Health Food

I've had a pretty stressful last couple of weeks. Somehow I've persisted with this meditative eating thing, though I've gotta tell you, I'd really like a glass of wine right now...

I'm half inclined to keep going indefinitely (wine notwithstanding) but the thing I won't do tomorrow is yoga. Fourteen days straight is enough. I'm taking a couple of days off because I'm tired.

At work today, my friend brought in a few small pieces of her homemade French yogurt cake and generously handed me the ziploc in which they rested appealingly. After I bit into the third slice she said (quizzically but nicely): Oh, so you want the whole bag? Seriously, people, it was so delicious, I actually didn't feel so bad. The experience overrode any potential shame! FY cake is healthy, real food - if on the treat end of the spectrum. My friend does not enjoy gluten so she bakes with substitute flour (in this case a rice blend). I can't say I've been motivated to bake with rice flour but, given the success I've had with pie crust - and that I inhaled J's cake - I'm changing my stance.

I was so enamoured of J's cake (in loaf format) that I went to buy eggs, an organic orange (for zest) and Greek yogurt (I generally eat French-style). Turns out I had the perfect amount of brown rice flour remaining (from my crust-making over the weekend). BTW, just cuz they market it for crust doesn't mean you can't use it elsewhere...

Stupidly, I forgot that I have palm sugar and coconut sugar in the cupboard (I could have healthied it up, marginally more) but I always cut the amount of sugar in a cake recipe by 25% (except in pound cake).

Here's how you make it: Measure out 3/4 cup full fat plain yogurt, 1/2 cup oil, sea salt, 3/4 (or 1) cup of some sort of granular sugar, @1 tbsp orange zest, vanilla, 1.5 cups gluten-free flour (rice flour base), 2 eggs

Mix the dry stuff in a measuring cup. Add the sugar and zest and infuse the sugar by spoon-stirring them together in a medium bowl for a minute or so. There's alchemy in this. Add all of the wet ingredients to the sugar. Stir to incorporate. Inhale the heady scent of orange sugar. It energizes and calms simultaneously. Then add the cup with the dry ingredients. Just use a fork to work them in till the batter blends smoothly. Pour into a prepared loaf pan (prevent sticking using your fave prep method - mine's butter).

Did I mention it takes 15 minutes to make (including clean up) and then you pop it in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 F.

I swear to God, my entire house smells like the south of France in July - the muted scent of an orange-grove. What could be better? The rice flour creates a ridiculously moist, leavened cake with good, sticky crumb. I don't know how this flour would work if the recipe weren't so rich in fat, but in an oily cake, it's fantastic. Once again - I actually prefer rice to wheat flour. I have never liked its texture but now I know that there are lighter alternatives.

So here it is (but now it's gone)...

What? It's a freakin' loaf and I live with a 15 yo. And we both have PMS.

The bottom was a perfect sandy shade of tan - the platonic ideal for white cake! I added more salt than was called for. I love unexpected, crunchy zaps as I wade through the sweetness that surrounds them.

And I don't care how insane it makes me sound, this cake was soul-restoring. Each bite forged a synaptic connection with a gentle time and place. The taste and texture veritably transported one.

That, my friends, is the meaning of health food.

PS: I think you could easily make this in a spring form pan but I'd double the recipe or make it in a smaller pan (and cook for less long).

Unapologetically Homemade

When I was in NC, we had a pre-Thanksgiving celebration involving lots of delicious food, including pumpkin pie. My mother, father and I love it. My sister won't touch it. Whatevs - more for us.

Anyway, I made this recipe for the first time - though I've had my eye on it for a while. The problem with pumpkin pie is that it's very seasonal - and practically everyone hates it. So I don't get to experiment as much as I'd like.

In a totally insane turn, I made a pie - having a rice-flour crust (?!) - without any of the standard issue gizmos to make the work efficient. Um, MacGyver couldn't have done it with less. These people do not bake. There was no rolling pin. No cloves. No hand mixer? (I whipped the cream by hand like it was 1863.) And, btw, while I really like baked goods made with rice flour - it gives an excellent short (or sandy) texture to a crust - it does not function like wheat flour. And I'm a baker who always bakes with wheat. At a different altitude. With an electric oven.

Anyway, there was so much cursing happening. It didn't sound like Thanksgiving. Or maybe it did. I finally put the thing in the oven - a gas, Viking professional that works so beautifully it's ridiculous (goes to show, they're cookers, not bakers) - and sat down with a big glass of wine. A while later, it occured that my crust was getting too brown. Ordinarily I use crust shields but, yeah, good luck with that. So I opened the oven and carefully tried to place a piece of tin foil over the whole shebang.

Do you know that gas ovens have a breeze? While attempting to work my careful way, said breeze came up and pushed the tin foil onto setting custard. Egad, you have rarely heard such profanity.

It was at that moment I realized that my perfectionism is never more engaged than when I bake. I seriously considered killing myself over the mottled filling. According to my family members - who seemed very sincere (and kind of concerned) - it was barely a scrape. They said it was the best looking pie they'd ever seen - and I could tell they meant it. Which quickly had me railing at them over all the other pies I've made for them over the years. Have they no ability to discern??

(Brief sidebar: This reminds me of the time, years ago, that Scott's parents were coming for dinner and I tried to separate a cake from its bundt pan before it was cool enough (that's an issue I've had to work hard to overcome). I seriously tried to cancel the party. And I don't think I've ever eaten a dessert in their house that didn't come from Loblaws. Apparently I have a problem.)

Fast-forward to 45 minutes later when my parents begged me relentlessly to serve the pie, which wasn't even freakin' cool?!?! They told me, like hyper 5-year olds, that it all looks the same in your stomach. Lord.

In some sort of miracle it held its shape, and the hand-whipped cream was the perfect texture (although lacking vanilla extract - did I mention they don't have that either?). It was truly delicious, dare I say it myself. Like, transcendent. I thought my mother was going to cry. I think my father did.

Today, as my daughter also loves this pie, I decided to make it again. Sure, Scott got all huffy cuz he hates it and he wants another kind of homemade dessert of his own (good luck, the pie took 2 hours to make). He's making a bone-in ham with apple butter glaze and roast vegetables, with which this pie will go beautifully. I suppose I should have made him pie too but seriously, I've had a headache for week.

I used my Emile Henri pie plate which is, technically belongs to my friend Nicole (who got it from Sandra - one of my other, nomadic, friends - at a garage sales years ago). It's very deep (which makes it difficult to discern how much extra crust you'll need) allowing for the full amount of custard the recipe instructs. Don't tell Nicole, but I'm not so psyched to give it back.

I used one of my regular crust recipes (thank you Angela, from work) and, after blind-baking - an absolute custard pie necessity peeps - the edges had shrunk back more than expected. I thought of throwing myself off a bridge.

Then I remembered it all looks the same in your stomach.

So here you go (warts and all):

Really Awesome (Really Easy) Dessert

I just made a modified version of this coconut chocolate pudding, and it was all that. I mean, I'd show you a photo but Scott and I inhaled it before we had a chance to, um, document it.

I had about 6 oz of full-fat, unsweetened coconut milk, something I never keep in the house, but which I bought to try making whipped coconut milk (i.e. whipped cream without dairy). Didn't work so well for that - my can of coconut milk was quite emulsified and I couldn't subtract enough of the water liquid to make the solids entirely whip-able.

Interesting fact about me: I loathe coconut in savoury food. That slick greasiness creeps me out. And I feel its taste competes with everything else. I LOVE it, however, in dessert. Side note: while in the NC mountains, I had one of the best coconut cream pies I've ever tasted - and trust me I try every one I've come into contact with. If you find yourself in the area, definitely check out Eat Crow.

At any rate, I just adjusted the ratios of ingredients to suit the amount of coconut milk I had on hand, using slightly less than half (or half, in the case of the corn starch) of those other goodies.

Production took me 10 minutes, from start to finish, and 90 minutes cooling in the fridge, though I could happily have eaten it hot.

The texture of this pudding is perfect. Totally smooth and rich. It doesn't incline itself to lumps because there are no eggs - just corn starch - to thicken it. The coconut milk is so rich it obviates the need for eggs for either taste or mouth feel.

It's so elegant that, in a ramekin, with artfully placed berries and a drizzle of salted caramel (or whipped cream), it would make a lovely dinner party end-of-meal.

Note: I didn't add extra coconut (I didn't have any on hand, and besides Scott kind of hates it) and I could not taste any coconut flavour. It was entirely dark-chocolatey. So, unless you have an allergy to the stuff, you can happily make use of its slickening properties in this recipe, without worrying about feeling overwhelmed.

Have you ever made this or something similar? What do you think?

A Little Something I've Been Doing...

It's my birthday next week, so my friends are all being extra-nice to me.  As it happens, near-travel disaster was averted (due to flooding of the downtown core and train station on Friday). Ridiculously, my gambit to cab to the train station resulted in a standstill ride of 30 minutes in heavy rain, till I finally realized I was going to have to walk outside if I wanted to claw my way out of the city. Did I mention my brand new umbrella had broken earlier in the day? As had my suitcase?!!

Finally, after navigating hideous crowds and grossness, I boarded the train to Barrie (where friends were waiting to bring me to Collingwood). It was pretty stressful.

Mind you, once I arrived, the weather did its part to encourage us to stay inside and talk and drink and eat and BAKE.

Sandra and I made these for a fundraiser at work tomorrow:

I want you to know that there's a long, alcohol-fueled story to go along with these. I'll spare you the details. Also, they were perfect - despite some serious experimentation - until we hauled them by warmish car for 2 hours into the city. The well-set, glossy cream cheese icing has suffered somewhat, but they're still cute - if more homemade-chic than they were originally.

They're filled with either dulce de leche or vanilla bean pastry cream - which we also made from scratch. Both of these worked beautifully. (Alas, for icing purposes, this morning I tried to warm the dulce in hot water and the differentiation in temps between the water bath and the glass container ended in a broken glass container with dulce de leche guts astrewn. Such a rookie error.)

We also made Napoleons, although some of us can't remember eating them. Oh well, I've still got the fixings... Why is it that I LOVE to eat so in the spring?? I should have titled this post "I Have to Get a Grip"...

Sweet

The Xmas gift sweet-fest continues...


Beginning:


Middle:


End:


I think these caramels (really, they turn into toffee in the blink of an eye) are candy perfection. Just a little bit salty and very buttery. And they are so lovely to look at.

However...

Man, they're an undertaking. The ingredients are simple and standard. The instructions are clear and concise. But for those who are unused to working with boiling sugar / candy thermometers and the great unknown of when soft ball starts morphing into hard ball, well, it can be a bit tense.

Then, assuming you make it through that hurdle (tip: pay attention to the thermometer readings, not your own sense that things look completely "wrong"), once it sets and it's cool, a gorgeous-looking slab in its baking dish, you have to cut it up into sweet little pieces. Lovelies, that is really hard on the hands! Takes about as long as making the caramel. Oh, and did I mention slicing up the wax paper into 4x4 inch pieces. It's more time-consuming and finicky than you would imagine. Finally, there's the actual wrapping, which would be fun if your fingers weren't already bruised from cutting the caramel pieces.

Guess this is why I don't make it every week. Cuz once you eat a piece you forget all the challenge and are transported to another time and place. It really is a labour of love.

Note: The recipe for these is online at Epicurious.

Lifecycle of a Homemade Gift

Beginning:


Middle:


End:






This is the culmination of years of baking, a tried-and-true recipe, online ordering skills and a few labels.

I figured out that each batch makes enough cookies to put 14 (in the circle size I've chosen) into 3 bags. Good info.

The great thing about the dough is that it lasts for a week in the fridge so I made a second batch of it to use when I have some more time in the next few days (she says, hopefully). The cookie-baking part is pretty straight forward: roll, cut, refrigerate, bake and cool, then wrap. It's the dough-preparation that really adds an extra layer of complexity I'm not prepared to deal with on a weekday night.

The amount of planning and labour involved is not negligible but these cookies are insanely delish buttery/sandy/crumbly. (They are not pasty, wan shortbread.) Total cost for each gift: about 5 bucks. So, if you want to save some money but still show your love (and skillz), this is the project for you!

So, whatcha think?? Next up: caramel.

Update on posting recipe: Hey peeps, I'd LOVE to post the recipe but I cannot find it online anywhere and I don't want to infringe on copyright. Thing is, Michel Roux (the guy whose recipe I use) wrote this gorgeous book, in which you will find, not only this recipe, but so many others that will improve your life. I totally recommend it. You can find other sable recipes online but, I've noted, the ratios of butter to flour are not the same in those as in this one. What I can say is that it takes only 4 ingredients: butter (so much of this), flour, confectioner's sugar (not regular sugar!) and egg yolk.

Zig Zag

Here's the latest Xmas gift finished:

Rambler's Scarf by Elizabeth Sullivan

Actually, it just occurred to me that this is the third from latest gift. A shrug and tea cosy followed it. And now I'm back to making another one of these scarves in a different yarn and colour...

But isn't it pretty? Plus, it's easy, though I did alter the pattern by increasing the width by about an inch (4 stitches) and neglected to adjust one element of one row in every 8. Just slightly. Don't tell.

OK, crafters (and apologies to the non-crafters - I have to finish the 20 gifts I've committed to by next week(ish) before I'll have much energy to speak about other topics. Don't worry, though, I've got a few lined up...):

• Do you think making rectangular scarves is ultra-boring? I mean, I know they're lovely and everyone needs a great rectangular scarf, but man, the repetition!
• How far along are you on completing your knitting or sewing gifts?
• Are you starting to resent everyone cuz they're about to get some seriously stylish and useful objets, while your 18 projects languish in the corner?

After the knitting, I start the baking. I've decided to make, as my core gifts, sable (see this ye olde post for a summer presentation of the shortbread) and fleur de sel caramels. I just ordered, and received, the most adorable packaging! I don't know that I'll order wrapping online again - the experience had its drawbacks, though client service wasn't one of them. I think there must be a great packaging place in downtown TO that can sell me the same calibre of item at a lower cost.

At any rate, I'm going to put the cookies in perfect gift-sized windowed cookie bags and the caramels in these little velcro-sealed boxes.

Everything's Coming Up Crumble

The irony's not lost on me that, no sooner do I post about body change borne of moderation, I am compelled to bake.

I just had to use up some gorgeous, peaking pears sitting in a bowl on my counter top. Sure, I could have sliced them into a salad but seriously, is that as fun as making pear pistachio crumble?!

I haven't capitalized the recipe name because it's not technically a recipe. It's the outcome of my style of cooking: great ingredients, good materials, a modicum of experience and a pragmatic nature.

To wit:

Here they are, pre-baking... So horrified to show you the world's most beat up cookie sheet. But it still works, so what's an environmentally friendly cook to do?

These tarts are simple. I had 3 pears (each one got its own tart ramekin), sliced them, added some citrus, vanilla extract, a smidge of corn starch (these things are wet!) and coated them with a crumble made of 60 g (ish) of butter, equal parts pistachio, flour and brown sugar (1/2 cup of each in this case). Man, I am so schizo when it comes to units of measurement... Then I put them in a medium hot oven (350 degrees) for 30 minutes. They're baking as I write, so they may need a bit more time.

I don't think we spend enough time - maybe I should just speak for myself? - reveling in beautiful things. The smell of vanilla, butter and pear on a bright November day is a gift. That I can see it, smell it, taste it...That I can create and share it... That I can afford the food and heat to make it... That I will enjoy this after a dinner of beef tenderloin, rice and roasted veggies... Wow. My life is awesome.

Yum:

Another Kind Of Spring Leaf

My pastry guy, Joe, has done the most fantastic tutorial on my fave mille-feuille - the Napoleon. You've got to read the post...

Yes, he made these!

It's aspirational baking at its best. I can see project this in my future...

Trading Off

Cooler temps (but not heads) prevail at this time of year. They make me want to bake everything I can imagine. Of course, there are only so many hours in the day, and in the absence of vacation, given the ongoing coat project, I don't think I'll be doing much baking in the next couple of weeks.

A girl can dream though... On my hit list:

• Fleur de sel caramels
• Sable
• Croissants
• Quiche
• Pots de Creme

On a side note, or maybe I've just been working up to this, I am feeling truly worse for wear (physically) for having avoided conscious movement for the last, um, two plus months. It's really not going well for me. Everything hurts.

It's a terrific irony IMO, that I am working my fingers to the bone to create a beautiful garment that will not benefit, at least initially, from the canvas of a carefully-maintained form. Don't misunderstand, I'm not suggesting that I am a hag for two months of underfunctional self-care. But I feel so removed from myself in this state. My muscles don't tone to my skeleton in the usual way. My stomach is soft. My shoulders and low back ache. I find it practically daunting to stretch.

In case you think that a life of exercise, when put on hold, buys you exemption for any length of time, then you are obviously very young!

But what am I to do? How do I build this sewing skill (a veritable passion) and still work all day and help my kid with homework and give some well-deserved attention to my husband? How do I make sure the house isn't a grimy pit (it really could use an overhaul of basics from IKEA, not that it's in the cards for the next few weeks) and that I eat food that doesn't come out of a package and yet have an hour for yoga - yoga of any sort - never mind the kick-my-ass kind that this woman of a certain age could really use.

You can see why I won't be baking any pies this week :-)

So tell me: How do you manage to work sewing into your busy life? Or yoga? Or baking? Or parenting? Has your fitness routine hit the skids lately? Maybe we can comiserate...

Update: I just reread this bourgeois gumbo of a post and it makes me want to smack myself. Jesus. Is it not enough that I have the space and brains to sew? That I have the funds to make beautiful food whenever I decide to desist from one of my other fabulous personal pursuits? I mean, life is about making choices. I have chosen to ignore everything on the planet that will allow itself to be ignored in the interest of developing a skill I value.

So there. I've said it for all of us. Still, my back hurts and my stomach squishes. That's something everyone can relate to, right?

If Only Monitors Were Scratch and Sniff...

OK, I may be all "sewing challenged" every 10 minutes, but I sure as hell can bake:

Streusel Coffee Cake recipe from Joe Pastry

My parents arrived yesterday from North Carolina and tonight we'll be having a big dinner here with them and Scott's family.

On the menu:

• Munchies (Cheese, charcuterie, nuts, crackers)
• A variety of types of wine - some picked for vintage, others for cute labels and names i.e. Wit's End, The Procrastinator!
• Roast capon (slowly cooked over 5 hours on low heat)
• Pan Veggies
• Tomatoes and Feta
• Stuffing (Shhhh, it's out of a box!! Seriously, though, it's really good. But do NOT tell my mother.)
• Apple pie
• Pumpkin pie
• Streusel Coffee Cake (whatever's left!)
  

(Of course, the pies will be made from scratch, by me, and Scott's in charge of the bird.)

I'll aim to take some food photos, if there's an opportunity!

Happy Thanksgiving, all. K

Mmmm Cake...

I promised to show you lovely, styled photos of last weekend's dessert and then we got all drunk and food-happy and we suctioned it down before I'd even considered snapping some shots.

Fortunately, I did get one of the chocolate bundt cake before the guests arrived:


The recipe (the one that came with my Williams Sonoma portable cake tin) called for a chocolate glaze - which seemed like total overkill. I mean, this thing has a cup of cocoa and a chocolate bar in it!? And a container of sour cream. Perhaps I should save this fact for my next tag but I really don't like sour cream. Note: I do make exceptions in cake. Other note: Don't use low fat sour cream - just don't. What's the freakin' point??

It has a very nice crumb - quite moist - but I find the chocolate a bit overwhelming. Which is where the strawberries and handmade ice cream came in.

Per my last post on the topic, I really do think I've figured out what works best - at least in the home machine. Lots of egg yolk and whole milk. And espresso.

I have to say it was a hit.

Just Desserts

As I write this I am lulled by the smokey-bitter aroma of chocolate baking. It's amazing I can string together a sentence. In fact, I haven't actually eaten real food yet today. I've contented myself on batter scrapings and beaters and furtive spoonfuls of homemade ice cream.

I'm feeling very happy about dessert this evening. Steen and Nicole are coming over to celebrate Nicole's birthday and I've planned a very traditional - and made-with-love celebration feast.

I will take photos. After all, what's a feast without food porn?? But till then let me tell you what I've learned about ice cream for any of you who might be on my learning curve:

• As you may know, the underpinning of ice cream is generally creme anglaise, a milk-based egg custard. The thing is, you can make creme anglaise any one of 15 ways - some of them include cream, the quantity of egg yolks can range from 1 - 6 for 2 cups of liquid. For such a simple base, it's a very malleable thing.
• I've spent a few months experimenting with ratios of cream to eggs. At first, though my baking guru Michel Roux advised to use lots of yolks and milk only, I couldn't accept that it would yield the creamiest outcome. I mean, it's called ice cream for a reason, no?
  
• I've made the anglaise with increasing numbers of egg yolks and decreasing quantities of cream and I have to say, 2 cups of whole milk and 6 large yolks yields a beautiful, thick outcome once cooled.
• The irony is that the more fat and fewer eggs one uses, apparently, the more watery and apt to curdle the fluid becomes. And the more ice crystallization occurs during the machine churning.
  

So those are my 2 cents. Any ice cream-makers, I'd love to hear about your experiences.

Hate to Love / Love to Hate

On the topic of bundt pans (um, is this really a post about cooking utensils???), I think I've mentioned that the one I used for years - cheap, teflon coated and practically disposable looking - was an incredibly frustrating baking companion.

Why it took me years to replace it is the question du jour. In truth, I barely baked for 10 years, so it's not like I was in the market for new cooking tools.

I also hadn't, at that stage, fully embraced the concept that you're only as good as your raw materials. Of course, I've always applied that philosophy to ingredients. But the implements are also so key to good results...

Really, this post is about how I went to Williams-Sonoma to replace said crap pan with a fancy, spesh one and had a rather shocking encounter.

For starters, even though I like to bitch about the place and laugh about the "more money than brains", professional mom baker clientele, I love everything about that store. I mean, except the price tags.

I love how they give you samples of seasonally-themed treats created from upscale, pre-mixed baking boxes you can then buy on the spot, not that I do. I love how they greet you at the door. I love how they don't bat an eyelash as they tell you about the $400.00 copper pan you are never going to purchase. I love how they display everything.

There are things I never knew I needed till I walk into W-S!

But here's the thing: A couple of weeks ago, when I'd finally committed to the idea that I would need to replace my bundt pan for a new one, I opted to check out my options there. I looked at 4 cast iron pans - 50 bucks each - all of which were cast incorrectly, leading to slight imperfections in the depth of one or another of the grooves. I reviewed each one deliberately. The SA went to speak with the manager about why every pan in stock seemed to display a similar imperfection and, if you can believe it, the manager suggested that the nubs of iron, gooping at the base, would not impact the overall appearance of the finished cake?!?!

I mean, you don't need a PhD in baking to realize that, whatever the batter abuts while cooking will reflect itself in the final mold. They didn't offer to order me a new one from America. They didn't remove the botched pans from the floor. What is happening people? I sense I'm witnessing the final decline of our civilization.

As a last straw, I checked out the bottles of food colouring and was horrified to see that they are charging $21.50 for 4 mini bottles of water with chemicals. The same water with chemicals I purchased later that day from Fiesta Farms for $2.25.

I walked over to The Bay and got a nicely weighted Cuisinart bundt for $25.00 - on sale for $19.00. It was not beautifully presented inside a box. It had no imperfections. It made a lovely, delicious cake. Hmmm.

Laud(ree)able?

OK, I'm not going to lie. These are the best shots of these petits fours I could come up with - and I took many.




They're fussy, what can I say? But they aren't as torturous as many of the books and blogs would have you believe. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'll do a much better job next time given what I learned in this go.

Key considerations:

• Use enough food colouring. I should have added about 7 drops (red and yellow) but I only used 4.
• Really don't let your fat touch your egg whites till you're ready to mix and fold. Stupidly, I used the same bowl to measure the ground almonds as the sugar that stiffed the egg whites. Which means my egg whites were compromised in fluffing from the get go. Of course, I realized it seconds too late. As the egg whites need to sit on your counter for 24 hours, there was no do over for me.
• On that account: Make a couple of batches of the aged egg whites, so if you have an issue you aren't fucked.
  
• Practice your piping. That's where I really fell down. I made about 16 different sizes (and not many of them actually circular) of meringue. Hard to make them look professional that way :-) Also, I should have used a larger tip. As it is, I needed to exert too much force on the batter to get the disks onto the baking sheet. Didn't help with their shape, I know.
• Read all of Joe's posts on the topic. And really, don't worry about being too delicate. I was not delicate at all and it still wasn't a disaster.
  
• Ganache takes 4 hours to set, and it's probably best to let it do so outside of the fridge, if possible. Keeps it's texture better that way.

I am sincere when I tell you that they are the best tasting macarons I've ever had. The fluff and crisp of the meringue was superb, to my taste, and the ganache (which I made with milk chocolate as it has a higher cocoa butter content - and then butter) was so awesome, I ate the remainder of it with a spoon while watching the Grinch.

Give these a try if you are at all interested - and don't let lack of confidence stop you. They're only cookies after all. Yummy ones.

On the Topic of the Holiday Baking...

I will spend this weekend making:

• Pound cake with chocolate glaze
• Sable (my fave style of shortbread - from France!), and
• Macarons filled with chocolate ganache

As y'all know, the pound cake and sable recipes are old faves, but the macarons were inspired by a) the season b) Joe Pastry - who does the best cooking blog around, for my money and c) my desire to impress the jingle bells off my friend Anne, whose tree trimming party I'll be attending, avec dish, this Sunday.

Anne makes Martha Stewart look a little meh, truth be told, so I don't feel like I can turn up at her door without something impressive. (Competitive much?) And, really, I have been wanting to make these crunchy/fluffy morsels forever. The stars just haven't aligned before this weekend.

So give me your positive meringue vibes pls. And I'll keep you posted.

But while we're waiting to see how it goes, tell me: Have you made macarons? If yes, did they work out well? Do you love 'em, hate 'em, never tried 'em? Do tell.

Homemade Pate Feuilletee Palmiers (All the taste, None of the Look - Yet)*

Let's focus on the beautiful story here: Young girl goes to pastry shop, eats palmiers, has life-changing food experience. As the girl grows, she searches out palmiers in other cities (Paris, New York, Montreal etc). Her love of the delicate, flaky, home made puff pastry (aka pate feuilletee) persists. Sometimes though, to be honest, she finds the bakery product inferior. Too tough. Not enough caramelization.

Girl reads lots of foodie books (she hates that word, btw) and feels that making homemade puff pastry seems insanely challenging. She avoids it for precisely 39 years. Whereupon she reads an amazing post at Canelle et Vanille (she can't link to it specifically because when you compare those photos to hers it will be too painful for her ego). It inspires her the way only gorgeous photos can. Plus, she has really bad PMS and any chance of a pound of butter in something one can eat in one sitting is wholly irresistible. She starts by using store bought stuff and, happily - counter intuitively, the finished product is lovely and professional. She takes no photos because the speed with which she consumes it is legendary. She feels like an impostor, using store bought crap to make beautiful pastry. She gets bold, culls 6 different recipes from 6 different chef-like books and blogs, and gets to work. 8 hours later, she produces these from scratch:

Yes, my friends, that girl is me.

OK, I can tell you exactly where I went wrong. It wasn't in the making of the dough - which BTW was much easier than I expected if just as time consuming. It was in the final roll out. If you'd like to talk about the ins and outs of pastry making, feel free to email because - seriously - I can get with that. You could also check out my 8000 tweets on this topic. Satisfying reading!

The thing is, when you make your own pate, it's much more expansive (with an "a") than the frozen, pre-made kind. It's also much less happy to roll out right after it's gone through an extensive, day long, roll and turn process. I think it would have been better to let it sit in the fridge overnight and done the baking a day later. Another possibility is that I just didn't roll it as carefully, given it's elastic / spring back texture, as I should have.

Oh, and then I overcooked it - just by moments, but that was enough to cause near disaster. Again, the store bought stuff cooks at a much higher temp before browning. Must be the vegetable oil vs. butter composition.

It is ABSOLUTELY delish though. Though entirely hideous, I think it's up there with the tastiest puff pastry I've ever had. Of course, this might be because I inhaled it, as fresh as could be, right out of the oven. Or because I'm very invested. Then again, I might just have a future as a pastry chef :-) OK, let me work on it.

PS: I started with a small volume of dough because I had no idea how it was going to go. In future, I will definitely make 3 times this amount. Because, if I'm going to spend all day rolling butter between a galette, I want enough to freeze it for later.

PPS: For a good tutorial on making the dough, check out Joe Pastry. This guy really knows what he's doing!

*My apologies to all French people. Seriously, I gotta figure out how to add the accents into my French words...