Dulce de Leche Macarons

Thanksgiving is around the corner!!! Basically a holiday revolving around food- a foodie's favorite ;) You can find a lot of great Thanksgiving recipes here on the blog. I haven't gotten to a turkey yet, but I'm sure you'll find lots of great sides and desserts to feast upon.

It's been a while since I've made a macaron-dedicated post. I actually was supposed to bring these to a church Thanksgiving potluck, but too many of them didn't turn out nice- sometimes my oven gives me a really hard time (ugh). Still, I managed to get at least a couple pretty ones.. I had to share the recipe because the flavor is great!

A lot of my recipes come together when I look through my fridge and find things that I don't know if I would use in my day to day food adventures. This recipe came together when I had some leftover buttercream from Helen's baby shower and sweetened condensed milk. Sweetened condensed milk makes the best dulce de leche. It's not your typical caramel- it's got a much deeper, creamier flavor that kind of makes your heart melt. Not to mention, it's a great "put it in a pot and forget about it" kind of recipe. 

Dulce de Leche Macarons (makes about 30)
Shells
100 g Almond Flour
120 g Confectioner's Sugar
50 g Granulated Sugar
70 g Egg Whites (2 large whites)
Orange, Green, and Red Gel Color

1. Pulse almond flour and powdered sugar in a food processor until very finely ground. Be careful not to grind too long, because it will release all of the oils, ruining your final product.
2. Sift the powder with a medium-mesh sieve.
3. Place the particles that are too large to fit through the sieve back into the food processor, pulse, and sift again. Throw out the excess pieces.
4. In a grease-free bowl, place your egg whites and sugar. Allow to sit for a few minutes to begin to dissolve.
5. Use grease-free beaters on high speed to whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Add in the gel color. You want a very full color because the added almond flour and sugar will dull the color. You're looking for a light brown/caramel color.
6. Use a rubber spatula to fold the powdered sugar and almond flour into the meringue until the batter moves slowly, like lava. If you run your spatula through it, it should fall together after 5-7 seconds.
7. Put the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip (3/8 inch). 
8. Pipe rounds that are about an inch apart onto a nonstick baking mat (silpat) that is placed onto a cookie sheet. 
9. Do this by holding the bag straight up about half an inch above the silpat, applying pressure to the bag until about 3/4 inch in diameter, and then lessen the pressure as you drag backward. Once you reach the desired length, quickly move the bag in the opposite direction that you dragged it, to leave a smooth edge. Make sure there is enough space to spread.
10. Rap your cookie sheet/sheet pan on the table a few times to make sure there are no bumps on the macaron shells.
11. Let rest until dry to the touch (about 30-45 minutes, longer on rainy days). Sprinkle a small amount of flake sea salt on the dried shell.
12. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. If you have a convection oven, use convection.
13. Bake macaron shells on the second shelf of the oven for 14-17 minutes, until they do not wiggle when nudged.
14. Remove from oven and allow shells to cool completely before removing from the silpat.

Buttercream Filling
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Egg White
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Butter

1. Carefully place the can of sweetened condensed milk into a pot of gently boiling water- do not remove the condensed milk from the can. You will want to boil the can for about 2.5 hours. Make sure you put the can on its side, and keep adding water to cover the can.
2. Once the time has finished, remove the can from the water with a slotted spoon or tongs, and allow the condensed milk to cool to room temperature. Do not open the can until it is cooled. 
3. Fill a pot with some water and begin to boil.
4. Place the egg white and sugar into a medium sized, heat proof, grease-free bowl. Place the bowl on top of the pot of boiling water.
5. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved (110 degrees F). Check by rubbing the mixture between your fingers to feel for sugar granules.
6. Mix on high speed to make a meringue.
7. When cool to the touch, add softened butter and mix until it comes together.
8. It will break apart and look like scrambled eggs. Continue to mix until it becomes a soft paste.
9. Once the dulce de leche is completely cool, fold about half into the buttercream. You may only need about half of the dulce de leche. Add more dulce de leche if you want more of the flavor.

Assembly
1. Pair the shells by size. You should have about 20 pairs of shells.
2. Put the buttercream into a piping bag with the same tip that you used to pipe the macarons.
3. Pipe the buttercream so that it is covering about 1/2 of the surface of the bottom of the shell.
4. Put the pairs together to create a "sandwich". 
5. Place in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to develop.

6. Let the macarons come to room temperature before you serve them.

This is a recipe that is sure to impress. the little bit of saltiness adds a perfect depth to the sweet cookie. If you don't have time to make the macarons, you can always use dulce de leche on toast, ice cream, milkshakes, cookies, brownies... really anything that you want to make even more delicious. It's unique, tasty, and simple!

Welcoming Baby Matthew!

This weekend, I was able to cater a baby shower for one of my friends from church! She's expecting her second- a little baby boy!! I was extremely excited to work with her to make some tea/brunch themed food for everyone who came to welcome baby Matthew!

One of the items on the menu was quiche! I was able to come up with 3 different flavors- caramelized onion, spinach and feta, and ham and cheddar. They were a great compliment to one another, and to the rest of the menu. I've included the recipe for the spinach and feta and ham and cheddar below!

You can get creative with the fillings for the quiche! The crust is a flaky pastry that greatly accompanies the rich egg custard filling. Any filling would go great with this!

Assorted Mini Quiche (makes 24)

Crust:
9 oz All Purpose Flour
1 stick Butter
3 tbsp Shortening
3 oz Cold Water

1. Cut the cold butter into small cubes (1cm x 1cm).
2. Put the pieces into the flour and salt. Make sure each cube is coated.
3. Press the butter to flat pieces. Add the shortening.
4. Rub the butter between your fingers to make flakes. Continue until the butter chunks are about the size of a pea.
5. Create a well in the center of the flour and pour your cold water into it.
6. Bring your flour towards the center of the well a little bit at a time, until it is completely incorporated.
7. Flatten your dough slightly and wrap it in plastic. Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, until it is chilled.

Filling:
1 cup Milk
3 Eggs
2 Egg Yolk
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder

1. Lightly beat your eggs and yolks.
2. Add milk and seasoning.
3. Pour into a container with a pour spout, or a liquid measuring cup. 

Topping:
Spinach
Feta Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
Ham

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease two muffin tins.
2. Roll out your crust dough to about a quarter inch thick.
3. Use a 3 inch round cutter to cut out rounds.
4. Place the round into the muffin tin.
5. Press the dough into the bottom and sides of the tin. If you must re-roll the dough, be sure to chill it for about 15 minutes in between rolls. This is so the dough has a moment to rest and does not shrink.
6. Place spinach and feta cheese into to bottom of 12 crusts. You should tear the spinach to fit well into the crust.
7. Cut cheddar cheese and ham into small pieces, then place into the bottom of the remaining dozen crusts.
8. Pour the filling into the crust, filling almost to the top of each crust. You want to leave a short amount of space, just to prevent overflowing.
9. Bake the tarts for about 25-30 minutes, until the crust is golden and the custard is set.
10. Cool slightly and remove from the tins.

We had a few other great menu items to enjoy, too: scones and peach jam, tea sandwiches (egg salad, cucumber, and tomato), portabello and goat cheese spread with crackers, pumpkin cheesecake, cupcakes, and of course, macarons! We also had a fun blueberry spritzer for the ladies to enjoy. 

I loved getting the opportunity to serve Helen and her family and some of our friends before the arrival from baby Matthew! We are so excited to welcome him into the world!!! If you want to have a deliciowhso catered event, click the tab above, and be sure to contact me! I'd love to connect and work with you to make your event perfect! :)

Chi and Yusuke Wedding

Chi and Yusuke had a really beautiful wedding back in October. I was honored to be able to work with them to develop the cake that they wanted! Chi reached out to me towards the beginning of this year to see if I'd be able to do their wedding cake. A couple phone conversations and a tasting later, we had a plan for the perfect cake!

Chi and Yusuke ended up deciding to do a white sponge with a light chocolate mousse filling for their flavor. They wanted the cake to have a smooth buttercream on the outside, with a palette knife finish and decadent florals. They got the most beautiful gold cake topper that perfectly complemented the flowers.

This couple was such a joy to work with- they are both Atlanta artists and animators. They work together and have been dating for years! Chi made her own invitations and a lot of the decorations. Chi and Yusuke are a really kind couple, and I look forward to being able to work with them again!

Chi graciously provided me with these beautiful pictures taken by their photographer at the wedding. Chris Wong, an Atlanta-based photographer took these stunning pictures. You can check out more of his work at his website.

Stay tuned for a fun recipe to celebrate fall next week!!! I think the technical difficulties have been solved- I'm so looking forward to posting regularly again!

Chocolate Cake with Caramel Buttercream

Caramel and chocolate basically go hand in hand, right? This is a great recipe for a rich, delicious, and simple chocolate cake that is nothing short of awesome. I layered a chocolate cake with caramel buttercream and poured caramel sauce over the top of the cake for a gooey caramel cake!

Chocolate Cake with Caramel Buttercream
1 box Chocolate Cake Mix
Ingredients on the Box of Cake Mix

1 stick Butter
4 oz Shortening
3 oz Powdered Sugar
3 oz Sugar
2 Egg Whites

1/2 cup Sugar
2 tbsp Water
1/3 cup Heavy Cream
2 tbsp Butter

1. Mix the cake batter according to the box's instructions and bake into cake pans.
2. Allow the cake to cool completely.
3. Cream butter, shortening, and powdered sugar together until completely soft and incorporated.
4. Combine egg whites and sugar and heat in a bowl on top of a pot of boiling water.
5. Allow the egg white mixture to get to about 140 degrees F. The sugar will be completely dissolved into the whites at this point.
6. Remove from the heat and whip to stiff peaks.
7. Mix the meringue into the butter and shortening mixture.
8. Heat sugar and water over high heat. Do not stir.
9. Once the sugar begins to take on some color, swirl the pot. Have the cream ready by this point.
10. Once the sugar gets to an amber color, quickly remove the pot from the heat.
11. Pour the cream into the sugar, and stir. Be careful, the sugar will boil up very quickly.
12. Add the butter and allow the caramel to cool completely.
13. Once the caramel is cool, fold half of it into the buttercream.
14. Save the remaining half for the top of the cake.
15. Slice the cake into 3 even slices using a serrated knife.
16. Once sliced, trim the uneven parts, and then layer the cake with buttercream. This is easiest when you use a piping bag to pipe the buttercream in layers on the cake.
17. Then, put a layer of buttercream on the top. Place the cake into the fridge to set up for about 20 minutes.
18. Check the caramel sauce to make sure that it isn't too thick. If it is so thick that it will not flow at all, heat it very gently until it flows slightly.
19. Make sure that the caramel is not hot or too warm. Then, gently pour it on top of the cake and allow it to come down the sides.
20. Serve immediately.

I used cake mix to make this cake. It actually works great! It's easy, but also very moist and fluffy. The best part of this cake is the buttercream, so there's no reason to spend too much time making the cake itself! 

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! I hope you felt super appreciated today! I really have a lot to be thankful for. My dad is an awesome man who really leads by example. He's a great supporter and caregiver and has always been a great source of advice and encouragement. My stepdad is also a great man. He treats my mom with a lot of respect and love, and cares for me and the rest of my family as if we are his own. Both my dads are so selfless, loving, encouraging, and are great examples of what heads of households should look like. They help me to strive for more and pursue my passions. I hope everyone is able to show their dads some love this day! :)