M is for...

Monumental failure. I should done more research on what I was getting myself into. Or rather, what the Lovely Lady Baker was getting me into! Yeah, epic fail, for sure.

I did do a tiny bit of research after the fact. I do believe that I:

1. didn't beat my egg whites long enough,
2. didn't bake the shells long enough, and
3. have an oven that heats unevenly.

Needless to say, because the shells didn't work out, I didn't bother making the cheese cream buttercream filling. So we've been eating a lot of bagels lately...

Anyway, here's photographic evidence of my sad attempt at making macarons. Warning: it isn't pretty.

I might just stick to buying them...

July/August Recipe

For the month of July/August, we will be making French Macarons! I know this might seem scary to some of you, and some may have no idea what a french macaron is. Trust me though, I've never made them, but I've found if you follow a specific technique, the recipe doesn't really matter. I've added an inspirational photo and links to a few good websites for you to do your homework. I also made this a July/August recipe because I know it will take some time to figure out (and it's almost halfway through the month of July). Post questions in the comments section of this post, and as a collective we can share our thoughts and trials with each other. Feel free to post anytime within the month(s), no need to wait until the end.

Happy Macaroon Baking! 

Photo credit: Melanger, Lemon Macarons with Lemon Curd 

Resources:
David Lebovits: Making French Macarons
Serious Eats: Introduction to French Macarons
Tartelette: Recipe Index for amazing Macarons
Not So Humble Pie: Macaron Troubleshooting
Melanger: Making Macaron Tips

Stone Fruit Cobbler

I decided to make an apricot, peach, blueberry cobbler for the June recipe. Mostly apricot and blueberry, but I couldn't resist adding one little peach I needed to use. The sugar dough from Stove is really good and quite versatile. I used it to make the crust of a tart as well. I'll definitely keep this recipe in my favorites pile!

Thanks again Sarah and Eric for picking a fantastic recipe! To see more of my post, please visit the Lovely Lady Baker site.

Happy Baking!

This weekend my husband and I hosted a 45th wedding anniversary party for his parents. For dessert I used the sugar dough recipe as the base for strawberry shortcakes. I appologize for no pictures (We had 11 RSVP and 29 showed up!!! So we were a bit busy!). However, they were a great hit. Agreeing with Dana, how could a dessert recipe calling for a pound of butter not be delicious!

I patted the dough out on a cookie sheet, sprinkled it with coarse raw sugar and baked it all in one piece. While it was still warm, I cut it into squares with a pizza cutter.

To serve the shortcakes I had a variety of fruit ~ strawberries, blueberries, and spiced peaches ~ in separate bowls and whipped cream. Guests could build their own to their liking.

Thank you, Sarah, for a great recipe this month!

Not a berry tart

Strawberries are now out of season in the heartland. "Why? It's still June", you ask. Well tomorrow the heat index will be close to 110 degrees F. in Kansas and we will have over 20 mph winds. All things tender and succulent, like the spring-loving strawberry, tend to hunker down and just try to survive. Peaches love the heat though. And raspberries/blackberries get busy in the summer sun. So I decided to make a fresh peach and blackberry (picked from a friend's community garden) compliment for the shortbread crust posted for June's recipe.

The shortbread was delicious (what wouldn't be with a lb. of butter in it) and so easy to put together. I pressed the dough into my tart pan and it held up sturdily without being overly tough when cut. I served it unchilled with optional fresh whipped cream. My ten guests for the evening left 1 piece out of the two tarts I served. I made 3 crusts from the posted recipe and froze one for later. Thanks for the recipe Sarah and Eric!

Musings of a former botanist...did you know that "berries" are actually things like tomatoes and grapes? Strawberries are clusters of "drupes"--a single seed surrounded by a bony covering. And the peach is just a large drupe! So this is a drupe (pleural) tart, which really doesn't sound as appetizing as a berry tart so I will dispense with botanical musings. Happy summer.

June Recipe!

Our Dynamic Baking duo chose the recipe this month, and here is what they (well, one more than the other) had to say:


"I was thinking something with berries and a sugar dough, because:
1.  It's strawberry season in Virginia, which means all the you-pick fields are open for business and the June berries are at their best.
2.  I've been having friends over to watch Glee every week so am on the hunt for delicious, quick recipes.  I made a strawberry shortcake the other week that was delicious and oh so easy.
3.  We ate at our favorite restaurant the other night (Stove), and had what my mom called "the best cobbler I've ever had."  That's high praise from a Townsend.  It was delicious.

So I'm submitting the sugar dough recipe from our favorite restaurant, Stove.  It is really simple, but makes a delicious base for just about anything.  Folks could make cobbler, shortcakes, pies, whatever with it. The cobbler we had was constructed like tiny pots and filled with peaches and berries, lemon slurry, and had a whipped whiskey cream and caramel sauce on top."

Stove’s Sugar Dough

Restaurant - Portsmouth VA

This is not a dough for rolling, you have to pat this dough out into the pan your using for dessert. It’s rich and wonderful and can also be made into a short bread as well. I have even used it for bottoms of pans mixed with pecans and then a cake batter over that for a crunch factor. Just don’t over mix it or you will have some good rubber dough

1 cup white sugar, baker’s sugar if you can find it
1# unsalted double A butter
6 cups of all purpose flour,
(unbleached and without chemicals if possible, King Arthur is good stuff and easy to find)

In the bowl of a 4 to 6qt. mixer cream the sugar and butter until light and somewhat fluffy

Stop the machine, scrape down sides and add all at once 6 cups of flour, raise the bowl and on the lowest speed blend the dough until it pulls
together. if it’s winter and your environment isn’t warm you may need to spray from a mister water a little at a time till the dough starts to combine.

pinch a bit of dough to see if it will hold together, if so it’s ready for use.

this dough stores in the refrigerator for a week or so

To help inspire you, here are a few resources for recipes to try:
Betty Crocker's Classic Strawberry Shortcake
Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry Summer Cake


or if you want something with a little more wow factor:
I am Mommy's Red Velvet Strawberry Shortcake
and the link to her amazing frosting tutorial




Thanks Sarah & Eric for this month's recipe. As always, try and post before the end of the month! I hope you are as excited as I am... with summer berries in full swing you can't go wrong this month. 


Happy Baking
The Lovely Lady Baker

Lemon Cheesecake!

I made cheesecake this month too! It seems to be a big hit as you can see from Dana and Matt's previous posts. The cheesecake turned out well. Philadelphia knows cheesecake! Thanks again Dana for sharing one of this months recipes! Feel free to stop by the Lovely Lady Baker blog to see the rest of my post, and don't forget to check out everyone's entries this month.