Two things I learnt from this recipe:
– Transferring the choux batter to a piping bag and using that to pipe into another piping bag eliminates air pockets
– Misting the choux with oil before baking will eliminate ripping and create evenly shaped choux
– Cooling the choux dough allows it to be piped neater
Bananas take on a lovely deep flavor when baked, releasing their juices and caramelizing on top. There is nothing quite like a house perfumed by sweet roasting bananas. Too bad they look like they’ve emerged on the losing end of a fight, all soft, bruised and black in places. My gracious guests’ only comment was that it was very good. This is a dessert for people who can appreciate inner beauty.
1 Fuji, 2 Royal Galas, 2 Granny Smiths
In our country of eternal summer, the changing seasons evoked by this rustic fruit tart makes up a large part of its appeal. It appears in other blogs with impromptu visits from friends, farmer’s markets, and weather cool enough for dough to survive more than 2 mintues out of the fridge. I try to create these experiences by making galette.
When the incorporation of butter and flour is such a bitch in this weather, the recipe had better worth it. The fat had always been cut in with fingers (too darn hot) and two forks (painfully slow). Any flaky dough was approached with a mild sense of tedium and a lot of freezer time.
For my virgin macaron attempt I used the Italian meringue method as it’s supposed to be more stable and had a smaller proportion of sugar compared to other versions. The recipe was quartered to reduce waste keeping in mind the high failure rate of macarons.
It’s shocking how many eggs go into lemon curd, one could probably fry a lemon omelet with the stuff. I was busy taking pictures of the thickening mixture and in a matter of seconds, the curd started developing disturbingly solid-ish lumps. The curd turned out quite tasty after sieving out the egg scramble (I didn’t taste those, thank you), albeit a little eggier than I’d like. Serves me right for not watching it more closely.
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Happy Lemon Squares
Is there a better flavor than lemon? Today, the answer is no. Not when you’re holding a square of sunshiny yellow lemon bar. The filling is tart and sweet and the addition of an whole lemon, pith and all, lends an additional flavor depth. Each bite is a little burst of happy days and sunshiny countries and the wild vigor of youth. The lemon filling dissolves in seconds but the memory lingers on.
The tiniest batch of matcha sables were sliced off and baked today (6, if you must know. I would want to.) and vanished within 5 minutes under a poor guise of quality control. Today the test group consisted of my curious little brother and I. Quality control says that it needs more matcha powder, and little brother agrees. About 5-10g more, I’m lovable like that. Ishida’s recipe calls for pastry flour (8-10% protein) and more sugar in proportion to flour and butter compared to Greenspan’s which uses regular flour. Upcoming post on a test of each recipe, my inner baking geek wiggles in anticipation.
Lemon Chocolate Salt 