Category: Pastry

Chocolate (Swiss Meringue) Buttercream

.Reading time 4 minutes.

There are many versions of buttercream: American, Swiss, French and Italian. There are subtle differences in overall texture, but beyond that each has its own advantages and disadvantages. With similar ingredients like sugar and butter, it comes down to technique and execution. This recipe is for a Swiss (meringue) buttercream. Swiss meringue buttercream is one of the easier, stable buttercream to execute (compared to Italian and French). Compared to American, it is definitely less sweet and has more of a velvety texture. This recipe adds dark chocolate at the end and is used to top my version of a Deep N’ Delicious cake.

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Basic Dark Chocolate Ganache

.Reading time 3 minutes.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganache

This is a basic dark chocolate ganache recipe that is a go-to recipe for me. I like the consistency and mouth feel with these specific proportions. Whenever I am starting new recipes, I often use this as a base ganache recipe and then tweak it based on the final flavouring I want. I use it in tarts, cakes, truffles, the list goes on…

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Honey Whipped Ganache

.Reading time 4 minutes.

A whipped ganache is a filling similar to a ganache but with a lower chocolate to cream ratio. When whipped, it gets a nice velvety consistency that makes a good filling/topping for cakes, cupcakes, pastries, macarons, the list goes on. Specifically for macarons, using whipped ganache is better than buttercream in my opinion, because it creates a better moisture migration between the shells and the filling. This leaves you with a tastier macaron, but because it uses chocolate it has a slightly lower tolerance to heat.

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Honey Madeleine Cake

.Reading time 3 minutes.
Fig, honey and pistachio St.Honore.

Every supper club, I try to do something new by developing new ideas or testing out new techniques and recipes. I’ve been wanting to make a version of a St. Honore of my own by substituting a round choux at the base instead of the puff pastry that is typically used. The idea of a round hollow choux at the bottom of a pastry filled with any filling excites me, if done properly, it looks very neat and minimalistic. We had tested this prior to the pandemic with the kiddies, unfortunately I have lost my notes.

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Making Your Own Cocoa Butter Colours

.Reading time 4 minutes.
Here’s a quenelle mould with a blend of orange, yellow and green.

My motivation for making my own cocoa butter: I used to buy coloured cocoa butter, but in addition to the price of each colour, I’d often end up having to pay a cost associated with shipping and customs, increasing the average price per bottle. To bring down the price, I would end up getting a few more bottles, which I likely did not need in the first place. The other issue with buying coloured cocoa butter is that most companies offer the same range of colours, so if you want something different you’ll have to mix your own colours anyways…So why not just start with primary colours and mix small batches?

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