Powder Puffs
I hope everyone has had an enjoyable weekend. It’s been very cool here. We did a little fall/winter clothes shopping yesterday with the kids. Justice had a pretty good little sale on and Matthew managed to get some nice shirts on sale at Abercrombie. Jamie doesn’t like clothes so he could care less if he has anything to wear or not. We also picked up a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid:) My friend Amanda said she has one and she’s never bought ground beef from the store since. So that’s what Paul and I did this afternoon:) I don’t think it was cheaper but we know exactly what is going into it and it really came out nice. I’m making meatloaf with it right now. I’m really hoping for a great result:)
Have any of you ever watched the new “Cooking Channel”? I have found a new series I really enjoy called French Cooking at Home. A while back they aired an episode (and then again yesterday) where she made these beautiful little cookie/cakes called Powder Puffs. This afternoon, I made them:) Oh I am so glad I did! Can I tell you?!? Paul and I agreed that they reminded us so much of the cream scones we used to get when we lived in Abbey Wood (SE London). There was this bakery across the road from our flat and you had to get there super early to get them. They were so so worth it though. These are in no way a scone — they are more like round lady fingers with the fresh whipped cream and raspberry jam…. I’m going to dream about these tonight;) I hope yall give them a try. ENJOY!
OK, HERE’S What You Need:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn starch
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
3/4 cup caster sugar (I just used regular granulated)
1/2 cup raspberry jam
whipping cream for the filling –
**** 2 cups whipping cream
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 T. vanilla
HERE’S What You Do:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, and baking soda into a bowl. Separate the eggs into two bowls. Beat the whites to soft peaks. Add the sugar to the egg whites in 3 stages, beating after each addition to make a stiff, glossy meringue. Whisk in the egg yolks, 1 at a time. Sift the dry ingredients together, then sift them over the egg mixture, and fold them in with the whisk, without beating or you’ll lose volume.
Pipe or drop by tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving room between them so they can spread. Bake until lightly golden, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the cakes to a rack to cool. They will harden slightly as they cool.
Sandwich the rounds together with raspberry jam and sweetened and vanilla-flavored whipped cream. Let the sweets sit an hour or so to soften before serving.
The cookies/cakes come out light as air. I put my raspberry jam into a bowl and stirred it up real good so it wouldn’t lump and be smooth enough to just spread on. The show didn’t say how to do the whipped cream so I just threw it together and man it’s good:) Whisk your whipping cream, sugar and vanilla together til it’s good and fluffy:) Be liberal with your spreading it on. Top it off with another cookie and moosh it just a bit:) YUM!!
