Chocolate Cupcakes & Raspberry Macarons

Today's adventures consisted of chocolate cupcakes and raspberry macarons!


I made the macarons first. I wanted to experiment with a different way to get the raspberry flavor, so far I've tried freeze dried raspberry powder in the shells with raspberry jam in the centre (jam by itself is too tart) and freeze dried raspberry powder in the shells with jam & whipped cream in the centre (whipped cream means it can't mature as it has to be eaten fresh).


I decided that the freeze dried powder might be affecting texture of the shell, so today I used it in a more artistic way, sprinkled on plain shells. I tried out this new raspberry flavoring I bought along with powder in some ganache but it doesn't have the intensity and tartness of the jam. The flavoring overpowered the powder too. 

So in conclusion, I think the best raspberry macaron for me to stick to would be plain shells sprinkled with raspberry powder with plain ganache with a teeniest dollop of raspberry jam in the middle! :)  That shall be Team JJ's raspberry macaron combination!

XS, S, M, L, XL lol! :)

The 100% reliable appearance of feeties :)

Very very smooth exterior when no freeze dried raspberry powder is added.

Today's experimental ganache..

 Can you tell my love for raspberry flavor? I now have powder, flavoring and puree forms of raspberry! Not to mention raspberry jam can be made easily.

Might have to work on better sprinkle technique :P

uh oh! Ganache a bit on the flowy side. Hope it doesn't sink to the bottom!

J does enjoy the occasional brownie so I relaxed my no-chocolate-in-the-bakery rule and hunted for a chocolate cupcake recipe :) Could not decide whether to decorate with the glazed ganache look, ganache frosting or white buttercream frosting. In the end I decided to go chocolatey all the way and with frosting rather than a glaze when I saw lovely fresh new season NZ strawberries at the shop!

Tried dark and white couverture chocolates today.

 The white couverture chocolate used in the macaron ganache today was much less sweeter than the Cadbury white melts I had been previously using. However the couverture chocolate is a bit cost prohibitive for regular every day baking. The dark ghana is worth it as a cupcake topping thou as you can savor the fine taste!

Tried a heaped ice cream scoop and a flat ice cream scoop for quantities.

Ready!

Travel ready!

Next project, little ducky cake pops like Bakerella's! Have my yellow candy melts ready but no idea where to obtain a styrofoam block from...any clues??