#52: Durian Small Cakes

Durian is now in season and I knew I had to make something out of it.  I was thinking about making durian muffin but then I came across the recipe and decided to try it. Bought some durian from Hypermart, the durian wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Wasn't that sweet and the aroma wasn't strong enough. The recipe calls for 300g of durian flesh, I put almost 500g of it. I accidentally overwhipped the cream while I was checking out my blackberry. I should refrain from doing it the next time I bake. But it didn't really matter I guessed, so I kept going and fold it to the mixture. The custard was too runny so it was a bit hard to assemble the cakes - but it will set after keeping them in the fridge for hours. I was happy with the result but friends told me that it's lacking the durian taste and a bit too creamy (I guess it  was because I overwhipped the cream). Well to me it was good but not great - but it's worth another try I guess. I'm going to look for a great real durian - I'm a noob in choosing great durian.

#51: Strawberry French Macarons

I am not a fan of macarons but I was obsessed with making them. First time I and Shirlyn baked them, they tasted good but had the wrong texture - they weren't smooth and pretty. So I decided to give it another try but with different recipe. I was careless in the first try. The recipe calls for 3 egg whites and I had 4 egg whites stored in the fridge. I guess another extra of egg white would be just okay. Turned out how wrong I was. The batter was so runny and would not set after 30 minutes standing. It was a disaster I threw them all in the bin.
Then I tried once again, this time I was really careful. I had a hard time trying to sieve the almond meal so I would have perfect smooth macaron skins. The batter looked great, the macarons got their "feet" when they started to rise in the oven. I was happy but when I took them out from the oven, their color was too pale and burnt a bit. I also noticed the "feet" were too big and messy they didn't look good but I kept going anyway. I sandwiched them with strawberry jam, gave it a try and they didn't taste good. They were eatable though. Next time I'm gonna try making macarons the Italian way - which is to boil the batter in a pot with the right temperature. I heard that the method was fail-proof. But not anytime soon since these macarons brought me down :(

#50: Custard Fruit Flan

Had problems with the pastry. It was too thick. Everything else is good. :)