Although these cookies have a simple recipe and process, don’t be fooled. Several burnt fingers, and crappy cookies later, the results are shown below. Just like crepes, the first few batches are a sacrifice– once you get the hang of it, you’ll breeze right through. Pro-tip: work fast + smart!

Fortune Cookies

(recipe makes 1 dozen, 2″ cookies)

Ingredients:

- 1 egg white
- 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1/4 all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/4 cup sugar
+ orange gel food coloring, optional
+ plenty of butter for greasing your cookie sheet (don’t even try parchment paper– it doesn’t work)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a cookie sheet. Write fortunes on strips of paper about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide **SERIOUSLY, do this BEFORE you start!! Generously grease 2 cookie sheets.

2.  Mix the egg white and vanilla until frothy but not stiff (think bubble bath water). Sift the flour, salt, and sugar and blend into the egg white mixture.

3. If you want to create the ‘swirl’, divide batter into two, dye one batch orange.  Place teaspoonfuls of the batter at least 4 inches apart on one of the prepared cookie sheets. Tilt the sheet to move the batter into round shapes about 2-3 inches in diameter. Be careful to make batter as round and even as possible.

*I made two at a time, because you can only manipulate cookies when they are hot– more than two at a time was too much too handle. More on the swirly effect below.

4. Bake for 4-5 minutes or until cookie has turned a pale golden color 1/2 inch wide around the outer edge of the circle. The center will remain pale. While one sheet is baking, prepare the other.

5.  Remove from oven and quickly move cookie with a wide spatula and flip upside down. Quickly place the fortune on the cookie, close to the middle and fold the cookie in half. Place the folded edge across an edge of a wooden spoon, and pull the pointed edges down. Place folded cookies into the cups of a muffin tin or egg carton to hold their shape until firm.

6. Grease with butter after batch! Repeat until you have no more batter.

The swirl effect was my favorite part! I alternated dollops of orange and white batter, and then used a toothpick to create a swirly effect.

Notice the pan is already melted, and there are crumbs everywhere– this was a picture of the process a few batches in! Make sure you re-grease your pan after every batch.

Make sure you come up with your fortunes before you pop your first batch in the oven– I made that mistake..ops.

You’ll want to work fast once the cookies are out of the oven. Pry them off the pan, flip them over, insert your message and pinch.

Fold the opposite way to create the fortune cookie look. If you’ve made tortellini’s, its a similar process.

If you don’t work fast, the cookie will cool down on you, and crack ever so slightly (notice the edges). I progressively got better at this.

These cookies will harden nice and crispy. I served these day-of, but if wrapped tightly, can be enjoyed up to a week.

I don’t know what is is, but I often become obsessed with ingredients. To the point where for about a week, they are the star of all my dishes. Then, a week or two passes, and I fall in love with another ingredient, and on goes this madness.

Currently, I’m obsessed with SPAGHETTI SQUASH! It could have something to do with the fact that I’ve almost entirely cut out processed starches; after all. this is the closest I can come to reminiscing about big and fabulous pasta dinners *drool*.

Truly though, if you are on your way to eating healthy, spaghetti squash is a great alternative to pasta-like dishes. NO, it won’t taste like nonna’s home made pasta, but it’s close enough to remind you of a time you did eat carbs. Enjoy.

Greek Spaghetti Squash
*gluten-free, and vegan (if served without feta)

Ingredients:

- 1 medium spaghetti squash (2 lbs)
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup sweet red pepper, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 2 table spoon of your best olive oil
- 1/3 cup pitted Greek black olives, chopped
- 2 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled
+ salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preparing the squash: Pre-heat oven to 375′. Cut squash in half, length wise. Scoop out, and discard seeds. Lightly brush 1 table spoon of the olive oil on the inside of the squash. Liberally season with salt and pepper. You don’t have to be too careful here: just slather, sprinkle, and it’s ready! Place squash cut side down on a foil-lined pan. Bake/roast for 45-50 minutes.

Remove squash from the oven and allow it to cool just enough so you can handle it, about 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape the flesh from the squash into wonderful, stringy “noodles” with a sturdy fork and place in a small serving bowl. If some of the strands clump or gather together, simply separate them using your hands.

While the squash is cooking: lightly saute onion, red pepper, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper in remaining oil until tender. Saute until onion and red-pepper is tender (..but still has a slight crunch). This takes about 5 min. Stir in Olives, and cook for another minute or so.

When the squash has cooked, and is cool enough to handle: After you’ve separated the spaghetti squash, and you have your strands (this part is cool), toss them with your vegetables. Sprinkle with feta cheese right before you serve. 

I love this dish both cold or hot… as a main or as a side dish. Your choice!     

With Halloween around the corner, I thought making black pasta and cheese would be eerily appropriate. The natural squid ink gives the pasta it’s luscious black colour, and the cheese makes it look extra weird. I didn’t find the pasta tasted any different, but I must warn you– the initial smell while the noodles were cooking was a little off-putting (very ocean-y).

Any how.. if you are looking for a dish that will get people talking, this one will raise some questions. If the black spaghetti isn’t your thing… substitute with any pasta (elbow, perhaps?)

Black Spaghetti and Cheese

Ingredients:

- 1 box of Black Squid Ink Spaghetti
- 1 whole Egg Beaten
- 1/4 cup (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter
- 1/4 cup All-purpose Flour
- 2-1/2 cups Whole Milk
- 2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard
- 1 pound Cheddar Cheese, Grated
- 1 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
+ Optional: Cayenne Pepper,  Garlic Salt, Paprika, Thyme ( I added all four)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta until al dente, according to box directions. Drain.

2. In a small bowl, beat egg.

3. In a large pot or skillet, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.

4. Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Add any of the optional flavors at this point. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.

5. Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg (tempering), whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth. Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth. Add in cheese and stir to melt.

6. Add salt and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! (did I mention the salt?)

7. Pour in drained, cooked pasta and stir to combine.

8. Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

*I topped my pasta with both melted cheese, and Parmesan crostinis: http://duhlicious.com/2010/07/parmesan-cups-make-for-simple-canapes/

Strawberry Ice Cream Brains

Ingredients:
- Your favorite strawberry ice cream (cotton candy, and cherry work well too)
- Cherry Pie Filling
+ Ice cube brain mould

Directions:

1. Start out by melting your favorite ice-cream. Do this by placing some in a refrigerator-safe bowl (with a lid); practice safe food handling, and slowly thaw in the fridge until liquidy.

2. Scoop melted ice cream into moulds; and re-freeze. ** Re-freezing ice will cause some ice crystals to form  from condensation, and will change the texture of the ice-cream.  If you are ultra ambitions, and want to create your own ice-cream, that would be ideal!  I stuck some cherries from the cherry pie filling into the center of the moulds for the “haemorrhage” effect.

3. Pop-out the brains once they are frozen!

4. Serve with the cherry pie-filling

** Brain “haemorrhage” cherry!

…and a little more cherry pie filling for dramatic effect.

Where did I leave off? It has been forever since I’ve updated this section and checked in with you guys.

Let me backtrack a little bit to my final semester at culinary school:

By now, you might have realized that I don’t color inside the lines. My final semester in culinary was no different– I pretty much broke all of the rules of the much regimented curriculum. Half way through my last semester, somewhere in between petit fours and macarons, I began applying for summer jobs. Intention was to land a summer gig, and return to culinary in the fall after summer vacation. Things didn’t quite go as intended:  After several grueling interviews, I landed a job at one of the top leading chocolate distributors in North America.

I learned quickly that I had the gift of gab and a passion for people—apparently these are two qualities that make a great sales gal. I was living the dream—22 and all I was doing was driving across the greater Toronto area selling chocolate to all the top restaurants and the who’s who of the food scene. I got back stage access to some of the best restaurants in the city, and had sneak peeks at what everyone was doing. Umm, hello! Dream job anyone?

Being pastry-savy, part of my role required me to be hands on. That was my value add: I got down and dirty in the kitchen and helped chefs tweak recipes with all the cool product I was selling. I got to travel to the US to really step up my culinary knowledge. I was dangerous.

I felt super glam: I had priority valet at the most prestigious hotels in Toronto every time I went to meet with the chefs. I had backstage access to almost every patisserie, restaurant and commercial bakery that was in my patch.  My kitchen always had samples of every new up and coming chocolate product in existence. Sales were up, life was good.

The only drawback, I soon found out, is that in the grand scheme of things the food “scene” is terribly small. Everyone knows each other and every once in a while people just shift around. The players are all the same. It was at about this point where life conveniently threw me another curve ball: I was offered another role. I don’t think anyone saw this coming—I did a total 180, and accepted a sales role for a major tech conglomerate. This was a huge. I went from big fish in a small pond, to the exact opposite. I went from helping people with their soufflés, to influencing enterprise IT infrastructures.  Did I sell out? Perhaps. Do I miss it? Sometimes. Am I happy? Absolutely.

Anyhow… I still have this little blog, and I still love everything about food– it just happens to be from a different angle. Thanks for listening to me vent about my culinary school journey. Who knows, maybe one day i’ll be back at it.

Below are some photos that I snapped at different events

Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate.

Mise en place! Double and triple counting our measurements.

Lemon Meringue Tart, with a twist!

Entrement with a glitter glaze.

Master pastry chef, MOF Stefane Treand

Magic with sugar and chocolate!

Demo, demo, demo…

Fancy chocolate brownies

By now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that I love macarons. I’m always looking for different ways to dress ‘em up and play around. I’ve experimented with topping the macarons before baking and non-perils and sprinkles hold up reallyyyy well in the oven. For the green sprinkles, I used Wilton Cake “Sparkles”– those can be found here.

Green Apple Macarons

Ingredients:

(for the Macarons, follow this recipe)

For the Jell-o Frosting:

- 3 ounce pkg. of Jell-o, green-apple flavored.
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg white
- 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Make macarons as per tutorial. While the macarons are still “wet”, sprinkle with Cake Sparklers (I picked the green ones).  

2. Make filling while the macarons are cooling down:

Place the ingredients in a large mixing bowl– this works best with a stand mixer, but hand mixers can be used as long as you use a heat resistant bowl.  Turn mixer on high and then slowly stream 1/2 cup boiling water over ingredients.  Whip on high for five minutes- occasionally scraping down the bowl. (you can find more detailed instructions on ‘Coleen’s Recipes‘). I added a little bit more green food coloring to the frosting, to make the green pop.

3. Fill your macarons using the flavoured filling. Eat and Enjoy!

… even Thor shares my love for macarons. Don’t worry, I didn’t let him have any.. no matter how hard he tried.
      \

Every time I bust out the edible pearl dust and use it on baked goods, people are always impressed. I thought I’d take it one step further (surprised?) and glitz out some french macarons for St.Patty’s day. These are filled with a dark chocolate ganache that is spiked with some Bailey’s Irish cream.

Macaron Shells – Italian Meringue Method

1. Gently and slowly stir together the water and 250g sugar until combined.  Using a pastry brush, brush water along the sides of the saucepan to deter crystals from forming around the sides of the pot. 

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar and water to a boil. Allow to cook, without stirring at all, until it reaches the soft ball stage, or the sugar registers 115′c on a candy thermometer.

Test for the soft ball stage by dipping a spoon into a glass of ice cold water, then dip into the centre of the sugar and water mixture, and then quickly back into the water. Feel with your fingers to see if you can form into a soft, gummy ball. You will reach this stage after the string stage, in which the sugar mixture will feel stringy between your fingertips.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer (make sure the bowl is spotless!), beat 90g of egg whites at moderate speed. Once the egg whites begin to look like a bubble bath– increase the speed to high and very slowly begin pouring in the sugar syrup, holding the saucepan higher than the mixing bowl so that it pours out in a thin, continuous stream. Beat until the bowl is almost cool to the touch (its likely to retain a bit of warmth) and the egg whites form stiff, shining, upstanding peaks. You want to be able to turn the bowl upside down without the egg whites falling out.* 

4. Combine almond flour and icing sugar in a food processor, pulsing until ingredients are thoroughly incorporated and very fine. Sift into a large bowl and set aside. When the meringue is just about ready, fold in the remaining 90g egg whites.

5. Carefully fold the meringue into the wet almond mixture, adding a little at a time (should take about 3 additions). Stop folding when the mixture is evenly combined and the viscosity of lava or molasses. When piped, the macarons should hold a peak of about a second or two, and then they gradually find their round shape and flatten out.

6. Pipe macarons onto a heavy parchment-lined sheet pan.

• Rest macarons until they appear dull and are no longer tacky to the touch. Bake at 275ºF on the middle rack in a convection oven (310º for non-convection) for 10 minutes. To test for doneness tap the top of a macaron, if the bottom wiggles, it should bake for longer. Allow the macarons to cool before removing from pan and transferring to a cooling rack.

• 7. Once completely cool, fill with ganache, buttercream, or other filling, and carefully top with the other shell half. Macarons are best enjoyed 24hrs after filling, allowing the shells to set and the filling to rehydrate centers.

Paint ‘em gold:

- Mix about a half tablespoon of edible pearl dust with a couple of drops of pure vodka. Combine until it is a thick paste.

- Carefully brush onto the macarons; allow them to dry out. You can use an edible writer pen to draw shamrocks on your macarons.

- to get a deeper “gold”, add a second coat. Different brands have different shades of glitter dust.

Bailey’s Ganache Instructions:

Gently heat cream in a small saucepan until it just comes to the boil, then pour hot cream over chocolate. Whisk to combine mixture until it is smooth (if the chocolate has not completely melted you can place it over a saucepan of boiling water and continue stirring it until it is completely smooth). Add Baileys (you can adjust the amount to taste) and use whisk to combine. Chill in the fridge until thick but still pipable. Pipe or spoon on to macaron shells and sandwich shells together. Place in the fridge overnight.

Other Macron Recipes/Ideas:

- Pistachio Macarons

- Rainbow Macarons

- Bunny Macarons

- Snowflake Macarons

- Big Mac-arons (Lesson from my mum)

If red velvet cakes, waffles, crepes are a thing, why not cream puffs? And why not take it a step further to make them into hearts? I couldn’t come up with a good reason, so I did it. The best part about this recipe is that all you have to remember is that it follows the rule of “1″– you’ll see what I mean when you read the ingredients. .

Red Velvet “Love Puffs”
(makes ~24 cream puffs)

Choux Pastry Ingredients:

- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), unsalted
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon concentrated red food coloring, powdered

Pastry Cream Filling:

- 1 cup of milk
- 2 tablespoons white sugar, plus 2 tablespoons white sugar (divided)
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup of heavy whip cream+2 tablespoons of sugar (for whip cream)

Choux Pastry:

1. In a medium pot, bring the buttermilk, salt, and butter to a simmer on medium heat. Add the flour, cocoa powder and powdered coloring to the milk mixture,  and with a wooden spoon or spatula, stir very quickly.

Carefully watch and you’ll see that the flour starts absorbing the liquid — a dough will form. Keep stirring to continue cooking the flour and cook off some of the water, another minute or two. At this point,  I remove the pot from the stove. When the dough comes clean off of the sides of your pot, this is an indicator your dough is ready for step two.

2.Transfer the dough to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or to a bowl if you’re using a hand mixer. Add the eggs one at a time mixing rapidly until each is combined into the paste. The paste will go from shiny to slippery to sticky as the egg is incorporated. The pâte a choux can be cooked immediately at this point or refrigerated for up to a day until ready to use.

3. On a parchment lined cookie sheet pipe out the paste. You can make traditional round cream puffs by piping round “drops”, or, you can make heart shapes. Pipe a circle with the paste, and pull downwards to create a tear drop shape. Repeat again on the opposite side to create a heart. Dip your finger in water, and connect the shapes.

Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then 350F for 18-30 minutes, depending on the size of your puffs. You want them rise about twice the size, and cook until the centers are dry. The color will change as they “golden”. Remove from the oven and allow to fully cool before you severe the halfs and pipe the cream.

You can dip the halves in chocolate ganache:

The round cream puffs are just as cute:

Pastry Cream:
(you can make the pastry cream a day in advance)

In a heavy saucepan, stir together milk, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat.

While the milk is coming to a boil, whisk together egg, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and cornstarch. Mix until smooth. Add a tablespoon of the hot milk to this mixture, stirring constantly. This is done to “temper” the eggs, so you don’t end up with a scramble egg mixture. When the milk comes to a boil, remove from heat, and slowly pour the egg mixture into the sauce pan, making sure you have a thin stream and you are constantly stirring so you do not cook the eggs. Return the saucepan back to heat and slowly bring to a boil, stirring constantly so the eggs don’t curdle. When the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from the heat.our into a heat-proof container and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled before using.

(the day of)
Once your pastry cream has fully chilled, remove plastic wrap and whisk until the mixture is smooth and well combined (no chunks).  Whip 1 cup of heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of sugar until you have firm peaks. Fold 1/4 cup at a time of the whip cream into the pastry cream; carefully mix until it comes together.

Fill the cream puffs with the pastry filling:

Top the heart with the matching half:

\           

I made this tart over the holidays for a quick and easy dessert; you can make them in all size and shape pans for any occasion (…like Valentine’s day!).

Chocolate Coconut Tart

Ingredients:

- 4 T butter, melted
- 14 oz package sweetened shredded coconut, pulsed in a food processor
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cup heavy cream **approx 35% fat
- 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (approx.56% cocoa), finely chopped. ** make sure you use a high quality chocolate, like Lindtt.

Directions: 

For the crust:

Pre-heat heat oven to 350. In a small sauce-pan, melt butter on low heat.  Transfer to a medium size, heat resistant bowl and add coconut– stir until well combined.  Press coconut mixture into bottom and up the sides of pan to form a crust, leaving top edges loose and fluffy (I used 2, 6″ round spring pans; you can use any size).

Make sure you use a spring form pan, or a tart pan with a removable bottom to make it easy to pop out the tart shells.  Bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes until the tart is golden brown. If you find that the edges are cooking faster than the center, cover the edges foil to avoid burning.

Transfer to cooling rack and cook completely.

For the chocolate ganache filling:

Bring cream and sugar just to a boil in a small saucepan;

Pour over chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Continuously tir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is combined; at first it will look split, but as the chocolate melts it will come together. Pour into coconut crust. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, 1 hour or up to a day. Garnish with chocolate decorations if desired.

For now, I’ll leave you with a recipe and idea to decorate macarons for the holidays.

Snowflake Macarons

Ingredients:
Macarons:
90 gr egg whites
25 gr granulated sugar
200 gr powdered sugar
110 gr almonds (finely ground)
1 tablespoon powdered food coloring (any color, optional)

White Chocolate Ganache Filling:

225 gr white chocolate , chopped(you can substitute semi-sweet chocolate for a dark chocolate ganache)
190 gr heavy whipping cream
25 gr unsalted butter, room temperature

+ royal icing and  parchment triangles to make piping easier

Directions:

Macarons

1. (almond flour mixture) In a food processor, pulse confectioners’ sugar and almond flour until combined. Sift and set aside

2. (egg whites) Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites on medium-low speed. When the egg whites start to turn foamy (think cappuccino froth), add the granulated sugar. Continue to whisk eggs on medium-low speed until the egg whites have a consistency of shaving cream. Be patient, don’t use the high setting– you’ll risk over beating the eggs, and then its game over before we even get started. If you are going to add food colouring, you’ll want to add it to your egg whites at this point.In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, (think bubble bath foam) gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue (think shaving cream). Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry.

4. Fold the almond flour mixture into the egg whites. At this point, you want to have a homogenous mixture with a ‘lava like’ consistency. What does this look like? Best thing I can think of is shampoo– it’s free flowing, but still  viscous to hold shape.  You can test a daub on a plate, and if a small beak remains, turn the batter a couple times more. If the batter forms a round cap but doesn’t run, it is just right. The perfect batter will slightly ooze right out of your piping bag before you are ready. When piped, the macarons hold a peak for about a second or two, and then they gradually find their round shape and flatten off.

5. Transfer your batter to a piping bag, fitted with a plain round tip. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, pipe 1″- 2″ round circles. Let your cookies rest for 30-45 minutes until dry to touch.

6. Preheat oven to 300′F. Let the cookies bake for about 10-15 minutes. Each oven is different, so you might need to adjust the oven temperature and duration accordingly. If your did everything right to this point, and your  macaron caps brown, crack, or bake without feet, this is an indication that your oven is too hot. You can reduce your oven temperature, or prop open slightly your oven door using a wooden spoon.  The tops of the macaron shouldn’t brown, but they should have developed feet and a defined shell on top. Remove cookies from the oven, allow to cool on sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a cookie sheet.