Chocolate And Sea Salt Madeleines

by Liz // November 4, 2015 // No Comments

I overheard my son, Cameron, talking to a girl at the playground. Here is how the conversation went:

Cameron: I’m older than you.

Girl: No, I”m older. How old are you?

Cameron: I’m 5, but I’ll be 9 soon.

Girl: Well, I”m 8, so I’ll be 9 before you.

Cameron: Well, I’ve a big brother and he’s 17, so he’s older than you.

Girl: Well, my cousin is older than your brother. She’s 22.

Cameron: Well, my mom is way older than your cousin. She’s really old.

Me: (nervous laugh) Okay, Cameron… cut it out.

Girl: So what? My grandfather is way older than your mom. He’s in a wheelchair.

Cameron: (mind blown) Yeah, that’s pretty old.

Hey, I made chocolate and sea salt Madeleines! I’m also not that old. Continue reading →

Mummified Petit Fours

by Liz // October 28, 2015 // 6 Comments

Halloween is right around the corner, and next on my baking syllabus are petit fours; therefore, I thought I would combine the two and make mummified petit fours. Traditionally, a petit four is a small, fancy cake, cookie, or confection. This particular petit four has three layers of almond cake with raspberry and apricot preserves in between. It is covered in a white chocolate glaze, and piped with royal icing. Last but not least, it is studded with two candied eye balls–some are lazy, and some are not. I was inspired by the Monday Box’s mummy cookies. Unfortunately, these petit fours are a little too big. A proper petit four should be a two-bite size. If my calculations are correct it took me four bites per petit four. Maybe I should have one more just to be sure…. yup, four bites. Continue reading →

Vanilla Bean Macarons With Milk Chocolate Ganache

by Liz // October 27, 2015 // 17 Comments

Rachael from the Pizzarosa and Korena from Korena In The Kitchen challenged The Daring Bakers to bake macarons. I was so excited to take part in this month’s challenge because I’ve never made macarons before. I went out and bought myself a macaron silicone mat, and I scoured pastry cookbooks at my local library to find the perfect recipe. I stumbled upon William Leaman’s vanilla bean macarons with milk chocolate ganache in Mitch Stamm’s book The Pastry Chef’s Apprentice, and knew I had to try it. Macarons can be made either using a French meringue (sugar is gradually beaten into whipping egg whites), or an Italian meringue. This particular macaron uses an Italian meringue, which means hot sugar syrup is slowly poured into whipping egg whites. Continue reading →

A Family Weekend In East Texas

by Liz // October 21, 2015 // 4 Comments

We spent a long weekend in Texas for my oldest son’s birth mom’s wedding. It was a weekend of love–love of good food, love of funny family moments, love of planes taking off and landing smoothly, love of wedding vows, and love of new friends. The weekend began in Fort Worth with a well-earned vodka martini at the Little Red Wasp. I also ate a delicious Caesar salad (anchovies and all), and sweet cinnamon donut holes drizzled with a hot fudge sauce. Right after I took this photo (see below), the winds picked up and a small branch smacked me right in the kisser. Hello Texas! Continue reading →

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