I decided to try something a little different with this post.  Instead of describing how to make them, I posted photos from each step.  If you hover over with your mouse, you can read the captions.  Be sure to head on over to Martha’s site for the complete recipe.

They are also good with a square of dark chocolate pressed into the middle.

I made a chocolate and vanilla ice cream bombe (bombe glacée) for Big E’s 11th birthday last month [last year]. This is a simple and delicious dessert that requires no special pan.

You will need:

2 cartons of ice cream (I used chocolate and vanilla)
1 package of Oreos
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
A large bowl
Plastic wrap

Take out the first carton of ice cream to soften. This will be the top layer of your finished bombe. I used chocolate.

Line your bowl with plastic wrap, both ways (top-to-bottom and side-to-side). This is your mold. Leave enough wrap hanging over to wrap the finished bombe.

Put your ice cream into your stand mixer and mix it with the paddle attachment to give it a smooth, spreadable consistency. This step is optional, but it does make the spreading easier.

Spread the ice cream into the mold, creating a bowl shape. Leave a space at the top.

Place one row of Oreos into a food processor and pulse into crumbs. Spread crumbs over the entire chocolate ice cream layer.

Put your bowl into the freezer to set the layer. It does not need to be totally hard, just hard enough to withstand putting on the second layer.

Prior to talking the bombe out of the freezer, take out the vanilla ice cream (or other second flavor) and let it soften. Then put it in the mixer, as you did with the chocolate.

Spread the vanilla ice cream so it is flat in the mold, leaving room for the final layer of crumbs.

Process another row of Oreos and press the crumbs into the top of the bombe. Cover with the over-hanging plastic wrap and put in the freezer until fully hardened.

Before removing the bombe from the freezer, make the whipped cream icing by whipping the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until a stiff, spreadable consistency.

Dip the bottom of the bowl in hot water to loosen the bombe and invert it onto a plate or pizza pan lined with a parchment circle. (Put the plate upside down onto the bowl, then flip the whole thing.)

Frost the entire bombe with the whipped cream icing. Freeze again to set the frosting. If you don’t plan to eat it right away, you can cover it with wrap after the icing is frozen.

Your bombe is now ready to eat!

Yum!

I was planning on attending a barbecue on Saturday, so I thought it was a great opportunity to try the Raspberry Macaroon recipe I saw on Martha Stewart.com.

I went out and bought some fresh raspberries and some fancy-pants raspberry preserves.  (It was the only kind I could find made with actual sugar, instead of high fructose corn syrup.)

I should have known something would go wrong when I couldn’t find my camera and had to use my DSi XL to take the pictures for this post, but I pressed on, determined to have a plate full of beautiful and delicious macaroons to wow the crowd at the barbecue.

I pressed a handful of mashed raspberries through a sieve to make a tablespoon of fresh raspberry puree.

I gathered up all of the the ingredients.

I followed the directions to the letter, twice sifting the powdered sugar and almond meal, making the meringue, folding in the sugar almond mixture, then the raspberry puree. Then, I carefully piped the cookies on the parchment paper that I had so carefully cut to line the pans.

I omitted the food coloring, but look at the beautiful pale pink color from the puree.

I peeked in the oven window to see the lovely feet on my little creations.

But then, something went awry.  When I tried to lift the macaroons from the parchment, the soggy, sticky bottoms stuck.

I don’t blame the recipe.  I think it was a good recipe overall.  I blame the high (very high!) humidity we were having.  It was as if the insides had pulled all the moisture they could from the air.  (After I left them out for a day or two, they were actually quite perfect in texture, in fact.)

Still, I managed to salvage just a few for a photo.  Ah, this is what I had hoped they’d look like.

The cookies themselves were delicious, with just a hint of raspberry.

But, I still needed to make something for the barbecue.  And I still had a jar of expensive fancy-pants jam.  So, I made Butter and Jam Thumbprints from foodnetwork.com.  I already had everything on hand, even a vanilla bean.

They were pretty good, I’m told, though I personally thought they were too buttery, if there is such a thing.

If you missed my previous adventures in macaroon making, you can catch up here.

I used the Chocolate Macaron recipe from David Lebovitz, even though I am not in France.  I hope he doesn’t mind.

I don’t think I mixed it enough after I added the meringue to the other ingredients – or something, I’m not sure – but the batter did not smooth out after piping.

So, yes, my chocolate macarons look like a little doggie visited my kitchen and left me presents.  Gross, I know.

But, and this is the important thing, I assure you they were divine.

I think these make a wonderful and light cookie to have plain, but macarons just beg to have filling, so I filled them with some vanilla custard.

Hmm, something’s still missing.  How about vanilla custard and sliced strawberries?

There, that’s better.  But you just know that is going to shoot right out the back when you bite into it, so you can always serve it like this.

Any way you serve them up, these chocolate macarons are delicious!

This time, I tried the Parisian Macaron recipe found at Martha Stewart.com.  Unlike the last recipe I tried, this one has standard baking measurements, not weights.  The benefit there was that I didn’t have to get out my scale.  The drawback?  Have you ever tried to measure gloopy egg whites with a tablespoon?  Not easy.  (FYI: 6 tablespoons is 3/8 – or halfway between 1/4 and 1/2 on your 1 cup Pyrex.  Trust me, it’s much easier.)

Even though the recipe did not call for aging the egg whites, I did.

This recipe was easy to use.  It calls for whisking the powdered sugar and almond meal, but I ended up running it through the sieve because it looked a little lumpy.

Next, make the meringue.

I added in a little (just three drops) of yellow food coloring to the meringue.

Now it’s time to fold in the dry ingredients.

Then, pipe out circles onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, let sit for a bit, and we’re ready to bake!

What should I fill these lovelies with?  How about some lemon curd?

What a perfect gift for my mom for Mother’s Day.  She loves lemon!

Just wrap the box with some pretty punched paper and a bow, and it’s ready to give!

I felt like this recipe was a little bit simpler to follow, perhaps, but the result was not quite what it was the first time.  There are two reasons that come to mind.  (1) The measurements are not as precise.  (2) I used a wooden spoon to prop the oven door, which I did not do last time.

At any rate, these were still amazingly delicious!  My mother and my sister both absolutely loved them, and you will, too!

I do, however, have some tasty Cinco de Mayo recipe links.  Cinco de Mayo is this coming Wednesday.  Even though it is not a holiday most of us have any reason to celebrate, it is a great excuse to go all out with a tasty Mexican meal.

I am going to make these Easy Chicken Fajitas, from Food & Wine, and my favorite Vegetable Enchiladas, from Everyday Food.  I love that enchiladas recipe!

For dessert, how about some homemade Churros or Mexican Brownies, both from Food Network?  Or, if you prefer, Joy the Baker has a recipe for Tres Leches Cake and a few words about falling in love.

Let’s not forget the drinks!  Pick your poison: Classic Margaritas or Frozen Strawberry Margaritas.

Enjoy the fiesta!

Parisian macaron is the new cupcake. They are everywhere. Every single one of the baking blogs I read has had at least one post about macarons. Bakerella even made Macaron Pops.

Do a google image search on macarons and prepare to be swept away to baked goods heaven.

Better yet, do a google image search on Pierre Herme macarons and, wow.

I found out that Mirabelles in Burlington sells French macarons, so I went there and bought some. Okay, twice. They were so good.

It was then that I decided I had to make my own.

After reading and researching, I found this excellent post from Serious Eats, How to Make Macarons.

Side note: That post was from October 2007. What rock have I been living under? I am only just recently learning of these amazing confections.

Here are the ingredients from the Serious Eats version:

Ingredients

225 grams icing sugar
125 grams ground almonds
110 grams egg whites (about 4), aged overnight at room temperature
30 grams granulated sugar
Pinch of salt

You’ll need to read that whole post, though, before you attempt this yourself.

Okay, so the first thing I did was take out a small loan to buy the almond meal. That stuff was $11/pound!

I found it in the natural section of the supermarket. You can make your own, but I do not have a good quality food processor.

Then, I had to convert all of the measurements into ounces because my scale is America-centric and doesn’t have grams. (Actually, it’s a postal scale that I use for measuring soap ingredients. USPS doesn’t need to measure in grams.)

Ingredients

7.9 ounces icing sugar
4.4 ounces ground almonds
3.9 ounces egg whites
1 ounce granulated sugar
Pinch of salt

Those are all weight ounces, not measuring cup ounces.

I read somewhere that you should age the egg whites for 3 days. (Ew, I know.) I put mine out Friday night and made my macarons Sunday afternoon. (I know, ew.) It makes the egg whites thin and watery, and gives your meringue more volume.

Pre-measure everything and have it ready before you start.

The almond meal is lumpy. Push it through a sieve before using.

Sift the powdered sugar, too. Then, whisk them together in a bowl and set aside.

Make the meringue.

Fold it into the almond/sugar mixture.

That’s it. Fill up a piping bag. I didn’t even use a tip; I just cut off the end.

Pipe onto your baking sheets, lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat thingy.

I went out and bought beautiful, shiny, new aluminum baking sheets. They work better than the non-stick because they don’t over-brown the bottoms.

Now, I have read everywhere that you have to let the macaron batter sit for an hour to form a skin and that is how you get the feet, or something like that, but that Serious Eats post mentioned that David Lebovitz didn’t think that was important.  So, I decided to try it both ways.

Here is the one place where I deviated from the Serious Eats post (well, besides the ganache recipe): I baked mine at 300-degrees, not 325.  And I did not use a double baking sheet or prop the door to the oven.  I basically followed the baking instructions on this post by Bakerella, where she takes a macaron class with Tartelette.

Go look at the photos at the top of that post and prepare to swoon!  While you are there, read the post.  It’s best to have read at least a couple accounts of how to make these before you try it.

I baked my first sheet of macarons right after they were piped.  When I opened the oven to look at them, I literally squealed when I saw that they had feet!  (Click for larger picture.)

My first batch of macarons.

Here is the side-by-side comparison of the sheet that went straight in the oven after piping and the one that rested about 1.5 hours.

The one on the left is the one that sat out.  It does have a higher foot, but it was kind of cracked, too.  The domed top is almost separated from the foot.  The one on the right went right in the oven.  That is from the same sheet as the ones above, cooling on the rack.  I liked those better.  (And they were shiny.)

I filled them with chocolate ganache, but not the recipe from the macaron recipe.  I made this one from Martha.

And here they are.  But, the pictures do not do them justice.  I want to marry these. They are that pretty.

My Easter started out with me remembering that I forgot to boil the eggs for coloring, so I got right out of bed and got to work.  While I was in the kitchen, I made a batch of rolls, which came out perfect, like little fluffy pillows of buttery, bready goodness.

After the eggs and rolls were done, I put the finishing touches on my desserts and prepared the platter for lunch.

Last night, I was looking up how long I needed to cook the ham for, so I could plan a preparation schedule, and I found the best ham recipe ever.  No, I mean ever.  It was so amazing.  And, I had fresh syrup from the sugar house we visited last weekend, which made it all the more so.

The rest of the dinner consisted of mashed red potatoes (with skins), asparagus, corn, sauteed peas and red onions, and of course, those amazing rolls.

Then, the desserts.  I told you before what I was making for desserts, but then I realized that I had nothing chocolate, so I added these  Baker’s Mousse Bars.

Here is the torte that I made with the strawberry and mango sorbets.  The icing is made with whipping cream, powdered sugar, lime juice, and lime zest.  I did not like the icing.  Also, the mango sorbet was too tart for me.  I will make this again, but I will use two layers of the strawberry sorbet and normal whipped cream icing (ie vanilla instead of lime).  Still, it was pretty.

The Vanilla-Almond Fruit Tart, via Kraft, was so delicious.  The crust is made from crushed Nilla wafers and toasted almonds.  The cream is made from instant vanilla pudding, whipped cream (the recipe calls for Cool Whip – yuk), and almond extract.  It was delicious.  (I said that already, but it bears repeating.)

Last, but not least, the Carrot Cake Cupcakes, via Martha.  Oh.  My.  God.  They were so amazingly good.  I cannot even tell you.

But, what’s better than amazing, moist, supremely delicious carrot cake cupcakes?  Amazing, moist, supremely delicious carrot cake cupcakes displayed on my new Martha Stewart cupcake tree from Macy’s.

The photos just can’t do it justice.  (Although, the photo at the Macy’s link above does a good job.)

And here’s a close-up of the star of this little show.

Yum!

So, tell me, what goodies did you have this Easter?

First, make sure you get out there and buy all the good Easter candy before it’s gone.  I’ve already bought all of mine.

Now, I am planning the Easter dinner.  The first place to start: dessert.  Of course.  Really, it’s the most important part.

So far, I have the following:

Vanilla-Almond Tart, by Kraft.  This recipe looks so simple and good.  It uses Jello instant pudding and Cool Whip for the filling.  I know it might seem like cheating, but it is just so darn good.  I use real whipped cream in place of the Cool Whip in every recipe like this I have ever made.  It makes all the difference.

Fruit and Cream Cake, by Betty Crocker.  The one I am making is basically like this, but it’s made from a sheet cake, cut into thirds and filled with mango and raspberry sorbets or sherbets, or whatever.  The recipe is in a free calendar I got from Betty Crocker and I don’t want to dig it out right now.  The recipe at the link is the basic concept, though.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, by Martha Stewart.  I love carrot cake.  So do the kids.  It’s an Easter staple around here.  This year, I am going cupcake, using some adorable Easter cupcake liners by Wilton, with cute chick and bunny picks.  I will not be doing the fancy-pants toppers that Martha made, but only because I don’t have the springerle mold.

I do not need to do a trial run of any of these desserts (I don’t miss those days), so I won’t have pictures until the day or two before Easter.  There are, however, pictures at the links, which are far better than any I could take.

What desserts are you making for Easter?  Or, if you aren’t making dessert, what is your favorite Easter dessert?

To make these yumtastic goodies, you will need 2 boxes of Jello (I used cherry), a bag of jelly hearts, a can of whipped cream, silicone cupcake liners or foil cupcake papers, and optional cake sparkles to give it, well, sparkle!

Make the Jello according to the directions for Jigglers.  Jigglers call for 4 boxes.  I used 2 and halved the amount of water.

Pour the jello into the cupcake liners.  If you use foil ones, leave the paper layer in.  I tried it with the paper and without.  It is much easier to remove the jello from the paper.  I think it would be awesome to use the silicone cupcake liners, but I use mine for soap and I don’t have any that I use for food.

The way I filled mine yielded 7 Jello cupcakes.

Melt and pour soapers, resist the urge to spray with alcohol to remove the surface bubbles!

Refrigerate until fully set.  It took one hour for mine.

You can leave the jello in the papers (as pictured above) or take them out (pictured below), before decorating.  It’s up to you.  If you want to remove the paper, first peel away the foil.  Then, go around the top gently rubbing the jello away from the paper.  Once you loosen the top all the way around, you can just peel off the paper and it should come off fine.

Top with whipped cream and cake sparkles, if desired.  Place a jelly heart on top.  Wait until just before serving to top, or the whipped cream will melt!  If you want them to last longer, try Cool Whip, which holds its form better.

If you push a toothpick into the jelly heart, then push the other end into the jello, the heart will stand up better.

Jello and soap cupcake BFFs.