Seven Minute Frosting and Macarons

What, say you, is a macaron?

Macarons

Just about every blog I've read recently talked about "Macaron Day".  As I was reading each and every post, a very strange thought popped into my head....so here goes my story.


See this link for a recipe and photo of Macarons by David Lebovitz



Growing up in the 1950's and '60's, my mother made 7-Minute Frosting (do people still make it?) lots of times to cover a deep dark chocolate layer cake or a yellow layer cake with coconut shreds on the frosting.  We ate it while it was fresh, that's to say, it lasted for just one day, most of the time.  If it did get past the first day, the surface of the frosting developed a crust, but under this crust the texture was still soft and gooey.  When that happened, we considered the frosting to be a little old and stale......at least past its prime anyway.


Click here for Martha Stewart's recipe for 7-Minute frosting


As I pictured this in my mind, I thought,  this is almost exactly like the famous macaron, the only difference is the crust on the macaron is meant to be there!  That is the surprise....the softness under the crusty top layer.

How weird is this?   What I took for crusty, and moving toward stale, back then, is today's sought after desired effect for a perfect macaron.    « The macaron has been in existence since the middle of the 1500's, so some claim.  See Wikipedia for more information. »

Now,  what about the famous dessert  "Pavlova" ?   It, too, has a crusty top with a soft interior.  I first tasted one while in Australia having dinner with friends.  The sweetness of the meringue coupled with the tart of the passion fruit was fantastic!  Oh, so many,  sweet culinary pleasures....♡

Just saying.....

Mem

Hi,

In a previous posting, I wrote about the soft egg that was coated in breadcrumbs and fried...it was rather neat to see.  Well, you know me, I just had to try this for myself. 

The part where I had to boil the eggs for exactly 5 and 3/4 minutes was pretty easy!  I didn't even have any trouble peeling the shells off of the eggs, either.

When I needed to coat the egg with the crumbs, I should have gone back to read the recipe again, because I didn't dip it in an egg wash to help the crumbs stick.  (I thought I would put some mustard on it and then roll it in the crumbs.)  My first egg lost all of the breadcrumb coating while in the hot oil.  All was not lost however...the egg was still good.

What a mess!

After rereading the directions, more carefully this time, the coating stayed in place.  

See,  the coating is still on the egg!

I put my egg on top of a salad instead of a mushroom sauce, mainly because, I didn't have any mushrooms, but I did have all the fixings for a salad.  It was very tasty.

Mmmmmmmmm,  good!

I love an arugula salad with an oil and vinegar dressing, also with some carrots and croutons.

Egg is almost gone, still one piece hanging in there.

Here's a good ending....sopping up the extra dressing with bread.

Those of you who love salads, will like this one.  The creamy yolk mixes with the greens and the dressing to create a richer taste.  The breading and frying of the soft-boiled egg adds a mysterious allure to the presentation.  Food for thought.......

P.S.  I bought these white plates and bowls in 1981 at the Migros supermarket in Geneva, Switzerland where I lived for three years.   Each time I shopped there, I would buy more until I had a large set of 12 of all the pieces.  I still like their simplicity....they have served me well.


Enjoy!

Mem

Hi folks,

I'm back cooking again, this time I wanted to try apple fritters.  I rarely eat fried foods but I just saw a cooking show where they made this recipe so I decided to give it a try.

My batter consisted of flour, dark beer, and baking powder....mix it all together until it is the consistency of pancake batter.  I peeled and cored the apples, then sliced them into thin strips, rather like julienne strips, but just not so small.  Add the apple to the batter and coat them well.  That's it.

I dropped the coated apple pieces into hot oil, let them brown on one side before I turned them so they could brown on the other side. Each side only takes a very short time...you must watch them to make sure they don't burn.  Take them out of the oil and place them on a rack in order to have them drain the excess oil, or put them on a paper towel if you don't have a wire rack.

Powdered sugar dusted on top

This is an easy dessert to do, plus the ingredient list is so short!

Better yet, try it with a big scoop of French Vanilla Ice Cream!

How did it taste?  The outside was very crispy, while the inside had soft chunks of cooked apple pieces.

Try it today......... make someone you love extra happy.


Oh yes, I forgot to add, the beer was a terrific amber ale, I drank what I had left over from making the batter.  I'm in the process of taste testing some of Michigan's fine brews, so that might be an upcoming post you won't want to miss.

I'm providing a link to a recipe here. I saw Jacques Pepin making a batter with beer, so I used beer for my recipe.  I didn't use an egg, I substituted beer for the water, I added 2 tsp. baking powder, and cut down the recipe for a smaller amount.  I only wanted about four small fritters so I used 1/2 cup flour to 1/2 - 3/4 cup beer. Add the beer a little at a time until it is like a thick pancake batter. I only used half of an apple.  You could add a little cinnamon and sugar, or a little lemon zest to add more flavors. That's the nice thing about cooking at home...add what you like.

Good eating!  ... and drinking!

Mem