Category: Pastry

Madeleines

.Reading time 3 minutes.

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Madeleines are delicious little cakes, recognizable from their distinctive shell shape. Lots of flavour variations are possible, but I’m partial to the classic lemon version below. Though the recipe and preparation are simple enough, one distinguishing and sometimes elusive characteristic is the “baby bump”. I’ve found this harder to achieve in a conventional oven as compared to a convection oven. These cakes are best eaten while still warm out of the oven.

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Mango Ducky with Coconut Bubbles

.Reading time 3 minutes.

I first saw the play on soap and bubbles as a dessert  by Andoni of Mugaritz. Inspired by this, for some time now I had been meaning to work on a rubber ducky and bubbles dessert. I finally got around to putting something together the other day. The resulting dish was nostalgic and playful — and it gave me the chance to try out a fun application of an aquarium air pump.

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Red fruit, Ispahan and Piña Colada

.Reading time 2 minutes.
Having some extra days to play around, I have decided to make a couple of fruit tarts with what’s available at the local farmer’s market and supermarkets.
This is just a simple fruit tart elevated by the shape of a half pipe. In this version of a fruit tart, we have strawberries, red currants, and raspberries sitting on top of a pastry cream. The fruits are then glazed and decorated with gold leaves.

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Rainbow Birthday Microwave Sponge

.Reading time 1 minute.

Birthday Cake Microwave Sponge

(Recipe adapted from John Placko & Albert Adria)

Ingredients:

4 eggs
80g sugar
40g flour
1 pinch of salt
2 N2O charges
food colouring (assorted colours of your choice)

Tools Required:

  • ISI siphon (something like this, for example)
  • N2O charges
  • microwave
  • paper cups (unlined)

Instructions:

1. Process all ingredients in a blender.
2. Strain mixture into ISI.
3. Close and charge with two N20 charges.
4. Refrigerate for 12 hours.
5. Dispense cake batter into different bowls and mix with one drop of food colouring of your choice.
6. Poke small slits in the walls and bottom of the paper cups to allow steam to escape.
7. Layer colours halfway into a prepared paper cup(s).
8. Microwave for 40 seconds on high.
9. Remove cake cups and turn upside down to cool to maintain volume.