I should be reading for European History right now.

And yet, here I am.

I've missed you. Seriously. I've been so busy lately, and I haven't had the time to really cook anything. I'm so sad about that. But, anyway, I finally did it; I made my macarons. I feel like I've just been initiated into a whole new level of... foodiness. It feels awesome.

They don't look fancy, do they? That probably has something to do with the fact that I don't have a round piping tip. I had to just make it round as I piped the mixture on to the parchment. I tried.

I used a recipe I found on Tartelette. The original recipe was for blue chocolate-filled macarons. I didn't have any powdered food coloring, so I made white ones. I made two kinds of macarons--ones filled with bittersweet chocolate, and ones filled with orange curd. I was a little worried about the orange curd because my grandma (yes, she's here now) said that it wasn't sweet enough. But, I thought the meringue would be really sweet--and it is--so, I didn't change it. She thinks I did though. Shh.

French Macarons (from Tartelette)

3 egg whites
50 gr. granulated sugar
200 gr. powdered sugar
110 gr. ground almonds
2 Tb blue powdered food coloring

For the whites: the day before (24hrs), separate your eggs and store the whites at room temperature on a covered container. If you want to use 48hrs (or more) egg whites, you can store them in the fridge.
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry and your macarons won't work. Combine the ground almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor and give them a quick pulse. It will break the powdered sugar lumps and combine your almonds with it evenly. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold and remove some of the batter that will remain uncolored. Add 2 TB food coloring to the rest and fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that flows like magma or a thick ribbon.
Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns. Do the same for the plain batter.s
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper baking sheets.
With a toothpick dab dots of the plain batter and swirl.
Preheat the oven to 300F. Let the macarons sit out for an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.
If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don't let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Pipe or spoon some ganache on one shell and sandwich with another one.

Chocolate Ganache

3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup bittersweet chocolate

In a heavy saucepan set over medium heat, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the stove and add the chocolate to it. Let stand 2 minutes and then stir until fully combined. Let cool until firm enough to put in a small piping bag.

Don't you just love the gloss on perfectly whipped meringue?

I was really scared about messing up the meringue when I had to fold in the sugar and almond flour mixture. But, I  guess it did have to "deflate" a little and become a little liquid for this thing to work.

I did not mess up. Look at the cute little cookies! Look at them! Oh, and don't they have great feet? I was really afraid that they wouldn't come out looking like they did. Please give them that one hour to set before baking. It makes a difference; trust me.

I have to go back to being a student now. I have a quiz over the Thirty Years War tomorrow. Happy baking, everyone.

Peach and Ginger Flaugnarde: An Ode to Summer

I hate summer. Especially summer time in the South.
It was around 105 degrees Fahrenheit this afternoon. Absolutely unnecessary and uncalled for. I don't care if it really is just God hugging us closer.

Why an ode to summer then?
Well, I've read other bloggers going on and on about how a clafouti is just a must-have for the summer. It's almost sacrilegious to be a foodie and not eat it at least once during this season. Too bad I couldn't find any cherries at the store. But, I did find peaches. And, that works, right? You would think so. But, no. Because a clafouti is strictly made from cherries. So, I made a flaugnarde instead.
Other than the type of fruit being used, I honestly don't get what the difference is between the two. It's pretty much the same thing. Really.

I guess that still doesn't explain my ode to summer. So, I'm just going to go right out and say this. This is my desperate attempt at hanging on to my break. School's starting on the 15th, and I'm already getting kind of depressed. I thought that maybe this would keep me in summer mode.

Anyone here know Presidents of the USA? They had a song called "Peaches". You know, I'm movin' to the country, I'm gonna eat me a lot of peaches? No? Come on, no 90s baby here?

Well, I was thinking of that song as I was making this. It's a nice little song. And, I have feeling that it's not at all about peaches...

I found the recipe here. I was immediately intrigued. Peaches and ginger? That's classic.
It was supposed to be made with yellow peaches, but I couldn't find any at that day, and I didn't really feel like using nectarines. So, I decided to use the white peaches. I like them. They're pretty.

Peach and Ginger Flaugnarde

3 to 4 peaches
100 ml of whole milk
25 ml of cream
3 eggs
60 grams of sugar
35 grams of flour
2 cm of grated fresh ginger (that's about 1 inch, folks)
3 tbs of cold butter

1. To prepare the peaches, fill a large bowl with boiling water, and another large bowl with ice water. Cut one peach in half (like in the previous picture) and plunge it into the hot water for one minute. Take it out and place in the ice water bath for one minute. Then, gently peel back the skin. Using a pairing knife would be very helpful. Cut each of the halves into four. Now, prep the other ones.
2. For the batter, beat the 3 eggs. I used a hand mixer, but a nice whisk should do the job just fine. Add milk, cream, the grated ginger, and sugar. After the sugar is all combined, add the flour and beat just until everything is combined.
3. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Grease a tart pan or a baking dish generously with butter. What's the point of making this if you're going to let it stick to the pan, right? Now, pour in the very liquid batter. Arrange the peaches in the baking dish. 
5. Cut the cold butter into 1 cm cubes and place evenly around the dish. Sprinkle some extra sugar on top, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

The thing does deflate. Don't worry. That's just the way it is.

I love that little bit of pink on the peaches. So pretty. I feel so healthy for eating all this fruit.

Gratin Dauphinois with Sweet Potatoes

I LOVE SWEET POTATOES.
They're good and good for you. Did you know that? It's especially rich in beta carotene, providing 377% of your daily vitamin A needs per serving. And, since my eyesight is horrible with a capital h, I'm totally stoked.

So, by show of hand, how many of you follow La Tartine Gourmande? If you're not raising your hand right now, shame on you. I love Bea. She is an amazing cook and photographer.
Her food always look stunning. Hell, she can put dirt in a bowl with sprinkles on it and it'd look amazing. Anyway, I saw her post for Gratin Dauphinois maybe a week ago, and I've literally been dreaming about it.
The original recipe called for potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pink turnips. But, I couldn't find any turnips at my local grocery store, so I settled for just potatoes and sweet potatoes. It's still awesome.

Gratin Dauphinois with Sweet Potatoes (original recipe here)

2 garlic cloves, halved
1 tbs of butter
1 cup of milk
1 cup of heavy cream
1 twig of fresh thyme, or 1 tsp of dried thyme
about 1 pound of potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium-large sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1 oz. of Swiss Emmental or Gruyere (I think they're more readily available than Comte.)

1. Rub a 12 x 8.5 baking dish with two halves of one garlic clove. Then, butter it generously.
2. Slice the halves of garlic and put at the bottom of the baking dish.
3. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Heat milk, cream, the remaining garlic, and thyme. Bring to a simmer and stop the heat. Let it infuse for 30 minutes and reheat.
5. Tightly arrange the potatoes and sweet potatoes in alternating order.
6. Strain the milk and cream mixture over the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Keep in mind that in this step, you are seasoning the whole thing. Top with shredded cheese, and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let it cool before serving.

I know that this is supposed to be a side dish, but I had it for dinner. Love the sweetness with the salty, cheesy crust. I also have a bunch of potato slices leftover. I might just make some chips with them tomorrow.