Macarons: That's Macarons, With One "O"

[Editor's Note: When i first learned of this dessert the way i was able to never confuse macaron with macaroon---aside from the fact that one is spelled with one "o" and the other with two---is that the macaron uses almond flour. Macaroons are made with coconut.]

A macaron (/ˌmɑːkəˈrɒn/ mah-kə-ROHN; French pronunciation: ​[makaʁɔ̃]) is a sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food coloring. The macaron commonly consists of a ganache, buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies. The name is derived from the Italian word macarone, maccarone or maccherone, the meringue. The confection is characterized by a smooth squared top, a ruffled circumference (referred to as the "foot" or "pied"), and a flat base. It is mildly moist and easily melts in the mouth. Macarons can be found in a wide variety of flavors that range from the traditional (raspberry, chocolate) to the new (foie gras, matcha).

The related macaroon is often confused with the macaron. In English, most bakers have adopted the French spelling of macaron for the meringue-based item, to distinguish the two. This has caused confusion over the correct spelling. Some recipes exclude the use of macaroon to refer to this French confection while others treat the two as synonymous.

The two food items are different, and the terms in English distinguish them. Etymologically, the word macaroon is simply an Anglicisation of the French word macaron (compare balloon, from French ballon). Multiple pronunciations are technically correct depending on personal preference and context. In a Slate article on the topic, Stanford professor of linguistics and computer science Dan Jurafsky indicates that "macaron" (also, "macaron parisien", or "le macaron Gerbet") is the correct spelling for the confection.

A macaron is made by combining icing sugar and ground almonds until fine. In a separate bowl, egg whites that are beaten until a meringue-like texture. The two elements are then folded together until they are the consistency of "shaving foam", and then are piped, left to form a skin, and baked. Sometimes, a filling is added. There are two methods to making a macaron - the "French" method and the "Italian" method. The difference between the two is the way the meringue is made - either Italian or French meringue can be combined with ground almonds. There is also an "American" method.

Flavors of macarons available in America are available in respect to the general tastes of the public. These include flavors such as mint chocolate chip, peanut butter and jelly, snickers, peach champagne, pistachio, strawberry cheesecake, candy corn, salted pretzel, chocolate peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, candy cane, cinnamon, maple bacon, pumpkin, and salted caramel popcorn.

Macarons have been produced in the Venetian monasteries since the 8th century A.D. During the Renaissance, Catherine de' Medici's Italian pastry chefs made them when she brought them with her to France in 1533 upon marrying Henry II of France. Larousse Gastronomique cites the macaron was created in 1791 in a convent near Cormery. In 1792, macarons began to gain fame when two Carmelite nuns, seeking asylum in Nancy during the French Revolution, baked and sold the macaron cookies in order to pay for their housing. These nuns became known as the "Macaron Sisters". In these early stages, macarons were served without special flavors or fillings.

It was not until the 1830s that macarons began to be served two-by-two with the addition of jams, liqueurs, and spices. The macaron as it is known today, composed of two almond meringue discs filled with a layer of buttercream, jam, or ganache filling, was originally called the "Gerbet" or the "Paris macaron." Pierre Desfontaines of the French pâtisserie Ladurée has sometimes been credited with its creation in the early part of the 20th century, but another baker, Claude Gerbet, also claims to have invented it. French macaron bakeries became trendy in North America in the 2010s.

Chocolate Macaron Recipe From WikiHow

Chocolate Macaron

Chocolate Macaron Cookie 1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar ⅔ cup almond flour 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Pinch of salt 3 egg whites, room temperature 5 tablespoons granulated sugar

Chocolate Filling ½ cup cream 2 tablespoons chocolate chips or shaved chocolate

Chocolate Macaron Cookie: Preheat the oven to 280 °F (138 °C). Macaron halves are baked at a very low heat so that they will rise gently and not collapse. If your oven tends to run hot, you may want to bake the macarons with the oven door slightly ajar. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Since these confections are so delicate, it's necessary to use parchment paper so they won't stick to the baking sheet. Mix the almond flour base. Place the almond flour, confectioners' sugar, salt and cocoa in a bowl. Use a whisk to mix the ingredients until they are fully incorporated. Be sure no lumps remain in the mixture. If your almond flour is coarse, run the mixture through the food processor to grind it fine. Don't grind it for too long, though, or the mixture will turn to almond butter. If you don't want to make chocolate macarons, leave out the cocoa powder.

Beat the egg whites and add sugar. Place the egg whites in a metal bowl and either whisk or beat them until they form white, stiff peaks. Be sure the bowl is completely dry and clean, or the eggs won't form peaks. Add the sugar and beat until the peaks become stiffer and turn glossy. At this point you can beat in flavorings such as vanilla, peppermint extract, or almond extract to the wet batter. Add about a teaspoon of your favorite flavoring. Mix in drops of food coloring to make the macarons more colorful. Match the color to the flavor you have chosen for a nice effect. Keep in mind that macarons tend to lighten when baked, so you may want to add in an extra drop of food coloring in order to achieve the desired shade.

Fold the batter ingredients together. Gently fold the almond meal mixture into the egg white mixture in two parts. Fold in half of the almond meal mixture with a spatula until the ingredients are just combined. Add the second half of the almond meal mixture and fold it in until just combined.

Punch the batter: In order to produce macarons with the classic soft, chewy texture, the batter must be "punched." Use the back of a spoon or a spatula to push down in the center of the batter, scrape the batter from the sides to the center, then push down again. Keep punching the batter in this way until it begins to look loose and pudding-like in texture. You'll probably need to punch the batter about 10 - 12 times before it's ready. Make sure you stop when the batter looks like pudding; if you punch it too many times, it will become runny, which ruins the consistency of the batter.

Baking the batter for the macron: Fill a pastry bag with batter. You can use the same type of pastry bag you'd use for icing. Fit it with a large circular icing tip. Fill the bag with macaron batter, then twist the end closed so that the batter won't escape.

If you don't own a pastry bag, you can make your own by using a plastic sandwich bag. Cut off one of the corners, then fit it with the icing tip. Experiment with different icing tips. Most bakers make macarons in the classic round shape, but if all you have is a star-shaped tip, give it a try!

Pipe the batter onto the baking sheets. Squeeze the pastry bag and pipe 3-inch circles of batter onto the baking sheet. The batter circles will spread a little, so give them plenty of space. Try to squeeze the exact same amount of batter for each circle, so the halves of the macaron come out to be the same size. Now hold each baking sheet about an inch over the countertop and let it drop. Do this about 3 times with each sheet; this helps the batter settle.

Let the batter rest. Keep the baking sheets at room temperature for about 15 minutes. The macarons are ready to bake when a dry crust has formed over their surfaces. Touch your finger gently to the top of a macaron; if the batter doesn't stick, it's time to put them in the oven.

Baking the macaron halves: Place the baking sheets in the oven. Bake the macaron halves for 15 minutes, or slightly longer if necessary. The macarons are finished when they have a slightly hard crust and are soft, but not gooey, on the inside. When they're done, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely. You can open the oven door after a couple of minutes to let any humidity escape. This helps the macarons rise and take the correct shape. Don't over bake the macarons, or they'll brown on top and the texture won't be quite right. Baking macarons is a fussy process, and takes a lot of practice. If your macarons fall on the first try, consider changing the temperature or cooking time in the future.

Making The Filling: Heat the cream. Place it in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir the cream as it heats, and remove it once it begins to steam. Do not let it come to a boil. You could also heat the cream in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl.

Pour the cream over the chocolate. Let the hot cream melt the chocolate for a minute or two, then use a spoon to stir the mixture together until it becomes a smooth, creamy chocolate ganache. Spoon the filling into a clean pastry bag. This will make it easier to pipe the filling onto the macarons as you fill them. Fit the pastry bag (or sandwich bag) with a small icing tip.

Consider other fillings. Chocolate ganache is a popular macaron filling, but there are many other fillings to choose from. Try a simple buttercream filling, either plain or flavored with your favorite extract. If you like fruity fillings, raspberry, apricot, or blueberry jam make great choices.

Assembling The Macarons: Loosen the macaron halves. Use an offset spatula to gently lift the cooled halves from the parchment paper and turn them over so that their flat sides are facing up. It's easy to crush macaron halves, so be sure to handle them with care. To help the macarons cool down quickly, baker Eric Lanlard recommends lifting the parchment paper and pouring a little cold water beneath the sheet and the paper. This will create steam, enabling you to remove the macarons with ease.

Pipe the filling onto half of the macaron halves. Position the icing tip in the center of the macaron half and squeeze about a teaspoon of filling onto the macaron. Repeat with half of the macaron halves you baked. Cover the filling with another macaron half. Gently position a second macaron half over the filling and lightly press it down, so that you've formed a sandwich. Continue with the remaining macaron halves until all of the macarons have been assembled.

Enjoy the macarons from the oven, or store them in an airtight container for later use. They will keep for several days in the refrigerator.

Text Credits: Wikipedia || WikiHow
Image Credit: WikiHow Chocolate Peanutbutter Macron Photo by WikihowSaver via Flickr/CreativeCommons

Fa Gao Chinese Prosperity Cake

Fa gao (simplified Chinese: 发糕; traditional Chinese: 發粿; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hoat-koé) is a Chinese cupcake-like pastry, most commonly consumed on the Chinese new year, that is made of flour (usually rice flour), leavening (traditionally yeast, but can be chemical leavening), sugar or another sweetener, steamed (instead of baked), until the top splits into a characteristic "split top" of four segments. The batter is typically left to rest for fermentation prior to being steam-cooked.

The name of the cake is a pun, as "fa" means both "prosperity" and "raised (leavened)", so "fa gao" means both "prosperity cake" and "raised (leavened) cake". These cakes, when used to encourage prosperity in the new year, are often dyed bright colors. Chinese New Year also known as the "Spring Festival" (simplified Chinese 春节; traditional Chinese 春節; Pinyin: Chūn Jié) in modern Mainland China, is an important Chinese festival celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. Celebrations traditionally run from the evening preceding the first day, to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first calendar month. The first day of the New Year falls on the new moon between 21 January and 20 February. In 2017, the first day of the Chinese New Year is on Saturday, 28 January, initiating the year of the Rooster.

The New Year festival is centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Traditionally, the festival was a time to honor deities as well as ancestors. Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mauritius and Australia, and the Philippines. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors.

Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese New Year vary widely. Often, the evening preceding Chinese New Year's Day is an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner. It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly cleanse the house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red color paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes. Among about one third of the Mainland population, or 500 million Northerners, dumplings (especially those of vegetarian fillings) feature prominently in the meals celebrating the festival. Gung Hay Fat Choy Happy Lunar New Year 2017 The Year Of The Rooster.

Fa Gao Chinese Prosperity Cake Recipe From Knowing Food

Fa Gao

2 Cups Rice Flour 1 Cup Brown Sugar 1 & 1/2 Cups Hot Water

3/4 Cups Plain Flour 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder 2 to 4 Drops Red Food Coloring*

[Editor's Note: The red food coloring is optional. i have included it with the recipe as red is a traditional good luck color in Chinese culture. 2 to 4 drops is a suggested amount depending upon how deep a shade of red is desired.]

Sieve the dry ingredients [except the sugar] together. Add the sugar into the 1 & 1/2 cups of measured hot water and stir until sugar disolves. Mix the sugar water with the dry ingredients. Pour the mixture into molds [*cupcake paper should be placed in the molds prior to pouring]. A steamer is needed to cook the cakes. Bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Place molds into the steamer to steam on high heat for 25 minutes.

Text Credits: Wikipedia||Wikipedia||Knowing Food||Image Credit: YtowerCookingChannel

Gluten-Free Foods

luten-free. A phrase that has been known to have a polarizing response. i must confess that i was among those whose reaction upon hearing the phrase "gluten-free", was not a positive one. i was of the thought that most people going on ad nauseum about gluten-free dietary choices were extolling its virtues not because they truly had a health concern such as celiac disease, but rather because they wanted to sound hip & trendy, vis-a-vis the latest culinary trend---similar to when everyone & their nutritionist couldn't stop saying that acai should be a part of everyone's diet. That is not to say that acai is not beneficial but many were speaking of it as if you would surely drop dead sooner rather than later if it was not on your shopping list. As the saying goes 'never say never'---i am a recent convert to adding gluten-free items to my cupboard, refrigerator, and recipe file. i am fortunate in that i do not have celiac disease, but i have recently discovered the health benefits of incorporating gluten-free products to my dietary choices.

A few months ago i had tendonitis in my right metatarsal. The pain was intense. i was hoping for a cortisone injection but the doctor treating me declined to do so. When the doctor would not give me a specific reason as to why this treatment would not be given other than to say "I wouldn't recommend it" i decided to look for alternatives. i had an acupuncture treatment. An interesting experience. It offered some relief but the cost & travel time to the practitioner was prohibitive. Since we are what we eat, i researched which foods are natural anti-inflammatories. In addition to learning which foods are natural anti-inflammatories, i learned that gluten exacerbates inflammation. Even though i did not need or intend to go completely gluten-free, i discovered there were more foods and spices than i'd initially thought that were and/or could be made so. Rice, soy milk, pineapple, tumeric, ginger, crackers, cookies, pie shells, flour, cereal, etc.

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What precisely is gluten? From wikipedia: Gluten (from Latin gluten, "glue") is a protein composite found in wheat and related grains, including barley and rye. Gluten gives elasticity to dough, helping it rise and keep its shape and often gives the final product a chewy texture.

Gluten is the composite of two storage proteins, gliadin and a glutenin, and is conjoined with starch in the endosperm of various grass-related grains. Worldwide, gluten is a source of protein, both in foods prepared directly from sources containing it, and as an additive to foods otherwise low in protein.

The fruit of most flowering plants have endosperms with stored protein to nourish embryonic plants during germination. True gluten is limited to certain members of the grass family. The stored proteins of maize and rice are sometimes called glutens, but their proteins differ from true gluten.

Gluten is extracted from flour by kneading the flour, agglomerating the gluten into an elastic network, a dough, and then washing out the starch. Starch granules disperse in cold/low-temperature water, and the dispersed starch is sedimented and dried. If a saline solution is used instead of water, a purer protein is obtained, with certain harmless impurities departing to the solution with the starch. Where starch is the prime product, cold water is the favored solvent because the impurities depart from the gluten.

In home or restaurant cooking, a ball of wheat flour dough is kneaded under water until the starch disperses out. In industrial production, a slurry of wheat flour is kneaded vigorously by machinery until the gluten agglomerates into a mass. This mass is collected by centrifugation, then transported through several stages integrated in a continuous process. About 65% of the water in the wet gluten is removed by means of a screw press; the remainder is sprayed through an atomizer nozzle into a drying chamber, where it remains at an elevated temperature a short time to evaporate the water without denaturing the gluten. The process yields a flour-like powder with a 7% moisture content, which is air cooled and pneumatically transported to a receiving vessel. In the final step, the collected gluten is sifted and milled to produce a uniform product. In August 2013, FDA issued a final rule, effective August 2014, that defined the term "gluten-free" for voluntary use in the labeling of foods as meaning that the amount of gluten contained in the food is below 20 parts per million.

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After trying several products, some of the gluten-free items that made the final cut for my shopping list are: Arrowhead Mills Organic Gluten-Free Pancake & Baking Mix [0g trans fat], Wholly Wholesome Gluten-Free 9"Pie Shells [2 to the package], Silk lactose and gluten-free milk, Applegate Naturals Gluten-Free Frozen Chicken Tenders, Canyon Bakehouse Gluten-Free Wholegrain Cinnamon Raisin Bread and Gluten-Free Wholegrain White Bread, and my all-time fav for satisfying my sweet-tooth, Pillsbury Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough [Do Not Eat Raw].

Applegate Naturals Gluten-Free Frozen Chicken Tenders are very tasty but the amount of strips compared to the yield i get when making them from scratch means a preference for making from scratch to save some scratch. Instead of breasts i used boneless skinless thighs [less fat].

sookietex' Gluten-Free Fried Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs Recipe

2 pkgs of 4 pieces boneless skinless chicken thighs 3 large eggs 1/2 cup Silk Gluten-Free Lactose Free Milk Honey [approx 1 teaspoon; this ingredient's measurement is drizzled to taste] 4 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup Arrowhead Mills Organic Gluten-Free Pancake & Baking Mix 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt 1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning [When i cook i'm of the pinch/dash school i sometimes use more sometimes less than the measurements indicated]

Lightly beat the eggs, add to the milk and honey mixture to create a batter. Thoroughly rinse then pierce the chicken pieces and place into the batter. In a separate bowl combine the gluten-free mix and other dry ingredients. Transfer the chicken from the batter to the seasoned gluten-free mixture. Thoroughly coat chicken. Coat frying pan [preferably a non-stick pan] with vegetable oil. If more than 4 Tablespoons of oil are needed, add as necessary. Fry chicken for 20 mins [or until thoroughly done] on each side. Covering the pan while frying is suggested to retain moistness & reduce oil splatter. As always when frying take care to not be splattered by hot oil. Side dish serving suggestion: turmeric seasoned rice with mushrooms peas vidalia and red onion.



Text Credit: Wikipedia || Image Credit: The Letter G