Samstag, 22. Mai 2010

TWD - June Preview and first Macarons try

And here we have five more weeks of tempting, challenging, diverse recipes for the next Tuesdays with Dorie-month.

In the weeks to come I will try my luck with

White Chocolate Brownies, picked byMarthe of Culinary Delights,
Tender Shortcakes, chosen by Cathy of The Tortefeasor,
Raisin Swirl Bread, selected by Susan of Food.Baby,
Dressy Chocolate Loafcake, named by Amy of Amy Ruth Bakes, and
Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cakes determinded by Wendy of Pink Stripes.

I am extremely excited about the White Chocolate Brownies, not only because one special TWD'er will be specially happy with this special pick :o] I adore Brownies and they are oh so easy to transfer to the office. And they are also oh so easily to be shared. I am craving for those for a long time.

The Tender Shortcakes will be an experiment: I have no idea what this should be. Shortcakes are new to me, I have never seen or eaten one: So lets see if I arrive to create something similar to what it should be. The picture in the book looks extremely promising, just as I like my desserts. Additionally, it is made with berries, and therefore a perfect pick for this time of the year.

I love anything made of brioche, so hooray for Raisin Swirl Bread! The only fly in the ointment is that you gotta have brioche before you can head over to making the actual recipe And brioche means "take your time". Anyways, I learnt to like making brioche dough, so I am looking forward to this week!


And then we have a chocolate-vanilla-combo for the last two weeks of June. I am not so sure about the Dressy Chocolate Loafcake, as up to now I am not such a big fan of the similar TWD-recipes we made so far (like the Cocoa-Nana Bread). But lets see. At least, a loafcake is something not too laborious, but easy to transport and share. And the Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cakes - perfect occasion to take some of my mini-molds out of the mothballs! Wonderful!

Finally, something completely different:
In a delusion of grandeur I tried to make Macarons. I had eggwhites over and over from the last TWD-weeks, so I thought "why not? why should I not be able to do Macarons?"
Well, maybe because other bake-bloggers who are far, far, far better bakers than me had difficulties. And phrases like "this is not about the actual recipe, but about mastering the technique" would have been a good hint for me to keep my hands off.

I don't know how I mastered the shells turned from "too soft and almost liquid" to "burnt, so smoke comes out the oven" in a second or so. Like that, my shells (all, all and every single of it), were dark and black. The filling was really good, and I even had the guts to try some of these little black anythings. If it would not have been for the edges, they weren't that bad. But "not that bad" is not even the ugly little sibling of "good".
On the other side, the preparation does not take long and making the batter is really easy, so maybe I am going to re-try it soon.

Here David Lebovitz' recipes for my fail:
French Cocolate Macarons with Chocolate Filling and Prune Filling
 
If you have never seen Macarons, here is what they should look like. See the difference? :o]