Tuesday, January 31, 2012

A little hoot from the neighbourhood...





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Ingredients for my Kiwi macarons' filling...


Oh, wow.. I've been too busy lately to update my blog! How I wish I could continue on writing my Europe entries! After I launched Le Couette Macaron, I got extremely busy! Since I'm not into conducting this business on a full time basis, I do not have the luxury of spending much time in the kitchen. Therefore, I need to manage my time wisely.

I just can't believe that up till now, I have baked almost a thousand pieces of macarons! I'm so glad that my business partner has also been working just as hard like me

Anyway, many thanks to those who made orders on my macarons! Many more macarons are to be delivered soon! Glad to say that I really enjoy doing this! Thanks again for all of your support. Like Le Chouette Macaron FaceBook page to get more updates about my macarons!


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Laduree, Le Chouette Macaron & Pierre Herme! :-O

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Introducing Le Chouette Macaron!





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Hi guys, let me introduce my new baby, Le Chouette Macaron! I have officially registered Le Chouette Macaron, and created it's page on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Le-Chouette-Macaron/222542631162732

Meanwhile, Le Chouette Macaron's website is still under construction.

Remember my macaron contest last week? The person who had guessed the nearest correct answer was Jalina Jal! She won a box of 10 macarons, in two flavors. She collected her prize only last Sunday, I had baked her fresh ones! Just a beat after, I got tagged by her on Facebook - with a picture of her daughter holding the macarons. I liked the picture; both girl and macarons looked so adorable! ;)

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Here is the picture by Jellyna Jal


Anyway, stay in touch with Le Chouette Macaron on Facebook to get more updates, or to place your orders, as well as stand a chance to win the monthly contest!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Welcoming 2012 - Macaron Contest!





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E. Dehillerin at rue Coquillière Paris...

If I had welcomed the new year in 2011 by baking a mango cheesecake, I have done something different in welcoming 2012 - I baked some macarons! Since taking up macaron baking lessons in Paris last autumn, I have yet to experiment with it at home due to the lack of time. So, to welcome the new year, I decided to bake some!

While in Paris, there was a day where I paid E. Dehillerin a visit right after the third cooking class. E. Dehillerin is a renowned distributor of high quality kitchenware and pastry utensils for both professional and hobbyist cooks. Wandering around this interesting shop had made me madly in love with it! It was first opened in 1820, and has successfully maintained its old charm and ambiance, making it totally different than most modern cookware shops we have today. In many ways, its natural and limited lighting and store arrangement style made me feel like I was in a kitchen museum!



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They have everything that you could be looking for.


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The staircase that leads to the underground level where you will find more delightful stuff...


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I have a membership card, so I was entitled for store discounts! ;) Anyway, as suggested by my baking teacher, I had gone to this shop to get some cooking stuff, as well as some silicon sheets that they use in most famous macaron kitchens in Paris.


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O.k, this is the silicon sheet I was talking about. There are similar types in Malaysia, but of different brands. Either these, or you may choose to use oil or silicon paper...

Before I set out to bake my macarons, I already have some ideas of the kind of ruffles or feet I would want my macarons to have. From all the macarons I have had in Paris, from Pierre Herme to Laduree to Fauchon, Paul, McCafe and other local pastry shops, my personal favourite style has to be that of Pierre Herme. Their macaron feet are non-uniform, and slightly out of shape - which I find rather artistic and interesting! The way I see it, macarons which are too perfectly or uniformly shaped are nice to look at, but lacks the rugged, "homemade" touch... So to be fair, I decided to bake in both styles! Just to get started, I browsed through all of the pictures I took in Paris. Here are some which I find inspiring...

Fauchon

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BTW, I love their breads, too! And the casing for their large macarons was simple but nice...


Paul

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McCafe

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Street Pastry Shop

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Laduree

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Pierre Herme

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Look at those uneven ruffles... Love it!

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So, I set off baking my macarons using the two methods I've learned. I began with the French meringue style, to achieve ruffles a la Pierre Herme. Needless to say, I had to rely on some tricks to get the intended ruffles.

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Finally! On the left - my macaron shells, fresh from the oven, inspired by a picture of Pierre Herme's macarons- Mogador Flavor(on the right) which I took at Jardin du Luxembourg.

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The result! Exactly as I had wanted them!


Yesterday evening, I bake another batch, this time with the Italian meringue style... and I had also tried other tricks to get the uniform ruffles. I think they look just as good, but I was too tired to put in the fillings for some proper photography... Anyway, here they are!

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I will post the final pictures once I am done with the filling... and have them photographed in the most flattering way....

Happy New Year to all of you!


Updated!

OK, I managed to take a few proper pictures of my pink macarons just now, I am running a small contest over at my FaceBook fan page. Visit the page to participate. Winner gets a box of my macarons. Happy guessing!

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