Amaretti Biscuits

Amaretti refers to amaretto or almond flavored macaroon that comes from Italy! The first time I had tried one was at a coffee shop sometime and became some what obsessed with them for a while. I was buying a big bag and munching on them with every cup of coffee I drank!

It never really occurred to me to make my own. It's crazy as I am a baker and although not every bake is successful, more on that in a minute, I have some experience in the baking world and the thought should have occurred to me.

I expected these to be like the bagged ones like and airy and crispy, but they were more dense and chewy, but still delicious! More like a macaroon and macaroons and I have never gotten on with. Never really had a successful macaroon experience, they were edible, but not pretty!

There is still a soft spot for the bagged airy crispy ones, but a new appreciation for the soft chewy almond-y home baked ones! Just a note when baking these that there is a whole hour wait time before baking.... so as always read through the whole recipe before baking so you know!

Amaretti biscuits

1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
160g caster sugar
95g ground almonds
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 eggs whites
30g icing sugar

Line your baking sheets with baking paper before sifting together the plain flour, cornflour, and ground cinnamon in a large clean bowl. Add half the sugar (80g), almonds, and grated lemon zest and gently mixing it together. In a separate clean bowl beat the egg whites with clean electric beaters until stiff peaks form before gradually adding the rest of the of caster sugar (80g).
Using a clean spatula or metal spoon fold the egg whites into the dry mixture until combined. Using a regular teaspoon heap it up with the dough/batter and drop on to your prepared baking sheet, continue to do this spacing them apart to allow for spreading, until all the dough/batter is used up! Leave to sit for an hour.

Heat the oven 180C/350F/Gas4 - Sift the icing sugar liberally and bake for 15-20 minutes.

My only regret is not being more liberal with the icing sugar, on the ones that had more there was a lovely caramelised finish and a lovely powdered sugar touch! I of course have had one or two or three of these with my morning coffee.

Wait I have one other regret... I hadn't made these sooner!!
Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Spice Meringues

If you follow me on Instagram and if you don’t you should, you will have seen my whoopie pie disaster the other day. 

At the moment I am holding a grudge against the whoopie pies because, I still haven’t been able to figure out what when wrong? 

They turned out as very flat cookies. I was so mad at them that I couldn't eat them, but they didn't go to waste other family and friends ate them.

See I don’t like waste. It was for this very reason and because I had a coupon, that I bought egg whites in a carton. I didn't want to waste the yolks. 

I know there are many ways to use up egg yolks, but I didn't fee like being all frugal, I just wanted egg whites with no fuss.

However because of my grudge, I have yet to try to remake them to figure out what went wrong. That left me with a whole carton of egg whites.

I did what I usually do with leftover egg whites I made meringues. This time I added a lovely autumn-y twist. I added in some pumpkin spice and some color.

The pumpkin spice is subtle by definitely there, it's a nice kick to a very sweet treat!

These would be absolutely perfect with a little green colored tip and used at a Halloween party. Or skip the added color and top a pumpkin pie with it! The possibilities are out there!

Pumpkin Spice Meringues

12 tbsp of egg whites, or 6 egg whites 

300g caster sugar

1 tsp cornflour

½ tsp pumpkin spice

peach coloring paste

Preheat the oven at 100C/200F/gas ½

Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks with electric hand whisk or free, standing mixer (so much easier). Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar at a time, whisking constantly until the whites come to a stiff peak. Add the cornflour and the pumpkin spice - whisk until combined.

I drew circles on a piece of baking paper and flipped it over on my baking sheet, if I you leave it with the pencil side up the pencil can come off on the meringue.

Then I used a star tip and 'painted' stripes of peach coloring on the inside of the bag, before filling the piping bag with the meringue and piped the “pumpkins” in the circles. I think I may have painted too much food dye because the excess ran off and made puddles of color next to the meringues on the sheet and made them a little sticky! So, don't be too generous with the stripes. 

Bake in the heated oven for about 2 hours or more depending on the size of your meringues. Turn the oven off, but leave in the oven to cool. Over night is best from what I read, but a couple of hours would probably be all right. You just want them to dry out. 

this one really looks like a gourd!

notes: If you can’t find Pumpkin Spice try making your own: 1/3 cup ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ground ginger, 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg or mace, 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cloves, 1-1/2 teaspoons ground allspice.

Five on Friday: My Five Favorite ways to use Eggs

Eggs!

Where would I be if it weren't for eggs?

Pretty much everything I make has eggs in it. Sometimes just the whites and sometimes just the yolks, but they are there.

It is therefore important where your eggs come from. I always choose free range or cage free eggs. 

Sainsbury's believe it is important for food sources to be happy. 

I couldn't agree more!

The happier they are the happier our food tastes. True story.

The thing I love most about Sainsbury's eggs, besides being free range, is that they sell a mix sizes box! I always need various sizes of eggs for baking and cooking! 

So, here are my top five ways I love to eat eggs!

1. Hollandaise Sauce for Eggs Benedict:

3 large cage free eggs
240g of unsalted butter
½ a lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, place the yolks in a heat proof bowl and set a top a simmering pot of water. Don’t let the bowl touch the water. Add just a small splash of water to the egg yolks and stir gently as it heats. Divide the butter into 12 cubes, and then add 4 cubes to the egg yolks. Whisk the eggs slowly but firm until it’s just incorporated. Continue to whisk the rest of the butter in. When it’s incorporated add a squeeze of the lemon. It should look a little like custard. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and leave it to set for about a half an hour whisking here and there. Then just pray it doesn’t curdle! Good Luck!

For Eggs Benedict: Toast an English muffin, top with ham, salmon, bacon etc…then a poached egg then some hollandaise sauce. Enjoy!

2. Meringues 

Use the leftover egg whites from your hollandaise sauce or the lemon curd to make meringues! They are the perfect accompaniment to many desserts and taste delicious on their own. The recipe I use is here!

3. Curd, Lemon

My first attempt at lemon curd didn't turn out so well, but that’s okay. Because if you don’t at first succeed try try again! To see how I got on check it out here! I find it quite satisfying when I finally make something successfully!  

4. Frittata

Basically a frittata is an egg cake. I always cut ours into cake slices because it’s super easy to eat that way! My girls love having a frittata for dinner. The one I make most often is the spinach and sweet potato one in Jamie Oliver’s Save with Jamie book. One time I made it with Duck eggs and it was super fluffy! 

5. Cake! Brownies! Cookies!

Everything I bake pretty much uses eggs. Eggs add richness and sometimes fluffiness to cakes and other baked goods. So, to answer the above question where would I be without eggs? I’d be without cake, a blog, and my favorite breakfast(s)!!

What are your favorite ways to eat eggs?

notes: In association with Sainsburys; please see my contact/policy page for more information. Hollandaise recipe adapted from Nigel Slater's Appetite

Waste not, Want Not {meringues}

In my last post I made ice cream for the very first time. So, in this post I’m going to share my first experience making meringue! I think I've been put off meringue because I found whisking them, even with a handheld whisk, a bit of a chore.

It just shows that I shouldn't have been so daunted. There really was no reasoning to why I haven’t tried making meringues before. I think of all the egg whites I have wasted in the past. I feel ashamed.

I know you can freeze egg whites and many people have tips on how to freeze them. I just know myself well enough to know that I would forget about them or they would go funny, that is if they do, before I even got around to using them. So, it just better if I use them right away!

Some people prefer more crisp meringues I like them a little more chewy. These were smaller so these were pretty crisp, but a couple were on the bigger side had a nice chewy middle. Here is the recipe I settled on with. It’s not really from one source as I combined a few different recipes from different places. It is just a meringue, egg whites and sugar! 

Meringues:

6 large egg whites

300g caster sugar

1 tsp cornflour

Preheat the oven at 100C/200F/gas ½

Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks with electric hand whisk or free, standing mixer (so much easier). Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar at a time, whisking constantly until the whites come to a stiff peak. Add the cornflour and whisk until combined.

Using a circle cookie cutter any size, depending on what size you are after. I used a 2 ¼ in/58mm circle cutter. Then I used a pencil to draw many circles on the sheet. They can be close together but not touching. Then make sure you turn the parchment paper over before placing on the baking sheet. I didn't and had pencil lines on my meringues.

Then I used a star tip and filled a piping bag with the whisked egg whites. Towards the end they didn't seem to keep the shape so much I’m assuming (there I go again) because my hands were warm and it started to loose it’s stiffness.

I just swirled them around staying as best I could with in my lines.

Then I placed in the warmed oven, for about 2 hours until dry and crisp. Time will vary on how big they are. Smaller less time, bigger more time I probably wouldn't leave them in for longer then 3 hours. Turn the oven off, but leave in the oven to cool. Over night is best from what I read, but a couple of hours would probably be all right.

Meringues are delicious on their own. However there are many ways to enjoy them! My favorite way is add them to a yogurt that has a fruit layer. Any fruit peach, blueberry, raspberry, or strawberry!

Last summer with all the British pride The Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Muller came out with an Eton Mess Corner. I was in love. However I do prefer Greek yogurt so I bought one with strawberries then crumbled my meringue on top! As Dora’s backpack would say: Delicioso!!

How do you like you're meringues? Chewy or Crispy? & How do you prefer to eat them??