HI Macs

(Chocolate Macarons with Whiskey-

White Chocolate Ganache Filling)

April 11: HI Cookery Blog Anniversary

When we launched our blog on April 11, 2010, we wanted to feature a recipe that represented us as Highlander and Islander (HI) for HI Cookery. Last year, our HI Pizza incorporated ingredients, such as Canadian bacon and pineapple, to honor our heritage. This year, for our blog’s first anniversary, we made macarons! Our HI Macs are a special combination of dark (Islander) and white (Highlander) chocolate. Besides the obvious skin color symbolism of our intermarriage, we made our macaron shells with organic Hawaiian vanilla and mixed the filling with Canadian whiskey. As chocoholics, we felt that these macarons befitted a recipe post to celebrate HI Cookery’s first blog-o-versary!

Recipe

(Adapted from Macaroons)

For the chocolate macaron shells (Italian meringue method)

• 1 cup almond flour/meal (we used non-blanched ground almonds to enhance the chocolate color)
• 1 cup powdered sugar (we used C&H brand)
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (we used Nestle Toll House brand)
• 3 egg whites (fresh, unpasteurized and aged overnight at room temperature)
• 1 cup sugar, granulated white (we used C&H brand)
• ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (we used Hawaiian Vanilla Company brand)

Directions

Sift the almond flour/meal with the powdered sugar. Stir in the chocolate powder until well combined. Grind in a food processor in batches to remove any lumps (optional).

Whip the egg whites until peaks form. Mix in the vanilla. Make a simple syrup to stabilize the egg whites by boiling the sugar and water together until it reaches a temperature of 245 degrees F on a candy thermometer (or until it reaches a soft ball stage). Pour into the egg whites and whip again until stiff and glossy.

Fold in the almond flour/meal-sugar-chocolate powder mixture until the consistency “flows like magma.” Pipe one-inch discs on a parchment paper on top of an insulated baking sheet. Let the discs air dry to develop a thin skin for at least 30 minutes.

Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes. Watch the “feet” develop, but be careful not to burn the macarons. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Peel off the macarons from the parchment paper. Sort by size and match pairs. Make the filling.

For the whiskey-white chocolate ganache filling

• 4 squares (4 ounces) white chocolate (we used Baker’s brand)
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon Canadian whiskey

Directions

Melt the white chocolate. Heat the whipping cream and add to the melted chocolate. Stir until smooth. Add the whiskey and mix well. Let cool to thicken but not harden.

Whip the ganache to a spreadable consistency. Fill a pastry bag with a large round tip. Pipe in the filling and sandwich the macarons together. Refrigerate to set.

For the chocolate drizzle decoration

• 2 squares (2 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate (we used Baker’s brand)

Directions

Place the macarons on a wire rack atop another pan lined with foil to catch the chocolate drippings. Melt the chocolate. Fill a plastic zip-top or pastry bag with the melted chocolate. Cut a smll hole in  the corner of the zip-top bag or use a small round tip for the pastry bag. Drizzle the melted chocolate in a back and forth motion. Refrigerate the macarons to set the chocolate drizzles. Bring to room temperature to serve.

Notes           

• HI Macs are also our entry into the MacAttack #18 challenge for “Decadently Chocolate Macarons.” See our MacAttack page for “maca-rights” and our Food Flops page for “maca-wrongs.” Visit the MacTweets blog, hosted by Jamie S. and Deeba R., to see more decadently chocolate macarons made by talented food bloggers.
• Cooking with chocolate is always a challenge for Islander. With her hot flashes and a hot Texas climate, it is a surprise that our HI Macs did not melt and become a mess this month!
• We used our new Silpat silicone baking mat as well as parchment paper to bake our batches of macarons. The “feet” were frillier and the macs baked higher with the Silpat (adjust the baking time about five minutes longer) than on the parchment paper.
• Thanks to Lisa L. for the ground almonds and the Big Island vanilla.

HI Cookery is 1!

April 11: HI Cookery Blog Anniversary

Dia duit and aloha! We launched our blog on April 11, 2010, as a personal project to chronicle our cooking adventures, share recipes with family and friends and get experience in digital media. Instead of a recipe, this post is a reflection of our first year.

Maintaining a blog most definitely keeps us busy! It is a time-consuming process to shop for ingredients, “cook the calendar,” style and photograph various dishes, write about what the recipe means to us and do all the technical uploading to the site. Sometimes it is fun (we are especially encouraged by readers’ positive feedback) and sometimes it is frustrating (see our Food Flops page). We are amazed at how other food bloggers can maintain their sites so frequently as we realize that this hobby requires discipline! But HI Cookery is our labor of love.

We hoped to have better photography skills and added more video and audio features this past year. Islander’s little Sony Cyber-Shot digital camera has gone through a lot of abuse to photograph the cooking process; it has survived the stains and stickiness while she took step-by-step pictures for the visual tutorials. Highlander’s bigger Canon Rebel digital camera is older and bulkier but it served us well in capturing the final food shots, most especially when one of our photo entries for Ham and Leek Tarts was accepted into the highly-selective FoodGawker site. We thank Islander’s brother, Kahuna, who produced our first YouTube video for the Oreo Turkey Cookies and helped us post our first audio file for Hawaiian Hurricane Popcorn.

Other HI Cookery blog supporters we want to acknowledge are Lisa L., our frequently mentioned friend, for sending us interesting international ingredients; the MacTweets network, a macaron-making community, for the opportunity of exchanging ideas in the blogosphere; our family and friends for sharing their food-related memories and recipes; co-workers and students for being guinea pigs eating our culinary creations; and our subscribers and readers for visiting and commenting. We thank you all for motivating us throughout our first year of food blogging.

We are proud of what we have been able to accomplish so far. Our main goal for the next year is to fill in the blanks in our new Cook the Calendar page. We look forward to trying more new recipes and sharing familiar favorites in future posts.  We appreciate everyone who has joined us in our journey of cooking and blogging. Have a happy cyberspace celebration with Highlander and Islander on HI Cookery’s first blog-o-versary!

Notes

• As of today’s first blog-o-versary date, there have been 165 posts published, with Cookie Monster Cupcakes being the most viewed.
• Our blog has challenged us to try “ethnic and eclectic” recipes and get out of our comfort zone. Cooking new dishes has broadened our tastes and enhanced our interests in cultural cuisines.
• Several other recipe posts have been already scheduled. Sometimes we cook in advance to compensate for when our time is dedicated to work or travel. We try to post early on the food holiday or feast day, in case blog readers are inspired to cook the dish of the day and can plan ahead and prepare their menus accordingly.
• Have any other food bloggers gained weight during their first year?!?! It sounds like a good excuse anyway to blame the blog!
• All good things, like our blog, is made possible by the grace of God.