Red Velvet Macarons

I love the rich look and taste of these red velvet macarons. The cream cheese filling isn't too sweet and they received high praise from my taste testers.

Enjoy!

Red Velvet Macarons
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted
10 grams cocoa powder
150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar
Red food coloring

Line four heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and cocoa powder and set aside.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts. Add the food coloring, a few drops at a time until the egg whites are a deep red color.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 
Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small quarter sized rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch. While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable. 

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 12 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.
Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with cream cheese filling.

Cream Cheese Filling
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Whip butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and whip again.

Use a pastry bag to fill the macarons.

Pie Crust

Now is the time to make pie.

With all the wonderful summer fruit available, I thought I should post my favorite pie crust recipe.

Pie crust can actually be kind of controversial — There are the butter pie crust people, the shortening pie crust people, the lard pie crust people and the combination fat pie crust people.

I'm a shortening pie crust person.

I find that shortening crusts are the flakiest, easiest to assemble and you don't have to chill the dough before rolling.
 
Basic Pie Crust
3 cups flour
1 cup Crisco
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup ice water

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar. Add Crisco and using your fingers, break it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs with some large pieces remaining.
Add the water, just a few tablespoons at a time until the dough is moist enough to pull together into a ball. Divide dough in half and roll out on a floured surface for the bottom and top crusts.

Summer Fruit Sauces

Homemade apricot sauce on pancakes.

There are so many summer fruits available now that it's the perfect time to whip up some fruit sauces. Homemade sauces are also a good way to use up over ripe fruit.

I love maple syrup on pancakes but this morning I made apricot sauce and it was a welcome change.

All I did was mash up a cup of ripe apricots, add some sugar and simmer it over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Soft fruits like apricots, peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries and berries transform into a sauce so much faster than firmer fruits like apples.  It really takes no time at all and is so good.

Besides topping pancakes, enjoy the sauces as is or try them on waffles, toast, yogurt or ice cream.

Focaccia

Focaccia is such a versatile bread.

You can top it with really anything you like before baking and suddenly you have a bread that's ready to be the star of a meal. All you need is to add a soup or a salad and dinner is served.

Today I topped a batch of focaccia with slices of baby zucchini from my garden, smashed chickpeas, garlic, rosemary and cheddar cheese. It was a vegetarian delight!

Focaccia with Chickpeas and Zucchini

 Dough:
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar and let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy. Add salt and olive oil. Add flour a cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and set aside until double in bulk, about 1 hour.

Set dough on a greased sheetpan and press into a rectangle. Let rise for 30 minutes.

The shaped dough rising.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make dimples all over the bread with your fingertips and add desired toppings.

Toppings:
A drizzle of olive oil
Sliced zucchini
Chopped garlic
Chopped fresh rosemary
Canned chickpeas, smashed with a fork
Fresh ground black pepper
Coarse salt
Shredded cheddar cheese

Smashing the chickpeas.

Fresh rosemary and a sliced baby zucchini.

A topped focaccia before baking.

Ready to eat!

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve.

A Little Something Sweet

When you are craving a little something sweet but want to eat something healthy try making this simple treat — non-fat yogurt, blueberries, walnuts and a drizzle of pure maple syrup.

It's delicious and the perfect treat to make during the summer when you want something cool and easy.

Breakfast Muffins

When you need a quick and nutritious breakfast, these muffins hit the spot.

They are easy to make and satisfy. You can change the recipe by substituting other dried fruits like currants, apricots or dates for the cranberries.

Breakfast Muffins
(makes 14 to 16 muffins)

1 1/4 cup whole grain hot cereal (Roman Meal and Bob's Red Mill are two brands I like)
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup olive oil
1 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pour buttermilk over cereal and let stand for 15 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients and mix until just combined.

Fill greased or paper lined muffin tins 2/3 full and bake for 15 minutes.

Grateful For The Space

Volunteers Gwen and Jeff plating lunches in our spacious kitchen.

There is no way we could prepare and serve as much food as we do at the Wednesday Community Meal without the use of a commercial kitchen and large dining room. 

Besides four commercial ovens, the kitchen is filled with amenities like heat lamps, soup warmers and insulated Cambro cabinets that are a huge help to us.

It's because of the generosity of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral that we have the use of these great spaces and were able to serve 244 meals today.

Bowls of soup stay hot under heat lamps.