Chocolate Raspberry Macarons

In the week before I left for Italy, I got stuck into a huge macaron-making jag. I've already shared my Orange Macarons and Nutella Macarons, but there's plenty more where those came from. I usually tend to move from one recipe to the next without doing many repeats, but I must have churned out a couple hundred of these cookies in a week. I think the thing that keeps me going back again and again is the fact that the cookies are rather unpredictable. I've been fairly successful, but sometimes a batch turns out to be a flop for no apparent reason. And since I'm a bit of a perfectionist, it means that I have to try again...and again.

Macaron fail.

Gotta love the challenge. I've definitely been getting better at it, and so today, I'm sharing with you these chocolate raspberry macarons! Rich and decadent, yet slightly fruity, these macarons are sure to be a show-stopping dessert for any meal. I love how the slightly bitter and tart chocolate raspberry ganache filling balances out the sweetness of the shell.

Here are a few techniques that I've found have worked for me:

• Resting the macarons: while the Bravetart recipe I've been following doesn't call for the macarons to be rested before baking, I've found that letting them sit for 30-45 minutes gives me better and more consistent results.
• Double stacking the trays: this helps prevent the macarons from cracking.

Give these guys a try, and let me know how your macaron adventures go!

-Caroline

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Click here for the printable recipe.

Chocolate Raspberry Macarons

Adapted from Bravetart

Ingredients
For the Shells
2 oz. (58 g) Almond Flour or Almonds (with or without their skins)
4 oz. (115 g) Powdered sugar
1.25 oz. (36 g) Granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon (1 g) Salt
2.5 oz. (72 g) Egg whites (about 2 eggs)
Red food coloring gel or powder

For the Chocolate Raspberry Ganache
4 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon raspberry jam, strained to get rid of any seeds

Directions
If you’re using whole almonds, you’ll need to grind them. Place the almonds in a food processor and roughly grind them. It doesn’t need to be too fine, but there shouldn’t be any large chunks. Add in two or three tablespoons of powdered sugar and continue grinding the almonds until they are very fine. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and grind for another 15-30 seconds.

Make the meringue. Mix together the granulated sugar and salt. In a very clean bowl, begin beating the egg whites on medium-low speed until frothy, about 1-2 minutes. Increase speed to medium, and gradually add the granulated sugar-salt mixture, and beat until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Increase speed to high, and beat until the meringue is very stiff and shiny, about 2-3 minutes. Add gel or powdered food coloring, if desired, and beat the meringue for another minute.

Hold a mesh strainer over the meringue, and sift the almond mixture over the meringue. Return any pieces that don’t pass through the strainer to the food processor, and grind them some more, and sift them again. There may still be a few bits that are too big (less than a tablespoonful); just add them to the meringue.

Begin folding the dry ingredients into the meringue. Be sure to scrape the edges of the bowl. When done, the batter should be thick, but somewhat fluid. Do the ribbon and/glop test to check.

• Ribbon test: hold a spatula-full of batter over the bowl, and it should fall into the bowl in a thick ribbon. The ribbon should re-incorporate into the batter within about 30 seconds.
• Glop test: drop a spoonful of batter onto a plate. The peak should smooth out within 10 seconds.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silipat.

Put the batter into a pastry bag with a round tip about ¼-inch wide. Pipe out 1-inch wide circles, leaving around 1 inch between circles.

Rap the baking sheet against a counter or tape several times to release any air bubbles trapped in the batter. You should see bubbles rise to the top and pop.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow the batter to rest in open air for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until the tops are set; when you lightly touch the circles with a finger, no batter sticks to it.

Put the macarons in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes, until the cookies can come cleanly off the parchment paper, and the insides are done. (They should be slightly damp on the inside, but not wet and sticky.)

While the macarons are baking, make the ganache. In a microwavable bowl, mix together the chocolate and cream. Heat the mixture in the microwave on low power for about 45 seconds, stopping every 15 seconds to give it a stir. Mix in the raspberry jam, and allow the ganache to cool off slightly, but without letting the consistency become too solid.

Allow the macarons to cool, and fill with ganache. Spoon about ½ tablespoon of ganache onto a macaron, and top with another macaron.

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Chocolate Fruit Cups

Happy 4th of July! Any exciting plans for the day or fun traditions? I'm planning on joining in on the festivities and fireworks downtown with some friends...and celebrating a potluck dinner beforehand by bringing these scrumptious dark chocolate fruit cups, filled with fresh raspberries and blueberries and topped off with milk and white chocolate drizzle. It's got all the perfectly vibrant celebratory patriotic colors -- red, white, and blue -- and the flavors work beautifully together.

Best of all, this recipe is beginner-friendly!

I've always wanted to make these ever since Caroline made some for my birthday last year. It's really quite a simple recipe, but it looks super impressive. And the white chocolate drizzle is the perfect finish if you want to go with the red, white, and blue theme.

I'm always a fan of simple, and these little fruit cups are gems when it comes to photos. Not a bad thing when you're a food blogger like moi (:

I purposely made the directions super detailed this time just so that this recipe can be repeated by anyone, beginners included. Don't be daunted by the length, because it's seriously super easy, and if you follow the tips, these fruit cups should be a delicious breeze.

Hope you enjoy, cheers, and happy fourth!

Monica

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All you have to do is melt 2 cups of chocolate (I used dark chocolate chips). And paint the cupcake liners up to halfway. I find that it's easiest to simply drop a 

generous

 (note: generous) tablespoon dollop of chocolate on the base of the cupcake liner, and then use a fine tool like a fine tip pastry brush to draw the chocolate from the base to halfway up the sides of the cupcake liners (I used a chopstick instead of a brush, which actually worked really well).

It's extremely important to coat the sides of the cupcake liners as thick as you can because if they're too thin, you will be crying silently to yourself later on as you painfully attempt to remove the liners from the hardened chocolate (read: It won't be pretty, but hey it's still edible).

After the shells are fully chilled and hardened (I chilled mine for 1 hour in the freezer, since I wasn't in a rush), while the chocolate cups are still in the cupcake liners, smear with melted chocolate, making sure to cover any noticeably thin areas with extra chocolate. This will act as the "sticking" agent for the berries that will follow in the next step.

The fun part! Throw in some mixed berries. I arranged them rather randomly. I suppose you can arrange them fancily if you are feeling it (:

...And the not so fun part! I would highly recommend returning these chocolate fruit cups (still inside the cupcake liners) to the fridge to chill for an additional 15 - 30 minutes, until fully hardened. If you're in a rush, stick them in the freezer for 10 - 15 minutes. For me, this extra chilling time made the task of removing the cupcake liners a million times easier. After all, you don't want your little fruit tarts to look broken and melty like this:

This is more like it:

But the real fun comes in when you get to the chocolate glaze. I re-melted my chocolate and placed them into a ziploc bag, cut off a tiny tiny triangle out of the corner, and used that to pipe chocolate drizzles. You want a super small opening so that the drizzle won't be too thick.

Aren't these just beautiful?

And might I add that these are delicious too? Enjoy!

Click here for the printable recipe of Chocolate Fruit Cups

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Chocolate Fruit Cups

Simple, gorgeous, berry-licious, choco-licious fruit cups -- perfectly adaptable for the holidays

!

A Pass the Cocoa Original

Yield: 15 - 20 fruit cups

Time: 30 minutes prep, plus up to 1 hour total for chilling

Ingredients

2 cups milk or dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup raspberries

1/2 cup blueberries

Directions

1. Microwave the dark chocolate on low in 10-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted. Or, heat in a saucepan at medium-low heat, stirring

constantly

until melted. Once the chocolate shows the first signs of melting, turn off the heat, keep the saucepan on the stove, and keep stirring. The residual heat with melt the rest of the chocolate. If not, turn the stove back on to medium-low and stir constantly until completely melted. (Better to underheat than overheat because there’s no going back when the chocolate’s fried.) Optional but recommended: Add a little shortening or oil to the chocolate for a smoother and glossier feel and shine.

2. Line your cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Add a

generous

tablespoon dollop of melted dark chocolate to the base of each cupcake liner. Use a fine tip pastry brush (chopstick works too!) to bring the chocolate from the base to halfway up the sides of the cupcake liners. It's extremely important to coat the sides of the cupcake liners as thick as possible. A thin coat will make removing the cupcake liners later on super difficult.

3. Place the entire cupcake pan into the refrigerator or freezer to chill for at least 10 minutes, up to 30 minutes. Once the chocolate is fully hardened, while the chocolate cups are still in the cupcake liners, smear with melted chocolate, making sure to cover any noticeably thin areas with extra chocolate.

4. Throw in some mixed berries.

5. Return the fruit cups to the fridge to chill for an additional 15 - 30 minutes, until the chocolate shells are fully hardened. If you’re in a rush, try 5 minutes in the freezer. Remove carefully, loosening all around the edges before going down the sides. If the chocolate is too soft or starts to crack, dab the spot with melted chocolate and stick back to the fridge to chill until fully hardened. Be patient.

6. Once the wrappers have been removed, re-melt any remaining dark chocolate chips and drizzle across the fruit cups. Melt the white chocolate chips and drizzle diagonally the other direction across the fruit cups. To make a home-made piping bag, place the melted chocolate into a ziploc bag, cut off a

tiny

triangle out of the corner, and start drizzling! Enjoy!

Italian Food Adventures

I interrupt our regularly-scheduled food posts to talk about...well, to still talk about food. I've been in Italy for the past couple of weeks for a study abroad program. Italy is amazing, and the food here is sooo good. And so, I devote this post to some of the things I've been eating/want to eat/can't stop eating. The picture above is of slices of Parmesan cheese. From Parma. Like, this is THE Parmesan cheese from the home of Parmesan cheese. And I bought half a kilo of it and have no idea what to do with it....

Our program is based in Venice, which is heart-achingly beautiful. It seems almost unreal -- it looks so perfect. This is my fourth week here, and sometimes I wake up in the morning and still can't believe I'm living in Venice.

And the food has been just as spectacular. Spectacularly expensive as well, but very good.

Oh, and here's a documentation of me documenting food. Thanks Henry for the photo....

This is cuttlefish spaghetti, a specialty of Venice. The ink from the fish is used to make the sauce, which is why it's black. And delicious.

We visited the Jewish Ghetto in Venice. The word "ghetto" apparently came from Venice.

A Jewish bakery in the Ghetto. I didn't eat there, but I sure need to.

There are tons of open-air fruit markets in Venice (mainly for the tourists) with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Speaking of open-air markets, here's one in Parma:

...of clothing. There was this huge market in Parma center with ham and produce...and tons of cheap clothing. This picture is just of a tiny corner of it.

Here's some famed Parma ham, hanging in a store.

And prosciutto di Parma.

I know croissants are supposed to be a French thing, but man the croissants here are good. This picture is from Florence, but there's this place in Venice we go for breakfast every day that has these amazing Nutella-filled croissants; they're warm and flaky and perfect with a cup of coffee.

And then there's the gelato....Oh, the gelato. It is amazing. Thicker than ice cream, yet also lighter, so the fat from the cream doesn't cling to your tongue.

A gelateria in Florence, with the gelato beautifully presented.

Here's a gelateria in Parma, around 10 at night. The place was packed, and the line went into the street. So of course, I had to try it even though I had just eaten dinner and was stuffed.

And it did not disappoint. I ordered the special "Emilia" flavor, or white chocolate gelato with chocolate syrup swirled in it. This was probably some of the creamiest gelato I've had in Italy. It almost looks like it came from a soft-serve ice cream machine, but it actually came from a container of freshly-churned cream (you could see the ice cream machines going in the back), and scooped with a spatula and teased into pyramid on top of the cone. Yum. (Note: photo has been carefully cropped to cut out all the Italians looking at the random Asian girl taking pictures of her ice cream.)

Ciao,

Caroline

Blueberry Doughnut Muffins

What's your favorite berry? I personally love blueberries, and honestly I could scarf down a whole pint of blueberries after a good workout. In fact, that's what I loved to do after late-night figure skating practices during the school year. Is that weird? Well, by this point I can accept that I am a little weird, so that's fine with me (:

Is there anything better than eating blueberries straight from the carton?

Baking with blueberries! Obviously.

These Blueberry Doughnut Muffins are possibly the most delicious breakfast muffins I've made. True to its name, it tastes like a doughnut in muffin form! It has a moist and fluffy crumb stuffed with fresh blueberries. When you take a bite, you'll get a little burst of blueberry juice, and the lemon glaze on top adds the perfect touch of fresh citrus taste to the overall muffin experience. Not to mention, the muffins smell

great

, and the folks at the figure skating rink loved it.

It feels so good to be back and skating my dances, since I worked primarily with synchronized skating during the school year. I'm pleased that I remembered most of my dances -- Cha Cha Congelado, Rhumba, Samba...so much fun (:

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy these Blueberry Doughnut Muffins and give it a try! Happy summer, and stay cool!

Love,

Monica

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Here's what the final mixture looks like. It's pretty thick. I suggest sprinkling a little flour over the blueberries before folding them into the batter. This will keep them from sinking into the bottom of the batter while baking.

Fill the muffin cups almost all the way to the top. I didn't realize this until after I baked the muffins, but it would make your muffins look prettier if you sprinkled a couple fresh blueberries on the tops of each muffin cup so that when they bake, the tops will show a little more of that pretty blue from the blueberries.

Most of my muffins could've used more blue on the tops, as you can see below. That's okay though, because the insides were stuffed plenty full of blueberries!

Enjoy these muffins with friends and family!

Click here for printable recipe of Blueberry Doughnut Muffins

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Blueberry Doughnut Muffins

Light, fluffy doughnut-like muffins bursting with blueberry and a kick of a lemon glaze

.

Found on

My Baking Addiction

, originally from

King Arthur Flour

.

Yield: 12 - 16 muffins

Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

zest of 2 lemons (4 – 6 tablespoons lemon juice)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 1/3 cup fresh blueberries

For the Glaze

:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter; melted

1 cup confectioners’ sugar; sifted

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon warm water*

*Note: 

For a more intense kick of lemon, feel free to substitute more lemon juice for the water in the glaze recipe.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with muffin cups.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the lemon zest and sugars until moist and fragrant.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars until smooth. Then add the eggs and vanilla, beating to combine.

4. In a separate medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until combined, but don’t over mix. Carefully fold in the blueberries using a rubber spatula (crushing the blueberries will stain the batter blue with the juices).

5. Using a large spoon, transfer the batter into the muffin cups, filling each cup nearly full.

6. Bake the muffins for 15 - 17 minutes, until they’re a pale golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

7. While the muffins bake, make the glaze: In a separate small bowl, combine the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and water. Whisk until smooth.

8. When the muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. At this point, you can leave them as they are or go for the double dip. Serve & enjoy!

Storage

: Serve warm, or cool on a rack and wrap airtight. Muffins will keep at room temperature for about a day.

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Hungry for more blueberry recipes?

Try...

Blueberry French Toast

Blueberry Scones

Lemon Verbena Blueberry Muffins