Bulldog and Poodle Dark Chocolate Pistachio Macarons

 My friend requested for bulldog macarons again for her dad's birthday after 10 years. This time round there are poodles joining them!

 

I filled the macarons with dairy-free tropical weather stable dark chocolate ganache and homemade pistachio butter lightened with some Swiss meringue buttercream. You may see this post to see the version I made 10 years ago.

This may seem like a routine character macaron bake for me but it's only the second time I am using a single oven to oven dry and bake complex character macarons at home because I had been super scared of cracking the shells after spending a long time piping! So glad to have figured out the drying and baking temperature settings to make it work with my new oven that I bought end of last year!

I used my default Swiss meringue method recipe. Here's a picture of all the macaron shells with the dogs partially decorated finish with edible marker and paint for the shadows.

The round shells made from leftover batter were oven dried then baked too! Such a time saver!

Fully decorated macaron shells. I used a sprinkle for the medallion and a little royal icing for the collar and tongue

Close up views of the filled macarons...

The reel for the process of making these dog macarons:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbWxv69SpVy/?igsh=bzA2OHpwZnp0ejVj

Thank God they were very well received!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Dubai Chewy Cookie (for CAM)

Here's the recipe for Dubai Chewy Cookie for upcoming Culinary Arts Ministry class. In addition to the classic flavour, I've added another flavour variation for the young-at-heart!

Dubai Chewy Cookie Recipe 
Makes 12

Classic pistachio kunafa filling
28g toasted kataifi pastry
47g pistachio cream (35%)
3g tahini
Pinch of salt (1/12 tsp)

Biscoff kunafa filling
22g toasted kataifi pastry
41g Biscoff crunchy spread
15g pistachio cream (35%)
Pinch of salt (1/12 tsp)

Chewy chocolate skin
25g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
72g marshmallows (~13)
10g cocoa powder (natural), sifted
5g milk powder
Extra cocoa powder for coating, sifted (7g)
Oil for lightly greasing gloves (12g)


1. Make the filling. Add the toasted kataifi pastry to the pistachio cream, tahini and salt, and mix well with a spatula. Do likewise for the Biscoff version.

2. Divide each filling mixture into 6 balls (~12g). *Chilling helps to harden but is optional.

3. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the marshmallows and unsalted butter. Microwave for about 20-25 secs until the marshmallows are half melted.

4. Remove from the microwave and mix with a spatula. Add the cocoa powder and milk powder and mix until fully combined.

5. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Lightly oil your gloves and spatula.

6. Divide the chocolate marshmallow mixture into 12 portions (~9g).

7. Flatten one portion in your palm, place a pistachio kunafa ball in the center, and wrap the marshmallow mixture around it. Do this for all 12 balls.

8. Roll the entire cookie in cocoa powder to coat the outside.

9. Let the cookies sit at room temperature (30 mins) until the exterior sets slightly and becomes chewy.

Here is a video tutorial, bear version =).

God bless! With love,

Susanne

  

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Reduced-Sugar 3D Hedgehog Macarons with Pistachio and Strawberry

 I made 3D hedgehog macarons years ago as one of my early experiments creating 3D macaron shells in 2017, for a client in 2018 and as an entry in my Macaron Basics book in 2018. I decided to give it a makeover and this was what I came up with!

This was a personal project that I did to satisfy my curiosity on a number of things:

1. Using ultra low fat cocoa powder (<1%) for making macaron shells

2. Revisiting my hedgehog macaron design with the following tweaks to the design-- 1) giving the hedgehogs little stubby feet. 2) Changing the quills to textured macaron batter from barely macaronaged batter. 3) Trying to see if I can create the snout out of "gravity-defying" macaron batter to make the little upturned noses more endearing 

3. Challenging myself to see if it can all work with a reduced-sugar recipe (I was questioning the wisdom of this halfway through working it as I could tell the meringue is less stable and batter was deflating with time. It also resulted in a tray of exploded shells during baking but with more careful management of subsequent trays from the same batch of batter, it's all good!)

I filled the macaron shells with pistachio Swiss meringue buttercream and strawberry jelly. I made the pistachio butter and strawberry jam (reduced sugar) from scratch.

The hemispherical shape of the top shell was created by piping on silicone hemispherical mold.

See the reel of the process and recipe over here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Da9B2mAS2-K/?igsh=MXYweXJzZXcyaHhjNg==

with love,

Phay Shing

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Tea Time Sugar-Free Bakes

 Someone requested that I teach a baking class featuring simple bakes without sugar, one sweet treat and one savoury treat. This was what I came up with!

The savoury treat is Gougeres, a cheese-based Choux pastry that can be enjoyed with or without a filling/dip. 

I use a combination of Gruyere and mature Cheddar with a sprinkling of Parmesan as well as some seasonings to impart flavour to the pastry without adding table salt.

Thee this reel for a better look at the pastries along with the ASMR of how crunchy they are!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dal2r59S3cj/?igsh=MTl2ZTd0bTdqamN0dA==

The sweet treat is a sugar-free lychee blueberry cake with blue china butterfly pattern as the design as requested. The cake composition includes:

- Sugar-free lychee chiffon sponge

- Blueberry compote made without any sugar added

- Blueberry mascarpone whipped cream without sugar added

- Wafer paper butterflies as optional decorations

You may watch this reel for a peek at the process of making the mini cakes!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DatlC2YyEQS/?igsh=cDBidHlnbjBtbnJm

I have both studio and online class for this. Studio class participants will have access to online class material for free. The online class doesn't have expiry date.

with love,

Phay Shing

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Chiikawa, Usagi and Hachiware Brown Sugar Cookies

 Besides macarons, my friend requested some brown sugar cookies of Chiikawa and friends too!

Here's a peek at the cookies without the facial details added in:

Can you spot which ones are cookies and which ones are macarons?

I tried my best to match the shade of colors between the two different types of bakes!

I use my default brown sugar cookie recipe to make these as she loves them and request for them every year without fail since early 2015!

with love,

Phay Shing

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Sugar-Free Vanilla Chiffon Bees

 I made some chiffon cake bees and used one of them as a cake topper for a sugar-free gender reveal cake!

The bee means something special to the couple that's why it's included as part of the decoration. I made it sugar-free as requested by my friend but you can make it with white sugar.

BEE MAIN BODY
Egg yolk batter:
16g milk
12g oil
Pinch of salt
1/8 tsp vanilla
20g cake flour, sifted
1 egg yolk
1-2 drops yellow gel colouring (optional)

Meringue:
1 egg white (36-40g)
1/8 tsp cream of tartar 
15-20g sugar of choice*

WHITE WINGS & EYE HIGHLIGHTS
See my previous post for the pandan vanilla chiffon cake recipe that I used.

BLACK EYES
5g butter/oil
5g cake flour
5g icing sugar
5g egg whites
1/16 tsp charcoal powder/black cocoa powder

FEELERS
Angel hair pasta
Black batter for making the eyes

OTHERS
- Pink lustre dust for rosy cheeks
- Black edible marker for mouth & stripe outlines
- Bloomed & melted gelatin used as glue for the wings & eyes. I used a ratio of 1:6 for gelatin:water
- Charcoal powder + water as black paint. I didn't measure as I just added drinking safe water to charcoal powder until it was a good painting consistency. Allow the paint to dry on the chiffon sponge before direct handling to prevent accidental smudges

* I used a blend of sugar replacements & prebiotic soluble fibers instead of white sugar. Unable to disclose type & ratio at the moment.

See the reel for the process of making the bees and the method in the pinned comments of the reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaOrloUyu-Y/?igsh=MW9uYTR5dmQwM25oNg==

with love,
Phay Shing

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