New Chérie Kelly Website! www.cheriekelly.co.uk

If you are following my facebook or instagram, you would know I have made a new logo and website! It has been a bit more than 2 years since I started Chérie Kelly here in blogger, I first started blogging about making cakes and pâtisseries as a hobby, later found my strong interest in sugarcraft cake decorating, and lately extended my passion to flower arrangements!

I was sorting out the images for my new website's gallery, I realised I have got such a large varieties of cakes portfolio - thank you so much for all your support! I felt like it was about time to give a new and more professional look to my site, as well as to include "flowers" to Chérie Kelly!

All updates and blog posts are moved, please visit and bookmark my new website www.cheriekelly.co.uk , oh and please follow me on facebook or instagram :)

See you there xoxo

中秋節兔子燈籠 Rabbit Lantern Macarons

"Falling on the 15th day of the 8th month according to the Chinese lunar calendar, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the second grandest festival after the Spring Festival in China. It takes its name from the fact that it is always celebrated in the middle of the autumn season. The day is also known as the Moon Festival, as at that time of the year the moon is at its roundest and brightest. Many traditional and meaningful celebrations are widely held, like having dinner with family, making mooncakes, and lighting up lanterns Families will sit together and contemplate the moon, savoring the company of those around them and thinking of relatives or loved ones in far away places.."

Instead of making some snowskin mooncake I originally planned for this year's Moon/Mid-Autumn Festival, (I forgot to order the mooncake mould on time..and my parents got me too much mooncake..) I made and decorated some macarons in the shape of tradional rabbit lanterns :)

Wish you and your family a happy Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節快樂 !

Inspiration from this tradional rabbit lantern:

中秋節兔子燈籠 Rabbit Lantern Macarons

Ingredients

For the macaron shells 

(makes around 12 sandwiched macarons)
90g grounded almond
120g icing sugar
a pinch of salt
75g aged egg whites
1/2 teaspoon egg white powder
75g sugar

For the hazelnut ganache

100g dark chocolate
100g hazelnut praline paste or Nutella
90g whipping cream

For decoration

1 egg white
225g icing sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
pink, yellow, green and black food colouring

Utensils

2cm plain nozzle
0.5cm plain nozzle
silicone baking mat / baking paper

Methods

To make macaron shells

1. Put the grounded almond, icing sugar and salt in a food processor, pulse several times for a few seconds each to combine them. Sift them into a large bowl and set aside.
2. Whisk together the egg white and egg white powder on medium speed until soft peak.
3. Add the sugar gradually and keep whisking until the meringue is glossy and stiff. Add in the food colouring.
4. Fold the dry ingredients quickly into the meringue with a spatula, try to fold as less strokes as possible and avoid over-fold the mixture.

5. Spoon the 95% of the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 2cm plain nozzle and pipe the rabbit bodies onto parchment paper. You can print out and use this rabbit macarons piping template onto a A4 paper for your guide.

6. Put the remaining 5% of the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a small 0.5cm plain nozzle and pipe the ears and tails touching the edge on the bodies onto parchment paper. Remove the template.
7. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until a skin forms that does not stick onto your finger.
8. Bake the macarons on the lowest shelf in preheated oven between 160 degree for 15 mintues, rotate the tray 180 degree half-way during baking.
9. Remove the macaron shells from the oven and tray, place the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

To make the hazelnut ganache 

1. Break the chocolate into pieces and put into a bowl. Send to the microwave to melt for 60 seconds and stir until the chocolate completely melted.
2. Boil the cream and pour about a third at a time onto the melted chocolate, keep mixing and add in the hazelnut praline paste or Nutella until well combined.
3. Allow the ganache mixture to cool. Press clingfilm onto the surface of the ganache and refrigerate until thick enough to pipe.

To make the royal icing

1. Put the egg white in a grease-free mixing bowl, beat with a hand-held electric mixer until frothy.
2. Add in icing sugar gradually, beat on high speed, add in lemon juice, and whisk until icing is very thick and glossy, about 5 minutes.
3. Divide into a few bowls for different colour, add food coloring and mix well with a teaspoon.
4. Fill the different coloured royal icing in different piping bags.

To assemble the macarons

1. Spoon the ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a 1cm plain tip. Pipe a generous round onto a shell, then top with another shell, twisting lightly so that the filling spreads and bulges enticingly.
2. Gently pipe some royal icing or melted chocolate for the rabbits' eyes and body decoration.
3. Store the macarons covered in the fridge for at least 24 hours to allow the inside of the macaron shells to soften.
4. Bring back to room temperature before serving.

Engagement Party Dessert Table

Designing and making dessert table platters is so fun especially as there are several different elements, they look cute and pretty when they are put together. I was honoured to make this dessert table for my dear friend's engagement party. With coconut pineapple cake, mini spring fruit tarts, pistachio and chocolate macarons, passionfruit gelee and strawberry mousse with coconut panna cotta mini dessert pods. 

The coconut pineapple cake was decorated with some swirly rustic frosting and sugar peony. I like the mini dessert pods in different coloured layers :). The mini tarts were with creme patissiere filling which was the best match with the spring fruits and tarts. The most popular macarons were the pistachio and chocolate flavours. 

 Congratulations to the sweet couples, I am so happy about their engagement xxx

❤ A Little Treat for You ❤

If you are reading this, I believe we enjoy doing something similar - baking and cake decorating! I would also like to thank you for visiting this space, here is a little gift for you - a discount voucher to shop in Cake Craft World  ❤ which of course you can share with your friends and family : )

They do a very wide range of items, from piping bags, nozzles, cupcake cases to food colouring gels, baking tins, fondant and all kind of baking and cake decorating tools. I get my supplies from them : ) you can order your items online, they do next day and international delivery : )

Have fun shopping and making cakes! & stay warm xoxo

Homemade Teddy Bear Chocolate Marshmallows ( 'ェ' )

I have seen comments about how homemade marshmallows taste so much better than store-bought one, I totally agree after I made some myself, the homemade ones are so much softer, more fluffy, more airy and less sweet! These yummy springy pillow-soft marshmallows are very easy to make, the longer you whisk the mixture the more fluffy the marshmallows are, a stand mixer really helps : )

Chocolate Marshmallows

Ingredients

Marshmallow Dusting

2 tbsp confectioners sugar
2 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Gelatin Mixture

24g powered gelatin
90ml water
2 tbsp vanilla bean extract
2 tbsp chocolate extract

Sugar Syrup

310g sugar
90ml water
150ml light corn syrup (you can find this from American grocery)
1/4 tsp salt

Cocoa paste

30g cocoa powder
60ml hot water

Utensils

8 inches square tin
cookie cutters
candy thermometer

Method

1. Grease and line the tin with baking parchment, lightly dust with marshmallow dusting.

2. Fit a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Put the water and extract in the mixing bowl, sprinkle the powdered gelatin over the liquid to soften.
3. Put the water, sugar, salt and light corn syrup in a heavy saucepan, bring to a boil with the lid on and without stirring. Remove the lid When the sugar syrup starts to boil, continue to cook without stirring until it reaches 115C.

4. Attached the splash guard to the mixing bowl, Carefully pour 1/4 of the hot sugar syrup into the gelatin mixture, whisk at low speed for half a min until the gelatin are dissolved. Pause and pour in the remaining hot sugar syrup, whisk the mixture at medium speed for a min, then bring to high speed and whisk for 10 mins until the marshmallow is stiff and fluffy.

5. In a small bowl, dissolve the cocoa powder with hot water. Stir in 4 tablespoon of the marshmallow mixture and mix until incorporated.
6. Add the cocoa mixture back into the marshmallow, slightly fold them together to create a marble effect.
7. Pour the cocoa marshmallow mixture into the prepared tin, smooth the top with a knife.

8. Allow the mixture to sit uncovered at room temp for 12 hours. Do not refrigerate the marshmallows.
9. Turn the marshmallow out onto a dusted cutting board, peel off paper and dust with more marshmallow dusting.

10. Dip cookie cutters with some marshmallow dusting and cut marshmallow out into desired shape.

11. Store marshmallows in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to 2 week. Enjoy!

Black Forest Gâteau with Russian Doll Macarons

This is a recent birthday cake I made for Nandita's friend Shirin, the idea was to have a doll topper on a Black Forest Cake, but sugarpaste/fondant toppers melt when sitting on fresh cream, so I made the dolls in macarons instead!

Although it  was a large cake, Nandita told me it was gone in minutes :-D

I think the Russian Doll macarons look very cute here, a bit like Little Red Riding Hood in the Black Forest :-P

The macarons were made by the same method I use for the teddy bear macarons, I piped them free-handed with a plain nozzle joining two circles together, then draw the face and flowers with chocolate and royal icing.

Sandwich them with chocolate ganache

and the whole little family is done double-sided :)

Teddy Bear Chocolate Macarons ♥

I had wanted to make these cute little bear macarons, finally got some chance to make them now :) French Meringue method really helps piping the tiny ears out easily. I definitely will try make some other shapes/animals next time :-D

Little Bear Chocolate Macarons

Ingredients

For the macaron shells 

(makes around 40-44 macaron shells, 20 sandwiched macarons for each flavour)
90g grounded almond
120g icing sugar
a pinch of salt
75g aged egg whites
1/2 teaspoon egg white powder
75g sugar
Few drops of food coloring gel (colours of your choice, I used brown here)

For the chocolate ganache

125g best-quality milk/dark chocolate
90g whipping cream

For decoration

20g melted dark chocolate
20g royal icing/melted white chocolate

Methods

To make macaron shells

1. Put the grounded almond, icing sugar and salt in a food processor, pulse several times for a few seconds each to combine them. Sift them into a large bowl and set aside.
2. Whisk together the egg white and egg white powder on medium speed until soft peak.
3. Add the sugar gradually and keep whisking until the meringue is glossy and stiff. Add in the food colouring.
4. Fold the dry ingredients quickly into the meringue with a spatula, try to fold as less strokes as possible and avoid over-fold the mixture.

5. Spoon the 95% of the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 2cm plain nozzle and pipe the faces onto parchment paper. You can print out this bear macarons piping template onto a A4 paper for your guide.
6. Put the remaining 5% of the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a small 0.5cm plain nozzle and pipe the ears touching the edge on the faces onto parchment paper.
7. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until a skin forms that does not stick onto your finger.
8. Bake the macarons in preheated oven between 160 degree for 15 mintues, rotate the tray 180 degree half-way during baking.
9. Remove the macaron shells from the oven and tray, place the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

To make the chocolate ganache 

1. Break the chocolate into pieces and put into a bowl. Send to the microwave to melt for 60 seconds and stir until the chocolate completely melted.
2. Boil the cream and pour about a third at a time onto the melted chocolate, keep mixing and add in the extract until well combined.
3. Allow the ganache mixture to cool. Press clingfilm onto the surface of the ganache and refrigerate until thick enough to pipe.

To assemble the macarons

1. Spoon the ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a 1cm plain tip. Pipe a generous round onto a shell, then top with another shell, twisting lightly so that the filling spreads and bulges enticingly.
2. Gently pipe some royal icing or melted chocolate for the bears' eyes and mouths.
3. Store the macarons covered in the fridge for at least 24 hours to allow the inside of the macaron shells to soften.
4. Bring back to room temperature before eating.

Cherry Blossom, Rose, Jasmine & Earl Grey Macarons

I am going to feature a pretty month of delicate cherry blossoms and springtime blooms with pastel colors sweets ✿
I often need to make larger quantities when making macarons by the Italian Meringue (Sugar Syrup) Method to generate better result for the shinier consistency. It seems switching to the French Meringue (Incorporate "Cold" Sugar) Method can make smaller quantities that generate a very close result and taste. I prefer the Italian Meringue Method for smoother macaron shells, and the French Meringue Method for easier and smaller quantities :-P These Cherry Blossom, Rose, Jasmine & Earl Grey Macarons were made by the French Meringue Method with fragrant flowery ganache filling ✿

Cherry Blossom, Rose, Jasmine & Earl Grey Macarons

Ingredients

For the macaron shells 

(makes around 40-44 macaron shells, 20 sandwiched macarons for each flavour; you will need 4 times of the following quantities for 4 different flavours)
10g pickled cherry blossoms (optional)
90g grounded almond
120g icing sugar
a pinch of salt
75g aged egg whites
1/2 teaspoon egg white powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
75g sugar
Few drops of food coloring gel (colours of your choice)

For the cherry blossoms/rose/jasmine ganache

125g best-quality white chocolate
90g whipping cream
2 tablespoons cherry blossoms/rose/jasmine extract

For the earl grey tea ganache

125g best-quality white chocolate
90g whipping cream
4 earl grey tea bags

Methods

To make macaron shells

1. Soak the pickled cherry blossoms for at least 5 hours to remove the salt, gently dry them with kitchen paper, or in the oven funder low temperature for a few minutes. Set aside.

2. Put the grounded almond, icing sugar and salt in a food processor, pulse several times for a few seconds each to combine them. Sift them into a large bowl and set aside.
3. Whisk together the egg white, egg white powder and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peak.
4. Add the sugar gradually and keep whisking until the meringue is glossy and stiff. Add in the food colouring.

5. Fold the dry ingredients quickly into the meringue with a spatula, try to fold as less strokes as possible and avoid over-fold the mixture.

6. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle and pipe rounds of 7cm with 2cm gaps apart from each other onto parchment paper. Gently put the dried cherry blossoms onto the shells.

7. Set aside for about 30 minutes or until a skin forms that does not stick onto your finger.
8. Bake the macarons in preheated oven between 160-180 degree for 15 mintues, rotate the tray 180 degree half-way during baking.
9. Remove the macaron shells from the oven and tray, place the parchment onto the work surface and let cool completely before removing the shells.

To make the cherry blossoms/rose/jasmine ganache 

1. Break the white chocolate into pieces and put into a bowl. Send to the microwave to melt for 60 seconds and stir until the chocolate completely melted.
2. Boil the cream and pour about a third at a time onto the melted chocolate, keep mixing and add in the extract until well combined.
3. Allow the ganache mixture to cool. Press clingfilm onto the surface of the ganache and refrigerate until thick enough to pipe.

To make the earl grey tea ganache 

1. Break the white chocolate into pieces and put into a bowl. Send to the microwave to melt for 60 seconds and stir until the chocolate completely melted.
2. Bring the cream and tea to boil in a small saucepan, let it infuse for at least 5 minutes, then press the tea bags to extract as much flavour as possible, remove the tea bags from the cream.
3. Immediately pour the cream onto the melted chocolate, keep mixing until well combined.
3. Allow the ganache mixture to cool. Press clingfilm onto the surface of the ganache and refrigerate until thick enough to pipe.

To assemble the macarons

1. Spoon the ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a 1cm plain tip. Pipe a generous round onto a shell, then top with another shell, twisting lightly so that the filling spreads and bulges enticingly.
2. Store the macarons covered in the fridge for at least 24 hours to allow the inside of the macaron shells to soften.
3. Bring back to room temperature before eating.

Vanilla Meringue Kisses

I had 3 egg whites left after making custard, by coincidence I then saw pictures of Meringue Kisses on the internet, I made these elegant little meringues straight away ✽

Meringue Kisses

makes 100 meringues

Ingredients

3 large egg whites

Pinch of salt

90g caster sugar

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste/extract

90g icing sugar, sifted

Pastel pink and lilac liquid food colour (or colours of your choice)

Equipments

plastic piping bag

star piping nozzle

Method

1. Preheat oven to 80°C. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper. 

2. Whisk egg whites and pinch of salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed. 

3. Sprinkle the sugar into the mixture gradually when the whites thicken. Be careful not to over-whisk. 

4. Add the vanilla bean paste/extract and gently fold in the icing sugar using a rubber spatula. 

5. Divide the mixture into 3 bowls. One bowl white as it is, mix the second bowl with pink food colour and the third with lilac food colour. 

6. Place a star nozzle in a piping bag, fill with the first bowl white coloured mixture. 

7. Pipe little stars onto the lined baking trays.

8. Repeat steps 6-7 for the remaining pastel coloured mixture.

9. Place in the preheated oven for 2 hours or until they have dried out.

Vanilla Macarons with Blackberries and Raspberries

I havent made macarons for 'a while' and would like it to be a bit different, I personally really like the combination of raspberries, lychee and rose buttercream from the Ispahan, this time trying to be simpler and make it taste like Eton Mess ;) when blackberries, raspberries, vanilla ganache and macaron shells go so well together ✿

Vanilla Macarons with Blackberries and Raspberries

Ingredients 

For the macaron shells

300g icing sugar
150g ground almonds
150g ground hazelnuts
220g egg whites at room temperature, aged 7 days
4.5g purple food colouring
75 ml water
300g sugar

For the vanilla ganache

400g white chocolate
300g whipping cream
3 tbsp vanilla bean paste

Method

To make the shells

1. Sift the almond flour and icing sugar in a big bowl. Add first half of egg whites (110g) to the almond/sugar mixture, mix in the food colouring to form a thick almond paste.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar, bring to a boil until it reaches 118'C. Meanwhile, place the second half of egg whites in the bowl. When the sugar syrup is at 115'C start whisk the whites on high speed until they reach soft peaks.
3. Gently pour the sugar syrup at 118'C over the egg whites. Whisk on low speed until the temperature of the mixture drops to 50'C.
4. Fold the meringue into the almond-sugar-egg white mixture until it is well-combined. Place in a large pastry bag with a plain 1cm tip.
5. Place parchment paper on 4 baking trays and use a pencil to draw 3.5 inches circles to cover the surface with 0.5 inch in between. You should have around 12 circles on each parchment papers. Turn over the paper so the pencil marks won't transfer to the meringues.
6. Pipe rounds of the meringue dough onto the prepared parchment paper. Leave the meringues out at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to form a thin 'crust' over their surface during the rest.
7. Preheat the oven to 165C. Bake the meringues for 12-15 minutes. Open the oven door quickly-twice during cooking. When the macaron shells are cooked slide the parchment paper onto a work surface and leave them to cool.

For the vanilla ganache

1. Add vanilla bean paste to the heavy cream, bring to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat. Cover and let infuse 30 minutes.
2. Place the chopped white chocolate in a bowl and melt over simmering water or in microwave. Pour the mixture over the melted chocolate in three addition. Mix until smooth, cover with plastic wrap and let it cool in the refrigerator.

Assemble the macarons

1. Place the vanilla ganache in a pastry bag equipped with a plain tip. Pipe the vanilla ganache to fill the 80% of the macaron shell, place blackberries and raspberries onto the shell, then pipe the other half with the ganache and cover the berries to make a sandwich.
2. Refrigerate in a sealed box for 24 hours. Let them come to room temperature before enjoying them.

Baby Girl Shower Cake and Macarons

Apart from wedding cakes, I always wanted to make baby shower cakes. I was thinking maybe I could just decorate a dummy one (a cake-shaped foam for display use) just for fun, but it would be a bit of a waste. Then a few weeks ago, Kristina came to me and asked if she could place an order to me for a baby shower cake, I was soooo over the moon and got extremely excited. My dream totally came true!!

Kristina and her friends were planning to throw a surprise baby shower party for Eileen. I was amazed at the level of detail that Kristina had gone to for the baby shower when she showed me a bit of her email; restaurant, flowers, helium balloons, centerpiece, teddy bears, baby clothes, ribbons, cards, decorations, candy boxes with tags, cake and favours and on an on! She told me baby shower is a big thing in America. I was honoured to help make the cake and favours. There was a pink and brown theme, we discussed a few ideas for the cake, teddy bear and shopping chic would be the final design. For the favours, Kristina suggested macarons to be more English : ) she definitely got me as excited as her, especially there were a lot of funny stories in between, especially how to get Eileen to the party! :-P We were all very glad Eileen enjoyed and liked the baby shower very much ♫

My first draft for the design of the cake, we scaled down to 1 tier cake and macarons was more than enough.

I started making bits and pieces a week in advance, made the chocolate cake with pink vanilla and brown chocolate sponge layers with buttercream the day before, I enjoyed putting everything together the most in the end.

Macarons have been very successful recently without any cracks.

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❤  May God bless Eileen and her baby girl , may you both be happy and healthy  ❤

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