Making French Macarons :)

To those couples who are married or dating, Happy Valentine's Day!! :) Those who are single, and waiting for that special person in their lives, I would say, Happy Love Day! :) It's a good time to embrace the special people around us, our families and friends.
I went to The Gourmandise School to learn the secret of baking French Macarons. There are many blogs documneting their experiements and experiences with macaroons but I decided to get a hands-on experience with it. It turned out to be really fun and I enjoyed the session! Myths like aging the eggs for a week, or hitting the pan on table before baking are actually not necesary.

I'm going to take you on a brief  journey of what I learned.:) We made Hazelnut Macarons with Milk chocolate passionfruit ganache, Vanilla Macarons with lemon curd, and pistachio macarons with Italian Raspberry buttercream, or pear buttercream. :) There are actually many versions that can be made if you tweak some of the flavors and ingredients. I'm  looking forward to making more varieties in the future. :)

In addition, we made heart-shaped ones, to go along with the valentine's day theme. It's easy..just pipe them heart-shaped from the piping bag.

Items needed to make the vanilla macarons: 140 grams egg whites (about 4), 80 grams vanilla sugar ( 2/3cup), 240 grams powdered sugar ( 2 cups), 3 grams egg white powder ( 1/2 tsp), 180 grams almond flour ( scant 2 cups), 2 grams salt.
Steps: Place the almond flour, salt, and powdered sugar in a food processor. Important to sift the mixture.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites and powder until soft peak stage. Slowly add the vanilla sugar and continue beating until just before stiff peak stage.

Fold the dry ingredients into the egg white mixture in three stages.

This is the stage where coloring is added, if you want to.

Fold about 4 times, before cutting through the batter in the middle, and continue to fold .

Continue to fold until a ribbon forms.

Pipe onto parchment paper

and let it set for 30 to 60 minutes.

Once piped, it'd look glossy.... After letting it sit, this is how it should look: MATT

Preheat oven to 350F. Plce the cookies in the oven and lower the temperature to 300F. Bake for 15 minutes.

Let ie cool...

Remove cookies after 10 minutes of cooling.

On to the fillings...

Lemon Curd: ingredients: 3 eggs, 1/2 cup strained meyer lemon juice ( or use pomelo, blood orange), 1 stick butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tnsp lemon zest.

Directions: Place a stockpot, 1/2 filled with water, on the heat  and bring to a simmer. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and zest. Whisk in the lemon juice. Set the bowl above the pot and reduce the heat to a medium to continue to simmer. Stir the micture over heat until a thick custard is formed, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the butter until smooth. Chill to set.

For the Italian Raspberry buttercream, you can change up the variations by adding different dried fruits. For example, asian pear. The base ingredients are: 5 egg whites, pinch of salt, 1lb butter, cut into pieces, 1 cup sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla.

Place a medium saucepot filled 1/3 of the way with water and bring to a simmer. Place the sugar, salt, and egg whites in the bowl of stand mixer. Holding the bowl over the saucepot, whisk the mixture until it feels warm to the touch. Place the bowl on the stand mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. Once the bowl is cool to the touch, add the butter, small pieces at a time. Add in the vanilla. Switch to paddle attachment to smooth out the buttercream. Add in half cup of your choice of dried fruit, or 1/4 to 1/2 cup frozen fruit puree. 

Pictures with the instructors~Clemence and Hadley :)

~Enjoy~

Love, Cherry :)

P/s: more pictures can be found on this site:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=277643&id=731096610&l=100e215b66

 

Strawberry Swirl Brownie Cheesecake

An easy brownie cheesecake that I've made a few times. To make it healthier, substitue applesauce for oil!! I use strawberries because this is the strawberry season. Any type of berries can be used.

Brownie Crust:
1, 20 oz package or 1 pouch Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 Tbsp vanilla Essence

Cheesecake:
1 cup (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, mashed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°F. For Brownie Crust: In medium bowl, stir together brownie mix, water, oil and egg until moistened (about 40 strokes). Spoon batter into lightly greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10-12 minutes.
For Cheesecake: Place cream cheese and sour cream in medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix on low speed 2 minutes or until smooth. Add egg and mix until blended. Add sugar and vanilla and continue to mix until smooth. Spoon cream cheese mixture randomly over brownie crust. Drop spoonfuls of strawberries randomly over cream cheese mixture. Swirl with tip of knife for marbled effect. Bake 55-60 minutes or until filling is set. Cool thoroughly. Store in the refrigerator.
Makes 12 servings

Gifts

It's the time of the year again to make truffles! Here's the recipe ....

A variation from the previous recipe is - coat it with coconut flakes or bits of crushed pepper mint candies. (Pipe the chocolate mixture from piping bag and place them in the freezer. OR, leave the mix in the refrigerator for about an hour, then use icecream scoops to scoop out balls of it, roll it with hands.)

Wrap them in different pretty boxes, place them in nice glass bottles and give them as gifts! :)

Cherry Pie, Carrot Cake, Strawberry Napoleon, Banana Cake...

Yes, I can go on and on.... Food is integral in my life and I deal with it day and night...almost 24/7! It's interesting how my parents "decided" my future when they named me Cherry. Although I never wanted to be in the food industry until I came to the USA.

Cherry Picking! @ Cherry Valley, CA.
I made cherry pies with the cherries picked. H. said, "Cherry went cherry picking at Cherry Valley and she was picky about the cherries she picked..."
Recipe for a basic cherry pie filling...
Ingredients:
2 pounds sour cherries, pitted
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Directions
In a saucepan, combine cherries, sugar and cornstarch. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until the juices thicken and become translucent. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and almond extract. Mix thoroughly.

:::Nutrition Tibit::: Cherries are a treasure trove of benefits!
These summer jewels can help quell pain and inflammation. Recent research indicates that including them regularly in your diet can help you as it contains lots of antioxidants. Counteracting free radical damage from inflammation translates into more energy and less of the oxidative stress that may contribute to aging and disease. These ruby-red orbs help relieve the pain of arthritis, gout, and post exercise muscle soreness, but the benefits don't stop. Recent animal studies have shown that tart cherries also offer the beneficial effect of lowering insulin and fasting glucose levels, key precursors in the development of type 2 diabetes.

Today Chef K made Strawberry Napoleon..looks yummy right! :D
Layers of phyllo sheets between custard, fresh cream and strawberries...

We tried something new and fun at BMC today- selling freshly baked breads!
Homemade banana bread, apple bread and cranberry oat bar!!!

They were all sold out during lunch and we had to disappoint some customers.

Next time we'll have cobblers, as requested by doctors.
Special Congratulatory cake order for the Medical Records department at LLUMC...

Freshly baked carrot cake covered with whipped cream cheese. Edible flowers and leaves are made with cream cheese too.

I am so thankful to God for so many things- including Chef K! She has made a difference in the Nutritional Services department at LLUBMC with her innovative spirit and cooperative teamwork. May God continue to bless each of us in a special way everyday! :)

Heart-Healthy Brownies

It was a beautiful day today- the weather and everything. Loma Linda Chinese Church had their annual health fair that was held in conjunciton with the 25th Silver anniversary celebration!

Eric and I did scripture reading :
Psalm 84:10-12
"Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you."

Some of the highlights... String Ensemble conducted by Jeff Hwang

25th anniversary Choir

Our "Did You Know?" health booths!!


We gave out samples of Heart-Healthy Brownies

Ingredients:
6T cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup spelnda
.5t vanilla extract
1/4t salt
1/2 cup all purpose wheat flour, self raising
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup water
3T water
2T flax seed meal
6 T water
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F In a small bowl, mix flaxseed meal with the water ( 6TBsp). Set aside Dump all other ingredients into the mixing bowl then add flaxseed/water mixture. Stir all ingredients together until well blended. Pour batter into a greased 8 x 8 pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
kilocalories: 236.5 kcal protein: 4.4 g Fat: 16g cholesterol: 0 saturated fat: 3g Sodium: 176mg vitamin A: 17.6 RE citamin C: 1.2 mg Iron 1.9 mg Dietary fiber: 3.3 g

Know the sugar content in food or drinks? You'll be surprised at the amount of sugar you're consuming in your regular food items!

Hidden sodium found in common foods!

Effects of Fats on cholesterol levels

Effects of Caffeine section

Loma Linda Mayor came to officiate the event.

On Saturday night, it was Steve's surprise birthday...

and I made mini stacked tiered banana cakes coated with chocolate ganache, decorated with yellow and blue candy dots or fondant cut-outs. :)