Macaron Diaries: Chocolate Macarons

Attempt #2 – Chocolate Macarons with Chocolate Ganache

 

Piping into circles - batter is smooth and shiny; good size and flat courtesy of B. The key to piping is squeeze from the top with right hand, and point straight down.

Macaron Diaries: Green Tea Macarons

In search of the perfect macaron recipe... experimenting with different methods and learning from mistakes.

First attempt: Green Tea Macarons with Green Tea Buttercream



Piping into circles - batter appears thick and grainy, shells look large

Banh Mi Boys

392 Queen West

I finally tried Banh Mi Boys last week! I don't even like banh mi, but Banh Mi Boys definitely takes the meaning of the cold Vietnamese sandwich to a whole other level, throwing in other Asian influences as well.

By recommendation, we got the Kalbi Banh Mi - the kalbi was so good, I love the flavor, texture and cut of the beef. It went well with the baguette, cold toppings and medium hot sauce.

Pork Belly Bao (left) - I love this soft bun with a touch of sweetness! While the pork belly was not as soft or fatty/melt-in-you-mouth as I imagined, the flavor of the pork was good (a bit burnt on the edges) and paired with the cucumber, carrots, radish(?) and cilantro.

Beef Cheek Bao (right) - the beef cheek is sort of like Taiwanese beef brisket. It was good but definitely I like pork belly was better in terms of overall flavor and how it tied together with other ingredients as a whole.

Hong Kong | Sen-ryo 千兩

Truffle Making @ Chocolate Tales

Belgian truffle prep

Final products - After decorating Belgian & North American truffles - messy but fun

Last Tuesday, I attended the Truffle Making 101 Workshop courtesy of Chocolate Tales. We made three types of truffles - Belgian, French and North American. It was fun! We started with Belgian truffle - first filled the chocolate molds with white chocolate then put in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. Then we capped it with dark chocolate, refrigerate again, and then roll two layers of chocolate and decorate white white and pink drizzle. These were surprisingly good and not too sweet - liquid smooth chocolate inside with hard dark chocolate coating.