Spring is coming

 

Spring is coming.  This week starts out with mild late winter weather which will make us feel like spring is already here.  Nothing is better on a warm early spring day than yummy breakfast foods so those will probably occupy spots in the weekend menu offerings in the upcoming weeks.

This coming weekend, gingerbread min-cakes and vanilla macarons are on the menu.  And for the following weekend, you can order allspice muffins and cream scones.

I spent this past week cooking many things, and among them was a wonderful chocolate mousse pie.  I have a little tweaking to do on it still, but you can rest assured it will be on the menu soon.

And this past weekend I revised the technique for a couple recipes that I use that had turned out not-as-expected that last time I made them.  This is always a good learning experience.  To paraphrase Thomas Edison, each such episode simply teaches me what NOT to do.  

In one case, it was a simple matter of whisking a muffin batter vigorously which should not have been whisked.  Something as seemingly innocuous as that can have a dramatic effect on a baked good, and that was certainly evident in this particular muffin which came out with a texture that was completely unwanted.  But ensuring that the batter is only mixed gently was the certain solution.

In another case, it was simply a matter of letting the batter sit longer before baking.  This was the case with my vanilla macarons.  The batter needs to sit for a while after piping it onto the baking sheet.   This ensures that the batter deflates as is needed so that cracks do not form on the shells as they bake.  And the prior time I had made these, I had rushed that waiting period.  It wasn't a good idea, and the results were clearly not-as-expected.  Since I expect to expand my macaron offerings, this learning episode was good to have.  

So I have revised my recipes for these two items to ensure that anyone that uses them now or in the future will have clear instructions on what to do and what not to do.  Each such tweak makes it easier for the next time I use that recipe.  And that kind of consistency is nice to rely on.

Enjoy the warm day, everyone!  And always, eat well.