I bought my first silicone baking mat a while ago, and I LOVE IT!
Initially, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to “invest” in one, but now I have no regrets whatsoever. (As a matter of fact, I’ve purchased a second one since then.) Thus far, I’ve only tried baking french macarons with my fancy-dancy silicone baking mat. I find that the mat really evens out the distribution of the heat in the oven such that each macaron turns out consistently, and you don’t get the lopsided macarons that sometimes occurs when you use parchment paper. However, I do find that I need to leave the macarons in the oven for a few minutes longer, which isn’t a big problem as long as they come out looking perfect. So, here’s my breakdown of the pros and cons of baking with a silicone baking mat:
Pros
Even distribution of heat which allows for consistency.
They’re reusable, which means they’re eco-friendly.
Cons
The baking mats can be quite pricey depending on where you buy them from. I recommend checking on eBay – some silicone baking mats that I’ve seen on eBay even have circular imprints on them so you know how much batter to pipe.
You need to leave your baking in the oven for a few minutes longer, but that’s really not a huge setback.
Have you tried using a silicone baking mat? What did you think of it?
Several years ago, I got this recipe from a family friend. However, they weren’t willing to fully reveal the entire recipe, thus I’ve had to experiment many, many times before I finally figured out the correct portions and oven temperature. I love this recipe because it’s simple and inexpensive to make. Since this is a single-serving, you can bake this in your toaster oven.
This is also a gluten-free recipe for all my friends who have gluten allergies.
crème caramel
Ingredients
4 tbsp fine sugar
1 large egg
110 mL whole milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp water
Directions
On medium-low heat, warm up milk in a small saucepan. Slowly add 2 tbsp of sugar and stir until the sugar has melted. Remove from heat. (DO NOT BOIL THE MILK.)
In another small saucepan, cook 2 tbsp of sugar with 3/4 tsp of water. The water will evaporate and the sugar will eventually burn and melt into a thick, golden brown caramel. Quickly pour the caramel into a 10 oz ramekin.
In a small bowl, gently beat the egg and vanilla extract until well blended (about 10 seconds). Remove excess foam with a tea strainer.
Pour the cooled milk into the egg mixture and stir gently.
Pour the milk and egg mixture into the ramekin, over the hardened caramel.
Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 275°F and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from heat. Once the crème caramel has cooled to room temperature, place it in the fridge overnight and serve chilled. Remember that the caramel sauce is hidden at the bottom of the ramekin.
As I continue to master the macaron, something strange (and terribly annoying) started happening – I started getting hollow macarons! <Insert sad face here>
I don’t know what exactly changed. It could be that the weather fluctuates so much in my city which causes rapid changes in humidity (which affects baking, or so I’m told). When I first started baking french macarons, they were just right. My macarons were full and chewy on the inside, and crisp on the outside.
But then, one day, I started getting hollow macarons. The large pocket of air inside each macaron made my macarons very fragile. My poor hollow macarons lacked the full, chewy goodness that macarons are supposed to have.
I researched this problem and found out that I’m apparently not the only person who has encountered this annoying issue. Many bloggers have documented this issue and have found their own ways of troubleshooting it. I’ve tried some of their troubleshooting tips, and after four attempts, found a way to deal with the hollow macaron fiasco that was occurring in my kitchen.
Here are the things that I started doing differently:
Use a stainless steel bowl to whisk the egg whites and sugar, instead of using a plastic bowl. Plastic bowls are porous, thus they don’t allow the meringue to reach its full volume.
Add just a pinch of cream of tartar to the egg whites before whisking. This will stabilize the meringue.
Cut down on the whisking time. Instead of whisking the egg whites and sugar for a total of 5 minutes, I cut the time down to 3 minutes, thus whisking in less air into the meringue.
Lower the oven temperature to 275°F and bake the macarons for an extra 2 minutes. If the macarons become too hot too quickly, the top will puff up quickly, but the bottom part doesn’t rise to produce the perfect feet that you want.
As soon as I hear any mention of chicken wings, my first reaction is always, “WHERE!?” I probably eat chicken wings way more often than I should, but life is short so do what makes you happy. That said, how about more eating and less talking?
Here’s my recipe for honey garlic chicken wings.
honey garlic wings
Ingredients
12 chicken wings
1/3 tsp salt
1/3 tsp sugar
1 tsp of white wine
a few drops of sesame oil
a pinch of pepper
3/4 tsp of minced or puréed garlic
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
Directions
Take the first six ingredients (in green text above), mix them well in a medium bowl, and marinate overnight.
Lightly grease a large wok and cook the wings on medium-high heat until golden brown. (About 10 to 12 minutes.) Stir often.
Add garlic and stir well.
Add soy sauce and stir well.
Cover wok with a lid, leaving the wok open just a crack. Turn heat down to medium-low and allow the wings to cook for 5 minutes, stirring in between.
Add honey, stir, and cover again for 5 minutes.
~
Serve with the remaining sauce drizzled on top of the wings.
Whoever originally came up with the pineapple-coconut pairing is a freakin’ genius. I’m usually not a huge fan of coconut, but I love coconut when it’s paired with pineapple or banana.
This time, I decided to try making tiny one-bite macarons. With this recipe, you can make lots of tiny macarons so you’ll need three large baking sheets. I piped very small rounds of macaron batter that are about the size of a quarter. They’re so cute when they’re tiny! They’re also less messy to eat too.
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Ingredients:
Macaron shells
1 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup ground almonds
4 tsp shredded coconut
2 large egg whites
3 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
Filling
2 1/2 tsp crushed canned pineapple (drained)
2 tsp finely shredded coconut
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 icing sugar
Directions:
Macaron shells
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a food processor, process ground almonds, shredded coconut, and icing sugar for about a minute. Scrape along the inside of the food processor in between to ensure that there aren’t any large clumps and that the ingredients are mixed well.
In a medium bowl, sift the almond mixture.
In a small bowl (be sure to use a bowl that’s not too shallow), whisk the egg whites with a handmixer on medium-low speed for about a minute until light and fluffy.
Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to whisk the egg whites until medium-stiff for about 2 minutes. (If you turn the bowl upside-down, the egg whites don’t slide out.)
Gradually add granulated sugar to the egg whites while continuing to whisk on medium-high speed for another 2 minutes to achieve medium-stiff peaks.
Gradually fold the egg mixture into the almond mixture, adding only about 1/3 of the egg mixture at a time.
Transfer the batter into a piping bag. (Or if you’re frugal like me, you can use a medium sandwich bag instead and just cut a tiny corner of the bag to pipe.)
Pipe batter onto baking sheets. (If you’re making bite-sized macarons, pipe very small rounds that are about the size of a quarter and at least 1/2 inch apart.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Let the batter sit at room temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 300°F and put the baking sheets into the oven for 7 minutes.
Rotate the baking sheets and bake for 8 minutes.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow the macaron shells to cool.
Filling
In a small bowl, cream the icing sugar and butter. (I use a single whisk attachment on my handmixer and whisk on low speed.)
Ahh… The refreshing tart taste of lemon! I made a large batch of lemon macarons for family and friends, and everyone loved them. Compared to the strawberry matcha macarons recipe that I’ve already shared, this lemon macaron recipe is a little less intimidating for the beginner macaron baker.
First of all, I love anything citrus. I think I’ll eventually change up this recipe to become a Citrus Blend Macaron recipe, with hints of grapefruit, lime, and orange. But for now, let’s just go with a simple lemon macaron recipe. Lemon is a very powerful fruit so you won’t need a lot of it for this recipe.
large lemon
lemon zest
dry ingredients
macaron batter
food coloring
in the oven
freshly baked
lemon macarons
Ingredients:
Macaron shells
1 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup ground almonds
2 large egg whites
3 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
lemon zest from one large lemon
3 to 4 drops yellow food coloring
Lemon icing
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 icing sugar
1 1/2 to 2 tsp lemon juice
Directions:
Macaron shells
Line two medium baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a food processor, process ground almonds and icing sugar for about a minute. Scrape along the inside of the food processor in between to ensure that there aren’t any large clumps and that the two ingredients are mixed well.
In a medium bowl, sift the almond mixture.
In a small bowl (be sure to use a bowl that’s not too shallow), whisk the egg whites with a handmixer on medium-low speed for about a minute until light and fluffy.
Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to whisk the egg whites until medium-stiff for about 2 minutes. (If you turn the bowl upside-down, the egg whites don’t slide out.)
Gradually add granulated sugar to the egg whites while continuing to whisk on medium-high speed for another 2 minutes.
Gradually fold the egg mixture into the almond mixture, adding only about 1/3 of the egg mixture at a time.
Add lemon zest and fold.
Add yellow food coloring and fold again. (I use liquid food coloring, but most people recommend gel or powder-based food coloring. You should use whatever you’re comfortable with.)
Transfer the batter into a piping bag. (Or if you’re frugal like me, you can use a medium sandwich bag instead and just cut a tiny corner of the bag to pipe.)
Pipe batter onto baking sheets. Try to pipe small rounds that are just under 1 inch wide and at least 1/2 inch apart.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Let the batter sit at room temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 300°F and put the baking sheets into the oven for 7 minutes.
Rotate the baking sheets and bake for 8 minutes.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow the macaron shells to cool.
As I continue my quest to become a macaron master, I came across many recipes that instruct you to age the egg whites prior to whisking them. What that means is you separate the yolks from the whites, put the whites back into the fridge (covered or uncovered), and then leave them for at least 24 hours. Then, you take the egg whites out and let them sit on the kitchen counter until they reach room temperature before you use them. They say that this process of aging the egg whites is to ensure that your macaron shells develop “feet” when you bake them. Macaron feet are the risen part of the macaron, as shown below.
macaron feet
I’ve tried this process of aging the egg whites, and it did not work out for me at all. It could be due to a number of factors, such as the temperature in my fridge, the oven I’m using, or the way I whisk the eggs. Whatever the reason might be, when I tried aging the egg whites, my macaron shells ended up looking like this:
epic fail
MONSTROUS FEET! ZOMGS! I give myself an E for Effort (or E for Epic fail).
Yeah, that’s not the look I’m going for…
Maybe the egg white aging process works for some people, but I ended up with hideous-looking macaron feet. On the other hand, my macarons look just fine when I simply take the eggs out of the fridge, separate the yolks from the whites, and use the whites immediately.
Have you tried aging your egg whites? How did your macarons turn out?
I can’t help, but ♥ french macarons. Just a dab of frosting sandwiched between two meringue cookies; these tasty little treats are so cute, delicious, and simply irresistible.
In my quest to making the perfect macarons, I learned very quickly that they aren’t easy to master.. Like most things in life. 😉
The first time I tried to make macarons, they turned out so badly they almost destroyed all the confidence that I’ve ever had in my baking skills. They were just one big bubbly, gooey mess. It was really sad.. In retrospect, I probably should’ve looked at more macaron recipes first, instead of using the very first recipe that I could find. The problem is that you need very clear instructions, and a lot of recipes don’t give you that.
As I casually browsed for “french macarons” on YouTube one day, I stumbled upon a very helpful video by lovelyladycakes. Her How to make French Macarons video is really easy to follow. I appreciate her enthusiasm and how she genuinely seems like a happy person – who doesn’t like happy people? I’ve been using her recipe as the base recipe for other flavored macarons that I’m currently experimenting with, and I’m finding that the base recipe is working out very successfully.
Here are some things that I’ve learned so far in macaron baking that you might also find helpful:
I was really lazy and tried to skip out on sifting the ground almonds and icing sugar. The result is a batch of macarons with bumpy surfaces. If you want the tops of the macarons to be smooth (as they should be), then pour the almonds and sugar into a food processor and process for about a minute, and then sift the mixture. Otherwise, your macarons will look like this:
bumpy surface… fail 😦
When whisking the egg whites and fine sugar, you absolutely must whisk until stiff peaks form. Otherwise, your batter will be runny and your macarons won’t rise. I don’t have a fancy standing mixer so I just make do with my cheap handmixer. Whisk the egg whites on medium-low speed for about a minute, then turn the speed up to medium-high to whisk for 2 minutes. The egg whites should look fluffy and smooth by now. Gradually add fine sugar to the egg whites while whisking for another 2 minutes. Stiff peaks should be achieved at this point. However, if you find that the peaks aren’t quite stiff, then whisk for an extra minute on medium-high.
stiff peaks
Piping the macaron batter takes some practice. Be patient! Try to pipe small rounds that are just about 1 inch wide and at least 1/2 inch apart. You don’t want them to stick to each other.
matcha (green tea) macarons
Take your time to perfect the base recipe. Don’t expect to get it right the first time, but definitely don’t give up because once you get it right, you’re going to feel like a million bucks. So, go! Get lots of practice until you’re comfortable enough to start making different flavors.
I’ll be sharing some macaron recipes in upcoming blog posts. Stay tuned!
I often avoid using things such as oil and butter when I cook. The good thing about chicken is that a lot of its natural oils come out when you start cooking it – especially when you’re cooking chicken thighs or wings.
I’ve been cooking chicken a lot lately. I find that it’s really hard to mess up chicken dishes even when you put in very little effort.
I was feeling lazy one evening and created this easy recipe below.
–
Lemon pepper chicken
(serves 2)
Ingredients:
6 chicken drumsticks
2 tbsp of lemon juice
1 tsp basil
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
a bit of parsley (optional)
Instructions:
Debone the chicken drumsticks and cut the chicken into strips.
Marinate the chicken with salt, pepper, thyme and basil for about 30 minutes.
On medium to medium-high heat, grill the chicken with lemon juice in a skillet for about 10 to 12 minutes. Keep stirring the chicken so it doesn’t burn.
(Optional) Garnish with a bit of parsley.
I tried this recipe with chicken wings and it was really good too.
TIP: If you plan on using the oilier parts of chicken, such as thighs or wings, I highly recommend using a deep skillet so that you won’t get a lot of oil splattered on you.
I ♥ mini cupcakes. They’re just the right amount of sweetness and, well, don’t you think they’re cute?
Low fat pineapple orange cupcakes
(yields 24 mini cupcakes)
Cupcakes:
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup canned pineapple – crushed and drained
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Icing:
1/4 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup icing sugar
2 tbsp canned pineapple – also crushed and drained
1 tsp orange zest
–
Let’s get baking:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a mini cupcakes pan with two dozen mini cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg first and then whisk in the other wet ingredients.
Create a well in the dry ingredients, then slowly pour and stir the wet ingredients in. Mix well.
Pour the mixture evenly into the cupcake liners.
Bake cupcakes for about 10 minutes, rotate the pan and then bake for another 10 minutes. Test the cupcakes by inserting a toothpick in the center. The cupcakes are ready when the toothpick comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow them to cool in room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Preparing the icing:
In a medium bowl, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
Stir crushed pineapple into the cream. (NOTE: Ensure that you’ve drained out the juice from the pineapple as much as possible.)
Stir orange zest into the cream. (I like using a cheese grater to make orange zest, but there are other ways to do so.)
Add icing sugar to the cream and mix well.
Refrigerate the icing for about 30 minutes before adding on top of cupcakes.
Delectable Arts 
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