Sweet Vol-Au-Vent

Sweet vol-au-vent in a hot sunny day....... I know that Iwas not supposed to make pastry in a hot day, but I already did without knowing that I chose the wrong menu for the sunny day.

I have been wanted to make vol-au-vent for a long time, but the opportunity to sit down and make my own puff pastry didn't allow me to do so. It's my day off and I needed to get my house chores done....that means I would be in my house all day long. Making puff pastry is a long process..not sure that a lazy baker like me could do it!

I had friends came over for an afternoon tea...so I decided to make this dessert. To avoid the problem of oozing butter, I chose to make rough puff pastry instead of the traditional way. It was my first time using this method...what you see is what I get. If you would like to try, click here for recipe.

My kitchen was quite warm which was my big obstacle. It was a big mess trying to knead the dough and move it back and forth between my work station and the fridge. Unfortunately, I couldn't manage to get 6 turns as I was supposed to. My time was running out, so I baked it after finishing 4 turns. My vol-au-vent is not as pretty as the storebought puff pastry, but it was light, crispy and very flavorful.

If showmanship doesn't involve, I think it's fine to make just 4 turns. However, if you are Ms.Perfect, invest your sweat in another 2 turns for a "flying in the wind" case. Next time I would knead it a little bit thicker than this time, so I can see more layers in my final product. While baking I put silicone baking mat on top of the pastry to make them puff up evenly and it helped.

My guests said it's nice, but it's too small for her. She said she could have three by herself....I told her "Good things always come in small !"

Enjoy your beautiful day.

Orange macarons.

Another flavour of macarons to enjoy...

While many people were busy celebrating their high summer with BBQ in the backyard, I was in the kitchen and had fun baking macarons....

A glass of orange juice would be the best drink during a hot sunny day like this. I got an idea to bake this orange macarons once I was sipping a glass of orange juice. The citrus smell is always refreshing. I always have some oranges in my fridge. It's very versatile...perfect for a drink, sherbet or even just added into salad.

Time was running fast when I was in the kitchen....I started from grinding the almonds and finished up with preparing orange buttercream. If you want a perfect color, you should use almonds without skin or storebought almond meal. I was still in the process of cleaning up my fridge, so I used whatever I had on hand. You may notice some of the almond skins in my finished macarons.

Fortunately, I finished baking my macarons before the sun set. I had time to taste it before taking some photos. It's yummy...crispy outside, but moist and chewy inside. If you ever pass by my house, stop by and enjoy the macarons with me.

Enjoy your beautiful day....