Saffron and Blood Orange Caramel Macarons, with blood orange sorbet

It's been many, many years since I've celebrated Lunar New Year properly  ...until now! Hi from Asia! *commence emphatic waving*

Last time I was here for the new year festivities was decades ago (omg, 'decades' makes me sound so old), when I was five. My only memory from that visit was my grandfather taking me outside on the street in front of our relatives' large apartment building at night and lighting up sparkler fireworks to play with. How they shimmered in the dark, specks of light dancing off the ends of the wands! After that, we never really celebrated Chinese New Year's in the US: there just isn't the same hubbub of excitement and fun brewing around you that makes it feel like a holiday. And, given that the lunar new year never falls during school breaks, I didn't have the opportunity to freely leave and visit again until now. (Yes, one of the wonderful advantages of dissertating, and shhh, don't tell my advisors.)

In preparation for the new year celebration, I whipped up my own version of a few new year's desserts before leaving on my trip. It's traditional to have oranges during the Chinese New Year--for luck--and to wear red--an 'auspicious' color. Lo and behold, what did I stumble upon at the market a few days before leaving: blood oranges! The perfect combination of red and orange, in a delicious fruit. :)

With the blood oranges, I made a blood orange sorbet, that turned out the most gorgeous orange-red color (rivaling the vibrant purples of the last sorbet that I made). Oh, and not to mention that it tastes deliciously orange-y. :) I also whipped up a batch of saffron and blood orange caramel macarons, which I thought were very fitting for celebrating New Year's, with the red and gold of the saffron and caramel, the nuts that traditionally represent blessings for long life, and, of course, the blood oranges. (Recipe inspired by this wonderful little macaron book.)

[click on photo above for a larger image]

I'm hoping that all of this orange and red really brings good luck to everyone for the Year of the Dragon! The last few days of the Year of the Rabbit were quite unlucky for me. On my second day here, this happened when I fell down a pile of unsecured bricks. I freaked out. Luckily, the repairman here managed to fix it because none of the internal glass elements were broken--you don't know how incredibly relieved I am. Anyways, I have been told that since I clearly used up all of my bad luck and misfortune right before the end of the old year, I should be having an auspicious new year! :)

Happy New Year, everyone!


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Midweek Macarons: Coconut Rose Chocolate Macarons

As a linguist (*ahem*, my day job), I hear this question a lot: "How many languages do you speak?"  It's a common misperception that all we linguists do is learn to speak a lot of languages all day, and allow me to put this to rest right here and now: I am not a polyglot.  Our job as linguists is not to study languages but to study language, which is the first lesson we teach to anyone who takes Linguistics 101, and while many-a-times, this might involve having to learn languages, it most certainly does not require it.  In fact, even if I know something about a language, that doesn't mean that I can speak, write, read, or understand it at all, though I could probably tell you what the language's syllable structure is, or how the language might order words in its sentences--you know, pretty useless little things that wouldn't come much in handy if I actually had to hold down a conversation.

But, all this is not to say that we linguists don't do some really. cool. stuff.  Take, for example, one of the professors in my department, Dan Jurafsky.  Dan works primarily on computational linguistics, but one of his awesome side projects is writing about the language of food.  (which, frankly, is so genius, I'm jealous that I didn't think of it myself!)  Dan's written before on things like the origins of "ketchup" or what defines "dessert," and he has a paper coming out soon about the role of language in potato chip advertisements.  And he teaches what I've heard is an awesome undergraduate seminar on the subject.

So, of course, one day, I approached Dan with THE hot linguistics and food question of the current day: macaron vs. macaroon.  Which one is it!  (and how in the heck are you supposed to pronounce the difference?)  Raise your hand if you've ever pondered this question!  *typing while raising one hand in the air.*

Thankfully, Dan was totally enthused about investigating the origins of the macaron/macaroon, and he's just posted his essay on the subject, after a few months of in-depth research.  Apparently, the macaron/oon is related to a whole slew of desserts and foods of the almond or egg white family--from gnocchi to marzipan--and has traveled, in its various forms, through so much of Europe and the Middle East--from Persia to Italy and France--before making it to the US and becoming the coconut macaroon.  But, even with its long history, the debate is still open as to whether we want to call the Parisian macaron/oon that we're so crazed about these days a macaroon or a macaron, to distinguish it from the once-popular coconut macaroons.  Only time will tell!  Oh, and the best part of Dan's article is that he discovered that the macaron/oon/oni might actually be related to the macarena.  Heeeeeeyyyyyy, macarena, a ya!  (OMG, I can't believe I still remember that dance....!)

Anyways, I thought that all of Dan's research on the macaron/oon/oni/ena should be rewarded with actual macarons.  Since rosewater kept recurring in the history of the macaron, I whipped up some coconut rose chocolate macarons, with lightly flavored almond shells and coconut-rose-flavored dark chocolate ganache inside.  I also couldn't resist breaking out the luster dust, after seeing all of the beautiful watercolor-dyed eggs floating about the internets for Easter.

So, the next time you meet a linguist, I implore you not to ask them how many languages they speak.  Instead, talk to them about macarons.  Or macaroons.  Or macaroni.  Ack.  Never mind.  Just ask them to dance the macarena with you.  ...Or not.  :-)

>>Go read Dan's essay on macarons!<<


Read on for recipe....

Lessons from 2010, and Grapefruit-White Chocolate Macarons

While I'm not the biggest believer in new year resolutions, I am a big believer in taking time at the end of each year to think about what's happened and what I've learned.  This year, 2010, was, for me, one of those incredible years in which so much happens and so much changes--one of those years in which nothing goes according to plan and the universe throws literally everything it can think of at you.  But, all of it, in the end, turned out for the best (I think!), and I've taken quite a few important lessons to heart along the way, which I hope you don't mind that I share here.  (And, I'd love to hear what you've learned in 2010 in the comments below!)

Lesson 1.  It's important to be scared.

One of the major changes that happened this year was that I switched from my original and intended field of study in school to a different one altogether, basically upsetting every plan I'd ever made for myself within linguistics.  When I confessed to one of my advisors how deathly scared I am of being in this new field, she calmly said to me, "Being scared is good for you, Stephanie. You need it."

My advisor, as usual, was completely right.  Being scared really kicked my once-lazy butt into gear.  And, having to constantly face up to and overcome things that scare me taught me that, when I put my mind to it, nothing is insurmountable, even if it may seem that way initially.  Sure, I'm still pretty terrified about my new position in linguistics, but the important thing is that I'm not petrified by it.

Lesson 2.  Hard work pays off.

Growing up, my mom always accused me of skating by on "talent," that I never worked hard for anything I did.  And I can admit now that she was right.  But lacking "talent" in this new field of study I'm in, having to play catch-up this late in my graduate career, and being plain ol' scared forced me to work harder this year than I've ever, ever worked before.  (Side effect, though: sleeping less than I've ever, ever slept before...!)  Practice and dedication, it turns out, can make up for a lot.

For example, at the beginning of one of my school terms this year, I remember being so afraid and so intimated by this one professor that I seriously considered dropping out of her workshop because I thought that I just didn't know enough about the topic to keep going.  Thankfully I didn't, because by the end of the term, I'd learned and practiced so much that I could carry on a proper and in-depth conversation on the topic with the professor and offer insights that she hadn't thought of!  That was one of the best and exciting moments of 2010 for me--realizing that through all of the late nights and painful work, I'd actually improved!

Lesson 3.  Be super thankful for the people around you.

I would have never, ever gotten through the vicissitudes of 2010 if it weren't for the incredible support of those around me.  At every point throughout the year when things took a turn for the worst, someone always stepped in to help me out of it, making me realize how unspeakably lucky I am to have an invaluable support structure to lean on when I need it most.  Now more than ever, I am appreciative of people who have faith in me even when I don't: just knowing that someone out there believes in me forces me to work harder and try to live up to that expectation.  It's the one of the best motivators!  (On a related note, never let nay-sayers get you down, either!)

For the final recipe of 2010, I really wanted to make macarons because they represent to me a perfect embodiment of the lessons that I've learned this year.  I started out 2010 making successful macarons before I had read very much about them.  Then, as I started reading more and more about macarons and hearing about how fickle they are, they became incredibly intimidating to me.  Suddenly, every batch that I pulled out of the oven was a huge failure--cracked tops, sunken tops, lack of feet, under-baked, completely brown--you name it, it happened.  Finally, I just gave up and stopped making macs altogether.

One day, I realized how foolish it was of me to completely abandon macaron making just because I was scared of them, and I decided that I would make macarons and only macarons until I got them perfect again.  It turns out that what happened was that I'd memorized the recipe wrong, (stupidly) placing the rack in the wrong section of the oven, but even after I figured that out, I kept practicing batch after batch until the macaron shells came out consistently and to my liking.  And now, I can make macarons.

These grapefruit and white chocolate macarons (grapefruit shells with white chocolate buttercream and grapefruit curd) are for you all--a little tart and sweet (just like 2010 was) to accompany your midnight flutes of champagne--as a thank you for all of the support that you've given me on the blog this year!  It's truly been an extraordinary year, and knowing that there are people out there that I can share my love of desserts with (even virtually) is always a comfort for me and makes me so happy!  :-D!  So, thank you!  and Happy New Year to everyone!  May 2011 bring us even more valuable lessons--and more importantly, even more delicious sweets and eats!

--Addendum--

In 2010, I...

visited Baltimore.

had my first photography exhibit.

stayed in the Northern California redwoods--one of my favorite places on earth--for a week.

ate rhubarb for the first time.

met hosts of fabulous food lovers.

was cited for the first time in an academic journal.

made two wedding cakes.

went to Los Angeles to visit one of my best friends--twice!

took a photo-walk at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

wrote roughly 2600+ tweets.

had so many wonderful friends over for dinner and dessert.

submitted my first academic article for review.

had finger surgery.

attended two schools.

went to Bouchon and Tartine bakeries.

posted 12 different pancake recipes.

had Korean fried chicken to celebrate Hanukkah.

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Midweek Macarons: Cinnamon Apple Macarons with Apple Butter Buttercream and Tart Green Apples

This season, I've been a tad bit obsessed with apples. (and pears.)  Trust me: I've been resisting the strong urge to have every post on this blog be about apples.  I don't know--does anyone else go through phases like this with fruit and ingredient obsessions?  Or am I just particularly weird?

These macarons are my love affair with apples encapsulated in a tiny two-bite form.  It's as if you take everything amazing about an apple and squeeze and compress it--with great, magical pressure--into a single macaron.  The shells are cinnamon-spiced and sweet, brittle on the outside with just enough chewy bite on the inside.  The buttercream is packed with the essence of apple flavor from the intense homemade apple butter mixed in--an apple butter that sat stewing and bubbling on the stove over low heat for two hours, caramelizing with the brown sugar and soaking up clove and cinnamon fragrances.  And, at the heart of the macaron: an extra, extra tart crunch from chunks of crisp, fresh green apples lightly tossed in sour lemon juice and woodsy ground cinnamon.  I barely shared any of these with anyone else, being so busy gobbling them up myself.

Have you entered the Breast Cancer Awareness giveaway yet?  You have until this Sunday!

Also, a special shout-out to desserts for breakfast readers Laura Lee and Zizikalandjai. They let it slip in previous comments that their birthdays are coming up this weekend, so consider these macarons my little birthday treat to you two. :-)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!


[Want more Midweek Macarons? --> Strawberry + Red wine + Mascarpone Cream]


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Midweek Macarons: Strawberry + Red Wine + Mascarpone Cream

Sometimes, in the middle of a crazy week, you just need a little bit of a pick-me-up. Something small and sweet. So why not strawberry, red wine, and mascarpone cream macarons, a grown-up adaptation of strawberries'n'cream, with strawberry macaron shells spritzed with a bit of full-bodied, peppery wine, fluffy and tangy whipped mascarpone cream, and the optional wine gelee as the surprise candy center? Yes, I think that might do the trick.

What are your mid-week (or weekend) pick-me-ups?


[Edit: a Twitter friend (@zizikalandjai) named these "red tiny kisses." I like that. :-))


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Asian Pear Ginger Froyo + Lemon Ginger Macarons, and "on the nickname 'Froyo'"

Sometimes, I wonder what's wrong with me.  (Okay, wait, I wonder that all the time.)  Like the time my mom showed up at my house, bringing with her two beautiful Asian pears for me.  The pears were so big I could hardly hold them both in my hands at once, and they had been part of a special gift box that someone had given her.  But here's where I ask what's wrong with myself, because the first thing I thought when I saw the pears was... "Oh my god, those would make the most amazing Asian pear frozen yogurt."

So being the slightly deranged me, I chopped up those gorgeous pears in a food processor, adding a healthy kick of ginger (which seems to be becoming a definite trend, given my previous posts here and here), and folded them into thick and yummy Greek yogurt.  The end result was delicious, so I suppose I can't complain too much about my insanity.  What made the yogurt even more delicious was the addition of lemon ginger macaron shells.

These macarons are super gingery with a little kick of lemon zest to them, and they are the perfect complement to the Asian pear frozen yogurt.  Together, the froyo and macaron shells make for a terrifically snappy, spicy, and refreshing dessert, perfect for the super warm (70+ degrees F) afternoons that we've been having in the Bay Area lately.  Summer's coming way to fast, but it's okay.  I'm armed with a tub of pear and ginger frozen yogurt, so bring it on.

(P.S.  "Froyo" = frozen yogurt, which is an awesome example of something linguists call "Aggressive Reduplication," discussed at length in a terrific paper by Kie Zuraw, a linguist at UCLA.  At Stanford, there is this incredible culture of super-aggressive aggressive reduplication.  Those Stanford kids do the craziest things, and I don't think I've even learned all of them yet:


"Coho" = Coffee house
"FloMo" = Florence Moore dorm
"FroSoCo" = Freshman Sophomore College

At Berkeley, we were far more practical about our aggressive reduplicating.  We really only had two that were commonly used, both of which pertained to frozen yogurt: "Froyo," which you know already, and "YoPo," referring to Yogurt Park, a famous froyo shop a block from campus that is particularly enjoyed and frequented by Berkeley female athletes and jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman, amongst others.)


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Rose and Basil-Dark Chocolate Macarons

I'm back! from my conference this past weekend, and does it feel good to be back in the kitchen again!

Okay, but before we get to those bite-size pieces of deliciousness, allow me to catch you up with what I've been up to for the past week.  (If you're interested--otherwise, skip to the food pics, I won't take offense.)  This past weekend was the annual national conference for my "day job," and all the linguists of the States (and elsewhere, too) flocked to the sunny Baltimore, Maryland.  This was a particularly big weekend for me, because I had my first talk at said national conference, and it was in a special session organized by the leaders in my subfield.  So I had myself pretty much shut up for the past couple of weeks working on the talk.  Once *that* was out of the way, I tried to see a bit of the city.

Bokeh at Baltimore's Inner Harbour

Unfortunately, we were in a pretty dead area (with no convenient transportation available), and the pub food that was so ubiquitous around the conference area was just downright horrid.  So, no fun food news to report from the weekend.  But, I did get to go to the Walter museum, and on the way, we checked out America's first cathedral/basilica, which we randomly ran into.

The Walter museum was actually one of the best parts of the weekend!  There were awesome exhibits of 16th through 18th century Italian art, arranged in chronological order, so that you could really get a sense of the development of styles throughout the centuries.  This one was a particular favorite of the group of linguists I was with:

Allegory of Grammar

Laurent de la Hyre, 1650

Anyways, despite it being fun to be around all of the people from my field, it is nice to be back in (warmer) California--and back in the kitchen (read: not eating gross, oily, fried bar food every day).  I was so glad, in fact, that I decided to use up the leftover egg whites in my fridge by making macarons (most definitely the antithesis to pub food).

Rose macarons

with dark chocolate-basil buttercream

Now that Christmas and New Year's are over, it's time to look forward to Valentine's Day!  (Yes, it's never too early for the next holiday, in my book.)  So, if roses are supposed to mean that someone likes you, and chocolates are supposed to mean that someone loves you, what about rose macarons with dark chocolate-basil buttercream?  If someone made these for me, personally, I'd probably hop into their arms with little hesitation.  ;-P

In all seriousness, though, the initial inspiration for these macarons did not come from thinking about Valentine's Day.  These are actually inspired by the movie, Like Water for Chocolate.  Now, if you haven't seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it!  We were assigned the film for a Spanish class that I'm taking this quarter, and so I watched it the night I returned from Baltimore.  Long story short, the film (based on the novel) is a long love story, punctuated by different foods that reflect the main character's various emotions throughout.  In one scene where she tries to woo an unrequited lover through her cooking, she makes this roasted quail with rose petal sauce that just looks downright divine.

Ever since then, I've been craving rose myself.  Then, a scoop of rose-vanilla ice cream from Ici in Berkeley today only helped to intensify rather than satisfy my craving.

When I was baking these, the whole house smelled of roses.  It was absolutely wonderful and fragrant!  To go with the macarons, I whipped up a quick dark chocolate buttercream, and to help balance the buttercream with the rose macaron, I added in some freshly-dried basil powder to the chocolate buttercream.  The basil, which you can't really place when you eat these, lends this great earthiness to the buttercream, which helps to keep it on the less-sweet side and compliments the flowery flavor of the rose perfectly.

Quite a nice way to unwind after a weekend of travelling, no?  :-)

Read on for recipe...