Halloween Inspired: Ghostly île Flottantes

A floating poached egg white amongst a pond of creamy vanilla crème anglaise, topped with a crunchy caramel shard - decorated as a ghost of course.

This truly is a fancy dessert and really quite simple to make, with a pinch of patience. So why don't you try this out and stun your Halloween party guests with this ghostly version? It's cute, it's tasty and definitely fits in with a scary theme.

île flottante has been one of those desserts I've been wanting to make for a long while but just hadn't got round to it. Whilst wondering what I could make for halloween without using the usual ingredients, such as pumpkin, the thought of making spooky floating islands literally just popped into my head.

But what are île flottantes I hear you ask! Well, french for floating islands (I didn't just randomly mention islands earlier for no reason incase any of you were confused) is a very well composed dessert should I say. It's usually made up of three components, each of which emit complimentary textures with every mouthful you have. It's absolutely brilliant. You get the smooth cold creaminess from the crème anglaise and then this light, almost melting, meringuey, moussey, marshmallowy even, taste along with a satisfying crunchy caramel topping that I believe is vital to finish the dish off with. 

So you think you want to have a go? Let me tell you how it was made then!

Ingredients:
Crème Anglaise:
300ml milk
80ml double cream
3 drops of vanilla bean paste/1 tsp good quality vanilla extract
70g caster sugar
4 large egg yolks

For the meringue:
4 large egg whites
100g caster sugar
4 drops lemon juice

Caramel topping:
80g caster sugar

Poaching liquid:
500ml milk
500ml water
2 tablespoons sugar

Decoration:
Googley eyes/marshamallow
Black food colouring paste

Method:

• For the crème anglaise, add the milk, cream and vanilla paste in a saucepan and let it simmer on medium heat for 3-4 minutes, do not let it boil.
• Meanwhile in a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until it turns pale in colour.
• Slowly pour in about two tablespoons of the hot milk mixture and whisk away. Keep adding the milk slowly while whisking away to incorporate the eggs and to avoid it turning into a scrambled omelette!
• Put this back on the heat and stir continuously until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of the spoon. Do not leave the saucepan or the creme anglaise will split if not stirred and over heated!
• Strain the mixture into a bowl using a sieve and leave to cool, then refrigerate. 

Poaching liquid:

• Combine the milk and water in a large pan and add the sugar until it dissolves. Make sure the liquid doesn't boil as it will ruin the outcome of the meringues.

Meringues:

• Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl and add 3 drops of lemon juice.
• Gradually add the sugar a tablespoon at a time and whisk until its thick and glossy and stiff peaks form.
• Using 2 large serving spoons, shape the egg whites in an oval shape. To add heigh and make them as 'ghosts' use a serving spoon and a spatula (or butter knife) and keep adding egg white at the top of the oval and smoothen it out with the spatula. I made mine quite big and were harder to poach because of the shape, but you can make your smaller.
• Poach the whites for around 4-5 minutes until stiff and cooked and then turn them over for the same time. Any longer and they tend to collapse!
• Remove them from the pan and place on some baking paper or a wire rack to drain them off.

Caramel:

• Put the sugar in a saucepan and heat until melted and golden brown in colour. Be sure to keep an eye out so it doesn't burn.
• Drizzle over a piece of baking paper and leave to set. 

To assemble:

• Pour some creme anglaise into a bowl (i used spoon rests just to achieve a different look) and place the smaller flat side of the poached egg white on top. Add the googley eyes at the top - if you don't have these don't worry. Cut out two small circles from marshmallows and paint with black food colouring paste and leave to dry. Make sure they're dry or they will run onto your meringue! 
• For the mouthes i used black food colouring paste and lighlt dabbed them onto the back of a palette knife and made a roundish mouth shape.
• Peel off the caramel shards and add on top.

Your ghostly île flottantes are ready to be eaten now!

Any issues, feel free to drop me an email. Happy Halloween everyone :) 

Dainty Cook x

Choco-lemon Macarons

Sunshine yellow macaron shells, filled with a decadent lemon curd and semi-dark chocolate ganache.

Sunshine in me belly!

The first time I went to L'adurée was a long while ago with my cousin. Out at a day in London, we stopped by the café for some afternoon tea. A step inside and I felt like a kid in a candy store, such a pretty little sight! They had a vast array of flavours and many other sweet items on display.
I wanted to eat, yet also bake everything I had witnessed there.

As we finally sat down, I ordered about 4-5 macarons with my vanilla tea. I know I know, fatty I hear you cry! But if you've been there, you know how hard it is to simply choose the one or two. And they had - at the time -  limited edition ones, or was it specialities? I can't remember. All I remember was that the one that made my stomach summersault was the lemon and chocolate macaron. To die for. 

If you think about it, the two flavours are so repelling as individuals. Lemon and chocolate? Ergh - that's probably what you're thinking right!? You've just got to try it to understand where I'm coming from. Together they become something else. And since then, it has become one of my best chocolate combos. It's magical.

I was testing out a smaller batch than my usual step-by-step recipe:  which actually takes a tad more egg whites when halved. It's all about playing around and seeing what's best for you that works. 

Here's how I made it!

Ingredients:

118g ground almonds

118g icing sugar

yellow food colouring paste/gel/powder

41g egg whites and 65g egg whites (divided)

58g water

118g granulated sugar

Filling:

Lemon curd

200g 53% dark chocolate (I used Callebaut)

100g double cream

2 tbsp butter

pinch of salt

Method: 

The first bit is probably the most tedious, but it has to be done to ensure a nice smooth macaron!

• Sift the ground almonds and icing sugar together in a bowl and combine.
• Place them in a food processor and process until fine and combined.
• Sift again in a medium bowl.
• Make a well in the centre and add the 41g of egg whites then mix thoroughly until well combined and you've end up with a thick paste or 'gloop' as I like to say. (I like words with double o's okay, I don't even know why.)
• In the mean time, place the sugar and water in a saucepan with a 'candy' thermometer and switch the heat on. When it gets to 200 degrees Farenheit, start whisking your egg whites slowly with a pinch of sugar up until the temp reaches around 245 degree Farenheit.
• Quickly whisk in the sugar mixture and continue whisking the eggs until thick and glossy. If you want to add colour then this is the time. After or just before pouring the sugar mix, add the yellow food colouring gel. It lightens so add a tad more than you'd like it to be.
• Fold in the egg whites into the almond gloop a couple of times. *Do the macaron-a* (I hope one of you laughed at that.)
• Then add the rest of the egg whites slowly and fold a couple of times until combined. I don't count my fold but you want the texture to be thick and ribbon like, if you overmix, the mixture will turn flat and super runny which is what you definitely do not want! Also mix too much and it may end up with a slightly chewy texture. Soft on the inside and hard out the outside (like a man!) Remember?
• Pipe small rounds onto baking paper on a tray or a silpat mat or moulds and let it ret until a thick skin forms. Around 30 mins.
• Preheat the oven (I do this now guys!) to 147 degrees C. I use an electric fan oven so add 20 degrees if you're using a traditional gas one. Place in the middle of the oven one sheet at time and bake for 15 minutes - mine take 25 - never know why. Just keep checking after 15 mins.
• Let them cool and voila!

For the Filling:

To be honest, I made this lemon curd beforehand for a cake and I can't remember precisely how I made it (sorry), I will post the recipe once I find it - it was from a YouTube vid! Meanwhile, I suggest you get a good jar full from your local deli, the fresh good quality stuff is always best.

• To make the ganache, heat the cream and butter in a saucepan until hot and add to chopped chocolate in a bowl, do not stir.
• Once you see the chocolate melting, add the salt and gradually stir quickly until well combined.Let it cool and add 4tbsp of lemon curd and mix. Add as much as you like to get the right lemony flavour, this part is all about preference.

And there you go! Make sure you try this flavour out, it's just so tantalising to the tongue.

Any issues, feel free to ask. :)

Dainty Cook x

Crème-to-the-Brûlée

Vanilla crème brûlée, with strawberry, white chocolate spoons and a smooth salted caramel disc - topped with crunchy honeycomb pieces. 

Mouth watering yet?


I can't deny that this is one of my ultimate fave desserts. The baked creamy goodness that instantly melts on your tongue, exposing its vanilla flavour as it begins to tango with your tastebuds. Oh but the best part, the fun part, cracking the burnt crunchy sugar with your spoon as you begin to dig in. The smooth and the crisp become an unbeatable fusion of textures.

And it's no wonder it's sort of named after these textures - crème brûlée - 'burnt cream' in French, is the most delicious yet simple of desserts to make and here's how I made it:

Ingredients:

For the vanilla crème brûlée:
440ml double cream
100ml full fat milk
55g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod/3tsp good quality vanilla extract
5 egg yolks

White Chocolate spoons:
200g white chocolate chips

(Smooth) Salted Caramel Disc:
80g salted butter
75g soft light brown sugar
75g caster sugar
120ml cream
1/2tsp sea salt
Honeycomb pieces (bought)

Method:

• Combine the double cream, milk and vanilla extract (or a slit vanilla pod) into a saucepan and leave to the side.
• Separate the yolks from the whites and place in a mixing bowl, adding the caster sugar. The separating is probably the only tricky part to this - well I find it a pain to be honest! Then whisk the yolks and sugar together until pale and slightly fluffy.
• Bring the saucepan onto the heat until the sides begin to bubble a bit.
• Gradually with a hand whisk, stir in the hot cream mix into the egg. You'll see it will foam up once done, try get rid of all the foam with a large spoon.
• Pour into ramekins, jars or a big dish and place these in a ban marie filled with boiled water about 1.5-2cm high and pop it into the oven for 30-35 minutes.
• You want the crème brûlée to be slightly wobbly in the middle and not completely set. Place these in the fridge and scatter teaspoon of caster sugar on the top surface and then blowtorch until its burnt! Do this closer to the serving time and pop 'em back in the fridge.

And that's pretty much it! For the additional extras and decoration:
To make the chocolate spoon:

• Melt white chocolate in a bowl over simmering water (water bath) until runny and fill up the spoon moulds, placing them in the fridge.

The smooth salted caramel disc:

• Melt the butter and sugars in a saucepan for 3 minutes or until dissolved, swirling it from time to time.
• Add the cream and sea salt and swirl again - get those hips shaking! I mean, use a wooden spoon to stir the sugar mixture…
• Once amalgamated, taste to check if there's enough salt and then pour into a jug to set!

This makes quite a bit, so you can store it up to a week to use for other nommy desserts. Or you know just to eat with a spoon instead of yer good ol' Ben and Jerry's!

Make a circle onto a serving plate, (I used a cookie cutter) and top with honeycomb pieces. Okay so, I had recently bought some ready made ones from Lakeland and used these, but if you want the homemade recipe check out my Get Loose: Chocolate and Honeycomb Mousse recipe!

That's about it! I added chocolate dots around each component to finish off, as well as a strawberry in each jar, as this creamy concotion goes well with berries and maybe there were some growing in my garden…

Cute little desserts, don't you think?


Dainty Cook x

Temperamental Twats: The Macaron.

Yes, this is yet another post about macarons. If you haven't noticed (minus my last two recipes) I hadn't blogged in a while. Why not? Well whilst I did do some making and baking, which I quite frankly, was too lazy to type up, I was busy perfecting my 'macaronage'. Or trying to anyway.

As I mentioned in my post 'Macaron Madness', these have become as popular as the teenage obsession with Zayn Malik's hair. (I'm not going to lie, I think he is gorgeous!) They're like a little French delicacy I guess. Existing in a variety of flavours, fillings and colours, there's just something about them that I cannot get enough of. 

I am obsessed.

They're pricey and they're scarce where I live, so I thought I'd rise up to the challenge and make them myself.

Now let me tell you this straight mate. Unless you have magic hands or an enormous stroke of good luck and chance by your side, you will NOT get these right the first time. Like the title of this suggests, these idiots are far too temperamental. Do mind my language, I only use such terms when I'm annoyed. And oh boyyy have these buggers frustrated the hell out of me!

So in my recent trials, I've had around one fail. One okay. One awesome-oh-my-god-I-am-a-baking-queen and one good attempt (in that order.)

It takes practise, patience and persistence to get these right. Each time you make a mistake, you learn and you know better for the next time, so don't be disheartened. I mean, if you're an emotional lass like me, I actually got rather disappointed. BUT I WILL KEEP MAKING THEM UNTIL I CONSISTENTLY GET THEM TO BE AWESOME. *Breathes* Let's start with the recipe perhaps…

Oh, before we begin, I used the Italian meringue for this (that's what produced the awesome and good batches) as the French one's didn't work quite as well for me. Apparently they create more consistent results as you don't end up over-whipping the macaron mixture. The italian meringue involves heating sugar to a controlled temperature, whereas the French version doesn't. [Thank you BakerSt Cakes for this tip :) Do check out his lovely baked goods guys!]

As my macaron book (Macarons by Annie Rigg) uses only the French method I decided to google an Italian version. This lead me to annies-eats: How to Make Macarons Step by Step, (thank you annie-eats), which I then took and adapted.

Ingredients

215g almond powder

215g icing sugar 

82g and 90g egg whites, divided 

236g normal granulated sugar, plus a pinch 

158g water

Makes around 140 shells. Bear in mind not all batches will come out perfect if it's your first time!

Method:

• In a food processor, process away the icing sugar and almond powder, to make sure they are combined and extra fine.
• Sift this into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre (we don't want any lumps 'n' bumps folks!)
• Pour in the 82g of egg whites and mix until it is pastey and thick. This may take some strength to do, or maybe I'm just weak, whatever..

• Place the granulated sugar in a saucepan with the water on medium heat along with a sugar thermometer. When the temperature reaches around 200˚F - okay fine you can cheat and start a bit earlier like I did, I can get impatient sometimes - take another clean bowl and whip the other portion of egg whites, adding a pinch of sugar.

• Continue with the egg whites until they reach soft peaks, whilst checking on the sugar. When the sugar reaches 248˚ F take it off the heat.

• Pour this sugar syrup down the side of the bowl while whip-whip-whipping away on a higher speed until they are stiff and glossy! My mixture wasn't as stiff as it could have been, but they turned out fine so don't worry.
• This is the time to get creative. If you want to colour your macarons. Do it NOW. For these I added red food colouring gel to achieve a dark pinky colour. I use a cocktail stick to do this. I also added freeze dried raspberry pieces/powder to give it a bit of flavour. 
• Fold in the meringue with the almond paste, being careful not to over-mix.

• Pop the mixture into a piping bag with a plain round nozzle and pipe small rounds on baking paper on a baking tray. To help you get perfect circles draw small rounds on the paper and flip the paper on the other side. Conversely, you could buy a silicon mat! If the mixture is too thick it will stay the size you've piped, too thin and it will spread too much. You want it in between.

Bang the mat/tray on the table to let out air bubbles.

• Annie's version says you don't have to let them rest, but it is important that you do let them rest until a skin forms at the top and they are not wet to touch. This is to avoid cracks as the air will then escape from the bottom 'feet' of the macarons. Again another tip from BakerSt Cakes!
• Now you're supposed to put them in a preheated oven and then turn it down to 160degrees C. I didn't do this as my macarons ended up cracking. Instead I switched on the fan oven to 150 and placed them in straightaway. They took longer to bake, 15-25 minutes, but it meant that they wouldn't crack and I wouldn't have to waste my efforts and end up sulking at a failed batch. I say you just keep experimenting with your oven. If you can put it higher then go for it, I'm not a fan of waiting around for too long to be honest.
• Keep a close watch on them though, they are unpredictable fools.

• And there ya go me lovlies. They should come out smoooth, shiny with risen feet. You can fill em up with whatever you like! I used white chocolate and dark chocolate ganache (separately): Simply melt 200g of choccy in a bowl over simmering heat, add 150ml double cream, 5 tbsps butter and whisk away! Then pipe them on a shell and leave to set.

 

The end product: Raspberry and Chocolate Macarons.

They're just one of the best things I have tasted and created! They should be crisp on the outside yet soft on the inside. Ideally, you should put them in the fridge for a day for the flavours to mature.

I then tried making these again but in more flavours. Mango with a mango crème filling. Peanut butter with a peanut butter and choccy filling and strawberry with chocolate ganache.

I'm going to have to admit, not all of these worked as well as I hoped. I had to keep them in the oven for agess and they ended up being more crisp than expected. Nonetheless, they were still devoured!

Boxed up for friends!

So have a go! They're dainty, yet fab. I'm still going to be perfecting my technique and trying out other recipes until I get them to be constantly immaculate. The next time you hear from me, I may complain that I have gone half bald..

I guess they really are 'bad boys.'

Au revoir mes amis.

Dainty Cook x