Macaroons with Liquorice Ganache

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday I was going to two birthdays, and decided to make these delicious macaroons as part of the gift. They were quick and easy to make, as I had made a large portion of the macaroons a while ago, which I had stored in an airtight container, so all I needed to make was the ganache.

The advantage of making a large portion of macaroons at a time, is that you can serve delicious homemade petit fours for unexpected guests, or you can make them as a hostess gift when you are invited out.

The downside, is definitely that you will have to remind yourself not to eat all them yourself 🙂 I Truly love macaroons with all kinds of filling, like, white chocolate, passion fruit, orange, raspberry, coffee, and so on, so I sometimes have to store them at my parents house to prevent an overload of sugar in my veins 😉

If you have a good idea for a filling which you would like me to try/test, please leave a comment and I will take into consideration 🙂

 

Ingredients (10 macaroons)

20 macaroon bottoms

1/3 cup good quality white chocolate (I use Amedei Toscano White)

1/5 cup cream

1 tsp. liquorice powder

1/2 tsp. raw liquorice powder

 

Chop the chocolate roughly, and melt with cream in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.

When melted, add liquorice powder and half of the raw liquorice and whisk until combined. Let rest for 10 – 20 minutes, or until the ganache has thickened.

Fill the ganache in a pastry bag. Fill half of the macaroons with ganache and top with the other half of the macaroons.

Sprinkle the rest of the raw liquorice on top of the finished macaroon, and fridge for at least half an hour before serving.

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Bon Appétit!

20 macaroon bottoms

0.8 dl good quality white chocolate (I use Amedei Toscano White)

0.5 dl cream

1 tsp. liquorice powder

1/2 tsp. raw liquorice powder

 

Orange Pancakes

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and there is love in the air and what better way to celebrate both, than making delicious breakfast?

These pancakes are delicious on their own or as part of a brunch (or even as a dessert with a good quality vanilla ice cream:-)) The combination of the traditional pancake and the fresh orange zest, makes you want to eat all them yourself!

 

Ingredients (14 pancakes)

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup beer

1 cup flour

1 tbsp. vanilla sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 pinch salt

1 tbsp. cane sugar

1 tbs. granulates sugar

2 organic oranges, zest

 

Separate eggs into whites and yolks. Whisk the egg whites with the granulates sugar, until you have a meringue with soft peaks. Set aside while making the rest of the batter.

In another bowl whisk together egg yolks, milk, beer, vanilla sugar, cane sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Whisk until combined and the batter is smooth.

Shift in flour, 1/4 cup at a time and whisk until completely smooth.

Fold the meringue into the batter. Fold until just combined. Be careful not to whisk, as it will ruin the light consistency of the finished pancake. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes.

Bake the pancakes on a hot frying pan with a bit of butter.

1 pancakes = 1/3 cup pancake batter 🙂

Serve with maple syrup and glass of freshly squeezed and ice cold orange juice.

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (14 pancakes)

2 eggs

1.25 dl milk

1.25 dl beer

2.5 dl flour

1 tbsp. vanilla sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 pinch salt

1 tbsp. cane sugar

1 tbs. granulates sugar

2 organic oranges, zest

 

Chocolate Cookies for Coffee Lovers

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 4 Comments

Have you remembered Womens Day? Actually I had forgotten it, but was reminded as soon as I opened my Facebook. I am actually not the kind of woman who fights for equal rights for men and women, as I believe that both genders, have qualities which we should appreciate instead of trying to fight each other.

I could write up and down about my perspective on the gender issue, but as I properly disagree with most women, I will focus on these delicious cookies instead 🙂

I have made them for some of the women that I’am going to spend time with this weekend. I actually only made two changes in my recipe for chocolate chip cookies when making these fabulous and tasty cookies 🙂

First, I replaced the white chocolate chips with dark chocolate chips and second, I added 2 tbsp. instant espresso powder. If you love coffee, you will definitely love both the small and the taste of these cookies.

 

Ingredients (30 small cookies)

1 cup bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

2 tbsp. butter

2 eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tbsp. vanilla sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tbsp. salt

2 tbsp. instant espresso powder

 

Melt chocolate and butter together slowly in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Be careful not to get any water into the bowl, as it will ruin the chocolate.

In another bowl whisk together egg, sugar and vanilla sugar. Whisk until combined and add the melted chocolate (before adding the chocolate, make sure that it is not warmer than room temperature, otherwise it will ruin the batter).

Combine until smooth before shifting in flour, baking powder, instant espresso and salt. Whisk again until combing and then add the chocolate chips (if your chocolate chips are large, it is good idea to chop them roughly, before adding them to the batter).

Put teaspoonfuls on a pan, and bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 12-13 minutes.

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (30 small cookies)

2.5 dl bittersweet chocolate

1.25 dl white chocolate chips

2 tbsp. butter

2 eggs

1.8 dl cup granulated sugar

1/2 tbsp. vanilla sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tbsp. salt

2 tbsp. instant espresso powder

Crunchy Salad

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

This salad is nothing less than fabulous, fresh and worth trying 🙂 The combination of the crispy cabbage, the fat roasted almonds, the juicy and crispy apple the creamy feta cheese and the sour raspberries is  great in more than one way.

We served it with a great medium rare steak and oven roasted potatoes, but it goes well with kinds of meat or fish as well.

You should really give yourself the joy of trying this lovely, fresh and crunchy salad. Hope that you will love it as much as we do 🙂

 

Ingredients (2 servings)

1/4 pointed cabbage

1 apple (I use pink ladies)

1/2 cup feta cheese

1 tsp. sesame seeds

20 almonds, roasted

10 raspberries, fresh

 

Marinade:

2 tbsp. white wine vinegar

2 tbsp. honey

1 tbsp. good quality olive oil

1/2 tsp. chili flakes

1 lime, juice only

Salt

Pepper

 

Whisk together white wine vinegar, honey, lime juice, olive oil and chili flakes and season with salt and pepper. Set aside while preparing the rest.

Cut the cabbage into fine thin pieces and the apple into small cubes. Add the marinade and the sesame seeds and mix well.  Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes. Break the feta cheese into small pieces mix with the cooled cabbage.

Chop the roasted almonds roughly, and cut the raspberries into half.

Arrange the cabbage on a beautiful plate and sprinkle with chopped almonds and raspberries.

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (2 servings)

1/4 pointed cabbage

1 apple (I use pink ladies)

1.25 dl feta cheese

1 tsp. sesame seeds

20 almonds, roasted

10 raspberries, fresh

 

Marinade:

2 tbsp. white wine vinegar

2 tbsp. honey

1 tbsp. good quality olive oil

1/2 tsp. chili flakes

1 lime, juice only

Salt

Pepper

 

Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

These oven roasted potatoes is both easy, delicious and goes well with almost any kind of meat. If you’re not a big fan of chili, you can leave it out, but remember that the end result will miss some of the original taste 🙂

Tonight we have had them with a large medium rare steak and a salad of pointed cabbage (recipes will follow soon).

 

Ingredients (2-3 servings)

1 pound small firm potatoes, rinsed

2 tbsp. good olive oil

1 tbsp. sea salt

1 tbsp. thyme leafs, fresh

1/4 tbsp. chili flakes

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Cut the potatoes into small cubes and add all the other ingredients. Mix well and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Add the marinated potatoes to an ovenproof dish and roast at 390F for 50-60 minutes or until they get a pretty golden color.

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (2-3 servings)

450 g small firm potatoes, rinsed

2 tbsp. good olive oil

1 tbsp. sea salt

1 tbsp. thyme leafs, fresh

1/4 tbsp. chili flakes

 

 

Comfort Breakfast Popeye Eggs

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

I have been sleeping less than 3 hours, I have too much pain in my neck to think clearly, I have a ton of work, and I properly should go visit the fitness center for at least an hours after this weekends intake of chocolate.

On a day like this I really need a feel-good-breakfast like this Popeye Egg 🙂 Normally I would eat rye bread filled with different seeds and nuts, but not today! Actually this is one of my favorite comfort breakfasts, as it reminds me of some wonderful people in Atlanta who we miss a lot.

 

Ingredients (2 servings)

2 slices toast

2 eggs

1 tsp. butter

Salt

1 tsp. chives, chopped

 

Spread one side of the toast with half of the butter. Cut a whole in the middle of the toast with cutter or a glass.

Put the rest of the butter in a frying pan and melt at medium/high heat. When melted, add the toast with buttered side upwards. Add the egg to the whole in the toast and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Turn the toast and fry for additional 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and chopped chives.

Serve with a cup of your favorite coffee (today I have made hazelnut coffee), while listening to beautiful music like Eric Satie of Ray Charles 🙂

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Bon Appétit!

Eclairs with White Chocolate Lime Mousse

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

Chocolate chocolate chocolate… I have had chocolate all weekend at the yearly chocolate festival. Actually I was only going to the festival one day, but decided to make some warm up desserts in the days before. The first day I made chocolate mini tarts, the second day i made raspberry macaroons and then on the third day I made these stunning eclairs with white chocolate mousse.

Once again I have found inspiration from Maja how make the most fabulous chocolate desserts. Thanks Maja!

 

Ingredients (15 servings)

2/5 cup water

1/4 cup butter

1 tbs. sugar

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs, beaten

 

Lime Mousse:

3/4 cup white chocolate (I use Amedei Toscano White)

1 egg whites, pasteurized

3 egg yolks, pasteurized

3 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. lime zest

1/2 cup white chocolate (for decoration)

 

Bring water and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Take the saucepan of the heat and whisk in sugar and flour – a bit at a time. Whisk until combined.

Beat together the eggs in a small bowl. Add slowly to the roux while whisking. Whisk until the dough is smooth.

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag a a 1-inch plain round tip, and pipe 4 inch stripes 2 inch apart on a baking tray with baking paper. You should end up with 15 stripes.

Bake at 390F for 23-24 minute – (NOTE: do not open the oven while baking!). Let rest at a wire rack until completely cooled.

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Lime Mousse:

Melt chocolate slowly in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, and let cool while preparing the other ingredients.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff and makes soft peaks on top.

Without washing the whisker, whisk together egg yolks and sugar into a light and fluffy eggnog.

Add the melted chocolate and the lime zest and fold gently until combined. Then fold in the whisked egg whites. Fold until just combined. Whisking or folding to much will ruin the fluffiness so be careful.

Make a small whole in one end of the eclairs. Transfer the mousse to a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip and fill the mousse into the eclairs.

Melt the remaining white chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Spread on to the eclairs with a kitchen knife.

Serve with a lot of love and a good cup of coffee.

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (15 servings)

0.9 dl water

0.6 dl butter

1 tbs. sugar

1.25 dl flour

2 eggs, beaten

 

Lime Mousse:

1.8 dl white chocolate (I use Amedei Toscano White)

1 egg whites, pasteurized

3 egg yolks, pasteurized

3 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. lime zest

1.25 dl white chocolate (for decoration)

 

Raspberry Macaroons

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 2 Comments

yesterday I made an entry on how to make french macaroons. As I had to go our for dinner with my husband, I didn’t have time to make any filling and thereby finish the macaroons.

As I wrote yesterday, you can store the baked non-filled macaroons in an airtight container, and only fill the once you are going to serve now. Then you might think ‘why not just make the amount needed?’ – Well, for me it has to do with health related problems (I make large portions on a good day, so I can still serve delicious home made petit fours on less good days), but also because it is easier to work with this amount of cooked sugar. If you reduce the recipe, you might discover how easy the sugar gets burned trying to reach the right temperature, so be careful.

The measures for the filling are for all 60 macaroons, so remember to downsize the portion, if you are not serving all 60 macaroons 😉 If you choose to make all 60 at one time, they can be refrigerated for up to one week and still have the same crispy surface and a chewy centre.

 

Ingredients (60 macaroons)

200 gram almonds, blanched

200 gram confectioners sugar

200 gram granulated sugar

2 x 80 gram egg whites

80 ml water

1/2 tsp. freeze dried raspberries

 

Ganache

100 gram good white chocolate (I have used Amedei Toscano White)

50 ml cream

75 gram raspberries, frozen

 

Blend the almonds into fine almond flour in a hand blender or food processor. Then add confections sugar and blend again for at least 20-30 seconds. Shift into a mixing bowl. If there are anything left in the strainer, blend it further and shift again.

Take half of the egg whites and mix them into the blended almonds. mix until well combined and even.

In another bowl whisk the other half of the egg whites until they make soft peaks. Find a saucepan and add granulated sugar and water. Heat until the syrup reaches 230F, stir once in a while (use a digital thermometer). Pour the heated syrup slowly into the egg whites while whisking on medium-low speed. Be careful not to get burned on the sugar – it hurts like hell! When all the syrup has been added, turn up the volume of you mixer and whisk until the meringue has reached room temperature. It take about 10 minutes.

When your meringue has reached room temperature, add half to the almond mixture and mix well until combined. Then add the rest of the meringue and fold around – do not whisk, as this will ruin the batter! Fold until the batter is evenly combined and smooth.

Now it gets a bit tricky – the texture of the batter needs to soft, but not to soft. It still needs to keep the round shape when added to the baking paper, but it should be soft enough to prevent the macaroons from getting small tops. Did that make sense?

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on a baking tray with baking paper.  Turn the baking tray into the table top 8-10 times, to remove air bubbles from the macaroons.

Let the macaroons dry at room temperature for an hour. Bake at 300F for 13 minutes. Transfer the baking paper with the baked macaroons to a wire rack and let cool completely before filling or storing them.

 

Ganache

Chop the white chocolate finely and add to a heat proof bowl. In a saucepan mix together frozen raspberries and cream. Heat slowly until the raspberries are thawed, then turn up the heat until the cream begins to bubble. Whisk to release the raspberry juice into the cream. When the cream has a beautiful and even color, pour through a strainer over the chopped white chocolate.

Let rest for about 30 seconds before stirring to combine the raspberry cream and the chocolate into a creamy ganache. Set a side for 5-10 minutes or until the ganache has thickened. Fill the ganache in a pastry bag and fill one half of the macaroon and top with the other half.

Sprinkle the top of the macaroons with freeze dried raspberry and fridge for at least 20-30 minutes before serving. This way the ganache will thicken a bit more and give the macaroon a lovely consistency 🙂

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Bon Appétit!

How to Make French Macaroons

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ Leave a comment

As my second warm-up entry to this weekends chocolate festival, I have chosen to make french macaroons. The choice fell on these fabulous and irresistible petit fours for three reasons; 1) I had all ingredients in my pantry, 2) I am going to a dear friends 30s birthday tomorrow night, and these are a lovely gift for the hostess and 3) the are to expensive to buy when you can make then yourself!

There are many way to make macaroons and I have tried several of them. Some are very time consuming while others are are quite fast to make. This recipe is in the time consuming category, but I am always going back to this one, as to my opinion this is the one that gives the best result – which of cause is the most important thing 😉

The basic ingredients in macaroons are blended almonds, confectioners sugar, granulated sugar and egg whites. Then you can add flavors and colors to match whatever theme you have in mind.

 

When making this recipe you will need a few basic tools:

A digital thermometer

An electric mixer

A rubber spatula

A pastry bag and

A 1/2-inch plain round tip

 

Without these, I doubt that you will succeed (but that shouldn’t keep you from trying if you have the drive) 🙂

What differs between this and other methods is the meringue. I prefer to work with Italian meringue when making macaroons, as I think that gives the prettiest surface and the best texture. Further more the baked (but not filled) macaroons can be stored in airtight containers for several months. For me, this is a huge plus as I can make a whole portion, store them and make a quick filling if I get unexpected guests for coffee.

Another reason for me to make a large portion is, that I suffer from a severe whiplash, which gives quite a lot of trouble some days. This means, I have bad days where need help to get out of bed, while other day are good (thank god for that!). Then when having guest on an ‘in-between day’, I can still look energetic serving great coffee and home baked macaroons.

As I make these large portions, I rarely use any coloring or flavors in the macaroon. Then when deciding on the filling, I sprinkle some freeze dried berries or colorful glitter on top and make sure that the color of the filling makes a good contrast to the neutral macaroon.

Below you will find a how-to-make-macaroons guide. Don’t give up if you fail the first time – the more you make, the better you get. If it can be of any comfort, I still fail once in a while ;-). An most often it is only 90% of my macaroon that gets perfect – a friend of mine has named the failed once ‘taste samples’. If you, like me, have trouble throwing away food that looks wrong but tastes fabulous, you can store the failed macaroon till the next time you are going to make a layered cake – they goes very well crushed between the layers.

 

Ingredients (60 macaroons)

200 gram almonds, blanched

200 gram confectioners sugar

200 gram granulated sugar

2 x 80 gram egg whites

80 ml water

 

Blend the almonds into fine almond flour in a hand blender or food processor. Then add confections sugar and blend again for at least 20-30 seconds. Shift into a mixing bowl. If there are anything left in the strainer, blend it further and shift again.

Take half of the egg whites and mix them into the blended almonds. mix until well combined and even.

In another bowl whisk the other half of the egg whites until they make soft peaks. Find a saucepan and add granulated sugar and water. Heat until the syrup reaches 230F, stir once in a while (use a digital thermometer). Pour the heated syrup slowly into the egg whites while whisking on medium-low speed. Be careful not to get burned on the sugar – it hurts like hell! When all the syrup has been added, turn up the volume of you mixer and whisk until the meringue has reached room temperature. It take about 10 minutes.

When your meringue has reached room temperature, add half to the almond mixture and mix well until combined. Then add the rest of the meringue and fold around – do not whisk, as this will ruin the batter! Fold until the batter is evenly combined and smooth.

Now it gets a bit tricky – the texture of the batter needs to soft, but not to soft. It still needs to keep the round shape when added to the baking paper, but it should be soft enough to prevent the macaroons from getting small tops. Did that make sense?

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on a baking tray with baking paper.  Turn the baking tray into the table top 8-10 times, to remove air bubbles from the macaroons.

Let the macaroons dry at room temperature for an hour. Bake at 300F for 13 minutes. Transfer the baking paper with the baked macaroons to a wire rack and let cool completely before filling or storing them.

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Voilá – you have now made french macaroons 🙂

Bon Appétit!

Chocolate Mini Tarts to Celebrate the First Spring Day

~ Ann & Chris Demant ~ 5 Comments

Finally the calendar says that it is spring, and here in Denmark the sun is shining and there is love in the air ❤

This upcoming weekend me and a friend are going to this years chocolate festival. It is going to be spectacular and I look forward to see chocolate demonstrations, talk to professionals and last, but not least, to taste a range of the worlds best chocolates.

As a warm-up for this event, I am going to make some chocolate desserts which I will share with my one and only true love (and some of our friends too :-)). Some of the recipes will be inspires or copied from Maja, while others will be from my own dessert index.

Todays entry is inspired by Maja’s petit fours with passionfruit. I had no passion fruits in the kitchen, so I decided to improvise a bit by changing the measures and using frozen raspberries instead of passion fruits.

Serve with a good cup of coffee or with a ball of good vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Hope that you will love them as much as I do 🙂

 

Ingredients (4 servings)

1/3 cup good milk chocolate (I prefer Amedei Toscano Brown)

1/3 cup hazelnuts, roasted

1/3 cup good white chocolate (I prefer Amedei Toscano White)

1/3 cup cream

1/2 cup raspberries, frozen

 

Begin by melting the milk chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. While melting, blend the roasted hazelnut into a hazelnut flour.

Set aside the melted chocolate until it reached approximately 90F, then add the blended nuts and mix well. Divide the chocolate mixture into 4 small tart molds and shape using your fingers. Fridge while making the ganache.

Chop the white chocolate finely and add to a heat proof bowl. In a saucepan mix together frozen raspberries and cream. Heat slowly until the raspberries are thawed, then turn up the heat until the cream begins to bubble. Whisk to release the raspberry juice into the cream. When the cream has a beautiful and even color, pour through a strainer over the chopped white chocolate.

Let rest for about 30 seconds before stirring to combine the raspberry cream and the chocolate into a creamy ganache. Set a side for 5-10 minutes.

Get the chocolate tarts out of the fridge and remove from the molds. This is done by giving the mold a little push in the bottom.

Fill the chocolate tarts with the raspberry ganache and fridge for at least an hour. For the best result, let rest at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before serving.

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Bon Appétit!

Ingredients (4 servings)

0.8 dl good milk chocolate (I prefer Amedei Toscano Brown)

0.8 dl hazelnuts, roasted

0.8 dl good white chocolate (I prefer Amedei Toscano White)

0.8 dl cream

1.25 dl raspberries, frozen