Delicious food + LIGHTROOM (finally)

Just going to warn you, this post will just be a seemingly endless scroll of ALOT of photos that ive photographed previously, but now with LIGHTROOM EFFECTS! I finally got this amazing software thanks to my best friend Matt :) Thanks a lot mate!

Niko's cafe in Oakleigh. These treats were like $5-$6 each. But very much worth it, they were amazing. 

An old photo of macaroons i made. Chai and chocolate with baileys buttercream. 

 Midnight snack in between assignments. 

 This caramel slice was HEAVEN. It took me two hours to eat because i was savouring every crumb of it. 

 See that thick layer of chocolate ganache right in the middle of this chocolate cake??? Magical. 

Eric and i stopped walked past some memorial tombstones on the way back to chadstone. 

Its connnniiieeee wearing my hat and shirt.
You will probably have seen these photos on some of my other websites. I cant remember which ones i have and havent put up. (I dont keep count) But these are the lightroom edited versions. 

We got helium balloons for this shoot and almost lost them when they got caught in a tree!

I really need to update my photography on my other websites.... this blog is the only site i regularly update. Subscribe if you havent already!

From the first shoot i ever did! (Wow what a long time ago that was...)

Earl Grey Macarons

Im getting much better at baking these fickle little bastards. This would be my 5th batch by now. So far ive had 2 successful batches, and 3 failed. 

Batch 1: No piping bag. Macarons were all over the place! Also, the inside of the shell was wet and hollow. There was no smooth base on the bottom. 

Batch 2: Made over two nights. Big mistake. I let them sit for over 24 hours, and the "skin" that had formed was far too thick. As a result the "feet" were deformed :(

Batch 3: Vanilla chai and Baileys macarons. Success! Made for the lovely Jellis Craig folk. Never actually tasted one myself. I think the Baileys may have been too strong. 

Batch 4: Over beaten eggs, mixture not runny enough. Wrong consistency resulted in lumpy shaped macarons. 

Batch 5: Early Grey macarons. Success! Made for Matts family :) They all love Earl Grey. Yet to make buttercream .

The perfect macaron should be fragile, delicate, with a smooth dome, and "feet" at the bottom.  

 4 hours of baking and preparation resulted in this. Quite a small amount for such a great deal of work. 

Here is my two cents worth of advice, for all macaron bakers out there: 

1. Old egg whites. Everyone knows this rule when it comes to macarons!

2. You dont need soft peaks. Somewhere between no peaks, and soft peaks works best for me. 

3. When adding in the dry ingredients to the egg whites, add gradually and mix in. This way, you can determine the consistency, and stop adding if the consistency becomes too stiff. 

4. When in the oven, the "feet" will raise about 1cm, or more. Dont be alarmed and whip them out! As soon as you take them out, they will sink before your very eyes.
5. Dont squash the shells together when the buttercream/ganache has been piped or the inside of the macaron shells will break (trust me, youll hear it crack). Wiggle it gently, and it wont break. 

My own recipe which i know by heart: (Mostly in proportions)

125g caster sugar

125 icing sugar

125 almond meal

90g egg whites. 

Bake at 160 degrees celsius for 10 minutes. No longer. Otherwise the macarons will be tough and chewy. 

If you want to flavour or colour your macarons, you can use food dye. And you can use powdered flavouring. Eg: match (green tea), cocoa powder, nesquik strawberry milk flavour.... etc. Substitute powdered flavouring for some of the almond meal and icing sugar. 

Important note: 

What i find is that, the measurements do not need to be exact. More so, the balance between dry ingredients and the eggwhites has to be perfect. 

Too wet mixture = runny, thin, flat macarons. Too stiff mixture = lumpy macarons, no smooth shell. 

How to determine perfect consistency: The mixture should "ribbon" from your spatula. The "ribbons" should then dissolve within 30 seconds. 

Good luck everyone!

MACAROON SUCCESS! Vanilla Chai macarons and Baileys buttercream

Chai vanilla macaroons, with a Baileys buttercream. 

Matt, Macarons x2, and more red items

This is what ive been up to these holidays so far (apart from working full time at Jellis Craig). 

Exploring a new park. Matt with his snazzy new jacket.  

Macarons, second attempt. 

 Chocolate buttercream. Will definitely use a piping bag next time. 

The feet arent very good because i made these macarons over two evenings, as i didnt have enough time after work to make them in one go. 

My next macarons are gonna be: chai/chocoalte with baileys ganache. And green tea macarons. And dark chocolate mint macarons! For the lovely folk at Jellis Craig who have been very helpful and welcoming to me this past week!

 Macarons for Monicas 21st!

 New red leather plaited belt. This is sort of a dull red. I have all sorts of red in my wardrobe now.

 Red cloche. Been looking out for one of these for AGES! Finally i found one in a small shop near the office i work at!

Nonsense post

For some reason i have 40 pageveiws today, as opposed to the regular 10 or so. What the?

For whoever is out there reading... Here is a photo of me eating macaroon crumbs <3 Om nom.

I will be doing a model photoshoot with a friend called Monica in the coming weeks. We're planning a whimsical shoot. Dresses, parasols, the lot. Also, ill be putting up the stuff ive doodled on sketchbook pro, once ive created something that doesnt make me cringe when i look at it with a fresh perspective.

Randomness

Heres me sketching on my new iPad 2, with a capacative touchscreen stylus i made by wrapping a pencil in aluminium foil! App is Sketchbook Pro $9.99

I can only draw girls...

 Stylus up close. Cut off the end of a pencil, on a tapered angle. Smooth it off, and wrap the whole thing in aluminium foil. A capacative touchscreen works by detecting the static electric from the fingers/body. Aluminium is a conductive material. So the electrical impulses run from your hand, to the end of the pencil where the foil meets the touchscreen!

After work at Chadstone, i picked up more macaroons from the Lindt cafe. 

YUM. All those sprinkles on the top are crushed candy. 

My attempt at food photography. 

The almond meringue shells are often hollow! Which is why they crush so easily. Just eaten $10 worth of macaroons. Expensive little devils whom i hate/love. 

Macaroon/Macaron

Most people who know me, know just how much i love french macarons (in english, macaroons, not to be confused with the coconut macaroon). I was introduced to these last year. 

Theyre made of almond meringue biscuits with butter cream on the inside. My favourite macaroons are the strawberry ones from the Lindt cafe. 

These buggers are really pricey though. $2.70 each take away, and $3.50 dine in. 

Strawberry macaroon i got from the Lindt cafe at Chadstone. I ate the rest of them. 

The buttercream is very sweet. Dont eat if you dont like sweet stuff. 

They crush so easily. I bought four (cost me $10.80!!!!) And some were cracked from just being placed on the counter. So i ate the damaged ones and saved this one. You only have to bite down halfway before the whole thing is in pieces. Yum though :)

The smart thing to do would be to make my own macaroons. But talk to anyone who has cooked them and youll realise why theyre so expensive. Theyre devilishly tricky to make. Even very experienced cooks dont get them correct even after a few tries. Very temperamental and sensitive. So i have no chance of making decent macaroons seeing as i cant even cook a pancake properly (why do they bubble??). I will attempt one day. 

Snacks

This was not nearly enough to satisfy me, but a decent snack. My mum cooks awesome teriyaki chicken. Yum.

Vanilla chai

This chai latte is amazing. Just microwave a cup of milk for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Stir in 3 spoonfuls of the powder, and you have cafe style chai latte!
Arkadia Chai Latte Vanilla, Cafe Style. 

Snacks

This puts me in a good mood. Nuff said.