar - this is also known as extra fine granulated sugar or berry sugar. It's a finer granulated sugar that dissolves readily into the meringue making it ideal for macarons, which is heavily dependent on a strong and healthy meringue. If you can't find castor sugar, just use regular granulated sugar. Do not try to pulverize regular granulated sugar in the food processor to make castor sugar, it results in "chopped-up sugar crystals that will not perform well." (Source: chsugar.com)
    • Egg whites, aged - egg whites that have been separated and let to "age" in the fridge have more relaxed proteins which makes it easier to whip to volume without overwhipping. It's recommended for the beginner macaron baker but is not absolutely necessary. Most carton egg whites are not intended for whipping into a meringue, check the back of the carton. A few (but not many) readers have reported success with carton egg whites.
    • Cream of tartar - is an acid that is added to the meringue to make it more stable. It is usually found in the baking aisle next to the spices. If you do not have cream of tartar, you can substitute it with another acid like lemon or vinegar in double the amount. You can skip this ingredient if you can't find it. Make sure your bowls are clean and dry and whip carefully with room temperature aged egg whites until it reaches still peaks. If your egg whites take too long to whip or breaks apart, reconsider using cream of tartar.
    • Gel food color - this is a more potent form of food color that doesn't add unwanted moisture into the macaron batter. Some brands perform better than others, I prefer this brand for its color stability, it doesn't fade after baking.

    Tips for Success

    • Have a cooking thermometer ready to measure the temperature of the lemon curd and swiss meringue buttercream. Heating the ingredients to the correct temperature is crucial. If you don't have a thermometer, you can check the readiness of the curd by running a spoon through it. If it coats the back of the spoon, it's ready. For the Swiss meringue, feel the mixture to see if all the sugar granules have dissolved.
    • Use non-reactive tools and bowls as they can react to the acidity in the lemon juice, imparting a metallic taste. Non-reactive materials include: silicone, glass, ceramic and rust-free stainless steel.
    • During the the heated bath step when making the curd and Swiss buttercream, avoid placing the mixture bowl on the hot water directly as it will cook the ingredients too quickly or over-cook it. Use a smaller pot of hot water and let a larger bowl hang over the top without touching the water. Make sure to move the mixture around gently to keep it moving and not over cook.
    • This lemon macaron filling requires a Swiss buttercream as a base. If you need a more detailed instructions in that area, please read this dedicated post on: Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

    How to Make

    To make the lemon curd: Zest the organic lemon, set aside. Cream butter and sugar together until incorporated.

    A lemon being zested

    Add egg and beat until incorporated. If not already using, move mixture into a heatproof glass bowl, add lemon juice and beat until incorporated. (Some metal bowls can react to the acidity in the lemon juice.)

    Egg whites, butter and sugar being whipped inside a mixer.

    Place over a pot of boiling water. Do not let the bottom touch the water. Whisk gently to keep the mixture moving as it heats up. Occasionally, check the temperature of the mixture. You should see the curd thicken up and it will coat the back of your spoon. Allow the mixture to reach 180F-185F. It might take a while (10-15 min), so be patient.

    Mixture gently whisked inside a bowl, heated on a small metal pot on the stove.

    Take the mixture off the heat, add the lemon zest into the hot mixture to release the oils and mix until combined. Pour through a sieve into another bowl for a smooth curd. Let it cool down then place in the fridge. It will set up into an even firmer and thicker curd after you've chilled it in the fridge.

    Lemon zest being added to picture along with being sieved.

    To make lemon buttercream: Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Place egg whites and sugar into a heat proof bowl. Stainless steel is light and safe. Whisk the whites & sugar mix over the boiling water. Pay attention to whisking the mixture when it starts getting hot, you don’t want to cook the eggs.

    Whisk the mixture until the temperature reaches 160F. Pour the mixture into the Kitchenaid mixer and whisk on low with the balloon whisk, then turn it up to medium.

    Once the mixture is stiff and the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch, stop mixer. Change the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment.

    Egg whites and sugar heated in a large stainless steel bowl over a pot.

    Add butter a little bit at a time while beating with the paddle attachment at medium speed.
    The mixture might look curdled or separated for a while but keep mixing. It will all come together. Keep 200 grams of the buttercream for use in our current recipe. Freeze the rest of the buttercream for use at a later date.

    Butter being added to the mixture inside of a mixer.

    Add 8 tablespoon of the curd into the buttercream, a tablespoon at a time and beat until incorporated. To Assemble: pair two similar sized shells together. Pipe a ring of lemon buttercream as a dam then fill it with the lemon curd. Assemble with other shell. Place in an airtight container in the fridge and give it 12-24 hours to mature before eating. Enjoy!

    Lemon curd mixture added into the buttercream inside of a mixer.
    Macaron shells on a cooling rack showing a ring of buttercream with a dollop of lemon curd in the center.

    Recipe

    Yield: 45 macarons

    Lemon Macarons with a Sturdy Low-Moisture Lemon Curd Filling

    Lemon curd macarons on a dish with fresh lemons and white hydrangea flowers.
    Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
    Cook Time 45 minutes
    Rest Time 15 minutes
    Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

    Ingredients

    Macaron-Perfect Lemon Curd

    • zest of two organic lemons (Note 1)
    • 76 grams organic lemon juice
    • 2 eggs
    • 50 grams butter, unsalted
    • 180 grams granulated sugar

    Lemon Buttercream

    • 65 grams egg whites
    • 130 grams granulated sugar
    • 195 grams butter, unsalted at room temperature

    Basic Macaron Shell

    • 240 grams almond flour
    • 240 grams powdered sugar
    • 185 grams egg whites, aged, room temperature
    • 165 grams castor sugar (Note 2)
    • ½ tsp. cream of tartar
    • Gel food color (Note 3)

    Instructions

    Macaron-Perfect Lemon Curd

    1. Zest the organic lemon, set aside.
    2. Cream butter and sugar together until incorporated.
    3. Add egg and beat until incorporated.
    4. If not already using, move mixture into a heatproof glass bowl, add lemon juice and beat until incorporated. (Some metal bowls can react to the acidity in the lemon juice.)
    5. Place over a pot of boiling water. Do not let the bottom touch the water.  
    6. Whisk gently to keep the mixture moving as it heats up. 
    7. Occasionally, check the temperature of the mixture. You should see the curd thicken up and it will coat the back of your spoon. Allow the mixture to reach 180F-185F. It might take a while (10-15 min), so be patient. 
    8. Take the mixture off the heat, add the lemon zest into the hot mixture to release the oils and mix until combined. 
    9. Pour through a sieve into another bowl for a smooth curd. 
    10. Let it cool down then place in the fridge. It will set up into an even firmer and thicker curd after you've chilled it in the fridge. 

    Lemon Buttercream

    1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil.
    2. Place egg whites and sugar into a heat proof bowl. Stainless steel is light and safe.
    3. Whisk the whites & sugar mix over the boiling water.
    4. Pay attention to whisking the mixture when it starts getting hot, you don’t want to cook the eggs.
    5. Whisk the mixture until the temperature reaches 160F. This temperature is generally accepted to be able to kill salmonella in eggs.
    6. Pour the mixture into the Kitchenaid mixer and whisk on low with the balloon whisk, then turn it up to medium.
    7. Once the mixture is stiff and the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch, stop mixer. Change the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment.
    8. Add butter a little bit at a time while beating with the paddle attachment at medium speed.
    9. The mixture might look curdled or separated for a while but keep mixing. It will all come together.
    10. Keep 200 grams of the buttercream for use in our current recipe. Freeze the rest of the buttercream for use at a later date. 
    11. Add 8 tablespoon of the curd into the buttercream, a tablespoon at a time and beat until incorporated. 


    Basic Macaron Shell

    1. Set aged egg whites out at room temperature.
    2. Pulse almond flour and powdered sugar together in a food processor to further break down any large pieces of almond flour.
    3. Sift dry ingredients: almond flour, icing sugar. Discard big pieces of almond that can't be sifted.
    4. If you are new to macaron baking, please read the instructions to my BEST MACARON RECIPE before attempting to follow the rest of the instructions since it is condensed for the advanced macaron baker.
    5. With the balloon whisk attached, whip the room temperature egg whites on low-medium speed.
    6. Add cream of tartar when it becomes foamy.
    7. Turn up the speed to medium.
    8. Once the whisk starts to leave tracks in the egg whites, add sugar a little at a time.
    9. Turn the speed up to medium-high and whip until firm peaks, stop mixer and add gel food color if desired. Continue whipping on medium-high until stiff peaks.
    10. Fold the dry mix and meringue together until the batter becomes a "lava" or honey-like consistency.
    11. Transfer batter into a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip.
    12. On parchment paper or silicone mats, pipe out round shaped macarons. 
    13. Rap the tray hard on the counter to remove any excess air bubbles. Use a toothpick to pop any remaining bubbles. 
    14. Wait until the shells become completely dry before baking. 
    15. Bake at 325F for 12-14 minutes. Every oven is different, you may need to adjust your own temperature settings. Please read How to Use Your Home Oven Properly for Baking Macarons if you are unsure.
    16. Macarons are done when the foot doesn't push back and the tops don't move when you wiggle it. 
    17. Once baked, let cool completely before removing from the baking mat/parchment paper.


    Assembly

      1. Pair two similar sized shells together.
      2. Pipe a ring of lemon buttercream as a dam then fill it with the lemon curd. Assemble with other shell.
      3. Place in an airtight container in the fridge and give it 12-24 hours to mature before eating. Enjoy!

    Notes

    1. Organic lemon was used in this recipe since it requires the zest. Most of the pesticides on citrus fruits can be found on the peel.
    2. Castor sugar is also known as extra fine granulated sugar or berry sugar. Granulated sugar can be used by castor sugar is preferable.
    3. Americolor Lemon Yellow was used here.

    Recommended Products

    As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    • Ateco Disposable Piping Bags, 12-Inch, Pack of 100
      Ateco Disposable Piping Bags, 12-Inch, Pack of 100
    • India Tree Superfine Caster Baking Sugar, 1 lb. bag
      India Tree Superfine Caster Baking Sugar, 1 lb. bag
    • Gel Food Coloring AmeriColor Junior Kit, 8 Colors.75 Ounce Bottles
      Gel Food Coloring AmeriColor Junior Kit, 8 Colors.75 Ounce Bottles
    • Regular Sized Silpat  Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat
      Regular Sized Silpat Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat
    • Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Gluten Free Almond Flour, 3 Pound
      Bob's Red Mill Super-Fine Gluten Free Almond Flour, 3 Pound
    • Anthony's Almond Flour Blanched, 2lb, Batch Tested Gluten Free, Non GMO, Vegan, Keto Friendly
      Anthony's Almond Flour Blanched, 2lb, Batch Tested Gluten Free, Non GMO, Vegan, Keto Friendly

    Nutrition Information

    Yield

    45

    Serving Size

    1 grams

    Amount Per Serving Calories 71Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 20mgSodium 41mgCarbohydrates 7gFiber 0gSugar 7gProtein 1g

    This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although indulgewithmimi.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

    Did you make this recipe? Share your results with me 🙂

    Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

    © Mimi
    Cuisine: french / Category: Macarons
    • Close up of chocolate frosting on cake as viewed from the top.
      Easy American Buttercream with Real Chocolate for Cakes & Macarons
    • Hand adding food color into meringue.
      Making Macarons Without a Mixer, Scale & Convection Oven
    • 3D rainbow macarons perched on top of a cloud macaron.
      3D Rainbow & Cloud Macarons with Vanilla Filling
    • Baileys Irish Cream macarons with a bottle of coffee cream whisky in the back.
      Baileys Irish Cream Macarons with Gingerbread Man Template

    A Bad Cook (aka me) Learns to Cook a Gourmet 3 Course Seafood Dinner at Dirty Apron with Villa Maria Wines

    Sep 14, 2017 · 2 Comments

    Yes, I'm a Bad Cook!

    Dinner time sometimes involve real tears at my house. As I've mentioned before in the first post from my Easy Meal Recipes series, dinner time involves quite a bit of drama sometimes. I am not a good cook and when I try a new recipe, I'm often scrambling to complete each step like a mad woman with no clear direction. My kitchen is often a complete mess afterwards too. I just can't seem to multi-task in a calm and focused manner like I do when I bake. I've often wondered why there is such a dichotomy between the way I bake and the way I cook. I think some of it may be due to a lack of confidence handling raw meat and the fear of poisoning myself (meat at my house is always overcooked), the dislike of splashing hot oils and the fear of creating a kitchen fire, and a general lack of passion for it due to so many failed attempts at cooking on my own. So if you told me I would be creating a 3 course gourmet seafood meal in 3 hours all on a gas stove top, I would not have believed it but that was exactly what I did when I was invited to a cooking class at The Dirty Apron hosted by Alicia Fashionista and Villa Maria Wines.

    The structure of the cooking class goes like this. First, we sit down for a cooking demonstration by the chef instructor and then we head to our own cooking station, which we share with one other person, to start cooking. The ingredients for each course is carefully laid out on a tray so all you need to do is focus on cooking with the materials in front of you.

    I don't know how it happened but I transformed into a little gourmet chef for a few hours under the direction of Chef John. Sure, on several occasions he asked me why I was standing so far away from the flames (Um... because I could burn myself! If anyone can, I can!) and he also swapped my small paring knife which I was perfectly content in using for an "intimidating" big French knife. But it was exactly that no-nonsense push that I needed from him to whip me into shape.

    And, of course, we couldn't have seafood without some white wine! It's always been my personal preference to have Sauvignon Blanc with shellfish and Villa Maria Wines introduced us to their version along with an off-dry Pinot Gris which was paired with our third course of pan roasted halibut with charred tomato vinaigrette.

    All the ingredients we need are clearly laid out on the tray before we begin cooking each course.

    Tomato Coconut Mussels. This was amazing and the sauce was so good on its own too! It was surprisingly easy to cook and I loved how it did not involve splashing hot oils. Here, we are having it with a Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc which makes a perfect pairing.

    Maple Seared Scallops over Chorizo Ragout and Pea Coulis, plated by yours truly.

    Pan roasted halibut over sauteed spinach and fingerling potatoes. We used a metal ring to first place the potatoes and spinach inside for this pretty presentation. The fish was then placed on top with a charred tomato vinaigrette. This dish was paired with an off dry Pinot Gris from Villa Maria.

    Cardamom caramel poached pear with chocolate sauce. The chocolate sauce was thick, creamy and rich. It's worth sabotaging your diet for!

     

    Hey, I Can Cook (?) !

    For me, I think failures don't breed success, success breeds success and luckily for me, the evening taught me that I was capable of cooking a delicious gourmet meal without burning anything down. It was a surprise to me that in a few hours, my confidence for cooking grew immensely. Chef John showed me to cook with more passion instead of viewing cooking as a practical means for survival each day. I have the recipes of our dishes from the night stashed away in my recipes folder, I'm excited to cook the mussels again for a dinner party and open a bottle of Sauv Blanc from Villa Maria Wines as well. I'll also try not to burn the house down 🙂

    Until our next dinner date.

    XOXO,

    Mimi

    Many thanks to my cooking partner, Emma of VancouverFoodie, for holding my hand at every step!

     

    Disclosure: This was an invite event. All food and drinks were complimentary. All opinions are my own.

    [srp post_limit='5' post_random='yes' category_include= 131 widget_title = 'Other Vancouver Life Moments'

    The Best Macaron Recipe in Spanish - Le Mejor Receta de Macaron Francesa

    Sep 6, 2017 · Leave a Comment

     My Best Macaron Recipe in Spanish - Le Mejor Receta de Macaron Francesa

    This is my Best Macaron Recipe translated into Spanish. Thank you so much to Monica Reymundo for all her hard work on this! I hope you all enjoy this recipe and here is the link to the English version.

    Please leave all your comments or questions in English. Thank you!

    XOXO,

    Mimi

    Tamaño de la porción : Hace 12 macarons (receta puede fácilmente duplicar)

    Ingredientes ♥ ♥
    ** Por favor, no sin volver a publicar sin permission.* *
    – harina gramos 65 – almendra
    -65 gramos-azúcar en polvo
    -45 gramos-azúcar en polvo (o también conocido como "la baya" azúcar o azúcar granulado extra fino)
    -50 gramos – de claras de huevo (aprox. 2 medio huevo
    Nota: No use el polvo de merengue
    -⅛ cucharadita de Crémor Tártaro o 1 cucharadita de jugo de limón
    -GEL Color de su elección (no uso color líquido)

    ♥ se necesita ♥
    – balanza electrónica
    -2 muy limpia y seca mezcla tazones absolutamente libre de aceite o agua – preferentemente no plástico.
    -una batidora de mano
    -un tamiz
    -una espátula flexible
    -una manga pastelera
    -una punta de tubería redonda
    (Yo prefiero Ateco #805 liso sin punta para macarons ronda regular o Wilton 12 para un mayor control con animales macarons)
    – una buena calidad para hornear
    -plantilla con el contorno de macarrón
    -termómetro de horno
    -papel pergamino o Silpat mat (yo prefiero el tapete Macaron Silpat con contorno de macarrón)-no use papel encerado
    -deshumidificador o hacer en un ambiente seco con baja humedad

    Estas son mi marca favorita de la estera del silicón y el tamaño. Una es en blanco y el otro tiene una plantilla de macaron conveniente imprimir en. Me gusta la versión en blanco para usar con mis plantillas de arte macarrón ya que es más fácil ver la plantilla por debajo. La estera con la plantilla de macaron impreso es conveniente para un montón de tuberías de conchas redondas a la vez.

     

     

    Trabajo de preparación:
    Preparar todo lo que necesitas por adelantado para tuberías tus macarons porque una vez que la masa esté lista, debe utilizarse inmediatamente.

    ♥ Limpie tazones de fuente de mezcla con un poco de vinagre para eliminar la grasa sobrante. Luego usar tazones de fuente para almacenar huevo de "envejecimiento"

    ♥ Su huevo 24 horas de anticipación de la edad
    Claras de huevo separados, asegurándose de que no deje ningún rastro de yemas de huevo. Agua y las yemas de las claras de huevo hará muy difícil a batir el huevo en picos rígidos. Coloque las claras de huevo en un bol muy limpio, seco y sin aceite. Abrigo con el abrigo de Ceram y meter unos agujeros en ella. Poner en la nevera para deshidratar hasta que esté listo para usar.

    ♥ Si su pergamino viene en un rollo, aplanarlo poniendo objetos de levantamiento en la parte superior. Proporcionando una superficie plana lisa de tuberías sus cáscaras se les impidió separarse en formas extrañas.

    ♥ Imprime plantilla de macaron y lugar que debajo del pergamino de papel sobre una bandeja de horno. Mis plantillas de macaron gratis están disponibles para suscriptores del boletín. Por favor regístrese para el boletín y se le enviará una contraseña para acceder a la zona sólo miembros. Recuerde confirmar su suscripción ya que es un proceso de doble Opt-in.

    ♥Mida todos los ingredientes

    ♥ Crear su manga pastelera
    Introduzca la punta de la tubería en la bolsa para que no se mueve alrededor de cuando empiezas a tuberías. Gire la bolsa e introdúzcalo en el extremo de la tubería. Actuará como un sello y detener cualquier bateador de escaparse fuera de la punta al comenzar a llenarlo. Coloque esta bolsa dentro de un vaso. Abrir la parte superior para que puedan tener ambas manos libres llenar la bolsa más adelante.

    ♥ Establece claras de huevo unos 20 minutos antes de hacer macarons para traer de vuelta a temperatura ambiente
    Tamizar la harina de almendra y en polvo azúcar junto, mezcla bien
    Tamizar permitirá tus macarons desarrollar conchas brillantes lisos. Tire a la basura curso almendras o azúcar bits pueden causar las claras de huevo a desinflar y terminarás con un macaron colapsado o desigual. No olvide añadir tamizadas cantidades para compensar las cantidades desechadas de nuevo.

    ♥ Sistema deshumidificador para llevar el nivel de humedad en la habitación por debajo de 50
    Un entorno secador permitirá el macaron cáscaras para "descansar" después de la tubería. Este descanso periodo ayudará el macaron desarrollar pies.

     

     

     

    Pasos para hornear:

    1. batir las claras de huevo con una batidora de mano hasta que quede espumosa, añadir el cremor tártaro (⅛ cucharadita) o sal (pizca).

    2. una vez que las claras comienzan dejando pistas, agregar azúcar granulada ⅓ a la vez
    "Dejando senderos" se refiere a poder ver las pistas visibles en las claras de huevo.

    3. una vez que todo el azúcar haya sido incorporado plenamente y antes de llegar a formen picos, agregar 1-3 gotas de gel de color a tu gusto. Bata hasta que esté tieso picos.

    El término "Formen picos" se deriva de cómo las claras de huevo aparecen cuando usted tira de la bata fuera de él. Debe ser tan firme que literalmente pararse verticalmente y hacia arriba sin volver a caer en sí mismo. También, prueba poniendo la taza completamente boca abajo. Los blancos no deben resbalar o caer, en cambio se mantiene firme dentro del recipiente.

    4. prueba de rigidez de merengue.
    Una vez que ha llegado "tieso" parar y no batir más.

    El merengue debe también arrancar agrupar dentro de la boca como esta

    El merengue debe arrancar agrupar dentro de la boca.

    Es cómo rígida que necesita su merengue francés para hacer macarons

     

    5. Verter un tercio de la mezcla de almendra en las claras de huevo. Doblar suavemente las claras de huevo a la mezcla de harina y el azúcar almendra. Luego agregar el resto de la mezcla de almendra.

    Cómo doblar: Este es un paso muy importante en el macaron proceso llamado "macaronage". Tome la espátula y suavemente pasar por debajo de la mezcla, utilice un movimiento de abajo-en-hasta-en barrido (como está raspado alrededor de la taza hacia el centro) mientras gira el recipiente al mismo tiempo.

    En ocasiones, cortar por el centro de la mezcla hasta incorporar los ingredientes en el centro. Así, muy suavemente toma su espátula y barrido contra la parte superior de la masa a desinflar correctamente parte del aire en la mezcla. "Descargue" la mezcla en sí mismo. Si te retiras suavemente, eventualmente incorporará a una mezcla aunque puede no parecer será al principio.

     

    No es necesario mezclar o revolver. Plegable adecuadamente asegurará de que el aire burbujas que vencer en su huevo no desinflar cuando incorpore con los ingredientes secos más pesados. Quiere vencer a parte del aire que se creó en los azotes del huevo blancos, pero no tanto que su completamente desinflado y evita que los pies desarrollando.

    6. dejar de doblar cuando su masa haya alcanzado un "lava" como o consistencia de la miel
    De vez en cuando, verifique la consistencia para comprobar la cocción. El éxito de tus macarons dependerá en gran medida su capacidad para medir Cuándo dejar de doblar su masa

     

    7. Si utiliza papel de pergamino, frote un poco de masa en la parte inferior de las cuatro esquinas del papel pergamino. Se usa como un "pegamento" para mantener el documento que se adjunta a la bandeja y tubería. O utilizar imanes para fijar el papel sobre la bandeja. Utilizando la espátula, suavemente transferir la masa en la Manga pastelera. La masa al tamaño del círculo en la plantilla de la tubería.

    A partir del centro sujetando la Manga pastelera vertical y exprimir y aplicar presión uniforme a todos los lados hasta que la masa casi ha alcanzado el tamaño de la plantilla, gire la punta alrededor de la espalda hacia el centro y tire lejos, que es donde quieres tu masa al extremo. Idealmente, si su masa se ha mezclado correctamente y está en la consistencia correcta, cualquier "niples" o "colas" deben hundirse a sí mismo. También, recuerde exprimir la masa de la parte superior de la bolsa sin manejo excesivamente ya que no desea que la estructura de la masa cerca del final a ser comprometida.

    8. Retire la plantilla de papel de debajo el papel sulfurizado.

    9. rap varias veces la bandeja sobre el mostrador.
    Esto permitirá que cualquier aire burbujas para escapar y evita que tus macarons agrietamiento durante el proceso de cocción. Rap una o dos veces, girar la bandeja y repetir.

    10. deja reposar en el contador de 30 minutos y hasta una "piel" se ha desarrollado.
    Dejar las cáscaras hilo descansar bajo el ventilador de la campana de gama. Ayudará a secarlos hacia fuera. No utilice un ventilador que sopla en un ángulo, ya que hará que tus macarons a ser desproporcionado. Una vez que la cáscara se ve opaco y mate brillante como cuando primero era hilo, prueba en una cáscara de sacrificio. Tocar ligeramente la superficie de la cáscara y si no la masa se pega a los dedos, ha desarrollado una "piel". Quedará muy claro cuando se ha desarrollado una piel, usted será capaz de tocar sin la masa a los dedos. Va también no sangrar fácilmente así.

     

    ¿Por qué debo descansar mis macarons?
    Descansando el macaron es un paso crucial que permite que sus conchas se endurezca y de tal modo, lo que le permite ser lo suficientemente fuerte como para desarrollar pies durante su tiempo en el horno. Muchas recetas no explicar claramente el propósito de este período de descanso y se ha convertido en un tema polémico. Algunos panaderos dicen que nunca descansan sus macarons y algunos juran por ella. Para mí, creo que depende de si o no ha desarrollado una "piel". El tiempo no es tan importante como la presencia de una piel y un mate opaco. A veces en un ambiente húmedo (o su masa es mala, demasiado que moquea) puede descansar tus macarons durante 30 minutos y una piel aún no se desarrollen mientras que en otros días, una piel puede desarrollar rápidamente sin este período de descanso. Esa es probablemente la razón por qué algunos panaderos afirman que nunca descansan sus macarons. He probado esto muchas veces en mi cocina y he encontrado que voy a tener pies grandes, una vez que se ha desarrollado una piel, sin importar el tiempo de descanso.

    11. precalentar el horno a 320 F.

    Coloque un termómetro de horno en el horno para que la temperatura sea correcta. Muchos panaderos asumen que sus hornos estén a la temperatura correcta cuando de hecho la temperatura ha aumentado o disminuido durante el proceso de cocción sin su conocimiento.

    12. Coloque la bandeja en el estante del medio y hornear durante 12-14 minutos. Hornear solo una bandeja a la vez. VER COMENTARIO ABAJO:
    Cada horno es diferente así que sugerimos que use esta temperatura y posición del estante como una línea de base si es tu primera vez haciendo macarons, luego de realizar los ajustes que necesita para perfeccionarlos.

    13. los saca y para comprobar la cocción.

    Use una espátula para golpee ligeramente los pies, debe ser firme y no empuje hacia atrás. Mueva la parte superior de la cáscara de izquierda a derecha, no debería ser inestable. Despegue ligeramente el papel para hornear y el macaron debe desprenderse fácilmente sin pegarse. (Esto no funciona bien en silpats aunque.) Si no pasa las pruebas anteriores, poner en el horno y hornear un extra 1 minuto a la vez.

    14. Mantenga en bandeja a enfriar o sacarlos.

    Si los fondos son sólo un poquito pegajosos (solo un poco sin embargo), mantener en la bandeja se enfríe durante unos 15 minutos. Si sin embargo, los fondos ya están marrones, desprenda limpiamente o aparecen demasiado cocidos, quitar la bandeja caliente se enfríe. Romper una abierta y verifique el interior, debe ser totalmente ajustado y no excesivamente húmedo. Si está demasiado húmeda se derrumbará las cookies cuando enfríe. Errar en el lado de encima para hornear en lugar de bajo de la hornada como la maduración proceso serán capaces de salvamento sobre macarrones al horno. Ver paso

    15. Llene con tu relleno favorito.

    Colocar el relleno en una manga pastelera y exprimir una cucharada de él en el centro. No necesita demasiado, no quiere que aplasta hacia fuera más allá de la cáscara una vez que se monta al otro lado de la cáscara del macaron.

    16. dejar en la nevera en un recipiente hermético y dejarlos madurar por 24 horas.
    Mejor se comen después de 24 horas ya que los sabores se absorberá en la cáscara. Si su cáscara es dura, crujiente/sobre cocido al horno, dejarlos desarrollar también permitirá a las cáscaras absorber la humedad del relleno y desarrollará esa textura suave y masticable distintivo. El proceso de maduración puede ser acelerado también frotando ligeramente la parte inferior de las cáscaras con un jarabe que es el mismo sabor como el relleno. Leche también funciona!

    17. después de 24 horas de maduración en la nevera, traer de vuelta a temperatura ambiente 30 minutos antes de servir. ¡DISFRUTE!

    [srp post_limit='5' post_random='yes' category_include= 3 widget_title = 'Other Macaron Posts You Might Like']

     

    I ate 11 Ice Cream Sundaes in 3 weeks

    Aug 28, 2017 · Leave a Comment

    Here is Part 3 of 3 of the events I shared with Deborah Moore this morning on AM1470.

    #SundaeChallengeYVR

    A month ago I was asked to participate in something that was both delightful and daunting at the same time - to be one of the media judges in this year's Vanfoodster Sundae Challenge. I was delighted because you know I'm a big, and I mean BIG fan of desserts. On the other hand, it was daunting because I tend to shiver like a little Chihuaha all year round regardless of the temperatures outside. In any group setting, I'm guaranteed to be the one person in the room wearing the most clothes all the while asking for the heat to be turned up or the AC to be turned down.  Putting the shivers aside, I have also been trying to stay disciplined on my diet. As you can remember from my recent post about how I lost my 5 pound "dessert weight",  my goal was to eventually lose 7 pounds in total. I did ultimately lose 6 pounds so I was of course a bit weary about eating 11 sundaes in a span of 3 weeks. Nevertheless, this was not called a sundae challenge for nothing. I decided to embrace it head on with a game plan.

    How to Eat 11 Sundaes without Gaining Weight

    I devoted certain days to eat 2 sundaes in a day. Instead of eating them on separate days, the days when I ate 2 sundaes were my "cheat days". I made sure they were in the same areas and I would walk to these shops. Most of the time it took over an hour to reach each shop in the sweltering late summer heat so my plan had a two-fold effect. I would burn calories and warm myself up before eating each delicious cold treat. I felt it was a dubious plan but incidentally, my scale ran out of batteries when the challenge started so I had no way to see if I was on or off track with my weight. More on that later.

    What makes a Great Sundae Creation?

    After tasting each sundae, we were asked to give each creation a score from 0 to 40. 10 for originality/uniqueness, 10 for presentation and most importantly taste which accounted for half the overall score at 20 points.

    Every creation had a special name and some even had little stories which added to its originality. For example, the Earth Sun and Stars by Umaluma featured black vanilla ice cream with gold flakes which represents the stars in the sky and the Akbar Mashti ( tradional Iranian saffron ice cream) represents the sun.

    An attractive presentation was also important since sundaes are presented as sum of it's parts - ice cream and fixings like chocolate, syrup, candy, sprinkles etc. And mind you, some were really flashy like the three tiered ice cream bubble waffle creation by Tmix Tea; some had a more elegant appeal like the Summer Pavlova by Beyond Coffee - a dainty pastel colored concoction that featured soft purple blueberry ice cream on top of a snow white meringue nest filled with lemon curd.

    Lastly, taste was deemed most important and the sundaes that I finished completely on my own usually received the highest score in that department for me. Calories cannot be wasted when you're dieting! 🙂

    Take a look at each sundae and when you're done, head over to Vanfoodster's page to see if your pick was crowned the winner for this year's challenge.

    Final Weigh-In

    I finally bought batteries for my scale and did a little weigh in. I gained 2 pounds from the 6 that I lost. It was worth it and I'm just glad it wasn't more than that since some of the creations were so good, I finished them all by myself. This post got me thinking again and I think I will be back for another sundae sooner than later.

    I hope you enjoyed my sundae journey. Until our next dessert date.

    XOXO,

    Mimi

    This sundae by Beyond Coffee is composed of a pretty meringue nest filled with lemon cream and topped with blueberry gelato and compote.

    Beyond Coffee in Century Plaza Hotel

    Summer Pavlova

    Price: $4.75

    Offered: All the time.

    1015 Burrard Street, Vancouver Tel: 604-687-0575

    "Dat Sundae Dough" from Innocent Icecream features Vanilla ice cream topped with gluten-free peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie dough, whipped cream and crunchy cookie pieces.

    Innocent Ice Cream Parlour

    Dat Sundae, Dough!

    Price: $9.95

    Offered: daily

    A: 4895 Main Street, Vancouver Tel: 604-879 8584

    This is the Creme Brulee Sundae from Ice Queen - pudding dessert on top of flash frozen pudding ice cream rolls. (Another pudding was broken down and then incorporated into the ice cream mixture, then rolled. The flavours really come through.)

    I.ce Queen

    Puddilicous

    Price: $9.71

    2967 West Broadway, Vancouver

    2355-4000 No 3 Road, Richmond

    I couldn't have found a more fitting sundae to eat on solar eclipse day 2017 at umalumagelato. The black vanilla ice cream with gold flakes represents the stars in the sky and the Akbar Mashti ( tradional Iranian saffron ice cream) represents the sun.

    Umaluma

    Earth Sun and Stars

    Price: $9.75

    Type: Plant-based ice cream

    Offered: ask for availability

    A: 235 East Pender Street, Vancouver Tel:604 559 5862

    Lychee Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream with tiny chunks of water chestnut which adds a nice crunchy texture in a healthy way.

    77K Freeze

    Snowflake Freeze

    Price: $ 8

    A: 2240 Commercial Drive, Vancouver Tel: 604-868-2430

    I definitely needed back up for this vanilla bean gelato topped with two fresh churros and cinnamon dust adorned by a mini concha.

    Hugo’s Churros

    Churro y Concha Sundae

    Price: $12.50

    Offered: All the time

    A: 7899 Templeton Station Rd, Richmond

    This sundae is made with  local organic milk, organic cane sugar, & fresh ricotta from Scardillo Cheese, with an added hint of orange zest. And there's really a cannoli on top of this sundae along with caramelized Okanagan peaches, candied pecans topped with crushed Sicilian Cannoli shells and chocolate drizzle. Okay, let's just say it has everything 🙂

    Dolce Amore

    Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli Sundae

    Price:$8

    A: 1588 Commercial Drive, Vancouver Tel: (604) 258-0006

    Sour Cherry and Pistachio ice cream nestled inside a light and crispy waffle bowl. It's name and inspiration comes from it's predecessor, the sour cherry chocolate bar with the same name.

    Lisa Lou’s Chocolate Bar

    Sue Sundae

    Price: $8

    Offered: Sun, Tues, Wed 12-8 pm; Thurs-Sat 12-10 pm. Closed Mondays.

    A: 1007 Main Street, Vancouver Tel: 604 689 8219

    This sundae is made with Cocowhip (vegan coconut soft serve) and topped with crunchy oats, hemp seeds and matcha. I hear it's Canada's first vegan soft soft.

    Kokomo

    Crunchy Matcha Oatmeal with Hemp Seeds

    Price: $8

    Offered: all the time.

    A: 611 Gore Avenue, Vancouver Tel:(604) 428-6599

    Have you ever had sweet corn ice cream? It's my first time ? a sundae filled with Salted Caramel and Sweet corn Ice cream topped with popcorn, gummies and chips.

    Chocolate Arts

    Movie Night

    Price: $8

    Offered: Monday to Saturday 10am-6 pm

    A: 1620 West 3rd Aveuue, Vancouver Tel: 604 739 0475

    3 layers of bubble waffles sandwiched in between 5 scoops of housemade ice cream surrounded by mini mochis. It's meant to feed 2-4 people. What was I thinking trying to tackle this alone? 🙂

    Tmix Tea & Dessert

    Signature Bubble Waffle Pyramid Sundae

    Price: $21.95 (serves 2-4 persons)

    Offered: all the time

    A: 3432 Cambie Street, Vancouver

    A: 2790 West Broadway, Vancouver

    A: 4538 Kingsway, Burnaby

    [srp post_limit='5' post_random='yes' category_include= 131 widget_title = 'Other Vancouver Life Moments'

    Afternoon Tea at Mosquito in Gastown

    Aug 27, 2017 · Leave a Comment

    Updated 2018: Mosquito has closed permanently.

    It's rare to find a late night dessert bar that is both sophisticated and sexy in this city but there is one establishment that happens to possess that elusive quality - Mosquito in Gastown. Opened since 2015, Mosquito has made a name for itself as an upscale dessert and champagne lounge. They have an extensive drinks menu filled with smart cocktails, wine and post-dinner drinks. Their decadent and perfectly plated desserts are also a draw although you'd never be able to capture a good photo since it has that sexy dark candle-lit ambiance that is mesmerizing for romance but not so much for the camera shutter - until now.

    Afternoon Tea in a Dessert and Champagne Lounge

    Over the summer, Mosquito introduced it's afternoon tea service with sittings on Sunday afternoons only from 1-4pm. It was nice to see the lounge in the daytime since I have only been there once during the evening. This time, in the light, the beautiful architectural details were definitely more perceivable and eye catching.

    The Food

    For a dessert heavy weight like Mosquito, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the savoury offerings were also just as delicious as the desserts. I enjoyed every piece on the tray and even the one dessert piece which didn't "work" for my taste - the miso chocolate tart - was impressive in it's presentation and unique flavour pairing. Another edgier offering was the savoury macaron filled with mozzarella cream and tomato sauce. The only other time I remembered having a savoury macaron during afternoon tea was at the HK Ritz Carlton.

    I would highly recommend it for anyone who appreciates fine desserts. On the service side, it's professional but since it's a boutique business, you won't find the same level of attentiveness as you would when having tea at a hotel. However, it's mid-price position, amazing dessert selection and chic ambiance fully compensates for that. Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with this fresh take on afternoon tea, it dared to push the boundaries a bit while maintaining a certain level of sophistication and beauty.

    Click to view the Tea Menu at Mosquito

    Mosquito Afternoon Tea Menu. Click to view.

    A generous basket filled with tiny madeleines.

    A pistachio raspberry mouse cake sits prominently on the upper tier.

    Left: pistachio raspberry mousse. Right: chocolate coffee mousse and mango mandarin jelly with cocoa sponge.

    Miso Chocolate Tart with chocolate walnut ganache, miso butterscotch mousse topped with chocolate caviar.

    Left: citrus and avocado semifreddo with candie kumquat and honey yuzu foam. Right: strawberry eclair filled with mascarpone rose creme and strawberry jam.

    Notable Points:
    - the afternoon tea service provides an opportunity to experience this sexy lounge in the daytime

    - sweetss and savouries are both equally good

    - the newest afternoon tea offering in Vancouver

    - excellent value for money. High food quality and ambiance with a mid-range price position

    - lots of other shops and restaurants nearby on Water Street for you to make a day out of your tea experience

    Ambience: Sleek and sexy lounge with dark booth seating and wooden tables. High industrial ceilings with specially designed pendant light fixtures. There are 2 small tables by the windows. The restaurant is partitioned into two parts, one in the front and one in the back which is much darker in the daytime.

    Scones: There were no scones offered, instead, we received a generous basket of tiny olive & orange blossom madeleines. They were tender with a delicate trace of orange blossom.

    Savoury: All the savouries were surprisingly well executed for a dessert heavy weight like Mosquito. I was pleasantly surprised by the smoked salmon sandwich, the bread had a nice chew and paired perfectly with an herbaceous creme fraiche. The shell of the prosciutto quiche had a delightful buttery flavor and crumbly texture but the prosciutto itself could have been more flavorful. The savory macaron really took me by surprise. The macaron shell was expertly made and assembled with a savory filling of mozzarella cream and tomato sauce. The shell was full and slightly chewy and this was even consistent in the unassembled shell which did not appear to have undergone the same maturation process as the assembled one. All the savouries were of a good size. Not teeny tiny.

    Sweets: The sweets exhibited all the qualities of desserts made by an expert pastry chef - correct textures, discernible flavours, complex flavour pairings finished with a sophisticated presentation. My favourites were the Chocolate Coffee Mousse with mango jelly, Eclair a la Fraise with a fragrant mascarpone rose creme and strawberry jam, and the Citrus & Avocado semifreddo which was had a smooth texture and played on varying degrees of tartness between the citric elements of yuzu curd, candied kumquat and honey yuzu foam. The Miso Chocolate Tart was a bit more ambitious flavour pairing and I didn't find that it worked for me. It was a little flat since it was neither sweet nor salty and it had a little smokey bitter aftertaste. I did appreciate the exquisite presentation of the chocolate caviar on top and that did taste good on it's own.

    Tea: A small collection of teas. It's one of the most pared-down tea list I've ever seen for afternoon tea. There is 3 black, 1 green and 3 herbal. Well, I guess when you're at Mosquito you're not expected to enjoy hot tea since their alcoholic drink selections are sleeker and more unique.

    Tea Ware: The desserts and savouries were presented on a hip 2 tiered wooden tea tray while the madeleines were nestled inside a dark blue napkin and served in a small bread basket which was lightly dusted with powdered sugar. The rest of the tea ware were simple and white.

    Alcoholic Beverages: Similar to Trump Hotel, Laduree, Fairmont Pacific Rim, Notch 8, alcoholic beverages can be ordered with the tea set. Ranges from $13-$25 per drink.

    Service: Professional service with attention to detail. It was a bit understaffed as we found it easier and faster to flag down someone at the service station for most of the requests we were making. Once found, everyone was more than happy to help.

    Other notes:

    ♥ Tea Set $40/per person
    (includes one pot of tea)

    Basket full of mini madeleines, 4 savouries, 5 sweets

    Can add alcoholic beverages for an additional cost depending on selection. Ranges from $13-$25

    ♥ Reserve by phone: (604) 398-3188

    ♥ Parking: Metered street parking along Water Street or a sheltered parking lot on 160 Water Street. It's called Easy Park and it also has spaces for EVO and Car2Go share cars.

    Monday - Friday $2.75 per hour (daily maximum $13 before 6pm, $9 after 6 pm)

    Saturday - Sunday $2.75 per hour (daily maximum $9)

    Waterfront Skytrain Station is a 7 minute walk away.

    ♥ Address: 32 Water St, Vancouver, BC V6B 1A4

    ♥ TEL: (604) 398-3188

    [pt_view id="d749ae79dr"]
    [pt_view id="342f946uh1"]

    Our Ladies Floral Themed Private Dinner by Vancouver's Dinner in the Sky Chef

    Aug 27, 2017 · Leave a Comment

    Here is Part 1 of 3 events that I will share with Deborah Moore tomorrow on AM1470.

    I'm always up for a good time in the company of other women who enjoy a nice meal and pretty party decors so this past weekend's ladies night was a real delight. A fellow blogger, Maggie, YouTuber, Cici, her two friends and I had a lovely private dinner prepared by Vancouver's original Dinner in the Sky chef, Travis Petersen. The night was made all the more special by the group effort bringing the beautiful dinner to fruition. Maggie organized, Cici hosted and decorated, Kelly contributed an exquisite floral arrangement for the table and I made macarons, of course 🙂

    Here's a little glimpse into our night:

    The Decor

    Many private chefs hold private "underground" dinners in their own homes nowadays but part of this special experience was having our chef, Travis Petersen, come to us which allowed us to decorate the space in any way we desired. Cici, our gracious host, did all the decorating. She made a colorful feature wall with hanging pom poms in pretty pastel colors which ended up looking marvelous in photos. She also prepared a pretty table setting complete with a pastel colored floral arrangement, photogenic tableware and plate chargers. Kelly also contributed by bringing a beautiful arrangement of roses and hydrangeas encased in a modern gold trimmed terranium.

    The Drinks

    Prior to the party, Cici showed me her idea of putting edible flowers into ice cubes for our drinks. She asked me where she could find them and I was at a loss even though I had always intended to use real flowers in my macarons one day. The next best thing I could think of was my mom's organic garden. She had organic lavender which I thought just might work. So I dropped them off with Cici prior to the party and she put them into ice cubes. I just didn't know they were long ice cubes. WOW! The long ice cubes ended up working perfectly because lavender is a vertical growing flower, and the long cubes looked wonderful peaking out of the wine glass. (BTW, I discovered you can find organic edible flowers at Whole Foods! It's in the refrigerated herbs section.)

    The Food

    Chef Petersen prepared a scrumptious 4 course meal that one would find in any fine dining restaurant. We had Grilled Portobello mushroom nicoise and ahi tuna ceviche crispy sesame wonton crackers with asian mango and avocado salad to start. The main was an absolutely delicious Crispy skin salmon with squid ink noodles on a roasted red pepper and saffron veloute. Lastly, we ended the meal with a port poached pear with vanilla pastry cream, edible flower and cake crumble.

    And not only does he cook, he also does the dishes too. So you can sit back and relax with a glass of wine and enjoy the night without worrying about the work that awaits you once your guests leave.

    Private Chef, Travis Petersen. A local boy, he has made a name for himself as the original Dinner in the Sky YVR Chef and as a competitor in season 3 of Master Chef Canada.

    Grilled Portobello Mushroom Nicoise - grilled portobello mushroom topped with olives, roasted red pepper, grape tomato, fresh basil, goat cheese and a nicoise dressing (red wine vinegar, olive oil, capers, anchovies, garlic, chilli flakes)

    Ahi Tuna Ceviche Crispy Sesame Wonton Crackers with Asian Mango and Avocado Salad.

    Crispy skin salmon with squid ink noodles on a roasted red pepper and saffron veloute.

    The salmon was slightly raw in the center so it was juicy and tender. The saffron veloute was full of flavours from long cooking process. He had this sauce simmering for over an hour.

    Port poached pear with vanilla pastry cream, edible flower and cake crumble.

    The Photos

    When you eat with food bloggers nowadays, it's almost a rule to make natural light readily available either through a window or open door for the purpose of food photography. Here we are outside on the pavement making use of the little bit of sunlight left before dinner.

    The Macarons

    And finally, I think we can all agree that a floral themed party absolutely requires floral themed macarons right? Here is my little contribution to the party - lavender lemon macarons. The shell color was kept mostly in its original almond colour with a tiny bit of Americolor gold. Once they were assembled, I brushed a tiny bit of gold dust onto the surface to create a pretty shimmer effect.

    As for the filling, I piped a ring of lavender buttercream on the outside and placed a dallop of lemon buttercream on the inside. It's one of my favorite flavor combos! After having one, I was pleasantly surprised when Chef Petersen asked me for more of these 🙂

    There's been a lot of request for this recipe so I'll get it up for you as soon as I can. It's been a beautiful, busy and crazy summer. There has been so many wonderful experiences that I am trying to live-in-the-moment for so please bear with me and I hope you are all enjoying your summer too!

    Thanks for reading!

    XOXO,

    Mimi

    [srp post_limit='5' post_random='yes' category_include= 131 widget_title = 'Other Vancouver Life Moments']

    Matcha Green Tea Macarons with Strawberry Buttercream - Naturally Coloured and Flavoured

    Aug 3, 2017 · 22 Comments

    Matcha macarons filled with strawberry cream that is naturally colored and flavored. The shells are extra flavorful with green tea powder.

    Stack of naturally colored green tea macarons filled with strawberry filling.

    This recipe was influenced by a dinner party experience I had in which one of the guests was concerned about food that contained food colouring. Before eating each dessert item, he asked diligently if it contained any food colouring. Unfortunately, I had indeed used some food colouring in the macaron shells so he couldn't have any due to his concern in regards to it. It really got me thinking. Yes, brightly colored baked goods are so cute and too darn photogenic for their own good but not everyone may feel comfortable ingesting it. So I created this new recipe which is naturally flavoured and colored. Today I present to you this Matcha Green Tea Macaron filled with Strawberry Swiss Buttercream.

    In the last matcha macaron recipe I wrote, I included the addition of a few drops of Americolor's Avocado gel color to give the shells the typical vibrant green color one comes to expect in their macarons. This time, I left out the Avo green gel color and let the natural colors of the matcha come through. As you can see, the result is a more muted and mossy green. As for the strawberry buttercream, the pink color derives solely from the real strawberries used in the recipe. I quite admire this natural colour combo and believe you can take great pride in letting your guests know that this macaron is naturally colored and flavoured from raw ingredients. It also tastes absolutely delicious - a winning combo! I'm proud to have this new recipe in my recipe box and I hope you will be too.

    Happy Baking!
    XOXO, Mimi

    Stack of matcha strawberry macarons on a counter with some loose green tea powder.

    Recipe

    Yield: 12

    REAL Strawberry Swiss Buttercream

    REAL Strawberry Swiss Buttercream

    Matcha macarons filled with strawberry cream that is naturally colored and flavored. The shells are extra flavorful with green tea powder.

    Prep Time 2 hours
    Cook Time 14 minutes
    Rest Time 30 minutes
    Total Time 2 hours 44 minutes

    Ingredients

    Matcha Green Tea Macaron Shell

    • 65 grams almond flour
    • 65 grams icing sugar
    • 1 tablespoon matcha green tea powder
    • 45 grams castor sugar
    • 50 grams egg whites, aged, room temperature
    • ⅛ tsp. cream of tartar

    Fresh Strawberry Puree

    • 350 grams fresh organic strawberries
    • 6 teaspoon granulated sugar

    Swiss Meringue Buttercream

    • 65 grams egg whites
    • 130 grams granulated sugar
    • 195 grams room temperature butter
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • 1-1 ½ teaspoon strawberry extract (optional)

    Instructions

    Basic Macaron Shell

    1. Set aged egg whites out at room temperature.
    2. Pulse almond flour and icing sugar together in a food processor to further break down any large pieces of almond flour.
    3. Sift dry ingredients: almond flour, icing sugar and matcha powder. Discard big pieces of almond that can't be sifted.
    4. If you are new to making macarons, please read the instructions to my BEST MACARON RECIPE before attempting to follow the rest of the instructions since it is condensed for the advanced macaron baker.
    5. With the balloon whisk attached, whip the room temperature egg whites on low-medium speed.
    6. Add cream of tartar when it becomes foamy.
    7. Turn up the speed to medium.
    8. Once the whisk starts to leave tracks in the egg whites, add sugar a little at a time.
    9. Turn the speed up to medium-high and whip until firm peaks, stop mixer and add gel food color if desired. Continue whipping on medium-high until stiff peaks.
    10. Fold the dry mix and meringue together until the batter becomes a "lava" or honey-like consistency.
    11. Transfer batter into a piping bag fitted with a round piping tip.
    12. On parchment paper or silicone mats, pipe out round shaped macarons. 
    13. Rap the tray hard on the counter to remove any excess air bubbles. Use a toothpick to pop any remaining bubbles. 
    14. Wait until the shells become completely dry before baking. 
    15. Bake at 325F for 12-14 minutes. Every oven is different, you may need to adjust your own temperature settings. Please read How to Use Your Home Oven Properly for Baking Macarons if you are unsure.
    16. Macarons are done when the foot doesn't push back and the tops don't move when you wiggle it. 
    17. Once baked, let cool completely before removing from the baking mat/parchment paper.

    Fresh Strawberry Puree

    1. Wash strawberry and remove stem and a bit of the surrounding white flesh with a paring knife. Dry it with paper towels. 
    2. Place the strawberries and sugar in a small pot, boil on LOW heat for approx 30 minutes. 
    3. It will start to break down by itself. Occasionally, stir the mixture so the sugars and juices come together. 
    4. Using a heat proof spatula, occasionally press down on the fruit very gently to help break it down. If it is still hard, just let it break down by itself until its soft enough to push down on it with the spatula. 
    5. It will reduce into a very thick, chunky compote that is not runny. Take off heat after appr. 30 min. (Watch accompanying video to see the proper consistency. You may need to keep it on the heat some more if it is still runny.)
    6. Pour the compote into a food processor or blender and blend for a minute or two until the fruit is all broken down. 
    7. Pour through a sieve into a heat proof cup. The mixture is thick so use a spoon to push it through. If the consistency is correct, you should have about 3 tablespoons of puree. Set puree aside. 

    Swiss Buttercream

    1. Cut up butter and let it come to room temperature as you measure out other ingredients. 
    2. Add sugar and egg whites into a heat proof mixing bowl. Stainless steel is light and safe.
    3. Place over a pot of boiling water. 
    4. Whisk the whites & sugar mix over the boiling water.
    5. Pay attention to whisking the mixture when it starts getting hot, you don’t want to cook the eggs.
    6. Whisk the mixture until the temperature reaches 160F. This temperature is generally accepted to be able to kill salmonella in eggs.
    7. Pour the mixture into the Kitchenaid mixer and whisk on low with the balloon whisk, then turn it up to medium.
    8. Once the mixture is thick and glossy, and the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch, stop mixer. Change the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment.
    9. Add butter a little bit at a time while beating with the paddle attachment on medium speed.
    10. The mixture might look curdled or separated for a while but keep mixing. It will all come together.
    11. Add strawberry puree a tea-spoonful at a time to a max of 3 tablespoons. Beat until incorporated. 
    12. Add strawberry extract if desired and incorporate. 

    Notes

    1. Castor sugar is also known as extra fine granulated sugar or berry sugar. Granulated sugar can be used by castor sugar is preferable.

    Recommended Products

    As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    • Round Piping Tip #10
      Round Piping Tip #10
    • Ateco Disposable Piping Bags, 12-Inch, Pack of 100
      Ateco Disposable Piping Bags, 12-Inch, Pack of 100
    • USA Pan Rimless Baking Sheet for Better Airflow to Macaron Shells
      USA Pan Rimless Baking Sheet for Better Airflow to Macaron Shells
    • Regular Sized Silpat  Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat
      Regular Sized Silpat Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat
    • McCormick Gourmet All Natural Cream Of Tartar, 2.62 oz
      McCormick Gourmet All Natural Cream Of Tartar, 2.62 oz
    • C&h Powdered Sugar 4 Lbs (1)
      C&h Powdered Sugar 4 Lbs (1)
    • India Tree Superfine Caster Baking Sugar, 1 lb. bag
      India Tree Superfine Caster Baking Sugar, 1 lb. bag
    • C&H Pure Cane, Granulated White Sugar, 10 lb
      C&H Pure Cane, Granulated White Sugar, 10 lb
    • Anthony's Almond Flour Blanched, 2lb, Batch Tested Gluten Free, Non GMO, Vegan, Keto Friendly
      Anthony's Almond Flour Blanched, 2lb, Batch Tested Gluten Free, Non GMO, Vegan, Keto Friendly
    • Food Processor for Almond Flour
      Food Processor for Almond Flour
    • Jade Leaf Organic Matcha Green Tea Powder - Authentic Japanese Origin - Culinary Grade - Premium 2nd Harvest [3.53oz]
      Jade Leaf Organic Matcha Green Tea Powder - Authentic Japanese Origin - Culinary Grade - Premium 2nd Harvest [3.53oz]

    Nutrition Information

    Yield

    12

    Serving Size

    1 grams

    Amount Per Serving Calories 248Total Fat 16gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 35mgSodium 170mgCarbohydrates 26gFiber 1gSugar 24gProtein 3g

    This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although indulgewithmimi.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

    Did you make this recipe? Share your results with me 🙂

    Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

    © Mimi
    Cuisine: french / Category: Macarons
    Close up of rows of strawberry matcha macarons.

    [pt_view id="764f142lrm"]

    • « Go to Previous Page
    • Page 1
    • Interim pages omitted …
    • Page 4
    • Page 5
    • Page 6
    • Page 7
    • Page 8
    • Interim pages omitted …
    • Page 11
    • Go to Next Page »

    Primary Sidebar

    Mimi Macarons Head Shot

    Writer and photographer behind IndulgeWithMimi ♥ Join me for posts about Vancouver life, style, baking and my obsession: #MacaronArt ♥

    More about me →

    Fall Desserts

    • A square slice of pumpkin Tres Leches cake rests on a plate with a small pumpkin and a small bowl of spice next to it.
      30 Minute Pumpkin Spice Tres Leches with Cake Mix
    • Many mini pumpkin cupcakes decorated with buttercream to look like pumpkin leaves on a round plate.
      3D Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes without a Mold
    • An pumpkin cake roll on a wooden tray with little pumpkins on top with cream.
      Asian-style Pumpkin Spice Cake Roll with Cream Cheese Filling
    • Pumpkin spice macarons on a heart shaped plate with pumpkin
      Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Macarons

    MOST HELPFUL MACARON POSTS

    • Close up of two non-hollow macarons assembled with fillings.
      The Best French Macaron Recipe w/ Video & Template
    • Yummy Macaron Filling Ideas
    • Macarons with various problems like cracks, hollow, lopsided problems are shown.
      Macaron Troubleshooting Guide
    • Mandarin orange macarons on a plate.
      Correctly Using Your Home Oven for Baking Macarons

    MACARON TEMPLATES

    • A half birthday cake made from whipped cream and fresh strawberries topped with a cake topper that says "half".
      A Strawberries and Cream Half Birthday Cake for Bibi's 6-Month Birthday (Cake Topper Template)
    • How to Make a Cute Macaron Box for Your Character Macarons (Template)
    • Horse Carousel Macaron Cake (w/ Template)
    • Pink Bear Bridal Macarons Favors with Royal Sugar Roses (Bear Template)

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Info

    • about
    • contact
    • Privacy 

    recipe index

    • All Recipes
    • Macaron Recipes
    • Macaron Baking How To’s
    • Macaron Knowledge & Books
    • Cakes

    Newsletter

    • Subscribe for Templates
    • Subscriber's Login

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2023 Indulge With Mimi