Wordless Wednesday: The Pink Ribbon Bagel

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Hello Autumn! - Spiced Apple French Macaroons

Fall has always been my favorite season because I've created so many great memories during this time of year:

When I was little, seeing all my friends after a long summer break from school.

The start of football season...both professional and getting to see my younger brother play for his
 high school team.

Going to Julian for a slice of apple pie.

Getting ready for the holidays with my giant Filipino family.

A much needed relief from the Southern California heat.

Added a little beagle to our family 7 years ago

Called Scott my husband for the first time.

This year, my first real vacation in over 15+ years.

Fall also means being able to bake some of my favorite comfort items and adding new favorites to my recipe box. I wanted to start Fall out right by trying to make something I have never made before but with a traditional Fall flavor.

Ever since my cousin got engaged, she's been showing me all kinds of treats that she would love for her wedding. I did notice the one item that she really wanted were French macaroons. French macaroons are extremely popular wedding favors because they come in a variety of colors to match your wedding and also come in a variety of flavors. I wanted to surprise her and see if I could make macaroons. The problem was that I knew what the taste and texture of a traditional macaroon was (you know...like a coconut haystack) but I've never had the chance to try a French macaroon. Heck, I'm not even sure of the correct spelling. Is it macaroon or macaron? Do I have to say it with a French accent? So when in question, what do I do?

Moooooooom!!!

I was at my parents house a couple of weeks ago and showing my mom pictures of macaroons on the Internet. I told her I wasn't sure how to make it and what the consistency should be with the meringue then the batter or even the size of the cookies. Talk about scary. "I remember making something like these," she said. "We have something like these in the Philippines that I really like." Oh yeah....she's falling into my trap. "It'll be easy to make the meringue on my stand mixer." Score! "Can I come over on Saturday and make macaroons?" "Sure." Okay, so I kinda tricked my mom into helping me make macaroons but who better to have a learning experience with than with your own mom? With lots of guidance and tips from my mom, I made a batch of macaroons, dyed them a really pale pink, and filled them with Nutella. I shared them with my cousin the next day and she loved them.

So with my new found talent for making macaroons, I decided to blog about them. But I wanted to make special ones for Fall. Luckily, the macaroon cookbook I bought had a recipe for spiced apple macaroons and here's how you make them:

Spiced Apple Macaroons

Ingredients

3/4 cup almond flour (available in bulk at Sprouts or made by Red Mill)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 extra large egg whites

1/4 cup superfine sugar

Filling

1 lb granny smith apples (cored, peeled, and chopped)

3 tbsp superfine sugar

1 tbsp water

Sift powdered sugar, almond flour, and cinnamon on a large piece of parchment paper. Set aside.

Place egg whites in a bowl and whip until holding soft peaks. Gradually beat in sugar to make a firm, glossy meringue. (This step is much easier if you have a stand mixer)

Using a spatula, fold in dry ingredients one-third at a time. (If using a stand mixer, change to a paddle and set on the lowest speed) Fold until the mixture forms a shiny batter and forms a thick, ribbon like consistency.

Pour batter into a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch tip. Pipe 24 circles onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Tap the baking sheet to remove air bubbles.

Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375*F

Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes then carefully peel the macaroons off the parchment paper. Cool completely on a cooling rack.

To make the filling, place apples, sugar, and water in a small pan. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until soft, careful to stir occasionally so the sugar does not burn. Mash with a fork to make a puree. Cool and use to sandwich two cookies together.

Adapted from Macaroons: 30 recipes for perfect bite-sized treats

Sueshine notes to making successful macaroons:

1) There are a few items you're going to need other than the ingredients to make macaroons: piping bag, Wilton tip #12 (or similar round), baking sheet, parchment paper, and a stand mixer is helpful when making the meringue but by no means a requirement. You will need some kind of mixer with several speed settings.

2) Use my template. I designed this to make mini macaroons and regular sized macaroons for myself but I thought I would share because sharing is caring. Place the printed sheet under the parchment paper, using as a guide to pipe the batter (stay inside the circle or your macaroons will be too close) then carefully slip the paper out from under the parchment paper. This will help you make equally sized macaroons.

3) If you are going to color your macaroons with liquid, gel, or paste food coloring, don't be shy to use a lot when you are mixing it into the meringue. Although your batter may look really dark, the color of your macaroons will lighten up as they bake.

Macaroons are not the easiest cookies to make because there are a lot of steps. When people tell you that measurements need to be exact in baking, macaroons are one cookie you do not want to stray from that rule. I found that the the macaroon cookbook I bought had very clear instructions and had a whole section on helpful tips. I did not list their tips but only list my observations while making the cookies.

I brought these bite-sized Fall treats to work and they were a big hit. I plan on making more macaroons in the future (maybe my cousin's wedding?) because I had so much fun making them and they rank right up there with my chocolate chip cookies! Another Fall memory created: Made my first French Macaroon!

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Killer Doughnuts!

In honor of the new season of one of my favorite TV shows ever, DEXTER, I made doughnuts.



Photo from http://www.sho.com/



If you haven't seen an episode of Dexter, why not?! I'll have to admit, Dexter is not for everyone but I think it's one of the most original series on television. To give you an idea what Dexter is about, it's about a guy who is a blood splatter analyst for the Miami police department, has a sister who is a detective, had a father who was a cop, has a family, and seems to be an all around nice guy. But he has a secret that he calls "The Dark Passenger." What's Dexter's secret? He's a serial killer. But it's okay....cause he only kills bad guys and oddly, he's super likable. Each episode leaves you cheering for the killer.

What does a serial killer have to do with doughnuts? Better yet, how on earth is a doughnut recipe being shared by a diabetic blogger? Talk about a killer food *budah bum!* Yeah I know, that was a lame joke. Anyways, Season 6 of Dexter starts tonight and throughout the seasons, Dexter, being the super guy that he is, brings in doughnuts to all his co-workers. I believe it's his weird serial killer attempt at being "normal." As far as this diabetic baker goes, my diabetes and horrible sweet tooth is my "dark passenger." I struggle with my sweet cravings every single day and as I've talked about in the past, I have a really hard time finding ready made baked items to satisfy the cravings. I've have to learn how to make them myself. Breakfast is especially difficult because during the week, pastries and doughnuts are so convenient for regular people to just grab as they rush to work. So when I received my daily email from Diabetic Living Online and saw a recipe for doughnuts, I was all over it. I ran to Michael's to grab a donut pan (retail $9.99), picked up some ingredients from the grocery store, and went to work.

Vanilla Cake Doughnuts

1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup packed brown sugar or brown sugar substitute blend (equivalent to 1/2 cup brown sugar)

1/4 cup refrigerated or frozen egg product (or 1 egg)

2 tbsp canola oil

2 tbsp granulated sugar or sugar substitute blend (equivalent to 2 tbsp sugar)

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375F. Coat doughnut pan with non stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, brown sugar, egg, oil, and vanilla; whisk until smooth. Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture; stir until well mixed and smooth. 

Spoon batter into a large resealable plastic bag. Using scissors, cut off a corner; squeeze batter into prepared pan, filling each indent about two-thirds full. Bake about 8 minutes or until doughnuts are nearly firm when lightly pressed. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 3 minutes; turn out doughnuts onto rack.

In a small bowl, stir together granulated sugar and cinnamon. Dip warm doughnuts into sugar mixture, turning to coat. Makes 24 mini doughnuts (3 doughnuts per serving)

from Diabetic Living Online: Vanilla Cake Doughnuts

Sueshine notes about this recipe:

1) The recipe above shows how to make cinnamon sugar doughnuts which is certainly one my favorites. If you shake the doughnuts in the cinnamon sugar, be sure to do it while the doughnuts are still warm because there will be a little bit of moisture, allowing the blend to stick. The hubby suggested that I try making alternative toppings. He said he woke up the other morning wanting a chocolate glazed doughnut.

-Powdered Sugar made from Splenda: 3/4 cups Splenda granular, 2 tbsp cornstarch. Blend in a blender into a fine powder. Dust onto doughnut or follow directions from above (yields 1/2 cup)
 -Chocolate glaze: 3 tbsp margarine, 1 square of unsweetened chocolate, 2 tbsp hot water, 1 cup  sugar substitute. 1/2 tsp vanilla. Melt chocolate and butter. Combine with hot water. Blend with sugar and vanilla. Dip one side of doughnut into glaze and dry on cooling rack.

2) The recipe above is for mini doughnuts. I couldn't find a mini doughnut pan but as I stated above, I found a pan at Michael's with 6 standard size doughnuts. This recipe yields about 6-8 regular sized doughnuts.

Promise me you'll watch Dexter ? Good. If you don't have Showtime, run out to the store to buy a few of the past seasons (average cost is about $20-$25 per season) or add them to your Netflix lineup. Enjoy a doughnut while your at it. Who said you couldn't have a doughnut for dinner? :)

note: Dexter starts tonight, October 2 at 9:00PM ET/PT