What now?

After a rather long dry spell, I finally feel like posting. I tell myself there is not such a thing as "the right time". I keep telling myself this over and over. It's a never-ending process.  

It's winter again and it's strange how every season feels similar and yet so completely different. It's soup time again and warm teas- the best of both worlds. I definitely like the wintery feel- the stillness, the crisp morning and the unexpected water-vapour.

I have finally baked my first brioche, croissant and mille-feuille. Yes, I am officially on my way to get my pastry qualification.

More posts and photos to come (talk about picking up my slack ;) )

Sweet round

Macaron, chocolate brownie, vanilla ice cream and creme patissiere filled puff pastry. These are probably one of my favourite sweet treats. I mean you cannot go wrong with any of these. I have been trying to perfect my 'quenelle' shaping which is a really good technique to master for dessert plating- ice cream, sorbet or whipped cream. I do not always get it right, kind of still a tricky business for me. You need to place a spoon in hot water, tap excess water and roll the cream in an upward motion. The hot water will give a shiny finish. It demands lot of practice to get it right.

However, I am very pleased with my macarons. The ones in the photos are filled with buttermilk creme patissiere. This made the macaron soft with a slight bite from the crust- just the way I like it. What can I say about the brownies? Almond filled with a gooey centre. 

Galette des Rois/ King Cake

For Epiphany I made the traditional galette des rois. Normally a bean is place in the cake, so that whoever finds it in his share is crowned king for the year. A tradition you will understand by the birth of Jesus Christ when the three kings went their way to find him accompanied with gifts. It is basically a cake-ish dessert made with puff pastry and almond filling. It is really delicious. You have that crunchiness on the outside and the sweet almond filling in the inside: great combo. Have a look here at the photo below and for the recipe click here  (it's a step by step process, very easy to follow).

Puff Pastry Christmas Tree

My first Christmas treat of the year. I got the idea from Facebook. I saw the photo and this really made me keen on trying it myself. I mean this is simple and looks so christmassy. Bring on Christmas treats.
I have posted the recipe here and trust me so easy to make. Oh and feel free to use your own favourite filling (pesto, pizza sauce/ cheese etc). Mine is nutella. Enjoy!

 Even smaller treats :

Little mixed berry pie/tart

This is actually quite easy to make. This puff pastry comes in as very handy (I used Pampas one). I recently bought it  after I saw that apple pie video on youtube, made using this pastry.  Looks so yummy and easy dizzy. Now I was not planning on making those yet. I saw the recipe of a blueberry tart shortcut version in the coles magazine. This is what I wanted to make. Now I was ready to make those but with mixed berries because this is what I had in the fridge and then I saw a much better recipe on the packet itself (see the wrapping is there for a reason!). Well it's not really better, simply better ingredients to my liking. The one on the packet does not come with butter in the filling, so I was more inclined to try that recipe.

Click to see recipe in bigger size. Yes I am too lazy to type this back. Making using of that camera ;)

 

Alright mine did not look exactly as gorgeous as the one in the recipe pic, but hey for my first time trying, I would say...not that bad ey ;)