My long-suffering Alvin

Each time I encounter an unsuccessful bake, Alvin always reminds me of this proverb - 失败是成攻之母 (failure is the mother of success). And surprisingly, I have been taking my baking failures pretty well. Though I am heart broken each time my macarons fail to rise gloriously, or when my creme brulee fails to curdle sufficiently, I always take it in my stride and vow to improve my skills with time, albeit some complaining and frustration. 

Anand commented the other day about my FB post. He said that Alvin was a lucky guy because he gets to feast first hand, on the baked goods that are produced straight from the oven. However, I would be the first to say that the more accurate term to use here is long-suffering than lucky. He has to put up with my reckless abandon to satisfy a sudden baking impetuous (in turn, the state of the house suffers). He only gets to eat imperfectly shaped cookies or cracked macarons or cupcakes that hadn't been iced prettily enough to see the light of day. In short, he really gets the crumbs. But he has never complained. He's always been supportive. He says he hopes that one day, I will establish my own equivalent of the Martha Stewart empire and earn so much money that he can quit his job and live off me. Well, we shall see ;p 

So anyway, after 4 tries, here are a batch of macarons that I baked successfully. I had originally intended to make them for Ji-Ye's farewell party. But unfortunately, because the eclairs took up so much time, I didn't actually have the time to work on the filling of the macaron, so I didn't manage to complete them in time for the party. As a result, my colleagues were the beneficiaries of my poor time management.

 

Green Tea Macarons with White Chocolate Green Tea Ganache

Makes 30

For the macaron shells:

120g powdered sugar

90g ground almonds

2 egg whites

30g sugar

½ teaspoon matcha powder

A dash of green food coloring/gel

For the white chocolate green tea ganache:

100g white chocolate 

95g cream

½ teaspoon matcha powder

Prepare the macaron shells:

Preheat oven at 300°F/150°C.

Line a baking tray with 2 layers of baking paper.

Sift the powdered sugar together with the matcha powder and ground almond in a bowl. Mix well.

Add green coloring to the electric mixer and simultaneously whisk egg whites until foamy and white. Add the sugar and continue whisking until meringue is and soft peaks are formed.

Add dry ingredients to whisked egg whites and gently fold with a spatula. When dry ingredients have been fully incorporated, transfer it into a piping bag with a 10mm piping tip.

Pipe circles of 3.5 cm diameter, spacing them every 3 cm on baking paper. Once done, let the shells rest, preferably in an air-conditioned room for at least an hr.

Bake for 12-15 mins.

Prepare the white chocolate green tea ganache:

Heat cream to a boil then pour over the chocolate. Let chocolate melt on its own for a while then stir with a spatula until smooth and even. Add in matcha powder and stir.

Transfer to piping bag and place in fridge to cool before using.

Prepare the macaron:

Pipe white chocolate ganache onto cooled maracon shell. Sandwich with another shell.