Debbie Brown Brisbane Australia Workshop, Amazing cakes and making new friends

On Sunday the 27th of June I was lucky enough to secure a place at the Brisbane Workshop held by the famous and fabulous UK cake decorator, author and teacher Debbie Brown.

Debbie has a stack of wonderful cake decorating books published, and these books have long been a favorite of mine. The books are beautiful and  easy to follow and I do have a number of them but I still found it so worthwhile to see Debbie in action. Goodness the ease and perfection when she models arms and hands is a sight to behold.

Gorgeous and Gruesome Cakes for Children

Debbie Brown's new book available 25th July 2010. I've preordered my copy

Debbie held 4 workshops here in Brisbane and the session I managed to secure was a 'Funky Fairy' cake.

Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocolate Marscapone Mousse - June 2010 Daring Bakers

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

I'll start this by saying yum, it was a very delicious challenge. I'm not always one for creamy sauces or mousses but these ingredients all worked together so well that I was happy to eat the various versions I put together.


I started with a layered parfait topped with raspberries, then used some of the leftovers for a mini version in shot glasses,

and finally tried out a deconstructed plated version, decorated with some gorgeous chocolate modeling paste butterflies.

Raspberry and Dark Chocolate macarons

This picture reminds me of the nursery rhyme build them up build them up build them higher, build it up, up, up into the sky. Think it's the clouds in the background.


A batch of macrons with Raspberry Dark Chocolate ganache filling, using the same recipe as the rose macarons, Click Here for recipe link.

Just omit sprinkling crystallised rose on the tops and fill with Dark Chocolate Raspberry ganache. I actually made it with raspberry chocolate oil instead of real raspberries to make the ganache a little more stable.

Recipe after jump

I heart macarons

 
Just a couple of pics of some macarons I popped a heart onto with some gel food colour.

They are actually just a tad undermixed as I was adding some food colour to the batch but wanted a couple of white ones as well, see  how they are a little bit too domed at the top, although they still have the feet/frill at the bottom and do taste perfectly lovely.

Oh macaron I do  ♥  you but you are so temperamental.
 
  

♥  ♥ ♥

Macaron mushrooms, cute coffee macaron and ganache treats

 
Mushroom macarons, now that you've seen them I bet your wondering why you didn't think of it first.

It's just so deliciously obvious isn't it. Well it was to me while I was making my mediocre mocha macarons a couple of weeks ago. It's like an obsession for me, I see something and immediately I think of at least 10 different things to cook that I write down in my little ideas book. If only I had the time to bake everyday I might be able to make a dint in all those ideas, but luckily for me and you I did get around to making these macaron mushrooms and they are amazing.

These mushrooms taste even better than they look, the base is a coffee ganache, creamy dark chocolate with a hint of coffee and the top is french almond macaron, a crisp outer shell and meltingly delicious center topped with bitter coffee grounds. A treat for your mouth with contrasting sweet and bitter tastes and crisp and creamy textures.

I also made a white chocolate version which is just as yummy and I really like the colour of the ganache 'stem'.

I've decided these coffee macaron mushrooms are one of my favourite coffee recipes and have submitted it to Not Quite Nigella's win a Nespresso machine You should pop over and have a look if you are in dire need of a new coffee machine like me.

Oh and now that I've made these mushrooms I have another 10 ideas I want to try out, I need so much more time in my days.....

Of course the macarons and coffee ganache from this recipe can also be used to make traditional macarons as well. 

Coffee Macaron Recipe

Ingredients
150g (5  1/4 ounce) ground almonds
150g (5  1/4 ounce) Icing (confectioners) Sugar
110g Egg Whites, (3 7/8ounce) aged at least 3 days, separated into 2 lots of 55g (1 7/8 ounce)
150g (5  1/4 ounce) Granulated Sugar
37g ( 1 1/4 ounce) Water
ground coffee

1. Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together and pulse a few times in food processor to make almond meal finer. Do not over process as the meal can become oily. Sieve into a large bowl. Add  55g (1 7/8ounce) of the egg whites to the sugar/almond mixture but don’t mix in.

2. Place remaining 55g (1 7/8 ounce) of egg whites in bowl of mixer fitted with the whisk.

3. Pop granulated sugar and water into saucepan stir to combine and cook without stirring to 118C. Once the mixture reaches 115C start mixing the egg whites on high. Once the sugar syrup reaches 118C remove from heat and immediately pour in a thin stream down the side of the mixer bowl continuing to whisk on high.

4. Continue to whisk the meringue on high until the side of the bowl is only a little warm to touch, around 50C.

5. Add meringue mixture to almond mixture and using a large spatula fold the mixture together until it starts to shine and forms a ribbon that stays visible for about 30 seconds.

6. Add the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe in lines onto parchment lined baking sheets. To make the macarons as even as possible I apply a constant slow pressure to the piping bag and count a few numbers like up to 3 for each one. Sprinkle a little ground coffee onto the top of half of each macaron.

7. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until the macarons have formed a skin that doesn't stick to your finger.

8. Meanwhile preheat oven to 140C (285 F). Once ready bake the macaroons for around 13 to 15 minutes depending on size, they should not be browned. Remove the baking trays and immediately slide off the macarons and the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

100ml cream
200g (7 ounces)good quality dark chocolate
1 1/2 to 2 tsp instant coffee or to taste

Bring cream to boil, add coffee and stir until dissolved, pour mixture over finely chopped chocolate and stand 5 mins. Stir until all chocolate has melted. Allow ganache to almost set.

Dissolving the coffee into the cream

(to make a white chocolate variation substitute 200g (7 ounces) white chocolate in place of the dark chocolate and reduce amount of cream to 75ml.)

To make Mushroom macaron

Place ganache into a disposable piping bag and cut across to make an opening approx 1.5 cm or 1/2 inch across. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Pipe enough mushroom stems for each macaron leaving enough space between stems for macarons. Allow ganache to set for a while and then top each stem with a macaron. To help adhere macaron you may need to pipe a small amount of ganache directly onto the macaron to use as a 'glue'. Don't press down too hard or the stem will break through the macarons thin delicate shell.

Pop tray into refrigerator until set and remove from tray with a small offset spatula. Remove from refrigerator and allow to return to room temperature prior to serving.

Butterfly and Blossom Birdcage cake putting it together

Sorry for anyone reading these posts that has no interest in this cake but I needed to break it down into a couple of days for my sanity. This is the last one.

I promise in a couple of days I will have a lovely non birdcage related post ready...........

Now that all the hard work has been done comes the fun part, finishing off the Butterfly and Blossom cake.

Marshmallow Fondant Recipe - Oh no it can't be that easy

The pink covering this cake is marshmallow fondant

 A long, long time ago I came across a recipe for marshmallow fondant which can be used to cover a cake in place of rolled fondant.

This looks too easy to be true I thought to myself, and it was relatively easy to make, but surprisingly it worked well, tasted good and ever since that first time I have been a convert.

It is made up of....... yup you guessed right........marshmallow, and sugar and it will taste pretty much like the marshmallows you make it out of. I like to use pascals and where possible the pink and white mix ones. If you use nasty tasting cheap marshmallows, your fondant will taste like those same nasty marshmallows.

These happy little bees are marshmallow fondant with chocolate modeling paste stripes and eyes

It's not suitable for all cakes and situations, but for this butterfly and blossom birdcage cake it worked well.
It is also the recipe I use to make the lollipop cookie pops.

So if your following my instructions on the birdcage cake pictured at the top of this post, I made this fondant on day 2 (night) along with the cakes so they would be ready for icing/decorating the next day.  (Part one consists of making the decorations click here to link)

 This lollipop cookie is made by twirling different coloured marshmallow fondant together

 

Marshmallow fondant recipe

Half recipe will cover the birdcage cake which was a dome shape 14.5 cm (7 1/4 inch) tall and 19 cm  (9 1/2 inch) diameter

750 g ( 1 pound 10  1/2 oz) icing sugar sifted
475 g (1 pound) marshmallows
Crisco (available online from USAfoods in Australia)
3 tsp (1 US Tbsp) water

Pop marshmallows and water in a LARGE microwave safe bowl (this is gonna get messy and sticky). Melt in 30 second increments for 2 1/2 mins total stirring at each interval.

Scary night time photo with poor lighting, but you get the idea. Melt those marshmallows!!

Add icing sugar and mix well.

Grease surface and hands VERY well with crisco, have more ready to regrease as necessary. Knead until smooth and stretchable. If fondant is tearing add 1/2 tsp water at a time and knead again.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Microwave for 10 seconds when ready to use.

To use roll out on surface lightly sprinkled with cornflour (or icing sugar).

Notes for colouring

If you use pink and white marshmallow your fondant will turn out the pink colour of the birdcage cake. I sometimes make half batches separating the pink and white so I can colour the white however I like. It is possible to buy bags of all white pascals marshmallows.

You can add colour at the mixing or kneading stage, or leave plain and colour smaller batches as required.

I use gel colours.

Recipe update - make sure to keep the fondant in a ziplock bag or wrapped with plastic wrap when not using as it will dry out and go hard. If that happens microwave again and add a little bit more crisco. Try to work very quickly.