Alphabet Baby Quilt

Elephant Costume (Happy Purim!)

Morello Cherry and California Apricot Hamantaschen

Purim is approaching, so I decided to bake some Hamantaschen. (First time ever.) For the cookie dough I used the recipe by Nancy Baggett in The All American Cookie Book. The apricot filling is her recipe also. The cherry filling is a jar of morello cherries from Trader Joe's reduced until syrupy and then chopped fine. Awesome.The cookie starts off a bit dry, and softens and develops more flavor after sitting a couple of days. When I brought these to class they were a big hit.

To form some of the cookies I patted out circles of dough, centered a spoonful of fruit filling on top, and then folded up the edges. Tedious work. Then I realized I could shape the dough into a triangular log, slice it, and push out the center of each slice with my thumb to make space for some filling. Much quicker and a more triangular shape also.

Mystery of the Macaron aux Marrons

As a treat for a friend's 40th birthday dinner a few weeks ago, I returned with some trepidation to the fussy world of the macaron. My first attempt several years ago ended in a lot of frustration and a little reward. Not in taste - they were consistently delicious. But in presentation. My fortunes the second time around were no different. From the same single batch of batter I got wildly divergent outcomes. Half with lovely smooth domes and exposed bubbly feet, all the hallmarks of a stylish macaron. Half cracked and spreading tops and smooth rounded edges, no different in appearance from a chocolate crinkle cookie.

The formula for the batter is by Pierre Herme, from a spread years ago in Bon Appetit. (I used a batch of whites that I had collected and frozen last summer, the surplus from an ice cream session.) The filling is my own invention:  about a pound of chestnuts blanched, peeled, simmered in milk, then cooled and pureed with unsalted butter, confectioner's sugar, heavy cream a splash of rum, and a pinch of fleur du sel. Inconsistent appearances aside, the macarons made a superb finish to a winter banquet..