Verrines Rose Fraise

In keeping with where this recipe came from, Laduree, this variation retains its French name.  Fraises for strawberries, verrines for glasses, rose is still rose.

Mr. Meow got a Canon 60D and some sort of macro/zoom lens,
so I let him play around using my verrines

I am quite happy that I got a "hotel white" tablecloth.  It also actually fits
my table!  It certainly makes a huge difference when staging and photographing
food for the blog!

Remember that Chocolate Mousse Fraisier?  It became a fraisier because Meow was craving strawberries.  Well, Meow had a lot of strawberries left from that and was hoarding strawberries because she secretly wants to make this verrines probably the first time she laid eyes on the picture

From Laduree Sucre

Since today is the first day of summer vacation (yes, I'm a grown ass adult who has been out of school for 7 years now, still enjoys and has legitimate summer vacation.  Yay, teaching!), I have all the time in the world to finally try this recipe out.  Don't worry, I have my pawning channels ready.  I will be bringing it to a friend's home tomorrow for BBQ.

Originally, this was done with raspberries, but Meow had tons of strawberries frozen and not in her fridge.  She has also seen it done at the local fancy pastry shop, Duchess, did it with strawberries.  Though I'm not sure if the bavarian cream was rose flavoured, I think it was also strawberry flavoured because I remembered the flavoured being monotonous.  But of course, feel free to change the berries around to whatever suits your fancy.  Meow would do blackcurrants if there were any fresh ones in this country.

At Duchess Bake Shop
Strawberry version

Chocolate Eclairs

Just after Spring Break, Meow had to cover for a teacher for a few days.  There was this group of remedial high school science kids where they have a custom of making Fridays a movie day.  The TA (and sometimes the teacher) would bring in treats for the kids as well.  Meow asked what sort of things the kids like and the TA informed me that they like chocolate.  Perfect!  I was itching to try out something from my Laduree book, which at that time, I still haven't made anything out of it yet.

It may seem like a lot of work, but it really isn't any more work than other pastries.

Tuiles

I'm not sure what made me decide to make these, but I do remember that I have a bunch of egg whites that needed to be dealt with and I didn't feel like making macarons.

So, I looked through my baking books and this one seemed easy enough.  I had some recollection of what these cookies tasted like, it's like one of those childhood kind of taste.

Before we begin, a word about "sifted flour" and "flour, sift in".  The difference is that "sifted flour" is measured after you've sifted it, so it's a bit more airy and loose.  "Flour, sift in" is you measure the amount, then sift into your batter also creating a light and loose flour.  The main difference becomes that actual volume you put in, sifted flour will have a larger volume by weight since it is fluffed up.  Or if you baking by volume, sifted flour will be lighter than unsifted in the same volume.

Also, feel free to substitute vanilla extract for flavours like orange or lemon zest, etc.

Langues de Chats

If it involves cats, I'm there.

It does make a good substitute for a cat tongue, doesn't it? ;)

Langues de Chats is French for "Cat's Tongues".  And they're very similar to tuiles, similar in recipe, in flavour and in addictiveness.

This recipe came from the Laduree Sucre book.  They were sort of enticing to begin with and after making a batch of Pots de Crème, I had a bunch of egg whites left over so I decided to give it a whirl.

My intention is sort of to give all the recipes in the Sucre book a go.

Petits Pots de Creme

After a recent trip to France, I had returned with Laduree's recipe books and have slowly been giving some of the recipes a try.

This recipe calls for a custard base, but it did not require me to cook it on the stove to thicken, which is just fantastic as Meow does not have the patience for that sort of nonsense.  What's even more great about this recipe is that you add the flavouring after you have made your custard, that means you can divide up your custard and make several different flavours in your batch, just divide, flavour and mix!

Macarons Showcase: Sesame Street Theme

Earlier in May, Meow received an order request* from a family friend for her son's 1st birthday party.  The order was for about 140 macarons and somehow coloured and decorated such that it fits into Elmo's colour scheme.  Oh, and also with flavours that are kid-friendly.

   *Note: Meow does not take orders.  My baking is not a business...yet.  (Any investors? :D)

Colours are easy, though they did require my whole 2oz jar of gel colouring just to make it that bright.  But kid-friendly flavours can be challenging.  Seeing so many of my friends are now of the spawning age, I had to read so many of their posts about various struggles including fussy eaters.  So, let's stick with plain-Jane flavours.  Orange, raspberry, lemon, and blueberry.

Lucky kid got THIS as his 1st birthday gift from Aunty Meow

Lemon was a risky one, but fortunately, our local Costco has been stocking Meyer Lemons.  I've always wanted to see just what the fuss was about.  Well, have you ever tasted a sweet lemon?  I was blown away.  And the nice thing was that using these lemons and making a lemon cream filling out of it, because it is quite moist, the macarons matured in a day!

Blueberry was another iffy one, but it was difficult trying to come up with a flavour that matches blue besides "bubblegum".  I just didn't want to use any artificial flavours because there are always those parents who are concerned about their kids eating clean.  -_-u  And it was convenient that Meow has bags of frozen blueberries in her freezer for her morning smoothies.  Win!

Yeah, so fruits are a safe bet with kids.  And for the average Albertan, white-bred adults ;)

I will leave you with the recipe for the fillings for your experimentation.

Ile Flottante

Fancy French names for desserts!  Well, this one I fell in love with during a recent trip to France and its coastal region.  I fell in love with it because it was such a light and yet satisfying dessert, and its components were very obvious and easy to make.  It is a great way to finish a meal without needing to leave room or make room in the stomach.

This one came from the Laduree Sucre book, but in there, it is called Oeuf a la Neige, or Egg in the Snow.  The instructions in there asks you to use a spoon and form quenelles (eggs shape) with the meringue.  Too much effort for Meow.

Ile Flottante (Floating Island)
Custard sauce, soft meringue, caramel drizzle