Back to Baking

I finally started baking again last week as our kitchen is now completely reno free. Tomy put in the finishing touches by putting up the backsplash.

I love pistachios so when I saw the recipe for White Peach and Raspberry tart with pistachio frangipane in Regan Daly’s "In the Sweet Kitchen", I was excited to try it out. I was even more excited to take a pic of the tart that I forgot to serve it with the raspberries – oops. My mom called to tell me she loved the tart but I found it so-so. The pistachios didn't wow me in the tart. I prefer basic frangipane with almonds.

I also tried Rei’s recipe for banana chiffon with great success. I was excited when the cake didn’t sink this time. It was fluffy and light - just how chiffon should be. Thank you Rei for sharing her recipe.

Since we had our first official guests over at the condo this weekend, I decided to make something different for them to try – macarons. I was worried it wouldn’t turn out, but thankfully it did. I just need to work on my piping skills to pipe out more uniform macarons. The first tray was good then it went downhill. I guess I’ll just have to make more macarons for practice. Another thing I need to work on is piping out the buttercream. I can’t figure out how much to pipe on in order for the buttercream to properly fill out between the two shells. I guess practice makes perfect.

Edit Note: My friends are too kind. After trying the macarons I realize it's too hard from storing in the fridge. I hope I had it out at room temperature long enough when I served it last night. I will have to revert back to my more sable buttercream recipe that keeps at room temperature.