Macarons...

Hi there!

So, yesterday I made macarons. I just love 'em so much! And I'm getting better at making them :)
Yesterday, everything went perfectly. The mixing, folding, piping, baking, it all went well. I was so thrilled when they came out of the oven and looked almost flawless. (yes, almost, there were some with cracks)

And ofcourse I ruined it.

That's typical for me. I made a filling, but it was wayyy to soft and, well, liquid-y, so the macarons got soaked and wet and I had to throw them out.... :(

I didn't take any pictures (sorry!) but I think I'm gonna try again today, and I will make pictures!

Some Sweet Links

Vanilla Bean Madeleines, from Completely Delicious

1. I loooovvvee madeleines! I made chocolate ones before, and I really want to make these vanilla bean madeleines too!
2. Did you ever make homemade almond milk? No? Me neither, but I would love to try it!
3. So, last week I made these Pain au Chocolat Cinnamon Rolls, and I loved them! They're the perfect mix of pain au chocolat and cinnamon rolls, and totally breakfastfood!
4.  Yaaay! Over-the-top snickers profiteroles! Ahhh-mazing!
5. Anndddd..... I've finally bought Doc Martens!! Black ones with flowers, I love 'em!
6. These cinnamon rolls look a bit more difficult then normal cinnamon rolls, but o my, I sooo want to make them!
7. And sometimes a vanilla muffin is exactly what you need after all that chocolate and spices!

M&M cookies

 

 

 

Helloooow cookies!

 

How gorgeous are you?

Yes, I made these cookies for easter and yes, that was quite some time ago already.

But better late than never, right?



 

 

 

For Easter I'd made m&m and chocolate chip cookies in the shape of eggs. Well, I tried to, not all of them turned out so beautifully...

They're two of my favourite cookies, so I just had to include them in the Easter brunch. They're just soo good!! I think I loved the m&m ones the best, because the chocolate chip cookies dried out a bit more after I cut them into egg shapes right after they came out of the oven, so I recommend you don't cut them, but just leave them the way they are.

 

And well, as I'm not feeling very well, I'm gonna end this post now. Yes, I should've probably made a longer post since I also didn't post at all for some time, but I'm not feeling good at all.... I'm not sick a lot, and now it's my birthday (Yeeh!) , and ofcourse, then I´m sick... But well, here´s the recipe! Hope you enjoy it! (the recipe for the chocolate chip cookies is the same as the one in an earlier post I wrote)

M&M Cookies
from How Sweet It Is
makes 18 large or 36 small cookies
2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) of salted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup mini m&m’s (or something else that you love)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the butter and sugars until they are combined (and look like the first picture above). Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed. Gradually add flour and mix until a dough forms – it will look crumbly at first, but it will come together. I even used my hands to help at one point. Fold in the m&m’s.
Divide the dough how you choose (1/4 cup portions for 18 large cookies or 2 tablespoon portions for 36 smaller cookies). Shape each portion into a ball with your hands then pull each ball into two equal pieces. Turn each half so that the rough side of the half (what used to be the inside of the ball) faces upwards and then squish both halves together. Place the dough rough-side up on a baking sheets. If you’re doing large cookies, I’d leave about 2 inches in between each.
Bake for 12-15 minutes (large cookies) or 8-12 minutes (small cookies) or until the edges are slightly brown. The centers should be
soft and puffy. Do not over bake. Let cool completely then dig in!

Hazelnut Berry Muffins with White Chocolate Frosting

 

 

Hey guys!

I'm really sorry for not posting for so long, I've just been over my head in school work... Our nice teachers decided that the 2-3 weeks before our break have to be filled with tests... And not just an easy one, that you only have to study 15 minutes for and you get a good mark, o no! They decided that everyone of the tests should be long and about multiple chapters....

 

Yeah, I don't really love them right now...

I do really love these muffins! (Yeah, smooth and subtle change of topic, I know)
I first made them a year ago, for Easter, and I loved them right away. They are delicious. They have the sweetness and a bit of tartness from the raspberries, a subtle hazelnut flavour and a sweet, smooth white chocolate frosting on top.
You should try them yourselves!


Hazelnut Berry Muffins with White Chocolate Frosting
from Cadbury
Ingredients
125g Cadbury White Chocolate Melts
250g Philadelphia Block Cream Cheese, chopped and softened
125g butter, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Finely grated rind of 1 orange
2 tablespoons orange juice
½ cup flour
½ cup SR flour
½ cup ground hazelnuts
150g frozen raspberries
Extra raspberries for decoration, if desired

Combine the chocolate and half the philly and stir over simmering water until chocolate has melted. Chill until firm enough to spread.
Beat the remaining half of the philly, butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add the eggs, beating well between each addition. Fold through the lemon rind and sifted flours alternately with the juice, then stir through the hazelnuts and raspberries until combined.
Spoon into 12 x 1/3 cup capacity patty paper lined muffin pans. Bake in a moderate oven 180°C for 25-30 minutes or until cooked when tested. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out of pan to cool completely. Spread with the prepared frosting and decorate with extra berries if desired

Italian Easter Breads

Yes, I know that I should have posted about this recipe before Easter, but well.... I didn't. :)

So I'm just gonna post about it now. That way you can make it for next year's Easter or just when you are in a let's-make-sweet-white-breads-braided-into-a-circle-covered-in-sprinkles-with-a-painted egg-in-the-middle-mood, or something...

I do really think you have to make these, now or next year. They were the showstealers on my Easter brunch, everyone loved them! They look very colorful and beautiful, and my aunt asked me if I bought them at a bakery! That totally made my day, ofcourse. :)

The bread itself is a sweet, white bread, that tasted delicious with a bit of jam.

Apart from all that, I really liked making these! I don't make a lot of bread, but I really liked to make these, kneading the dough, letting it rise (okay, maybe that was a little less fun)... But after all, I fell in love with these fun, colorful breads. Try them for yourself!

Italian Easter Bread
from The Italian Dish
1.25 cups milk
pinch of salt
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
3.5 cups flour (approximate)
1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
6 dyed Easter eggs
sprinkles or pearlized sugar
3.5 cups flour (approximate)
1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon of water
6 dyed Easter eggs
sprinkles or pearlized sugar



Instructions:* tip:  the Easter eggs do not need to be hard boiled.  They cook when the bread bakes.  I usually just dye the eggs uncooked, without hardboiling them.  Saves time.  Just be careful they don't crack!
In a small saucepan, warm the milk and butter together, just till butter melts.    In a large mixer bowl, combine yeast, salt, eggs and sugar.  Add the warm (not hot - it will kill the yeast) milk and butter. Add about half the flour and beat until smooth with dough hook.   Slowly add the remaining flour to form a stiff dough.  Don't worry about how much flour it ends up being, just keep adding until the dough is not sticky anymore.  Knead until smooth with either dough hook attachment or turn out on floured board and knead.  Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.Punch dough down, divide into 12 pieces.  Roll each piece to form a 1 inch thick rope about 14 inches long and, taking two pieces, twist to form a "braid", pinching the ends,  and loop into a circle.
Place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpats.  Cover and let rise until double, about an hour again.  Brush each  bread with beaten egg wash.  Put on the sprinkles or sugar.   In the middle of each bread ring, gently place an Easter egg, making an indentation with the egg.
Bake at 350 degrees until golden - about 20 minutes.  Cool on rack.
You can eat the eggs, but if you leave the bread sitting out for a few hours, don't eat them.  Common sense.

Easter Brunch

I hope you all had a great easter!

 

 

I certainly had! On Easter Sunday, we had a brunch with our niece and aunt. This was what the table looked like... It was stuffed with all kind of (sweet) stuff! I had made everything. The most things I made on Saturday, but the cookies I made on Friday (to make sure I had something to eat while making all the other things :D ) and the scones I made on Sunday morning.

 

 

On le internet (yeah, putting le before a word totally makes it French), I found these super cute easter tags that I put on top of my cupcakes and sweet rolls. You can download them here  (for next year probably :D ) and I forgot where I downloaded the other happy easter tags..... Sorry!

Here´s what I made:
-Cranberry and dark chocolate sweet rolls
-Cranberry, almond and orange zest crusty bread
-Raspberry hazelnut cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese frosting
-Easter M&M cookies, egg shaped
-Chocolate chip cookies in het shape of an egg (just press an egg shape cookie cutter in the cookies when they get out of the oven)
-Blueberry oatmeal bread
-Summer berry yoghurt tart
-Scones
-Italian easter bread

Well, that´s it I guess. Ofcourse it was way to much for a brunch, but whatevah... The next day we had a high tea, so we just took any leftovers with us, and I made a speckled egg cake (picture + recipe coming soon) And we do like to eat! So everything is now gone. :)

 I will now share the recipe for the Blueberry Oatmeal Bread with you, the rest of the recipes will follow soon.
This bread/cake was delicious! I really loved it. And it's even some kind of healty-ish-ish!! It's one of my favorites. It was somewhere between a cake and a bread, and just out of the oven with a bit of butter..... Hmmm.... Really amazing.
Try for yourself!


Blueberry Oatmeal Bread
From Go Bold With Butter
Makes one loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup blueberries
2 cups flour, plus 1 tablespoon
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 eggs
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup oats

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper or lightly butter and dust with flour.
In a small bowl, toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour to keep blueberries from sinking. In a large bowl, whisk 2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix yogurt, eggs, melted butter and vanilla together and then fold into the dry ingredients. Add the blueberries and oats and gently combine.
Scrape the mixture to loaf pan. It will be thick and a little sticky. Bake for 50-55 minutes and golden brown and when a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes then cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.


Notes:
-I was able to make one big loaf and one small one, that we immediately ate when it came out of the oven!
-It's the best just out of the oven with a bit of butter.

Chewy Chocolate Meringues

Hi there!

I made cookies.

I do that quite a lot, actually. But somehow I never make meringues. I think I thought I didn't like them.

How on earth could I think that?!

I am soo happy that I decided to make these. They are absolutely delicious! The outside is crunchy and the inside is a bit gooey and it's just amazing...
You definitely have to try these!

I also love hot chocolate. Who doesn't? Well, probably quite a lot of people, but whatever...

Everyday on my way to school, I pass by the cutest little shop, so after cycling past it for 2 years, I finally decided to actually go into the shop. And there I bought this totally cute hot chocolate mug. :)

It's big (which is always a plus) pretty and it has a hole for the spoon in the ... I don't know how you call it in english, really. But you can see what I mean on the picture.

 Just look at that perfectness! I took these cookies with me to school and everybody loved them.

Chewy Chocolate Meringues
adapted from Bakerella
1 cup (8 fl oz / 250 ml) large egg whites – about 7
2 cups (1 lb / 500 g) sugar
5 tbsp (1 oz / 30 g) natural cocoa powder
 7-8 oz  bittersweet or milk chocolate, or a mix of both, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a clean, dry heatproof bowl, whisk together egg whites and sugar. Set over, but not touching, simmering water in a saucepan.
• Whisk constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved and remove from heat. (I tested to make sure I didn’t feel any sugar granules.)
• Beat the eggs on high using your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat until stiff and glossy.
• Sift cocoa over the meringue. Sprinkle chopped chocolate on top.
• Then, fold together gently with a spatula until combined.
• Use a scoop to drop even amounts of batter onto prepared baking sheets about two inches apart.
• Bake for about 8-9 minutes. Rotate the pans and bake for another 8-9 minutes until the cookies are fluffy and full of cracks.
• Transfer the cookies, leaving them on the parchment paper, to wire racks to coo