1 potato
purple or blue liquid gel food coloring
water
icing sugar
While the macarons are drying and baking, you can get ready to decorate. Follow the instructions on page 31.
Filling
⅓ cup (75 g) plain cream cheese
1½ cups (175 g) icing sugar
zest of 1 lemon
½ Tbsp lemon juice
1¼ cups (170 g) blueberries
In a bowl, stir together the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon zest, and juice. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe the filling onto half of the macaron shells. Place a circle of blueberries around the edge of each macaron before you top with the lid. Keep the macarons in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
1. Copy the blue anemone patterns on page 198 onto a sheet of paper. 2. Cut out the flowers. 3. Halve a potato. With a sewing pin, fasten a paper flower to each half. 4. Use a sharp knife to cut away the potato around the flower. 5. Remove the paper and pins. 6. Mix a few drops of food coloring with some water. Paint the color onto the potato flower with a brush. 7. Gently press the potato against the macaron shell. Make as many flowers as you like on each shell. If you press the potato several times without adding more color, you’ll get varying shades of blue in the flowers. 8. Dip a brush in a little icing sugar and tap it gently in the middle of each flower to make pistils.
APRICOT COCONUT CHOCOLATE CAKE
makes one large baking pan
Covered in green coconut grass and white anemones made from puffed rice, this cake will remind your guests of spring. The apricot filling makes the cake extra moist.
Puffed rice white anemones
1 egg white
1 tsp lemon juice
approximately 1⅔ cups (200 g) icing sugar
green liquid gel food coloring
puffed rice
small gold sugar pearls
Follow the instructions on page 188 to make icing with the egg white, lemon juice, and icing sugar. Scoop out a little of the icing into a separate bowl and stir in a few drops of green food coloring. Put the white icing in one piping bag and the green icing in another. Follow the instructions on page 35 to make the flowers.
Chocolate cake
⅔ cup (150 g) butter
4.5 oz (130 g) bittersweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 eggs
1¼ cups (250 g) granulated sugar
1 cup (250 ml) buttermilk
3 Tbsp strong coffee
2¼ cups (270 g) all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tsp baking powder
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a large baking pan or lasagna pan (around 12” × 16”/30 × 40 cm) with parchment paper.
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, then remove from the heat. Stir the chocolate into the hot butter until it melts. While the mixture is cooling, using a handheld mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until pale in color. On low speed, beat in the chocolate mixture, buttermilk, and coffee.
Stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a separate bowl. Sift the dry ingredients into the batter and fold in with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake the cake on the middle rack of the oven for about 15 minutes. Test the cake by sticking a toothpick into the middle. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.
Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then loosen the cake and turn it out on the rack to cool completely.
Filling and icing
⅓ cup (100 g) apricot jam
1 tsp water
green liquid gel food coloring
⅓ cup (30 g) unsweetened shredded coconut
2 Tbsp (25 g) butter, melted
¾ cup (100 g) icing sugar
½ Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tbsp strong coffee
When the cake is cool, slice it horizontally to make two layers. Spread the apricot jam on one layer, then place the other layer on top.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). In a small bowl, mix 1 tsp of water with a few drops of food coloring. Add the shredded coconut and stir to coat. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Place it in the preheated oven to dry for about 2 minutes.
In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, icing sugar, cocoa, and coffee. Spread the icing over the cake, reserving a little to stick on the flowers, then sprinkle on the dried shredded coconut. Place the flowers on top, gluing them on with some icing if needed.
1. For each flower, you’ll need 6 rice puffs. Try to find puffs of the same size. 2. On a sheet of parchment paper, pipe out a spot of the white icing. Place 2 rice puffs opposite each other with one end in the icing. If you study the puffs carefully, you will see a notch on one side. Make sure the notch of each rice puff is pointing toward the middle—then they will fit together like puzzle pieces. Put the final 4 rice puffs in place. 3. Pipe a small dot of green icing in the middle. 4. If you want to make pistils, you can place some gold sugar pearls around the green dot. 5. Let the flowers dry for at least 15 minutes. The longer they dry, the more handling they can withstand. Store the flowers in an airtight container. They can be kept for several months.
BIRCH BARK COOKIES
makes 22 cookies
Birch trees are easily recognizable from their characteristic white bark. As the trees grow older, the glossy bark cracks and forms dark furrows. Surprise your guests with these crisp birch bark cookies made with the classic combination of vanilla and chocolate.
Vanilla cookies
⅔ cup (150 g) butter, at room temperature
⅔ cup (125 g) granulated sugar
1 egg
2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
½