Butterfly pea flowers and macarons.

I didn't know that I have a little gem in my backyard...until she told me!.

What I'm talking about, you may wonder? It was early in the morning when I went down under the bush picking mulberries in my backyard. I heard one lady asked me..."May I have some butterfly pea flowers ".

Of course, I let her have as many flowers as she wanted. Many people always asked for some butterfly pea flowers from me, but I never asked them what they actually did with these little flowers!!!

I love the deep dark blue color of it, so I planted it to add the color to my garden. I finally asked that lady what she did with those flowers...she told me that she used them to make Asian desserts--some kinds of desserts that I had no idea about it. Her reply was an inspiration for me to create this new flavour...yes, butterfly pea macarons!

I have been searching on Internet to make sure that this flower is edible and I confirm that it's edible. I grinded dried flowers and sprinkled them on top of the batter before baking.

and..tada....my new flavour butterfly pea macarons with salted caramel filling". One of the reasons that I am in love with making this little princess maybe its endless possibility of flavour combinations.

Here they are,macarons from a little gem in my backyard. I need to thanks that lady for inspiration. Sometimes we overlooked what we have.

Thanks for visiting my blog and any comment you may have. Enjoy your beautiful day.

Tulies.....

I just couldn't believe that we already stepped into the second week of February, the romantic month for most of us. I spent my time in the last couple weeks chasing deadlines and catching up on much needed sleep. However, I still reserved time for my baking. Of course, we don't limit ourselves to just chocolate and roses of this month ....but it's a good excuse to indulge in an extra dose of desired chocolately desserts.

To get ready for that day, I just made something light to reserve some space for an extra inch around my waist. While someone else are looking for Valentine's gift, I'm making sure that I will be able to snug into the "acceptable" zone of the body-mass index comfortably at the end of the month.

A best friend of mine just got a new ice cream maker, so I thought making tulies to pair with her ice cream would be a great idea. It's not the healthiest dessert in the world, but I like the fact that it contains no yolk to bother our cholesterol level.

It's quite simple to make. I normally make the batter and leave it in the fridge overnight. You can be as creative as you can to mold it into a shape or just simply roll it like what I usually do. The key for success, in my opinion, is to spread it as thin as possible .

If you plan to mold them into different shapes or roll it, do it when it's still hot. You just have to be fast.
Some bakers use parchment for baking, but I always use silicone baking mat. To me, life is easier that way. To create shape of pattern, you can use stencil or just cutting wax paper into the desired shape and spread the batter evenly over it.
If you like nutty flavor, you can sprinkle some sesame seeds over it. Today I added some ground sesame into the batter.

Tulies can be kept crispy for many days if we keep them in airtight container. However, if it becomes soft, you can just pop them back in the oven for a while and it will be crispy again. You can just eat them plain but and a big scoop of chocolate ice cream in the afternoon is heaven.

Enjoy your beautiful day !