Masterchef inspired lots of us to make things we had never made before. A few weeks ago, I attempted the art of macarons. Having just bought the latest edition of the Australian Gourmet Traveller because of it's gorgeous looking macarons on the front cover, I was keen to give them a go. Although, for some stupid reason I decided I was going to make them at 8.30 at night, which meant I was rather rushed. But I figured, if the Masterchef contestants could make macarons, pannacotta and a passionfruit slick all within 1.5 hours, surely I could do it too!

The Australia Gourmet Traveller website has a lovely history of macarons, if you wish to read, click here.
I ran out of time that night, so I had to make the raspberry ganache the following day and sandwich the macarons together.

They aren't the best looking macaroons, they were meant to look like this:

But for my first attempt they had the gooey centre and the macaron taste. I know alot of people that have thrown out their first batches of macarons so I was stoked that most of mine worked out! The hardest part was sifting the icing sugar and almond meal 3 times. Almond meal is very hard to sift, so my arms got a nice work out.

Next batch mine will look like the picture and I will take a photo to show you all, but for now, it's on with the recipe!

Macarons with White Chocolate & Raspberry Ganache
Alice Storey

130g pure icing sugar
110g almond meal
105g eggwhites (about 2), at room temperature, left out overnight
65g caster sugar
4-5 drops rose food colouring

White Chocolate & Raspberry Ganache
50ml pouring cream
100g white chocolate
45g raspberries, coarsley chopped

1. Process icing sugar and almond meal in a food processor until finely ground, triple-sift into a large bowl and set aside. Whisk 90gm eggwhite in an electric mixer until soft peaks form (1-2 minutes). Add caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously until incorporated and mixture is thick and glossy (2-3 minutes), then add food colouring. Stir in almond mixture in batches until incorporated and mixture slowly slides down sides of bowl when bowl is tilted. Add remaining eggwhite to loosen mixture, spoon into a piping bag with a 1cm plain nozzle, pipe 3cm-diameter rounds of mixture onto heavy baking-paper-lined oven trays, stand until a crust begins to form (4-5 hours).

2. Preheat oven to 140C. Bake macarons until firm but not coloured, swapping trays halfway through cooking (10-12 minutes), set aside, cool completely on trays.

3. Meanwhile, for white chocolate and raspberry ganache, bring cream just to the boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, add chocolate, stand until melted (5 minutes), stir until smooth and glossy. Refrigerate until firm yet still pliable (45 minutes-1 hour) then stir until smooth. Add raspberries, stir to form a ripple effect, then spoon a teaspoon of ganache onto half the macarons. Sandwich with remaining macarons and refrigerate until set. Macarons will keep for 1-2 days refrigerated in an airtight container.


Serves 40.

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This month's weird food is yet another food that should not belong in a can..... bread.
There is nothing better than a fresh loaf of bread. Especially the light fluffy centre and crispy crust. Nothing compares to a fresh slice or a fresh roll does it?

.... think again!

What would make you want to eat this? Sure the picture on the can doesn't look too bad, I mean I wouldn't even mind trying it based on the picture on the can. But it wasn't until I saw this picture that made me change my mind..

Kinda just looks like cake, but I'm not too sure. I wouldn't mind giving this one a taste, but one of the results was: "Is this more prison food?"
There was quite alot of good feedback, including "Once it's heated up, though, it's not bad at all. More like a really bland muffin than bread."

Would you try this one??

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Today was a day of amazing food, delicious local and imported wine and fabulous company.
We set out for a trip down to the Yarra Valley to celebrate Alana's birthday. With lots of wineries only offering extremely high priced set menus on a Sunday, the birthday girl found a lovely place that didn't send us broke; Zonzo restaurant at Train Trak.

On a Sunday, the busiest day of the week, there were only 2 options; order a la carte or a sharing menu at $40 per head. As there were 7 of us, we weren't too sure what to do. We wanted pizzas, but pizzas weren't on the a la carte menu, so we did a silent ballot to decide. It was 6 for the sharing menu and 1 for the a la carte, so we went with the sharing menu. The good thing about the sharing menu meant, all you can eat pizza, so we knew we could get our money's worth.

The Moscato wine was Tristan's pick and it was just amazing! Very fruity, sweet with a light fizz was a nice wine to accompany everything.
The dining room was very open with gorgeous views of the vineyard and cascading countryside, allowing lots of natural light in, almost giving the illusion of eating outside.
We received 2 antipasto platters with delicious fresh produce, including proscuitto, artichokes, zucchinis, olives, a selection of cheese, eggplant, onions, pancetta and the most amazing semi-sundried tomatoes I've ever tasted. They were rather sweet and just divine! To accompany the platters, we received fresh bread and 2 salads.


I cannot express in words how amazing these pizzas were. But I will say, for me to find the perfect pizza it's very hard. These were just perfect, thin crispy base, loaded but not overloaded with fresh napoli sauce, fresh herbs and fresh toppings. The flavours were just bliss for the tastebuds! ... ok I think you might get how good they were now.

Service was very attentive throughout our dining experience. The views and company definitely helped us enjoy such a delicious menu. I really look forward to returning here again to gobble my way through the rest of the menu!

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