(At the risk of getting panned again, I still have to say, I’m currently really enjoying the Scissor Sisters’ version of Comfortably Numb, over the original Pink Floyd version. So there.)

Now, onto some macarons..

A friend recently went cherry picking in Young, and arranged to drop by yesterday with a kilo bag of sour cherries, and joy of joys, some jam she had made. Time permitting, I hope to transform the fresh cherries into a juicy cherry pie. I’ve never made cherry pie before, can you believe? (And have always wanted to, ever since that song by Warrant, which really had nothing to do with pie, did it..). First thing I need to do is get a cherry pitter though. We pit a lot of cherries at work and I can attest to the fact that it’s one of the messiest jobs ever. Not sure how such a simple job as removing stones from a small piece of fruit can transform your work bench into Cherry Wars 2008.

Since I knew she would be visiting, I spent part of the morning baking some macarons as a gift in return. I was experimenting with flavours, and came up with strawberry with white chocolate and sheeps milk yogurt, salted vanilla caramel, chocolate truffle, and “carrot cake”. The more successful ones went into a box for her.

This morning I woke up to The National and Everything But the Girl, and feeling somewhat in the mood (Christmas shopping be damned), thought of a macaron dessert, using the leftover shells and fillings. So here is : macaron with salted vanilla caramel, chocolate and black sesame. The black sesame component is an Adria recipe for a sponge that cooks in 20 seconds in the microwave, and is the airiest and tastiest bit of sponge cake ever. B calls it “that mould”. To be fair, it looks like a cross between roof insulation, a loofah bath sponge and the aforementioned mould.

The overall dish was inspired by this picture of B that Mike took during their last visit to Tokyo:

I love how dark and mysterious it is. Captured like characters in a Wong Kar Wai movie.

My macaron dish probably doesn’t look as mysterious, but if anyone wanted to know the story behind it, I’d have to say, well, it all started with this girl who dropped by with a bagful of cherries..

I am thinking it’s a sign
That the freckles in our eyes
Are mirror images and
When we kiss they’re perfectly aligned

And I have to speculate
That God himself did make us into
Corresponding shapes like puzzles pieces
From the clay

True, it may seem like a stretch
But it’s thoughts like this
That catch my troubled head
When you’re away, when I am missing you to death

When you were out there on the road
For several weeks of shows
And when you scan the radio
I hope this song will guide you home

–Such Great Heights, Postal Service (but in my head, I hear the Iron & Wine version!).

I’m finally making it official. I have the world’s ugliest hands. They are wrinkly, dry and quite often, food-stained. I should probably insure them for $millions. Against ever being photographed again. Lucky you can’t see the burns on my arms though. M says I look like someone who self-harms.

Anyway, B returned yesterday from another work trip and I made him these macarons as a surprise gift. He took an impromptu picture while I was sandwiching them together, hence the unprepared hands. The macarons were banana flavoured caramel, with bitter chocolate ganache. I dusted the tops of the macarons with cocoa, to imitate that ‘ripe banana skin’ look.

As this month is shaping up to be a busy one and I might not be posting as frequently, I thought I would take the opportunity to wish everyone an early Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I love Christmas, but have to admit, I can’t wait for January, as we have tickets to see The Swell Season, Cinematic Orchestra and Camille. Also, I’m hoping the new year will bring new things with it, like a bit of travel or more time for me to spend in my kitchen.

Looking back, it’s been a crazy year. I started a new job – my most demanding one to date – and am amazed that I have still managed to squeeze in some blogging time. This blog has always been intended to be a bit of an outlet for me. A place to write down some thoughts, and to help me keep track of the things I have been baking at home. Through it, I have also discovered some inspiring blogs and the people behind them, such as Vera, Duncan, Aran, Lisa, Pete and Matt.

So I want to thank them, and everyone else who has continued to read and be so supportive of all this pixellated junk I’ve thrown in front of their screens over the past year. 🙂

(PS: I have been toying with the idea of making a macaron series, dedicated to some of my favourite blogs. I already have a yogurt one in mind, and a cherry ripe one. What macaron would you make for your favourite blog? Suggestions, please!)

Caramel. The ultimate expression of the potential of sugar.

(The above line works better if you imagine Jean-Luc Picard saying it)

—

In a move as wildly unanticipated as black beans in brownies, I have recently found myself obsessed with listening to Guns and Roses. This is surprising even for me, because I have never really rated them too highly in the past. In their heyday, the only GnR-related things that ever registered on my radar were Slash’s hair, and Stephanie Seymour walking down the aisle in November Rain.

Now, I can’t stop listening to them. I’ve become an instant fan (just add sugar..) and even found myself arguing with B the other day over whether November Rain was on Appetite for Destruction. He insisted no. “And I should know,” he said, “I’ve listened to that album millions of times.” “So have I,” I countered, “I listened to them millions of times.. erm..yesterday!” Of course, it turns out the track is on Use your Illusion I.

Anyway, Appetite for Destruction makes for great baking music. Or maybe it doesn’t. Perhaps I was sufficiently distracted by the music to calculate my conversions wrongly (darn cup measures!). Perhaps it was the mistaken double amount of butter I incorporated into my cake mix, or the extra flour, but I don’t think the end result was as originally intended. Mind you, the cake still turned out well, with a lovely caramel flavour, but it wasn’t anything to get too excited about.

So, I’m putting this one down as a “glad I made this, but probably wouldn’t be tempted to repeat it again!” challenge. As for decorations, I wasn’t feeling too inspired when it came to making this cake, probably because I had already been making quite a few cakey related things this month, so I went for a simple round cake, split it and slathered on the thinest scraping of vanilla cream, then topped it with some hazelnut macarons (my best attempt to date, of an adapted Paco Torreblanca recipe) sandwiched with the leftover frosting and chocolate ganache.

Meanwhile, I’m sitting back with another macaron and a cup of tea, wishing someone would take me down to the Paradise City…

Caramel Cake with Caramelised Butter Frosting :
(Note: I realised after putting the cake into the oven that I had stuffed up my conversions, so the cake recipe below is the original unconverted recipe, cup measures and all.)

CAKE:
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 176’C.

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients.

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP:
392g sugar
125g water
250g water (for “stopping” the caramelisation process)
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

CARAMELISED BUTTER FROSTING:
180g unsalted butter
453g icing sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add icing sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all icing sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelised butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light

(This month’s DB challenge recipe was brought to you by Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater, as selected by the wonderful Dolores of Culinary Curiosity and co-hosted by Alex and Jenny. Thanks guys!)