Macarons

Pumpkin Spice Macarons

October 23, 2017 By stemsandforks 3 Comments

I only started baking macarons this year. I confess I was a bit late on the trend of eating and baking macarons. I felt I needed to master basic things such as pie crust and pâte à choux first before tackling macarons. If you’ve been following my baking journey, you’ll know I’m a self taught baker. No grandma or mum with old traditional baking recipes passed down. Kimchi, jigae, marinated meats and other korean scrummy dishes yes. So my food memories are a bit different from those caucasian friends around me. They involved spices and smells that that could awaken any hibernating bear in the dead of winter and have them running for cover.

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Earl Grey and Orange Ganache Chocolate Macarons

January 9, 2017 By stemsandforks 1 Comment

I have this recurring nightmare that’s been haunting me for decades. I’m in a bakery surrounded by delectable and mouthwatering mounds of pastries. Croissants, cakes, pies, macarons and muffins piled high in baskets and platters in varying hues of browns and beiges. I can see steam wafting from the butter croissants and fresh icing still runny, dripping off the danishes. It’s one of the most beautiful and delicious sights ever. I’m overwhelmed by the wondrous selection and I can’t decide which to eat first. Chocolate torte first? Then I won’t have space for the tarts. I’m so torn. This indecisiveness goes on and on and feels as if the entire night of dreaming is spent trying to decide which pastry to taste first. Then the dream becomes a nightmare. I awake without having made a choice. My indecisiveness leaves me empty handed. As I’d slowly awake to reality, I’d be filled with regret for not having sunk my teeth into one of those heavenly pastries.

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