I don't cry. I get macaron'ed...

MACARONS BY IKE MALADA

As you've noticed recently there is macaron madness around Australia these days. If you haven't noticed you must have been living under a rock. Either way here are some words to add to your vocabulary:

macaron (noun) [ma-kuh-ron] ~ a drop cookie made of egg whites, sugar, almond meal. Sometimes also known as the 'macaroon'.

macar'owned (noun) [ma-kuh-rouhn-d] ~ The act of making macarons and totally failing 

macaron'ed (noun) [ma-kuh-rohn-d] ~ The act of overdosing on macarons.

macaron-gasm (noun) [ma-kuh-rohn-gaz-uh m] ~ The physical and emotional sensation experienced at the peak of having some excellent macarons.

In the past few weeks, I've pretty much experienced all of the above. A few weeks ago I attempted to make macarons since I was given the book, The Secret of Macarons by Jose Marachel. My friend thought it was time for me to try making something else besides cakes...and so I can make them for her (she said it when she gave it to me!)

ma petite cherie, je t'aime...

I've been fascinated by the elusive macaron. I have seen my friends post photos of their macaron successes and failures...I've seen them express their happiness, relief and frustation at their macarons. I was scared. But as one of my favourite quote goes:

"Everything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile...initially scared me to death" - Betty Bender

I decided I had to face the macaron music. So I tried. To cut a long story short it was an epic fail. The batter was too runny, some of them went crispy in the oven, the macarons went soggy after putting the filling in them and my experience joined the long list of fail macaron stories..But I wasn't going to give up. I was going to find out how one makes them properly.

The Macaron Milky Way

Recently I have managed to meet a few amazing people in the baking world. Call it good fortune or serendipity but whatever it is I feel very lucky that I randomly meet people who have brought me closer to this world and I find people in this baking world are often sharers and carers. They love sharing their passion and are constantly happy to help you, give you a bit of advice and  also feed you with the fruits of their labour! 

macoranage perfection

Last weekend I was lucky enough to meet Ms Ike Malada, an amazing lady, who is not only talented but sooooo totally gorgeous (who ever said that us bakers are a frumpy lot?). Ms Ike is a consultant in the food and beverage world who has had many years experience in being a chef, running a restaurant and now has a few businesses in the food world. Check her out on www.ikemalada.com.au! 

A mutual friend of ours introduced us and Ms Ike was kind enough to invite me to her home to watch her make macarons. I was going with the hopes to learn a few things but spending the afternoon with Ms Ike was so amazing I felt like I was in Disneyland (not that I've ever been to Disneyland but I'm sure that's what it feels like!)

Ms Ike made making macarons look so easy. I was in awe watching her move swiftly around her work bench. Whilst observing I learnt the following:

* Slow and Steady - Rushing is one of the biggest enemies in macaron making as you might screw up your measurements, overwork the batter and have a bunch of different size macaron shells...actually rushing is a big enemy in baking generally as I did smash a pastry tart shell last week due to being in a bad mood and exhaustion so note to self: NEVER RUSH IN BAKING 

* Temperature - The temperature should never be over 120 degrees celcius. I had mine on 180 when I was making mine. No wonder they went crispy...

* Peaks - The meringue should be stiff peaks. I thought my meringue was done but when I saw Ms Ike's meringue I realised my meringue could have been beaten longer...

I don't cry. I eat...at Made In Italy

BELLISSIMO IN PYRMONT

Brrrrr! With winter in full swing in Sydney there's no doubt you'll be cuddling up on the couch or in front of the fireplace. But when you have those nights when you just wanna go out and get a nice warm meal on a rainy night, cosy warm delicious Italian is never far away from you if you're living in Sydney.

A very casual but cool establishment just on the edge of the city Made In Italy went from local takeaway a few years ago to classy Italian restaurant. Now that there are 2 takeaway joints and a restaurant it's only a hop and a skip away for city residents to get their Italian fix from MIT (what me and my friends call it for short). 

The Vespa welcomes thee!

No this car isn't parked in the wrong spot. It is inside the restaurant

vino, anyone?

I don't cry. I decorate...Teddy Bear Cake

Vanilla Sponge Cake with Buttercream

with Teddy Bear figurine

Almost exactly 2 years ago at my friend's baby shower for her first child I made cupcakes- some with pink icing, some with blue as we did not know the sex of the baby at the time. 2 years later my friend is pregnant again and she knows it's a girl so when the email circulated as to who is bringing what to the baby shower I was the first one to reply with "DESSERT!!!!".  Not that my friends didn't know that I was going to bags that role :)

Since Handi's Cheeky Monkey class I've been on a cake decorating high. My original plan was to bring the Cheeky Monkey cake to the baby shower but the cake went to a little boy's birthday party instead so I thought I could use the chance to practise the skills I learnt in Handi's class to make my own teddy bear figurine. 

It was a pretty tough challenge. Making my own figurine without Handi nearby to guide me but I knew I had to do this on my own. And I think it turned out ok....

Teddy's close-up

I decided to use buttercream instead of fondant icing for this cake as it's a much smaller cake for a small baby shower. Inspired by the Magnolia Bakery cakes I've seen online I used my new angled icing knife to create the little 'waves' around the cake and then sprinkled sugar hearts on the top in the circle before putting teddy on the top. 

I really made Teddy for my pregnant friend's daughter :)  She fell absolutely in love with Teddy and it was so cute to see her give Teddy a kiss and hug. It was hilarious when she realised that Teddy tasted kinda sweet and proceeded to lick Teddy!

kisses for Teddy!

The vanilla sponge cake was a recipe from my Peggy Porschen Chic Cakes book and it was very light and perfect for our after-BBQ dessert. I'm glad I chose to use buttercream instead of ganache as it would have been way too heavy for our already full stomachs!

And now that I know that my friend's daughter loves all things teddy I have an idea as to what to make for her upcoming birthday! :)

love 

idontcryieat 

I don't cry. I decorate...Cheeky Monkey Cake

CHEEKY MONKEY CAKE CLASS WITH HANDI'S CAKES

A day with Australia's Cake Decorator of the Year 2011

Last Christmas a close friend of mine gave me a notebook. Not just any notebook- it was a hard-cover notebook beautifully covered in fabric with the title '101 dreams' on the front cover. This note book was specially printed with a list of dreams I had to fill in and then each dream had a page dedicated to it. I've only managed to list about 10 dreams that I want to achieve and one of them was to make a 2-tier cake. And as you have have seen in the post about my Birthday Cake, I have managed to achieve that :) Another one of them was to become a really good cake decorator and in order to be one I know I need to get some basic skills going before I start going crazy with the designs. I am constantly drawing, scribbling, doodling ideas for cakes everywhere: post-its, notepads, my organiser have pics of tiered cakes all over them. 

When I discovered Handi's Cakes through a friend I knew I had to sign up for one of his classes. If you're in the cake decorating world in Australia the name Handi Mulyna should be familiar to you. Having recently won the National Baking Industry Association's NSW Cake Decorator of the Year 2011, Handi is now the talk of the cake decorating world! 

peek-a-boo

I'm on a bit of a budget but I knew that if there are a few classes I should do one of them should be a basic beginners class that covered the basics of ganaching and fondant. Last week I managed to land myself a spot in one of Handi's cake decorating classes- Beginners 1 Cheeky Monkey Class. This class was perfect for me as I was thinking of attempting to teach myself how to decorate cakes this way and after this class, I'm glad I didn't. I would have ended up with ganache that won't set, wasted piles of fondant and crushed cake decorating dreams. 

yay for straight edges!!

In the class we learnt the basics of making ganache. I discovered that I had been using the wrong type of chocolate for ganache and hence the ganache never hardens. I also discovered I was missing WAY TOO MANY TOOLS that are needed for cake decorating perfection: proper scraper, turntable, angled icing knife, smoothers...so I did have a bit of a shopping spree at Handi's after the class hehe.

ganache perfection!

Handi is an excellent teacher. Having previously taught in another highly-regarded cake establishment Handi is very patient with all his students and he's such a funny guy you're constantly entertained by Handi while you decorate.

Another skill to learn: colouring fondant

yay! no bumps or air bubbles!!

I've trawled through many websites online to find a good worthwhile class and even though they all seem to be similarly priced Handi's class gives you a bonus: Learning how to make figurines. Although he only teaches you how to make a monkey figurine and coconut trees to match, the skills you learn making them are invaluable as you can apply them to your own designs for different animals, different plants or where ever your imagination takes you.

boo!!! 

There were 6 of us in the class that day and definitely 6 different looking monkeys! It was quite amazing to see how each student created their own monkey even though we all learnt the same thing. Some had girl parties to bring the cake too so they gave their monkeys that girly touch.

ahhhh my baby has done me proud

All the monkeys together!

For about 6 hours I was in cake decorating heaven and was oblivious to the outside world. When the class finished there was a tinge of sadness for me. Must this end now? But I comforted myself with the fact that now that I have learnt these skills I can practise at home with my new tools! And Handi has also created a little forum on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HandisCakes) so if I'm ever stuck I can post him and his fans questions. It's nice to know that this little cake decorating heaven is never far away from me :)

For more information on Handi's Cakes, his creations and his classes: http://www.handiscakes.com. 

Check out Handi's blog as well: www.handiscakes.blogspot.com 

The Cheeky Monkey Beginner 1 class is $300 plus GST (which included lunch). 

Handi's studio/workshop is located at 124 Gardeners Road, Kingsford NSW

Telephone number: 02 9663 4916 

Happy Weekend, y'all!

love

idontcryieat