May 15, 2010

Macarons with Pastry Nerds

Su has made a new friend;
he's kinda handsome, kinda funny, kinda friendly, kinda silly and very much a Pastry Nerd.
From our very first conversation to the most recent one I've shared with him; all we talk about is pastry. Techniques, styles, chefs, flavours, ingredients, supplies, tools, trends... pastry related clothing, toys, books, games, events... it's amusing. Really. I'm sure we are both fully capable of holding a conversation about other topics (weather, sport, music.... probably not politics or finance) haha but when we hang out; that's all he seems to want to talk to me about!
We share one thing other than pastry in common; Gym... he's a bit more of a junkie than I am; definitely more fit and disciplined than I am as well! haha i feel we both inspire each other in very similar ways.
We recently took our verbal pastry excitement one step further. I decided we should be doing more than talking about this whole PASTRY ordeal we both love so much.

His name is Ko wai. Some have come to remember him as BreadPitt. ... .... aHAahahah!..I know!.. *Laughs hysterically* it's ridiculous; he coined the name himself a few years ago; it's stuck since.

Ko wai is head pastry chef for a centralized kitchen and well; i do cakes @ Delectable. We both don't get to practice much of what we learnt from Pastry school at work. The routine gets a little boring after awhile. The fancier things like chocolates, pralines, sugar work.. macarons! I've lost touch with so much of the 'pastry' side of things since i've left school...and it made sense to be in exposed to and practice with a chef who was still very much involved.

Ko wai reminds me of the heap load of fun I had at Notter. Every Sunday; we gather at mine to 'Play' I call it.. we make a mess, photograph our product and feed the masterpieces to my parents and sis.. they love it; and we love it too!


I've not been successful with macarons since i got home to Malaysia and Ko wai happens to be a master at macarons! He was very willing to share his knowledge and spend some time to understand my many failed attempts. YAY! haha he's gone through a fair number of them himself in the past. It's just nice to have a friend you can confide your troubles n failures with; who completely understands and go's beyond laughing at your mistakes.. to helping you solve them of course.
Everyone's been asking us over and over again for a macaron recipe; and well.. i thought I'd just put up a blog post with the instructions etc.

Macarons with Ko wai:
PART A:
110g Egg white
300g Sugar
78g Water

- boil water and sugar till 116 degrees celcius; to form a syrup; lightly beat eggwhites to a soft peak, pour in heated syrup in consistent stream while beating eggwhites in mixer to form an italian meringue. Beat till glossy.

PART B: - stir into a paste and set aside
110g Egg white
300g powdered sugar
300g finely sifted almond powder

- Gently fold part A into part B in 3 portions.
- Fill piping tube with round nozzle and pipe 4cm dots of macaron paste 2 cm apart on silpat (or wax paper)
- Bake in preheated 180degree oven for approximately 6 minutes; bring down the temperature to 160 degrees for another 5-6 minutes. *this bit is very touchy; so you gotta just watch it; don't trust the timer ;) hehe
- Leave to cool and gently peel off silpat; match the shells ; fill with ganache or PB and Jelly like we have done. YUMS!
- *if you choose to use colouring; add the gel based colour into part B before mixing into a paste.

Ko wai; my little girl (xiao-ly) and I have been getting together to make fun projects ever since our first Macaron escapade. My icing on the cake is the photography sessions we have after! I haven't gotten many chances to practice my food photography since Delectable was born. Ko wai really likes how the pictures turn out, he gets overly excited and super enthusiastic to see the photos I take of our 'Play' dates.
I believe this to be the beginning of a sweet sweet friendship.

20 comments:

Piee said...

your new friend is rather adorable. I think I may have to ditch my boyfriend of 5 years for him. hahaha. <3

I can't wait to see what other pastries you produce with him on your play dates. ^.^

Beks said...

I've yet to try my hand at the beautiful little gems. They seem so difficult. But your macarons are absolutely gorgeous. Wow!

Sarah said...

Those look so cute!

It's so cool that you work in a cake shop but still have fun with pastry/baking in your spare time. :)

xox Sarah

Mimi said...

Hi Su..do you sell macarons at your shop cuz I just love them!

yaffie said...

it seems like the recipe you posted did not require the usual standing period for the 'feet' to develop? yet to try my hands on macarons!

Anonymous said...

Woowww these macarons are sooo cute! Mmmmm love PB&J filling too!

The Cooking Ninja said...

I love your macs. They are gorgeous! I have to get a cooking thermometer for this.

Your new friend is so cute. It's great to find someone who shares the same passion as you.

Grace Cowling Mum apprentice said...

WOW These look amazing! I love your pics also! Your blog is an inspiration!

Jo said...

Hi, I think your blog is great ..! If you want to try a hand at macaroons, there was an episode which just aired in Australia recently with an ex Malaysian girl called Poh (who was runner up in Masterchef Australia Series 1) and a well renowed pastry chef called Emmanuel Mollois who lives in Perth

Have a look at the video and see if you find there are any steps you might want to incorporate into your macaroon making !!

Good luck! Jo

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/pohskitchen/stories/s2895326.htm

Jen said...

This actually makes me think I could successfully make macarons... must try soon! Thanks for the inspiration.

Ren said...

Wow! These look incredible!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jo,

I've been visiting your blog, it's amazing to see all your creations!

I've tried my hands on these macarons, but was not successful, the skin was thin and the macaroms don't looked "solid" like yours to me and it's wet inside and soft.

Don't know what's wrong with it. :(

How I obtain these your kind of macarons? I've wasted many batch of expensive ground almond just trying to make a batch of successful macarons :P

Joe-Lene said...

Thanks Su for the macaron recipe! I've failed for both attempts I made on macarons. I wish I could try on yours asap! <3

Anonymous said...

heya. i realised u gave a very brief recipe here. something we can pluck off any website. any chance of giving more than just a simple recipe? i think thats the reason y 3rsvan's one didnt work out. macarons wont work unless u have the correct technique, and i think a lot of the key techniques were left out here.

eveecooper said...

You're so adorable, and your recipies are just brilliant! I have yet to try them out, but the pictures of your finished products make me so enticed to have a go myself! You are one talented lady! :D

Anonymous said...

hey babydoll!! goodness j'adore macarons! good question mimi.. jo, once you've perfected the recipe you really oughta get ém in your shop ços all my usual macaron sources *blip*-ed. 3rsvan, isn't that how macarons go..? brittle shell with a semi-gooey middle. and i'm not talking bout the ganache. jo isn't it supposed to be like that?

jacqueline said...

Dearest Su, these looks decisious and Macarons are one of my favorite! Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful Macarons with Ko wai recipe! Perhaps one day i will be brave enough to try to make these. lol Have a lovely merry happy week and love to you!

rumtum tigger said...

those macarons are a gem, Su! They look awesome!! thanks for the recipe! i've tried baking them once and it was a totally different method! although it still turned out well.. gotta give urs a try! thanks! :)

Su-Yin -Décorateur said...

piee: woah thats pretty drastic; thought he was cute too; but no need for any harsh decisions hahaha

thanks for leaving comments guys; sorry i hadnt been able to come back more often to write.

have you guys tried it?
I understand that there is SO much more to macarons for them to be 100% successful; but honestly; i struggle with them too. so yea; i'm no pro with giving hints in terms of making them; there are 10000 books written just ONLY SPEcifically about macarons!

we currently dont sell them at my store; but am thinking about it though :)

Passionate Mae said...

yum!! do u ground the almonds urself? here in sydney, I'm finding the best way to have my paste as smooth as possible...hmmm...any advice?