Week 10 was another short week due to some weekend travels. Since I have some extra egg whites aging in the fridge, I thought I'd give another go at some macaron shells. Best case scenario, I'd have some treats to bring with me as some hostess gifts for the friends we would be staying with. But, of course, that was being overly optimistic. I decided to try out the Italian meringue method; my research suggested that this might be a slightly more stable and possibly less finicky method. Sugar work is not one of my strengths. This is likely partially related to equipment. At any rate, I didn't get the sugar to the right temperature and so it crystallized all over the mixing bowl instead of incorporating into the egg whites. Tried to salvage what I could, but the shells remained inconsistent at best. So much for my grand plans.
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| Lime, mint, and rum tartlets. Bottoms up! |
One of the highlights of the Chicago trip was the Pi(e) day party planned by my good friend, Liz. We had it a day early and the instructions to the guests was to bring some sort of pie. Since I had the luxury of staying with friends who had well-equipped kitchens, I planned on making some lime, mint, and rum tarts per Ottolenghi. These tartlets are so good. Basically a mojito in pie form. Just the right amount of tartness, too. Definitely a keeper.
Given our schedules, I wound up making the tartlets on Sunday morning out in the suburbs before we returned to Liz's for the pie party. There was a fair amount of mint and lime curd left over, as well as those extra egg whites, all of which screamed pavlova! A strawberry mojito pavlova was just the thing to leave with our friends in the suburbs as a parting gift for hosting us and letting me commandeer the kitchen for a few hours. JW procured some strawberries and whipping cream at the store, and I popped the meringue shell into the oven right before we headed back to the city, providing some instructions on assembly and serving. The finished product looked terrific, and I was told that it tasted pretty good, too.
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| Pi(e) Day spread |
So once again, I was able to meet my weekly baking training quota with relative ease despite traveling. We also had quite the spread of pizza pie and other pies. Good times all around.
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