Red velvet cookies and another German movie

I’ve been really into Europeans movies lately and, so far, I have seen really good films: after the Danish directors I went a little South and watched the excellent The Edukators (with the now Golden Globe nominee Daniel Brühl).

Since I’d already loved Soul Kitchen and The Wave I got into a German state of mind and decided to watch another movie from my grandmother’s home country, one that everyone I know tells me I would love, and indeed I did: Run Lola Run. It is such an amazing movie, very different from most things I’ve seen, with a very unique rhythm that is absolutely contagious – Franka Potente does a terrific job as Lola (all that running must have been physically challenging) and after I read that she could not wash her hair for seven weeks to avoid discoloring it I admired her even more. :D

My Christmas series has come to an end and I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have – the last recipe is for these delicious cookies, as red as Lola’s hair. :D

Happy Holidays!

Red velvet cookies
from the always stunning Donna Hay magazine

100g unsalted butter, room temperature
160g brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
100g dark chocolate, melted and cooled – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
185g all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
pinch of salt
1 ½ tablespoons red food coloring
200g dark chocolate, in chips or small chunks
about 100g icing sugar, for rolling the cookies

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in the melted chocolate. On low speed, beat in the flour, baking powder, cocoa, salt and food coloring and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips/chunks. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Sift the icing sugar into a shallow bowl. Using a cookie scoop, portion 1 leveled tablespoon portions of dough and roll in the sugar, then carefully form into a ball using your hands and roll again in the sugar, this time covering the dough ball very generously with it. Place onto prepared sheets 5cm (2in) apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cracked and slightly firm around the edges. Cool completely on the sheets over a wire rack.

Makes about 50

Lime macarons

I know I’ll sound like a broken record, but once again the feeling of time flying has hit me hard – I knew I’d promise you another batch of macarons, but I almost fell off my chair when I saw that it was a year and a half ago...

I used the same recipe and tweaked the filling a little bit, but the macarons did not turn out as cute as I’d expected. But that’s fine – next time, I’ll used one of Julia’s wonderful recipes and hope my macarons turn as gorgeous as hers.

Lime macarons

50g ground almonds
1 cup (140g) icing sugar
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon caster sugar
green food coloring paste

Lime white chocolate ganache:
¾ cup (116g) chopped white chocolate
¼ cup (60ml) cream
finely grated zest of 1 lime
1 teaspoon lime juice

Start by making the macarons: grab two large pieces of baking paper and, using a cookie cutter, trace 4cm-circles, 3cm apart from each other, all over the paper. Turn the paper sheets around and line 2 large baking trays with them.
Sieve the ground almonds and icing sugar together into a large bowl. Put the egg whites into a separate bowl, and using an electric hand whisk, beat to soft peaks. Add the caster sugar, and whisk until glossy. Fold into the almond and icing sugar mixture, along with a very small amount of the food coloring – it’s easier to use a toothpick to remove coloring from the bottle. Mix until just combined and evenly green – the mixture will reduce as the air bubbles in the meringue burst.
Put the mixture into a disposable piping bag, snip off 1cm from the end. Pipe blobs onto the circles on the baking paper so you have about 28-30 in total. Set aside for 30 minutes to dry – this is important as it gives the macaroons the correct texture.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn the baking sheet and bake for another 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.

Make the filling: pour the cream in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Remove from heat, add chocolate and mix vigorously until chocolate is melted and ganache is smooth. Add lime zest and juice and mix well to combine. Set aside to cool until firm enough to be piped or spooned between macarons shells.

Carefully peel off the baking paper from the macaroons, then sandwich 2 together with a blob of lime ganache in the center. Repeat to give you 14-15 in total.

Store the macaroons in an airtight container for up to 3 days – I kept mine in the fridge.

Makes about 15

Lavender lollipops

I’d planned a salad for today’s post – a very good one, actually – but I’m desperately in need of something sweet and colorful, even if virtually. :D

These were really fun to make and turned out better than the first lollipops I tried - can’t wait to try new flavors. Any suggestions? :D

Lavender lollipops
adapted from this recipe

½ cup (120ml) water
2 teaspoons edible dried lavender buds
1 cup (200g) sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
few drops of purple food coloring – I used Wilton’s and added it using a toothpick

Start by making a lavender infusion: place water and lavender in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and set aside until completely cold – I made the infusion the day before and left it covered at room temperature. Strain the infusion.

Oil a marble slab or baking sheet. Have ready at least a dozen wooden sucker sticks.

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and 1/3 cup (80ml) of the lavender infusion; stir to blend. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cover and boil for 2-3 minutes. Uncover and insert a candy thermometer in the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 143ºC/290ºF. If sugar crystals form on the pan sides, wash the down with a pastry brush dipped in warm water.
Remove the pan from the heat and immediately dip the bottom of it into a pan of cold water to arrest cooking, removing quickly before the mixture gets too cold. Place on a dry kitchen towel and add the food coloring.
Using a large metal spoon, immediately spoon a little less than 4cm (1½ in) pools of syrup onto the prepared marble slab/sheet*. Lay one end of the lollipop stick in each pool of syrup while still soft and push gently to secure in place. Dot a little extra syrup on the embedded end of the stick. Let cool at room temperature until completely set, about 2 hours.

Wrap each lollipop in cellophane or waxed paper. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

* once the mixture got cold and difficult to mold, I returned the pan to medium heat, stirring, until it became soft again (30 seconds or so)

Makes about 12

Lollipops

What should one do when feeling a desperate urge to make something sweet but has no time to wait for the butter to come to room temperature, not to mention there is something else in the oven? Candy. In my case, bright red and very, very sweet lollipops.

These might look tricky, but believe me, they are not. The lollipops were fun to make and I think they would be a great treat for birthday parties – not only for kids, of course. :D

Lollipops
from The Christmas Candy Book

1 cup (200g) sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup (80ml) water
1-2 drops oil of anise, cinnamon, clove, lemon or orange – I used vanilla extract
few drops of red, yellow, blue or green food coloring

Oil a marble slab or baking sheet. Have ready at least a dozen wooden sucker sticks.

In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water and stir to blend. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cover and boil for 2-3 minutes. Uncover and insert a candy thermometer in the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 143ºC/290ºF. If sugar crystals form on the pan sides, wash the down with a pastry brush dipped in warm water.
Remove the pan from the heat and immediately dip the bottom of it into a pan of cold water to arrest cooking, removing quickly before the mixture gets too cold. Place on a dry kitchen towel. Add the flavoring and coloring of choice.
Using a large metal spoon, immediately spoon a little less than 4cm (1½ in) pools of syrup onto the prepared marble slab/sheet*. Lay one end of the lollipop stick in each pool of syrup while still soft and push gently to secure in place. Dot a little extra syrup on the embedded end of the stick. Let cool at room temperature until completely set, about 2 hours.

Wrap each lollipop in cellophane or waxed paper. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

* once the mixture got cold and difficult to mold, I returned the pan to medium heat, stirring, until it became soft again (30 seconds or so)

Makes about 12 – I got 16

Blueberry macarons

Making macarons – talk about a brave decision! And here I thought that chopping off 4 inches of hair, like I did a couple of months ago, had been a bold move.

I’d had an eye on these pink beauties for quite a while but it was Helen’s wonderful tutorial that gave me the courage to finally try making macarons. And even though they don’t look like hers or the Master’s – which I was lucky enough to try – I was very glad with the results. So glad that I intend to make a new batch next weekend. :)

Recipe adapted from here (shells) and here (filling).

Blueberry macarons

50g ground almonds
140g icing sugar
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon caster sugar
violet food coloring paste

White chocolate blueberry ganache:
¾ cup chopped white chocolate
¼ cup cream
1 tablespoon blueberry jam

Start by making the macarons: grab two large pieces of baking paper and, using a cookie cutter, trace 4cm-circles, 3cm apart from each other, all over the paper. Turn the paper sheets around and line 2 large baking trays with them.
Sieve the ground almonds and icing sugar together into a large bowl. Put the egg whites into a separate bowl, and using an electric hand whisk, beat to soft peaks. Add the caster sugar, and whisk until glossy. Fold into the almond and icing sugar mixture, along with a very small amount of the food coloring – it’s easier to use a toothpick to remove coloring from the bottle. Mix until just combined and evenly violet – the mixture will reduce as the air bubbles in the meringue burst.
Put the mixture into a disposable piping bag, snip off 1cm from the end. Pipe blobs onto the circles on the baking paper so you have about 28-30 in total. Set aside for 30 minutes to dry – this is important as it gives the macaroons the correct texture.
Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn the baking sheet and bake for another 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.

Make the filling: pour the cream in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Remove from heat, add chocolate and jam and mix vigorously until chocolate is melted and ganache is smooth. Set aside to cool until firm enough to be piped or spooned between macarons shells.

Peel off the baking paper from the macaroons, then sandwich 2 together with a blob of blueberry ganache in the center. Repeat to give you 14-15 in total.

Store the macaroons in an airtight container for up to 3 days – I kept mine in the fridge.

Makes about 15