I had lots of yuzu diplomat cream and chocolate hazelnut whipped cream left from making the display set and a few other capybara choux pastries so I decided to make bouchees to use up the filling. Here's something cute and quick to put together that capybara fans will love!
I was inspired by Winnie (Instagram: ohcakeswinnie) to give bouchees a try as to her, it's easier than macarons
I shared the recipe for making these bouchees in my Instagram reel over here:
If you never had bouchees before, they are light & airy sponge sandwiches with tasty filling. They are also rather quick & simple to put together!
This recipe makes only five-six 5cm capybara bouchees so feel free to upsize the portion.
Ingredients:
1 large egg
1/8 tsp cream of tartar (optional)
1/8 tsp salt (optional)
30g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or paste
20g cake flour
12g almond flour (may replace with hazelnut flour)
1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp cocoa powder
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
1. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar, salt & sugar until stiff peaks
2. Briefly whisk egg yolk & vanilla. Fold in gently with spatula until smooth
3. In another bowl, whisk together flours & 1/4 tsp cocoa powder. Sift over egg mixture. Gently fold until just combined
4. Portion out one heaping tablespoon of batter. Add 1/8 tsp sifted cocoa powder. Gently fold until combined
5. Transfer light & dark brown batters into piping bags. Pipe as shown in reel. Use a template if you wish for consistent sizing
6. Lightly dust with powdered sugar if you wish (not shown in reel)
7. Bake 150-160C 15 min or until crisp. Adjust time & temperature according to your oven as each one is different
8. Cool completely before decorating & filling. I filled mine with chocolate hazelnut whipped cream & yuzu diplomat cream because I have that on hand but you may fill with any filling of choice like jam/curd with vanilla whipped cream. Refrigerate overnight for the sponge to soften & absorb the flavours of the filling. Best eaten cold
I didn't explain what's the difference between dusting with icing sugar and without dusting before baking in the reel. You can see the difference in this picture below:
The lighter coloured ones were dusted with icing sugar and the darker ones didn't have it. Final texture wise especially after maturing with the filling, I don't find a difference. I prefer to bake the bouchees until they are rigid enough to handle and dry enough because when I leave them spongey like cake, the surface turns sticky very quickly in humid Singapore, even when I dust with icing sugar before baking. The moist, high water content filling will soften the texture to be more sponge cake-like so it's ok to "overbake" and dry out your bouchees until they taste more like light airy cookies when freshly baked if you prefer something that's easier to handle in humid climates.
Just to share more pictures of these treats!
Cross-section looks like a macaron!
Do give this a try as bouchees are really quick to put together (in under an hour!), yummy and you may fill with any filling of your choice!
with love,
Phay Shing
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