Desserts

Strawberry Heart Scones

~ lindy

Strawberry Heart Scones

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*Medium sized heart cookie cutter, pastry cutter/blender 1/8-1/4 round measuring teaspoon, plastic wrap and pastry bag with small round tip.

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Pre-heat oven to 375*F. and bake cookies for 18-20 minutes or until the edges turn light golden brown.

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*2 cups All-purpose Flour

*1/2 cup Granulated Sugar

*2 teaspoons Baking Powder

*1/2 to 1 tablespoon freshly minced Rosemary

*1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

*6 tablespoon Cold Butter, cubed

*1 cup very cold Whipping Cream

*Strawberry Jam (I used Freezer jam) or jam of your choice

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Sift together in a bowl the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Then mix in by hand the Rosemary.

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Using a pastry cutter/blender add the cubed butter and begin to cut in the butter into the flour adding 1/3 of the cream at a time until it resembles coarse crumbles, careful not to over cut. Then add crumbled mixture onto a piece of marble or onto a cold solid surface or pastry mat. Form the crumbles into a rectangle shape (place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the dough. Now, using a rolling pin roll out scone dough lightly until about 1 inch thick.

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Remove plastic wrap and cut scone dough into heart shapes. Place heart shapes on a Silpat lined 1/2 baking sheet and using the back of the 1/8-1/4 teaspoon, dipped in powdered sugar, indent each heart in the center shape add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of the jam to each indented center. Repeat for each heart scone.

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Chill the baking sheet with heart jam filled scones, in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before baking.

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Cool scones before piping on frosting.

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Lemon Frosting

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*Juice from 1/2 large Lemon

*1/8 teaspoon Lemon Extract

*2 cups Powdered Sugar

*1 or more tablespoons Water, for thinning

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Mix together the above frosting ingredients and add just enough water to be able to pipe on frosting so that it won’t run and will stay in the piped form, add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin. Pipe on the frosting in a zigzag pattern.

Recipe source Giada De Laurentiis, Food Network

Enjoy!

Lindy

 

Lemon Macarons

~ lindy

Macaron Cookies may take many trial and error batches before achieving the technic of making these cookies. Watch videos on macarons it helps when trying to achieve the macaron cookie.  Every Video can give a tip that might help you in having success with making macarons.

Also see our recipes at Tea Party Food for your next tea party.

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French Lemon Macaron Cookies

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*2 cups Powdered Sugar

*1 cup Almond Flour, Note: If you keep flour in fridge or freezer you will need to dry out flour in the oven 185*F. 10 minutes stirring halfway through.

*1 teaspoon Finely Grated Lemon Zest

*Pinch of Sea Salt, literally

*3 Egg Whites, separate then room temperature

*1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

*Food Coloring Paste

*1/4 cup Granulated Sugar

In a bowl sift the powdered Sugar, almond flour, salt and discard pieces of almond that won’t pass through sifter, for super smooth add to a food processor whisk/pulse, 30 seconds or so then sift again. Now stir in lemon zest and set bowl aside.

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Now in a clean grease free glass bowl. Add the 3 egg whites and whip eggs until frothy and then add the cream of tartar and continue whipping the egg whites until they become white in color and slowly add the granulated sugar a small amount at a time. Continue to whip the egg white mixture until stiff peaks occur and the whipped mixture in the beaters remain within beaters without dripping out when held up.  Add food coloring and flavoring if desired and mix just until incorporated.

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Remove beaters from the whipped mixture. Then with a rubber scraper fold in 1/3 of the dry almond mixture in the whipped mixture, about 12 folds. Repeat by folding in a 1/3 more of the almond mixture and another 12 folds. Now add the remaining almond mixture fold in another 24 folds. Mixture should become lava like, flowing off the rubber scraper when scooped and let sheet down to the bowl taking about 30 seconds for the almost the entire mixture to sheet off the spoon and back into the batter bowl. Then the batter that is in the bowl will become smooth again in the bowl after 60 seconds of sitting. Note: This is where you can over or under mix/fold the mixture. The right air consistency is crucial in the success of these cookies.

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When consistency has been achieved. Place/scoop the batter in a pastry bag (2/3 full) with an 803 tip attached, pipe on small dots of batter onto a Silpat covered 1/2 baking sheet with macaron circles printed on the Silpat or pipe consistent circles on Silpat or parchment paper, try to make each macaron the same size. Hold the pastry bag with the tip straight down in the middle of the macaron circle close to the 1/2 baking sheet (space macarons at least one and a half inches apart). Fold down the open end of the pastry bag to batter level and holding fold squeeze the pastry bag until batter flows smoothly. Then place piping tip in the center of the macaron circle and squeeze out the batter until it almost reaches the drawn circle pattern. Repeat until all circles are filled. Pickup baking sheet a couple of inches from the table and drop the baking sheet, repeat 8 times, rotating baking sheet after each drop. This is to remove air bubbles.

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Smooth down with your slightly wet finger any piping tips that might poke up on the top of each macaron.

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Now let the piped macarons set for 20-35 minutes until macarons don’t stick to your finger when touched, a smooth semi-gloss crust will develop  and then bake in oven.

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Macaron Batter fills 3 (1/2 baking sheets) making about 96 small macarons and 53 filled macaron cookies.

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In a pre-heated 295*F. oven, place piped macarons on 1/2 baking sheet (second to the lowest rung/rack) in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes.

Every oven varies in temperature, you may need to adjust for your oven temperature.  This can affect the developing of the little feet of the macarons.

Lemon Filling

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*3/4 cup Powder Sugar, more if needed

*1/4 cup Butter, room temperature

*Drop of Yellow Food Coloring

*3 teaspoons Lemon Juice, more if needed for thinning

*pinch of Lemon Zest

*2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

*Sprinkle Sea Salt

Whisk together the ingredients until a nice piping consistency.  Use a pastry bag and small round tip,  pipe onto macaron and place on a second macaron making a sandwich like cookie.  Repeat for each macaron.

Enjoy!

Lindy