Macaroon-ing with Italian meringue

I was recommended to attempt macaroons using the Italian meringue method. Recipe was accessed from the Masterchef website, composed by Adriano Zumbo. He's an amazing dessert dude and I would really love to be his apprentice:D

The macaroons didn't turn out well in the end because I was unable to beat the egg whites into stiff peaks after adding the sugar syrup. So...do get a stand mixer if you want to attempt the Italian method otherwise make sure you have very strong and fast whipping skillsO.o

Ground almonds, icing sugar and egg whites after sieving~

Step 1 completed

Egg yolks anyone? I would suggest using them to make the buttercream filling or you could make creme brulees with them:)

Aged egg whites in soft peaks~

My previous $45 gel colours~ the colours are very vibrant and you only need a small amount to create beautiful colour-ed macaroons:)

Almost melted all the sugar in hot water~ yeap, I've got myself a sugar thermometer. Digital thermometers are more accurate though:)

I like the colour heaps^^

After piping / before destruction~

Dark chocolate ganache with passionfruit puree~ I should have used a sweeter chocolate base:(

All in all, I would re-attempt making macaroons again this week (after getting more egg whites) but will be using the French method...time to spam colouring^^

Celcius restaurant, Gouger Street

Located beside Gaucho's Restaurant, this outlet certainly has the classy factor. The interior design is very vintage goth like and although there was a fair amount of people that night, it wasn't overly noisy:)

Prices are moderate for fine dining. The chef recommends having a degustation experience in order to get the best of each dish. Fortunately for me, my sister and the boy decided to go "degustate" themselves so I was able to nibble on a bit of each.

I wasn't too happy with the kitchen though because it took forever for our food to arrive. Maybe we were expected to slowly enjoy our food but we were really hungry monsters that night:X

I have really bad memory so please don't be upset with the lack of descriptions here:( I'll try my best!


Salt and vinegar chips~ not bad if you happen to like sour-ish substances like me:)

That's parsley butter and normal butter~ not wasabi!!

Crab (8 course degustation)~ Quite impressive. Highly recommended

icantremembersopleasedon'tkillme (5 course)~ errmm...quite fancy although I didn't like something from the dish. Everything's edible though:)

Crispy chicken skin with artichokes (8 course)~ It's alright. I think the soup's made of wolfberries though:D

Milk skin with lamb? (8 course)~ not too bad. The milk skin didn't really taste like milk (so it's good!^^)

62celcius egg with some chicken pieces (5 course)~ the egg was very impressive. It was boiled but not hard-boiled so it oozed egg yolk liquid when you prick the membrane. The egg white was soft but not liquid-ish:)

Mulloway fish (8 course)~ not bad. I found it a little salty for my liking but I still enjoyed it overall:)

Veal with pumpkin pieces and rhubard jelly (8 course)~ this dish was a little too complicated for my understanding so I didn't appreciate it much:S

Lamb ( 5 course)~ not bad!:)

Hanhdorf venison (8 course)~ please don't ask me what's the black sauce because I personally have no idea what is it made of:S

Duck breast~ The duck was soft and juicy but I didn't like the pink-ish blood oozing out of the meat when I cut it. However, the calamari was nicely cooked and not rubbery:)

Carrot cake (8 course)~ hmm....the ice cream tasted like rosemary (which was rather interesting for me). Overall, I wouldn't recommend it:S

Lime sorbet with pistachio sauce and sponge cake served with a dollop of almond cream (8 course)~ I liked the lime sorbet heaps. Very refreshing!:)

Chocolate biscuit crumbs served with sugar pieces and vanilla ice cream with custard~ the chocolate was nice but I didn't like it with the custard:S

This weekend has been soo tiring for me (and I reckon next week would be equally challenging). I may not be able to post up as often but I would be able to post up pictures (without the details though!) I'm excited for the coming week but yet, I feel soooo lazy!XD

Have a lovely week ahead peeps^^

Food diary: Breakfast, dinner and dessert!

Dessert first up~ Black and white chocolate cake

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes (or until ready..I wasn't keeping watch of time though)
Difficulty: 2/5

Ingredients:
175 g butter
100 g white chocolate
100 g 70% dark chocolate
3 eggs
100 ml milk
175 g caster sugar
200 g self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the ganache and to decorate:
285 ml double cream
200 g 70% dark chocolate

1. Cream butter and sugar together before adding in the eggs and milk. I strained the mixture via a sieve because it was lumpy>.>
2. Divide the mixture into 2 portions.
3. Melt the chocolates in the microwave. Add the dark chocolate into one portion of the mixture and add the white chocolate mixture into the other portion. Add some vanilla extract to get a lovely vanilla scent:)
4. Bake until ready at 150C and allow to cool on a cake rack.
5. Heat up the double cream and pour it over the chopped dark chocolate pieces. Allow to stand for 4 minutes before mixing it. Cool the mixture in the fridge for a few minutes.
6. Add a medium sized layer of the mixture between the cakes and use the extra as the ganache. Dust with icing sugar if necessary.

Tadaaa:DD My white cake layer broke but I was able to "stick" everything back together with the chocolate ganache. It worked wonders! I doubt anybody could tell that it was broken previously;)

For the dark chocolate lovers~ Now you can have cake!:D

My dinner for the past few weeks was either too heavy or too light. Moderation is key so remember to follow a healthy dinner selection filled with veges, fruits and protein:)

Proscuitto layers to enclose the cooked beef~

Beef wellington enclosed by mushroom paste, proscuitto and puff pastry~ definitely something hard to make but I guess practice makes perfect, right? Recipe was adapted from Gordon Ramsay.


Slow cooked pork belly~ super sinful:S

Tofu with black bean sauce~ not bad although would prefer having more tofu chunks


Here are some pictures of my brunch for the past week. I would recommend not following my diet because what works for me may not work for someone else so proper consultation with dietitians is ideal.

I realized that most of the guide dogs' tails are quite straightO.o

Weetbix with milk and strawberry slices~ sooo yummy and refreshing;)

Bread top chocolate cake from myshoppingkaki:))

Digestive biscuits to munch on~

A proper breakfast~ bacon rashes, toasted bread, baked beans and poached eggs from Farmer's market:) Not bad although the one at East Terrace Continential still tops my list:)

4 more days until placement *screams* I'm soooo nervous:(

Macaroons at sister's place

My lovely sis bought a box of 20 macaroons from the Mac Factory 2 days before I came over. The entire box cost around $40 which is quite a hefty price for something so tiny-.-


Let the massacre begin!:D

Lindt chocolate's macaroon from melbourne~ gifted by my sister's friend




I like how the colourful macaroon crumbs look like some canvas painting:) Overall, I find it indifferent from most macaroon shops in Adelaide=/

So I got a little sugar high after all the munching:)



Posterized effect~

Cotton soft japanese cheesecake

This is my first ever attempt at making an unorthodox cheesecake and although I didn't get the perfect end results, I am still happy that most of my friends liked it despite the horrible physical appearance. I definitely will re-attempt this, thanks to my inspiring lovelies^^

Ratio of cream cheese and butter~

Egg yolks!!

Whisked egg whites~

Messy moulds~

Rising stars:D

^^

Soon to be deflated (sadly)

This recipe can be obtained from most websites/blogspots so have fun making them;)