Macarons Open for orders.

Hi Macaronites!

There's a limited number of macarons available for this batch! Mostly have been reserved before I even had a chance to post this up! Available flavors are as such:

1. Salted Caramel
2. Lemon Buttercream
3. Raspberry white choc Ganache
4. Dark Choc
5. Creamy Peanutbutter
6. "Pick-Me-Up"

Please refer to the description of the flavors below. PM me for orders on FB or send me your orders by mail at charlenefay83@gmail.com.

*Maximum order of 3 pieces per flavor available. :)

Cheerios!

Manic Wednesday for all Fashionistas and Macaronites!

If you have been browsing through our macarons pictures while salivating involuntarily, you might just have the chance to taste some for free today!!

Head down to Modestarr Bangsar to find yourself something chic and trendy, and find out how you can get these babies for free!!! Offer lasts for one day only (while stocks lasts).. Hurry up! These babies wait for no one!

Cheerios!

Jazzing Up my Babies

Just when I thought my macarons are getting a bit boring, I found a way to jazz them up.

it screams: "Eat me!"

So mixing up the colors of the shells does give it a more interesting visual impact. Chances are, people would automatically pick up the colorful ones compared to boring colors such as white or powder pink. These babies don't need coaxing, one look and you'd want to take a bite...

A good macaron (authentic) is not crispy. Macarons are not biscuits! Its shell should be slightly crisp and crumbly but soft and a tad bit chewy inside. Macarons need to mature at least a day in the fridge so that the filling can gel into the shells and create what we call "Heaven and Beyond". There should also be no air pockets in between the shell. But yet, it should be light and airy, and not too dense. Well, practice makes perfection. To get this texture, leave them out of the fridge at room temperature for up to 30 minutes so that the filling will soften. Otherwise it would be chewy.

Some people ask me how I get such smooth egg like shells. The answer is, "Don't be Lazy!"
Lumpy and rough shells means that the almond meal and sugar were not blended together and sieved at least twice. Sieving doesn't just make shiny smooth shells, it also allows a more even mixture of the batter, to ensure all the ingredients are incorporated together. Chances are, if you don't sieve, you will end up with cracked macarons and a more dense texture.

There is a reason why we named our macarons "Melting Moments".. You need to pop one to fully understand the reason behind it. =)

Cheerios!

The Making of the Smallest Greatest Treat!

So here are some pictures of my labor of love. Some people wonder if I get jaded, especially since these Diva babies bring the word temperamental to a whole new level. But i must say.. it never gets old. I still get those nervous feelings for the first 3 minutes of popping them into the oven, wondering if it's going to be a successful batch. I still worry if the humidity will cause the macs to stick on the parchment (it happens during rainy days). I still smile involuntarily, everytime i see a perfect batch (with tonnes of feet and no cracks), everytime the oven's timer beeps.

Piped and drying away, before i pop them into the oven

Pretty feet, just the right height

So now that the baking process is done, let's see if they get off the parchment easily. There's a technique to get these babies off the paper. Some people reckon to quick-dip the bottom of the parchment into some cold water. Tried that and my macarons did get off the parchment easily, but the result can be disastrous. You might end up with soggy macaron shells if you are not careful. The trick is to turn the parchment upside down, hold it about 1 inch from your table's surface, and tug the paper at both ends, the shock will detach the macarons from the parchment. Your macarons need to cool down completely before you do that.

perfect bases, not too dry, not too wet

Now to fill those babies with sinfully rich fillings. I always tell people that while making the filling, you need to make sure that the filling are not too sweet. The macaron shells itself has loads of sugar. You can't cut down sugar for the shells. If you do, they won't rise, or you won't get the consistency you want. It will be heavy, chewey and it might either crack, or lack feet. So don't worry if your filing is not sweet. There are tonnes of amazing recipes online for macaron filings. Always cut the sugar in half.

Assorted Filings: Dark Choc, White Choc, Creamy Peanut Butter and Vanilla Bean Buttercream

Creamy salty Peanut butter filing for the pinks!

Peanut butter might feel cheap and common, but with the right recipe, it can be a match made in heaven. Don't underestimate the power of this humble flavor! This filing is creamy, peanuty, and salty. It compliments the sweet shells in all the right ways possible.

Melting Moments:by Fay signature White Choc Macadamia

Right here, we have our Signature White Choc Macadamia. Made from the finest Valrhona ivory choc, and salted roasted macadamia nuts. The next best thing to Haagen Dazs' Macadamia ice cream. Making white chocolate ganache is a little bit more tricky than dark chocolate ganache. You need equal amounts of whipped cream and white chocolate. And you have to make it a day in advance and pop it in the chiller, otherwise it will be too runny. The reason why white chocolate needs to be set is because of the presence of cocoa butter compounds in it. Also, don't attempt to make White Choc ganache with cheap cooking chocolate. You can put them in the freezer for days and they will melt into liquid once at room temperature.

Waiting to be devoured!

Black Tie Macarons with Valrhona Dark Choc Filing

And there you have it! The final products! Tomorrow, they will be delivered to their respective buyers and put a smile on their faces!

Sigh.. And this is why i make these babies... The relentless joy it brings to people is immeasurable!!!

Cheerios!.

Orders for 13.6.11 closed.

Dear Macaronites,

Thank you beautiful people for the orders. This week's orders are closed. All 346 pieces!

Look out for more details on the next orders at this blog or on http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=633067394. Or email me if you have a special occasion coming up at charlenefay83@gmail.com.

Cheerios!

Macarons: Open for Orders!

Dear Macaronites,

So our orders are opened again. Deadline for orders are at 4pm Saturday (11.6.11). Delivery on Monday.

Available flavors for this week are:

1. Dark Choc
2. White Choc Macadamia
3. Vanilla Buttercream
4. Salted Caramel
5. Raspberry Ganache
6. Ying and Yang
*for description of the flavors, please scroll down to the previous post. 


As usual, you can put in orders for the flavors that are not available this week. Just give us one week notice and order more than 20 pieces (two flavors maximum).

Orders are filing up pretty fast so get your hands on some of these babies! Minimum order is 10 pieces. Delivery is free to areas such as Midvalley, Taman Jaya Lrt and Bangsar.

Email me at charlenefay83@gmail.com!

Cheerios!

Why We Are Special! (How to order)

Salted Caramel in Tiffany blue

Macarons may be new to our shores but they are catching up fast here in KL. These babies are not only sinfully delicious, but also an art to make. Bottom line, macarons are not like cupcakes. You can't just make perfect macarons with a given recipe. It takes alot of perseverance, trial and error, technique and a formidable palette to make the shells and create the flavors that compliment them.

At Melting Moments:by Fay, we have worked hard to come up with flavors that are not only unique, but also decadent enough to trade your soul for one of our creations. We also take our customers' feedback into account, and experiment flavors and colors which you might want to create for your special occasion, as long as it is mortally possible. :)

While the list of flavors is ever-growing, these are a few of our Most Popular Flavors (voted by customers):

• Dark Choc Ganache (MOST POPULAR!)- made from the finest Valrhona Chocolate imported from France
• White Choc Macadamia (SIGNATURE! & MOST POPULAR!)- made out of the finest Valrhona White Choc (imported from France) with macadamia bits in the centre (inspired by Haagen Dazs' macadamia ice cream)
• Salted Caramel (MOST POPULAR!)- Caramel with Fleur de Sel (french flower salt), made from scratch - an authentic French Recipe
• Vanilla Buttercream (MOST POPULAR!) - simple, honest yet rich vanilla buttercream (made out of real fresh vanilla pods)
• Raspberry Ganache - Fresh Raspberries and Valrhona white chocolate, tangy and fresh tasting
• Lemon Buttercream - Buttercream infused with homemade lemon curd, tangy and refreshing
• Creamy Peanut Butter (MOST POPULAR!)- Peanut Butter in its creamiest form
• Green Tea Ganache - Imported green tea powder infused in rich Valrhona white chocolate
• Passionfruit Cream - Tangy and slightly sour, perfect balance for those who are lesser of a sweet tooth
• Orange Blossom - Orange infused buttercream with poppy seeds
• Earl Grey Evening - Earl grey infused vanilla buttercream, perfect for a accompaniment with your afternoon tea

A Match Made in Heaven

• Ying and Yang (MOST POPULAR!)- Dark Valrhona choc ganache and White Valrhona choc ganache
• P&J's -Peanut butter and currant jelly (inspired by the famous Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches everybody loves )
• Passionfruit surprise - Dark choc with a centre of passionfruit cream
• Pick me up - Caramel and Coffee bits (inspired by Starbucks caramel macchiato

At Melting Moments:by Fay, we never go easy on quality and freshness of ingredients. One bite is all you need. Go ahead, try ours and you'll swear it's the best in town!

* not all flavors and colors are always available. Every week, we have a set of flavors and colors.

* Flavors which are not available for the week, can be requested for with 1 week notice and a minimum order of 20 pieces per flavor / color

* Don't be shy to suggest a flavor which we don't already have, we will try work it out for you!

* Minimum order of weekly available flavors is 10 pieces (assorted flavors)

*Discounts can be requested for for 100 pieces (2 flavors) and above

*All details of weekly available flavors, order deadline and delivery date will be updated on this blog and on my facebook account!
* To contact me for enquiries or to place order, please email charlenefay83@gmail.com

From London with Love...

Laduree has gained a name for their little fluffs of heaven. These babies don't come cheap, probably because they are sold at the famed Harrods. Besides Pierre Herme's Macarons, Laduree is said to be one of the best in the world. 

Assorted Flavors of Macarons from Laduree

And so a very kind angel made a special trip to Harrods London, to buy me these little babies.. The verdict?They were gorgeous. The filling of these macarons were not at all scarce. And the texture, screams perfection. What made me even more delighted was the fact that they tasted exactly like those out of my very own oven!! Despite it being from Harrods, I was also delighted to see that the macarons were not perfectly round, or perfectly sculpted. It shows that fine taste, truly precedes looks. This simply means that I have truly mastered the art of making authentic Parisian macarons. 

Imperfections, is only what the eyes see, but not what the mouth tastes!

Filling Galore..

The only thing I could fault is the abundance of Marzipan in their filling which made it a little grainy. Marzipan is added to fillings to pump up the volume so that you don't have to use more of the actual expensive stuff! For instance, Chocolate! 

I can finally rest in peace. I sell macarons that rival those from Laduree. Next stop, Pierre Herme. Anyone going to Paris anytime soon? :D

Pretty packaging! I'm saving these for sentimental sake.

<a href="http://www.hypersmash.com">HyperSmash</a>

Heart Shaped Macarons

Macarons are always round for 2 reasons. 1. They are way easier to pipe and 2. Any other shape will risk you getting no feet!

But last Valentines day, by special request from a good friend's boutique, I tried my hands at heart shaped macarons. My first attempt did not turn out well. I tried pipping them into heart shaped moulds. Needless to say, they just blobed out and turned into a big mess the moment i took off the moulds. So there i learnt why macarons are always round.

But a promise was a promise and i had to make it work. So painstakingly, I sat through what was eternity pipping heart shaped macarons, one by one. It was the most excruciating ordeal. My fingers were numb by the end of the those 100 pieces. But oh well, it was Valentines day and I am certainly not a quiter, therefore I persevered.

The results.... were to die for...

Heart Shaped Macarons with White Choc Ganache

Even St Valentines would be jealous of not thinking of this before.. =)

Flavor your shells too!

I think what makes a macaron distinctively stand out is not by the way it looks. I admit being one of those "kiasu" ones who obsess over how much feet my macarons have, and if they are smooth and shiny on top. I have yet to curb the problem of sometimes oval macarons, but ahh, that's another story. =)

Many people think that the flavor of a macaron comes from the filling alone. Personally, i like to flavor my shells as well. For example, my chocolate macarons are flavored with real melted dark chocolate, my raspberry flavored ones, with raspberry puree ( unsweetened unadulterated puree).

Recently, i made Earl grey macarons. I have to say that this was one of those times i just stood in the kitchen and enjoyed the wafts emitting from my oven. The tea made the macarons fragrant and reminded me of having earl grey tea and scones in the evening. For the filling, i made a simple vanilla bean buttercream with butterscotch bits. The results? Divine!

Macarons are expensive for a reason. Good macarons are made out of top notch ingredients and alot of hardship, precision in temperature and measurements. Good macarons means never stinging on the whole process. So the next time you make macarons, make sure you take time to flavor your shells too!

A simple touch of adding cocoa powder, vanilla beans, hazelnuts or lemon peel will do the trick!

Sandwiched with the world's greatest mood lifter

Ask Macaronites all over the world what their favorite flavor is, and you can't go wrong with Chocolate. Because Macaron shells are naturally intoxicatingly sweet, you might want to balance out the filling to make sure it ties in the flavors. There are hundreds of chocolate brands in the market, but a choc ganache for macarons should be made with chocolate which consists of 60% cacao and above. The idea of eating unsweetened chocolate may not be inviting, but it's essential in this case to make sure what you are making is not a pretty blob of sugar. Also, chocolate which have higher content of milk or cocoa butter ( regular cooking chocolate you find in the stores) will not solidify easily. It will be runny and cakey and you won't achieve the smooth silky texture of a good chocolate ganache.

Chances are, if you compromise the quality of your chocolate, your choc macarons will be ruined. Don't worry too much about it being too bitter. Ganache is made with heated up whipped cream and whipped cream is naturally sweetened.

Another tip for making Chocolate ganache for macarons' filling, is to make them a day in advance and put them in the chiller. You want the compounds to gel together nicely so that they don't start melting in room temperature.

A french woman once told me, "you've got to respect your chocolate, treat it with love and care". And going by those words of wisdom, it's always worked wonders for me.

=)

Lights, camera, FLASH!!

Screening through the various pictures/concept of macaron photography over the net, i couldn't settle for the ideas i came across. Macro shots that showcase the details of the feet and piles of multicolored beauties just didn't make the cut for me. It felt almost impersonal, which was exactly the opposite of what my macarons were about.

While we were struggling to take pictures which did my work of art justice, my 2 year old nephew gravitated towards the kitchen, like a puppy sniffing out food. The rest was history. :) I not only found my perfect model to showcase my labor of love, but also a perfect storyboard to tell a story of a two year old boy, discovering macarons for the very first time..

Scheming..

Yay! I got one!

Oh my.. OH MY...

This is better than getting a set of Thomas the Train for Christmas!!!

This deserves two thumbs up!

One more please?

The only thing cuter than these colorful babies, were the pudgy thumbs of my nephew. They say kids don't lie. LOL!

By the way, the first word he learnt when he pointed at the fridge was, well you guessed it! MACAWOOOOOON!!!!!

=)

Macarons and Humidity

Macarons are temperamental fellas, really they are! They are worse than menopausing women, you never know when they're going to explode, flacid or go all funny on you..There's a hundred and one reason why they don't always turn out well every batch and after more than a year of making them, I am still learning it the hard way. Trial and error. Pfft!

The biggest enemy of a macaron, is humidity. I've researched countless of articles and blogs on the net, figuring out if humidity vs macaron's failure is just a old folks tale. There're endless battlefields comments on the issue of humidity. Some say it's bullshit, and some swears that it plays a part. But if you must know, I am solemnly convinced that humidity is the make or break of making macarons.

For instance, if it is a rainy day, your macarons would most probably not dry. For those of you who have embarked on the macaron journey, you would know how essential it is to dry your macarons (to a point of being able to touch the top of the batter without it sticking to your hands) before popping them into the oven. The normal drying process takes about 15 minutes to 40 minutes ( largely depending of the humidity in the air, hence rainy day, longer drying time). If your macarons do not dry on the table top in the given time, you might as well toss the whole batch into the trashcan. They will NOT rise in the oven, trust me on that.

Drying process ( before they are popped into the oven)

Macarons on a humid day

Or like these...

Alas, there is little that we can do since macarons are not made for our weather, or can we? In Malaysia, we can never tell when it is going to rain. The mere wet wind that blows before a storm is enough to disrupt the chemistry of baking these babies.

My little secret is to foolproof your baking environment (even while mixing the batter). To ensure that your macarons will not turn soggy or look like a volcano crater, make sure you close all the doors and windows on a cloudy/rainy day. Turn on the air conditioner as the air is normally dryer than usual, which is ideal for macaron baking. That would do the trick most definitely, and the outcome will look just like these...

Now this is what i call... Happy feet!!!

Journey of the les petites...

Granted these are not actual pictures of how my initial 60 or so attempts of making macarons looked like, but they look exactly like the failures i had in my very own kitchen. The frustration was unbelievable!

     -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is hard to believe that throughout these disasterous outcomes, B* and Kathy stood by me, and indulgingly tried every batch in the attempt to console me that I was one step closer to my goal. These days, my babies look like these.

Success, in this case, is truly sweet and colorful!

A Tribute to my humble beginnings...

This is a post I wrote not too long ago. Needless to say, what started as an obsession back then, is now my second income. Back then, a handful of people knew what macarons even looked like. Now, it's a craze, just like how the cupcake craze hit the town a couple of years ago.

I've come a long LONG way. It took me almost 1 year to get these babies right, and not to mention, make them one of the best in town! So this article, reminds me of my humble beginnings. It is also a solemn reminder to why i still slog away in the kitchen, and squat in front of the oven while saying a little prayer that each batch turns out pretty and perfect, so that my customers can coo at the beauty of these Parisian delights and enjoy each morsel with a new found wonder.

Because macarons to me, are not just some cookie. It is a labor of love...

 August 5, 2010

So The obssession is back. Yesterday, Chatty K texted me, "Guess what's in my car?" I started flabbergasting and felt sweat trickle down my back.

No it wasn't a cute puppy. No it wasn't SLASH, though it could have been since he was in town for concert last night. I did consider Jeevan in a snide way, because she said "what" and not "who". The only time Chatty K would refer to a person as an object is Jeevan. Sorry, no offense dude..

I was right, her brunch trip to see her french chef friend, meant french macaroons!. Glorious crispy fluffs of heaven. So Chatty K resumes to spoil my day by changing her mind every few seconds to whether she would come by and pass me my macaroons. And then she proceeds to test my patience by informing me that she has "shared" my macaroons with some people and popped a few in her mouth. She then insults the macaroons! Biatch... by saying they weren't that great.

9.30pm was hard to wait for. She finally pulled up, and I skipped towards her like Merry Lou and gasped at what she was holding. It wasn't 1, or 2, or even 5 macaroons. It was 12! The macaroons had feet ( tiny jagged edges), I smiled.. I took a bite, crispy yet light as air on the outside, sweet and tangy and soft on the inside. No eggy taste, perfectly shaped dome, pretty feet, ganache made with real vanilla beans! I was in heaven.

SO here's the thing. I gave up making macaroons about months ago. After my almost 40 odd failed attempts, I grew tired of scraping them sticky failures off my pan, wasting baking paper, and i told myself. They were JUST cookies, I can live without them. I was bitter because there is not one thing i cannot learn how to cook. And this little buggers, wouldn't even rise and look anything like how they were meant to look like.

After my salivating affair with Fred's macaroons last night,  I'm back with a reignited passion more than ever for these bite size fluffs of heaven.