This post is brought to you by Mr Butter Nut, homicidal pumpkin.
Welcome to May's ingredient, probably the most fun ingredient I've played with so far. Candied violets make me think of sweet, delicate, old-fashioned desserts, the kind that would sit comfortably on a doily or on a saucer beside a teacup from grandma's good china collection.
This is the third 12-bottle floral ingredient I've used so far. My experience of eating flowers prior to this was minimal (apart from the ones I've had in tea). There were those small red flowers I ate outside of the PCYC before an all ages gig - don't ask why, why do you do anything at age 14. There was the pot-pourri I accidentally ate in an Indian restaurant (see March's entry). There was the blue lotus that I infused in vodka, resulting in a mushroom-flavoured liquor. And there was the more recent consumption of parts of a morning glory plant that had an rather....erm...interesting...effect.
To me there's just something interesting about eating a flower. One minute, it's sitting in the ground looking all pretty, gently swaying in the breeze, enjoying the ooooohs and aaaaaahs and what-a-beautiful-flower-isn't-nature-just-lovelys....and then CHOMP nomp nomp, goodbye, beautiful thing, not so beautiful now are you? It reminds me of my favourite poster:
Violets are apparently quite good for you - they're high in vitamins A and C, antioxidants and AMINO ACIDS: BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE". Ha. Thank you first-year Biology. Along with MITOCHONDRIA: "POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL", you managed to impress upon my foggy disinterested brain facts that pop into my consciousness at random times, whilst writing a food blog for example. I'll probably be 90 and wandering around a home, having forgotten my own children and what I had for lunch, still muttering "amino acids, building blocks of life", "mitochondria, powerhouse of the cell - they look like squiggly peanuts".
But I digress.
Pending my upcoming trip to Europe/UK next week, Jason decided to host an English-themed linner party. Linner is to brunch as dinner is to lunch. (Hey that's catchy. I'm going to chant that next time a telemarketer rings). So I decided to make a very English raspberry fool to be followed by very French violet macarons or Macarons aux violettes.
Hey wow, look. I made macarons that actually look and taste like macarons - go me.
So we gathered round at Clayson's and drank Perry (English pear cider) while the boys made full use of their double-ovened kitchen to bring us an epic feast of roast pork with cider glaze and all manner of delicious roasted veges.
We finished up the meal with a delicious warm homemade honey liqueur spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg, a perfect accompaniment to the raspberry fool and macarons, which seemed to be a hit considering the rate at which the plate of them cleared...
...and judging by the size of the hard-on Lyss got after eating a few.
Macarons with Vanilla Cream and Candied Violets
2 1/2 cups almond meal
2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar
4 egg whites
2 tbsp candied violets
Vanilla Cream
2 egg yolks
50g butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1. Mix the almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl and set aside. Line some trays with baking paper.
2. Whip the egg whites til soft peaks form - I love this, they look so white and shiny and delicious. Then gradually add the caster sugar while whipping. I added some food dye here to make them look more violet-y.
3. Fold the egg mixture into the dry mixture until it's smooth and lovely.
4. Pipe the mixture into rounds about the size of a 50 cent piece. I don't have a piping bag (nor do I have bagpipes, but that is irrelevant) so I spooned the mixture into a ziplock bag and snipped the corner.
5. Sprinkle some crushed candied violets on half of the macarons.
6. Let the macarons rest for half an hour or so to 'dry', then bake them at 150 for about 10 minutes. Allow to completely cool.
7. For the vanilla cream, whip the eggs, butter and vanilla essence, gradually adding the sugar until a desired consistency is reached. Then add whatever is left of the candied violets (I crushed them down into more of a powder).
8. Sandwich the macaron halves with the vanilla cream.
