Macarons With Cheesecake and Raspberries

There was a time when I was so crazy for making Macarons , that when I just mentioned the name macaron Hans and Shyama got nuts.

As you all know Hans used to hate macarons in the begning when I started making them as he thought they are to sweet etc... but I always did sneaky , I mostly made a filly with some kind of boose so then Hans would be tempted to eat them :-)
I do have to admit he likes them when the filling is special.

Anyway there is no panick in my home for macarons as I haven't made them for a while.
These macarons I made a while ago and actually I don't know when I made them , only thing I know it must be a while ago.

I was planning to do a guest post for a friend this macaron when I made them, but then one or the other thing came up and it didn't happen .
And now I thought it is about time I posted these as the filling is so good.

When I Sandwich the macarons I kept inside each of them a small raspberry and gave a press so then got squached together with the cheese cake cream.
Which is absloutley super delicious, minus point as there is a fresh fruit inside I think the macarons should be ate in two days otherwise they get too soft because of the moisture from the fresh fruit.
Well if i remember the filling was so good that the macarons didn't stay that long in our fridge.

 As always I stick to my Ottelenghi recipe fro Macaron and if you want to see the step by step pic how to make them just click here

110gm icing sugar

60gm almond flour
60gm egg whites (of 2 eggs) ( Normally you have to age the egg whites, which I suggest you do too, but these days I find myself not agening them but I don't take the freshest egg, I just take egg which is atleast a week old and then make the Macarons when ever I want as I don't like the agening part of the whites as I am a impulisive baker, but don't listen to me age you eggs )

40gm castor sugar
Few drops of any food colour ( pink i used)
Freeze droed raspberries to add on top ( optional)

Whiz the almond flour and icing sugar in the coffee grinder and sift 2-3 times

Whisk the egg whites and castor sugar till it forms a thick aerated meringue, firm but not too dry.
Turn the nut mixture into the bowl, and fold gently to get a lava type batter.
Add this mix into a pipping bag with a plain nozzel and pipe into circles.
If you are using the freeze dried raspberries crumble them up and sprinkle on top of each macarons.
Hold the tray firmly and tap the underside firmly. This should help to spread and smooth out the macarons.
Leave out, uncovered for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 150C (the original recipe has 170C).
Bake in preheated oven for about 18 to 20 minutes. They are ready when they readily leave the paper when liften with a palette knife. Remove from oven as soon as this happens, and leave to cool completely.
I take out the macaron shells when I take them out from the oven, and I do this trick always, splash a little bit of water under the baking paper which allows the Macaron to lift from the baking paper easily.

For the Butter Cream

200 gm cream cheese ( room temperature)
1 egg yolk
60 gm fine sugar
1 tbsp of vanilla extraxt
125 gm soft butter
Raspberries for keeping inbetween the macarons.

Add the egg yolk and the sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk using a hand mixer till the mix is fluffy and light colored.
Add the butter little by little and whisk till it is creamy/
Add the cream cheese to this and stir it well using a wooden spoon till the mix is fluffy and creamy.

Sandwich the macarons with the cream cheese filling and also donn't forget to keep a raspberry inside the filling .

Beef meatballs with broad beans and lemon

I am planning to do few post this week, atleast that is what my sister has asked me to do.
Hans is gone from tommorow for  a concert trip and he will be only back Monday evening.
So sis was like he is not home you should post then more in this week.

But knowing me I will be not doing, as I have already told Hans when he is not home I am not going to cook anything at all :-)
And he remarked I can be like the old lady who live above us in the apartment, when her husband was in the hospital for few weeks she hardly cooked.

By now you all know I am crazy for the cooking style or recipes of Yotam Ottolenghi .
And if you are not convinced you can check out all these post Chermoula Aubergine, Acharuli Khachapuri and I am sur eyou will find more similar dishes in my blog.

I made this dish when I did a Ottolenghi evening here at home together with the chermoula aubergine when i did a ottolenghi evening here at home.

This is what it is written in the book about the recipe and I must say I totally agree to it.

Fresh, sharp and very, very tasty, these meatballs are our idea of the perfect spring supper. Serve them with basmati rice and there isn't much need for anything else. Whole blanched almonds make a good addition, for texture as well as for taste – add them to the pan at the same time as the unshelled broad beans. 

Makes about 20 meatballs, to serve four

4½ tbsp olive oil
350g broad beans, fresh or frozen
4 whole thyme sprigs
6 garlic cloves, sliced
8 spring onions, cut at an angle into 2cm segments
2½ tbsp lemon juice
500ml  chicken stock
Salt and black pepper

For the meatballs
300g minced beef
150g minced lamb
1 medium onion, finely chopped
120g breadcrumbs
2 tbsp each chopped flat-leaf parsley, mint, dill and coriander, plus ½ tbsp extra of each to finish
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp baharat spice mix ( if you don't get this spice mix in the book there is a recipe,look below in this post for the recipe of this spice)
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp capers, chopped
1 egg, beaten

Put all the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl. Add three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper, mix with your hands and form into balls about the size of ping-pong balls. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in an extra-large frying pan for which you have a lid. Sear half the meatballs over a medium heat, turning them until they are brown all over – this will take about five minutes. Remove from the pan, add another half-tablespoon of oil to the pan and cook the other batch of meatballs. Once browned all over, remove these from the pan, too, then wipe it clean with kitchen towel.

While the meatballs are cooking, throw the broad beans into a pot with plenty of salted boiling water and blanch for two minutes. Drain, refresh under cold water, then remove and discard the skins from half the broad beans.

Heat the remaining oil in the meatball pan, add the thyme, garlic and spring onion, and sauté over a medium heat for three minutes. Add the unshelled broad beans, one and a half tablespoons of the lemon juice, 80ml of the stock, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper. The beans should be almost covered by liquid. Pop on the lid and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes.

Return the meatballs to the pan, add the remaining stock, cover again and simmer gently for 25 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning. If it is still very runny, remove the lid and reduce a little. Once the meatballs stop cooking, they will soak up a lot of the juices, so make sure there is still plenty of sauce at this point. You can leave the meatballs now, off the heat, until you're ready to serve.

Just before serving, reheat the meatballs and add a little water, if needed, to get enough sauce. Gently stir in the remaining herbs, lemon juice and the shelled broad beans and serve immediately.

Baharat Spice Mix:

1 tsp of black pepper corns
1 tsp cirriander seeds
1 cinnamon stick (5 cm) roughly broken up
1/2 tsp whole cloves
2 tsp cummin seeds
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 nutmeg grated

Add all the ingridients in a spic grinder and powder to a fine powder.
You can keep this spice powder for 2 months in a closed jar.