Macaron - Step by Step -

With macarons I've had many failures in the past. I've tried and tested many different ways to master the art of making macarons. And now, finally, I can say that my macaron success rate is 99.9%.

So here is the recipe for you!
Bon Appetit - Macaron - step by step -

With the quantity of the ingredients shown in this recipe you can make about 10 sets of macarons. This recipe is for a small amount of macarons so you can try many different flavours. Also, with this method, you don't need to leave the piped mixture before baking, so you don't need to wait around or misjudge the timing to put the macarons in the oven. (with an authentic way of making macarons, you need to let the macaron's skin dry before baking...)

Here are some of my favourite flavours.

Pistachio used to be my favourite and wherever I go and find a macaron shop I had to try their pistachios. 

However, my new favourite is this one, salted caramel popcorn!

The combination of sweet and salty is so addictive.

I like to put some Japanese influence to my macarons too...

Purple sweet potato.

Matcha green tea.

Mini ones;)

Gluten free vegan coconut cookie

The other day I was talking to my sister on Skype, and she told me that she had made cookies first time in a long time... and there was me thinking... 'Oh, I haven't made cookies for a little while, I want to make some too!'

So, when I came off the call, I went into the kitchen and I started mixing the ingredients.

This time I've tried a new 'vegan' cookies with my homemade coconut butter. I made the coconut butter by food processing coconut flakes about 10 minutes until they became like 'butter'.

I also use gluten free flour, so the cookies ended up being both 'vegan' and 'gluten free'. Humm, I like the sound of it...;) But, not only do they sound nice and healthy, they also taste well good!

The sweet smell of coconut was so good, and I loved how it crumbled!

Lana loved it too. 

She even said 'more biscuit?' when she finished her half. ;D

Ingredients:

200g coconut butter

1tsp sesame seed oil

50g brown sugar

100g Gluten free flour

Happy Halloween - Pumpkin cookies!

Happy Halloween! Tick or Treat!

Following my Jack-o'-lantern black cream puffs, I made Halloween pumpkin cookies!

I say 'Pumpkin' cookies, but they actually have no pumpkins in it...sorry...
They are made of one of my favourite biscuits, the Almond Ball Biscuit (recipe is on Biscuit Assortment). I added a bit of orange food colourings and shaped them like mini pumpkins.

It was a little bit time consuming to shape them but it was worth the effort. I was very pleased with how they came out. ;)

I used a chop stick to make the lines and put a pumpkin seed on the top.

I also made one Dokin-chan for Lana. ;)

(It's a famous cartoon character in Japan.)

Before drawing the faces. They looked so cute. :)

I can see myself making other shapes...

(This could be on my Christmas baking list....)

Medal cookies for Robin Hood event

It was a busy week in the WOS kitchen last week since I was making medal cookies for the weekend's Robin Hood event. These special cookie were given to the kids who scored three gold at Deben Archery Range "Have-A-Go".

Apparently the event was a great success and over 100 cookies were all gone on the first day! Amazing!

Hope everyone enjoyed a fun archery experience as well as a sweet reward. ;D

Strawberry cheesecake cookies

Yesterday, I made the Polish jam filled cookies, Rogaliki. That gave me an idea for this cookie... Strawberry cheesecake cookie...

I love cheesecakes.., and when I tasted the cream cheese in Rogaliki, I immediately thought "I've got to try strawberry cheesecake...!!" So I kept some dough to try it.

It's almost the same as Rogaliki but in a different shape and bit more sweeter. I've cut the dough into a pretty little circles, sandwich strawberry jam, and sprinkle icing sugar on top... done... ;D With a mouthful, you get the taste of strawberry cheesecake and the texture of light and flaky cookie at the same time... Hummm, it is two in one... :)

Rogaliki

Rogaliki is a croissant-like shaped polish cookie filled with jam. These cookies are a great fun to make and look pretty;)

What is unique about Rogaliki is that it has cream cheese in the dough, which makes the cookie light and flaky as well as tastes a little sour. Although apricot jam seems to be the most popular filling, we can put any jams we like... This time I put apricot and my plum jam (have you seen my jam?).

It looks complicated to shape the cookies, but it's not too difficult. See my drawing here! Hopefully, that would make your job easier ;D

As there isn't much sugar in the dough, this cookie is quite versatile... Add sweet jam, caramel sauce, chocolate spread to have them as tea time treat, or try something savoury such as cheese or nuts for snacks with drinks...

To see the recipe, visit The World of Sweets Recipes, Poland.

七夕 (Tanabata)

In Japan, July 7 is a festival called Tanabata (七夕), which celebrate the deities of Orihime (織姫) and Hikoboshi (彦星). The story is like this... Orihime (the star Vega) and Hikoboshi (the star Altair) are lovers but somehow (sorry but I don't remember why...) they are separated by the milky way, and allowed to see each other only on July 7. However, if the sky is not clear enough for them to find the way, they won't be able to meet and have to wait until another year... Quite romantic... no?

We celebrate Tanabata by writing wishes on a small piece of paper and hanging them on a bamboo tree... So, I carried out the custom in my way. It's tough to find a proper bamboo tree in London, but I did find a little one... I baked some star and heart shaped cookies to decorate the tree, and of course the wishes... I think this is good enough ;D

Luckily here in London the rain has stopped and the sky is clearing up now, so hopefully they can see each other tonight... (hum... though I'm not sure whether the British weather matters to them or not...)

Anyway... have a good night to Orihime-san and Hikoboshi-san... ;p

Ghoriba coco

On The World of Sweets, I've made cookies and macaroons before... and I love both of them. This Moroccan Ghoriba is like half cookie and half macaroon, and it is certainly one of the best tea time treats for me.

The chewy texture is like macaroons yet the semolina flour makes these cookie nice and crusty too. The icing sugar melts in the mouth, and of course, the rich coconut flavour hits you every bite!

I love not only the gorgeous taste and texture but also the cracked surface . They look very authentic, and bit like dinosaur's eggs... (not that I've ever seen them...)

To see the recipe, visit The World of Sweets Recipes, Morocco.

Nutty cookie

Peanut butter is one of my many food addictions. Time to time I treat myself with a jar of crunchy peanut butter and a spoon to tuck straight in to the jar...

Yesterday, Andy said..."I fancy cookies this Saturday..." and immediately my baking brain switched on and thinking "Oh, there is some peanut butter left in the fridge and we've got that nice almond butter..., hummm that will work nicely..."

So... this morning, I quite literally rushed into the kitchen to try out my nutty cookie. As soon as I started the prep, rich nutty aroma woke me up.  Since it's very easy to make, the cookies were ready by breakfast time. There was no way that I can wait until afternoon tea time, so I had them with my morning tea. YES, morning tea with my delicate nutty cookies... What a lovely way to start a day!

Ingredients:

Peanut butter 50g

Butter 50g

Flour 100g

Sugar 50g

Egg 1

Baking powder 1/2 tsp

Almond butter 1 tbsp

1. Cream peanut butter, butter, almond butter together.

2. Add sugar into 1 and mix well.

3. Add egg into 2 and mix well.

4. Fold in flour and baking powder into 3.

5. Wrap the dough in a cling film and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 180º. Cut the dough in shapes you like.

7. Bake for 18 minutes in the preheated oven.

Record Store Day

Today is Record Store Day, which was started from 2007 and since then celebrated on the third Saturday in April every year.
So...as usual, I made something to show my interest in the art of music.... on this special day... Edible record cookies!   I can't listen to them, but at least, I'll nibble them while I enjoy nice music from CDs...

Happy Record Store Day! I'm going to head to a record shop and find some nice tunes...:D

Speculaas

Christmas is still a way away, but that doesn't stop me making these tasty spiced cookie called Speculaas;) They are traditionally eaten on St. Nicolas Eve in Netherlands, and often have images related to the stories of St. Nicolas.

Since I don't have those special cookie cutter, I opted for a very simple cookie shape. As soon as I started working on the dough, the kitchen was filled with that spicy aroma of Christmas! ...hummm..., maybe this year we're having Christmas twice (or at least twice!) ....

The key ingredients of this recipe are, of course, the spices. To get the best effect of them, you must let the dough rest so that the spices spread through the dough and give the cookies a nice spicy taste:)

To see the recipe, visit The World of Sweets Recipes, Netherlands.

Ma'amoul

This nuts filled cookie-like pastry is a popular treat at festive times in Lebanon and some other Middle Eastern countries. The authentic recipe uses a special wooden mould to shape the dough. Unfortunately, I didn't have the mould not anything similar that I could use, so this time I shaped the cookies with my hands.

To be honest, it was bit tricky as my hands are quite small, and the dough was quite crumbly. All in all, I managed to shape them ok, and most importantly, they tasted pretty awesome. It is like a chewy shortbread. A rich flavour of nuts and orange filled my mouth nicely.... yum..:)

To see the recipe, visit The World of Sweets Recipes, Lebanon.

春よ来い… come on spring

It's been a hectic week, and a lot of people are still living in much axiety and confusion in Japan. With a massive pray and hope for Japan, today I made what I call "Come Spring Cookie".

Although it is still cold (ooh, in fact it was snowing a few days ago...) I can feel a bit of warm spring breeze in the air every now and then. I hope that a warm peaceful spring will wipe a bitter cold winter and embrace Japan soon...

WOS gift for little ones

My mum asked me to make something that she could take to her friends and their kids. I remembered that when I made the carrot cupcakes with animal sugar crafts on top (have you seen it?), Skyla was very pleased. So, I decided to use the same trick, "Animal", again.

This time, animal biscuits! I used the same recipe as the scone, so it's not so sweet and lighter than buttery cookies, which I suppose is better for kids to eat lots...

I hope my mum's friends' little ones enjoyed finding their favourite animal:)

To see the recipe, visit The World of Sweets Recipes, Scone.

Happy Birthday gift

This post is specially for my mum-in-law, Chris. Happy Birthday!

 We couldn't get a chance to see her and bring a big birthday cake today. So instead, I sent her my love with The World of Sweets cookie selection gift, which she told me arrived in time. (Thanks to Royal Mail!)

There are three different types in the box. Almond cookie, digestive biscuit, and strawberry flavoured baked doughnut. Let's hope those little treats will make the birthday girl happy:D

Happy Birthday again, xxx from The WOS kitchen.

Digestive cookies

I often get a craving for baking in the late evening, and indeed, tonight was one of those nights...

I'm thinking about making a New York style cheesecake tomorrow. That's why I decided to make digestive cookies myself tonight so that I can use it as a base for my tomorrow's cheesecake. Oh... by the way, some people might already know by now that I love making stuff from scratch.. (have you seen my lemon curd and dulce de leche ?)

These cookies are extremely easy to make. Mix everything up, put them together, rest, bosch in the oven. It's nice as it is or with butter, jam, cream, etc. And of course, it's great for a cheesecake or tart base too! :)

Ingredients;

Plain flour 80g

Wholemeal 80g

Brown sugar 40g

Honey 40g

Margarine 50g

Milk 30g

Baking powder 3g

Salt pinch

1. Melt margarine in the microwave.

2. In a bowl, combine sugar, honey, milk and melted margarine. Mix well.

3. Sift flour, wholemeal, baking powder and salt together into 2. Mix well to form a dough. Wrap the dough with cling film and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

4. Roll out the dough on a baking sheet to about 3mm thick.

5. Make square shapes with a knife and little holes with a fork. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.

Melomakarona (Greek olive oil cookie)

Greece is know for their olive oil. Almost all the Greek dishes seem to have olive oil in a way or another... And, their sweet is not an exception.

This sweet and spicy cookie, soaked in honey syrup is eaten at Christmas time. Because it doesn't contain butter, but uses olive oil instead, the texture is lighter. It's a fun to see the cookies sucking the syrup in when they are soaked in it.

Sweetness of the honey syrup is a real treat on a cold day;)

Ingredients;

Flour 120g

Semolina flour 50g

Baking soda 1tsp

Sugar 65g

Olive oil 110g

Orange juice 45 ml

Brandy 1tsp

Cinnamon powder 1/2 tsp

Salt pinch

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*Syrup

Sugar 100g

Honey 100g

Water 100g

Cinnamon 1/2 tsp

Glove 1/3 tsp

1. In a bowl combine orange juice and baking powder.

2. In a separate bowl combine flour, semolina flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon powder.

3. Pour 1, olive oil and brandy into 2. Knead until the dough sticks together.

4. Take a ping-pong ball size of dough and make an oval shape.

5. Place a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes in the pre-heated oven(180º).

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6. When the biscuit is cooled, make the syrup.

7. Put all the ingredients for the syrup in a pan. Let the syrup boil for a few minutes, and the turn the heat off.

8. Put the biscuits in the pan to soak them in the syrup for 30 seconds.

9. Take the biscuits out and sprinkle chopped nuts. Pour the syrup over again.

What I've found in NY, day2 & 3

On the day2 in NY, I was still feeling the cheese cake from the night before in my stomach...  so I decided not to taste big cakes but enjoy looking at them instead....

When we were wondering around the city, I found the M&M shop and the Hershey's shop. There I was like a kid in a toy shop again. In M&M shop, they've got huge tanks of chocolate with a lot of different flavours as well as funky novelty goods. Even for non-chocolate lovers, it is definitely a fun place to visit. While the M&M shop was spacious with 3 floor, the Hershey's was compact, but still they've got a good enough varieties.


On the day3, I was much more recovered from the jet lag and we've decided to have a super-tourist-day;)

First, the Statue of Liberty. When went on a helicopter tour to see her! When we are waiting for the flight, they gave us cookies. What a nice surprise! I like the service in America:) The cookies are those American type, crunchy outside and soft inside, yummy yummy;)

On the way to the Empire State building, we popped into Seven Eleven. Here Andy got excited when he found the slurpee:) With the icy cola and orange, we got on the subway....

Back in London, I have my favourite sweet and creamy drink called "flangelico banana smoothie" from our local bar, Sam's. Before leaving off to America, Ben, the bartender at Sam's gave us the recipe so that I can have my drink even when I'm away. Thanks to Ben, I've got my drink in NY! But..., remember we are in America! It was twice as big as the original!!

I've got one whole day left in NY, my search for American sweets continues....

Kindle

Andy's dad birthday:)

I made an edible kindle. It doesn't have Wi-fi nor carry up to 3500 e-books, but at least... enjoy the taste of Amazon's #1 bestselling item...;)

Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, 6

Burgers

Yes, this blog is all about sweets, so.. if I want burgers here, they have to be sweets..., of course.

Double pat ty, cheese, lettuce, bacon, and freshly baked buns, actually, all of them are freshly baked... oh! and the incing mayo to complete the premium burger.