MCD’s Coconut Macaroons, etc

[Updated July 23, 8:41 am – added missing cooking times to recipe]

I just had virtual coffee (via the SFWA auction I mentioned some time ago, like a month ago? Who knows? What is time??) with Anetia and Barb (my two other readers were MIA 😰), and for fun, I typed up the recipe of the treat I was eating during our chat. I thought I’d share the recipe here as well (also as kind of an apology for being a bit ‘sensitive’ over on Facebook yesterday).

How’s that for a lot of brackets stuffed into one paragraph??!! (Do you think I can manage a few more?) 😜

Without further ado, here are my treats this weekend:

Pictured: chocolate coconut macaroons and coconut almond macaroons.

DOWNLOAD COCONUT MACAROON PDF

[If you have the time] Use the leftover yokes for mousse, ice cream, or lemon curd!

And I totally think Jade would whip these tasties up for Cake in Cup!!

Christopher’s Granola

Christopher’s go-to breakfast cereal recipe from Idols and Enemies (Amplifier 4)! I’ve also added it to the Adept Universe cookbook (click to download).

This JPG is a little blurry for printing, I think, and I can’t seem to fix it … But the cookbook is a PDF so you should be able to print the specific page after downloading the newest version. 🙂

Fresh Fruit Sherbet

I’m sharing this recipe because I took the time to write it out and have gotten multiple requests. But, again, I’ve only made this a few times (with blueberries, tayberries, and strawberries) and it’s not connected to my actual work (I should be writing right now) so I cannot put extra time and energy into ‘recipe support’. Just FYI.

My filmmaker friend Karen got me started making my own ice cream, etc, with her recommendation of The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz (which is fantastic and definitely worth buying) and her initial tweaks to make the sherbet, etc, dairy and conventional sugar-free.

Blueberry sherbet – churned and ready to freeze for a few hours.

I usually use a whole half of a lemon because I’m lazy.

So simple, but so, so tasty!!

Dairy-free Chocolate Ice Cream

I’ve been testing dairy and sugar-free ice creams and sherbets for the last few weeks for a combination of reasons (see my Instagram feed for more photos, etc). I’m sharing this recipe AS IS because a lovely filmmaker friend of mine asked for it and she did me so many favours in my past life as a filmmaker that I couldn’t bring myself to refuse her.

So since I took a picture of my notes for my friend, I thought I’d share it with the blog as well. I offer this with the caveat that I’ve only made it once, and that I am not in the position to offer any recipe ‘support’ or clarification.

My other filmmaker friend, Karen got me started with my ice cream making ~~obsession~~ … err … journey, recommending The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz and offering me her modifications. I’ve added my own tweaks as I’ve tested/adapted the recipes to my taste.

I will say that the key to any great dessert (or meal, really) is the quality of ingredients. If the cocoa you use isn’t good or the chocolate is waxy, then the ice cream will be as well. But! The benefit of being dairy-free? No milky aftertaste!!

Sorry, my handwriting isn’t particularly readable. But I hope this recipe works for you as well as it did for me.

Amplifier Series: Chewy Ginger Snaps

Demons and DNA (Amplifier 1) releases in a week! And, in my opinion, you’re most definitely going to crave ginger snaps and tea while reading. So, I thought the best way to celebrate and feed that craving was to release one of Emma’s go-to ginger snap recipes: hand rolled chewy ginger snaps.

I also blogged about the tea that appears in each book. <<< click to read

I will add this recipe to the Adept Universe cookbook (rebranded from the Dowser Series cookbook) and put a download link in my new release email that goes out on April 30, 2019. Make sure you’re subscribed to my mailing list if you want a full and/or new PDF copy of the cookbook.

CLICK DOWNLOAD PDF FILE

I think I’ll go eat a couple of these delectable ginger snaps now!! And now you know what I’ll be baking on release day!

Enjoy!

Pistachio, Cranberry, and White Chocolate Bark

While I’m not a fan of white chocolate personally – though I always requested a white chocolate Easter bunny when I was younger – Michael is, so I when I want to make a treat that is just for him I often do so with white chocolate.

I snapped some pictures so I could throw together a recipe for the blog at the same time. 🙂 Though – a reminder to my lovely readers – I’m not a chocolatier, just an amateur enthusiast.

Pistachio, Cranberry, and White Chocolate Bark

200 grams (0.44 pounds/approx. 7 ounces) white chocolate*

1/4 cup pistachios (shelled) (heaping)

1/4 cup dried cranberries (heaping)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the chocolate to a large heat proof bowl. Set the bowl over a small pot of simmering water. Stir frequently until the chocolate is almost melted. Remove bowl from the heat, wiping the bottom (if you get any water in your chocolate it will seize). Stir chocolate until it is completely melted.

Mix in cranberries and pistachios.

Scrape the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, using the spatula to spread it to desired thickness. Sprinkle with extra nuts and fruit, if desired.

Refrigerate the baking sheet until the chocolate sets. Once the bark is firm, break it into pieces. Store in the refrigerator.

I had to shell the pistachios because I couldn’t find any unshelled! Remember that nuts do go bad so please use the freshest you can find.

*I used Zephyr by Cacao Barry (34% cocoa – a lightly sweet white chocolate with an intense milk taste). Feel free to switch out the chocolate but Michael gave this flavour combo a massive thumbs up.

More pictures:

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Chocolate Palettes

When I have extra chocolate in the house, or perhaps odds and ends of chocolate leftover, I occasionally make these Chocolate Palettes. I’m not a chocolatier – just an exceedingly enthusiastic amateur – and no matter how many times I try, or whose directions I follow, I can’t seem to properly temper chocolate. But since these tasty bits usually get eaten straight out of the fridge, I don’t worry about the grey streaks that can appear when you don’t temper chocolate properly. If you want them to continue looking pretty for guests, pull them out of the fridge about 30 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Palettes

200 grams (0.44 pounds/approx. 7 ounces) dark chocolate, chopped*

various nuts, roasted**

various dried fruit, cut into small pieces***

Fleur du sel (optional)

Spoon chocolate onto prepared baking sheet by the teaspoon. Allow to cool more.

Dot rounds with nuts and fruit. Sprinkling with Fleur de sel, if desired.

Refrigerate the baking sheet until the chocolate sets. Makes approx. 26 palettes.

Store in the refrigerator.

As you can see by the pictures I’m fairly random with my various toppings. One nut with two pieces of fruit. Two nuts with two pieces of fruit. Sometimes I add sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Remember that nuts and seeds do go bad so please use the freshest you can find.

*I used a 85% cocoa and a 73% cocoa chocolate bar, plus Fleur de Cao from Cacao Barry (a 70% cocoa – strong cocoa flavour with subtle floral and fruity notes).

** I used pistachios and almonds

*** I used organic dried cranberries, dried pear, and dried plum. I soak the pear in pineapple juice for approx. 15 minutes before dehydrating it. So it’s pretty much candy. The plums are Early Italian, which I eat/dry about 40 pounds of each year. No, I’m not exaggerating.

In pictures:

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An excellent chocolate mousse recipe

I decided a few weeks ago that it had been far too long since I’d tried to make a great chocolate mousse (and failed miserably). Some Googling a few days ago led me to Gourmantine The Blog, and specifically, this post on the best chocolate mousse recipes.

I was intrigued by the ‘winning’ recipe by pastry chef David Lebovitz – especially because it didn’t call for the traditional heavy cream – so I grabbed a screenshot and whipped it up this afternoon.

I followed the recipe as written, though the yolk really didn’t want to be ‘whisked’ into the chocolate, so I just stirred vigorously. I also might have over stiffened the whites slightly. I used sea salt.

A recipe in pictures (with commentary):

I used a mixture of these three chocolates by Cacao Barry to make up the 200g. The resulting mousse was quite dark, so I could have used slightly less of the Tanzanie (75%).

‘Stiff peak’ egg whites. Remember to bring your eggs to room temp before whipping. I think these might be slightly over whipped.

I managed to get chocolate everywhere, of course and always.

The recipe made six mousses that perfectly filled my six glass ramekins.

After three hours of chill time. Dense but fluffy. Creamy and rich. Almost too dark (my fault). I would suggest serving the mousse with a dollop of whipped cream or some fresh berries for balance.

I highly recommend giving this recipe a try. It’s brilliant.

Dowser Series: Cookies, Cupcakes, and other Selected Recipes, Vol. 1

I’ve finally collected together some of the recipes from the Adept Universe. So far I’ve included sixteen cupcakes, two cookies, and a brownie from Dowser, books one through six, and Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1).

I’ve made the cookbook available as a free PDF download while I slowly develop and test bake more recipes. I will update the PDF periodically. When it is ready, I’ll have it formatted as an ebook and a paperback.

If you sign up for my new release mailing list or my monthly newsletter you will automatically be emailed the download link twenty-four hours later.

Fun! Fun!

*Note: ETA: February 14, 2017 – the recipe book now includes Vixen in a Cup and Clarity in a Cup (from Catching Echoes, Reconstructionist 1)

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