Mowielicious

Lamingtons

I'm sitting here at my desk staring out of my window at the blanket of snow covering everything and my mind just wandered back to this time last year, when I was sunning myself silly in Sydney, Australia. I was also stuffing my face full of Lamingtons.

 

If you've never had Lamingtons before, you're in for a treat. These beauties are the simplest things to make, and are just pure comfort food, right up there with blueberry muffins and brownies. Tested on real Australians, this recipe turns out to be a definite winner.

Lamingtons are made from sponge cake, dunked in chocolate sauce, then tossed through dessicated coconut. The flavour and texture combinations are simply lovely. I remember the first Lamington I had, I just kept thinking: 'Wow! Nom. Nom. What. Nom. Is. Nom. Nom. This?'

For an extra decadent Lamington, cut in half and add a layer (or two, or three) of crème pâtissière.

No Australians were harmed during the making of these Lamingtons.

Chestnut Macarons With Pink Champagne

Happy New Year Everyone!

I just got back from a gorgeous 2 week holiday in the Canary Islands with B and some friends, and I'm feeling refreshed, revitalised and very inspired. We didn't just go for Christmas and New Year, it was also my birthday on the 1st of January and I usually prefer being somewhere warm on that day. I'll write a blog post about the trip soon, but for now folks, it's macaron time!

For these macarons, I thought I'd go for something festive, something celebratory, something yummy, all inspired by the New Year. As I had so many chestnuts left over from Christmas, I didn't see why they couldn't work just as well as almonds for the macaron shells. I also wanted something pink (surprise, surprise!), so for the filling I used a lovely, light pink champagne buttercream and added some edible pink glitter for extra sparkle.

I had such a great time making my Blackberry and Raspberry Macarons and I really didn't think I'd be making macarons again this soon, but there's something very addictive and fulfilling about making them, as anyone that's made them will agree. I think the best part about it is towards the end when you get 'feet' - the bubbly, frilly bits at the bottom of each shell - one of the more elusive parts of the macaron process.  If this is your first time making macarons (or reading this blog), you might find it helpful to read the Blackberry and Raspberry Macaron post, as that was the first time I'd made macarons. It's filled with links to other macaron blog posts and videos that I found extremely helpful.

 

I found that when I mixed ground chestnuts and ground almonds, the macs turned out much better than when I used ground chestnuts alone. For best results, grill your chestnuts as you normally would, peel them, grind them, and gently fry in a dry pan until slightly golden. Then mix with the ground almonds and grind again together with the icing sugar. Sift mixture twice to get a smooth, floury consistency.