Angry Birds Piggy French Macarons

My Little Boy is a big fan of Angry Birds.  He loves the game, the stories, and anything that relates to it.  I guess his admiration level on Angry Birds can compare to my Baby Girl’s love for Hello Kitty.  And you can imagine, my whole house is filled with birds and kitties…well, and pigs, specifically the pigs from Angry Birds.  If you know the “story” of the Angry Birds, you know these piggies are actually the “bag guys”!    hahaha….so I think it’s okay to eat them up?



Why Angry Bird Piggy Macarons?  Well, it happened in an ordinary afternoon….my Little Boy was enjoying his Chocolate Mint French Macarons. Then, he simply asked me if I can make them into Angry Bird Piggy macarons!  Maybe the green colors of the mints macarons reminds him of these piggies?  Of course I had to say yes.  So, here we go!  Angry Bird Piggy Chocolate Mint French Macarons were born!  It’s so nice that my kids always give me recipe inspiration and what to create next.  It’s actually quite fun to play with and decorate the macarons and turn them into something unexpected!  So, I have many more requests from the kids on what to make after these!



To decorate these little piggies, I simply piped some melted white chocolate to create the eyes, and attached some black sprinkles as the eyeballs.  Then, I tinted the white chocolate with a little green food coloring for the snouts and ears.  I used these candy decorating pen to draw the eyebrows and crown (for the King Pig), and that was quick and easy.  I hope that you’re inspire to create some fun characters for your next baking project, too.



What is your favorite cartoon or video game characters?  Leave me a comment below if you’re interested to see if I can turn your favorite characters into a yummy treat!  I guess I’m addicted to make character French Macarons now!   I can’t wait to hear your requests!

If you’re interested, click here, here, here, here, here, here and here to see some of my precious specially shaped macaron creations! 

Strawberry Macaron Flower Pops

Last week, I made these Strawberry Macaron Flower Pops for someone’s house warming party.  I think they made quite an unique and elegant centerpiece.  Don’t you agree? Best of all, they can also double duty as dessert for the gathering.  How cool is that?  If you have medium size glasses or vase, fill them up with sugar and you can easily arrange the flower pops on top, pretty much like arranging real flowers (I made myself sound like an expert in arranging real flowers while I had close to zero experience on that subject matter! ha!) 



I absolutely adore how cute these flower pops turned out.  You can check out the Strawberry macaron shells recipe here.  But instead of piping them in circles, I piped some in flower shapes.  Once the macaron shells are baked, simply pipe the strawberry buttercream fillings onto one shell, gently press a lollipop stick in the middle and press on another macaron shell.  (I used these lollipop sticks.) Then, your Strawberry Macaron Flower Pops are ready for display and admiration! 



Besides house warming parties, I think these flower pops are also perfect for bridal showers, tea parties, weddings, to celebrate Spring, or simply, just because.  My little girl love them and she was so excited when she saw these pops!  The smile and excitement on her face was precious!  So, make some flower pops, and make someone happy.  The satisfaction and happiness you’ll receive in return are priceless!   

Last but not least, I want to wish you all a wonderful Easter weekend!

Tangerine Macarons and Happy Chinese New Year (大吉大利馬卡龍+恭喜發財)

January 31st marks the first day of Chinese New Year (CNY).  I’ve been busy baking, cooking, and testing out new recipes while re-visiting some of my all time favorite traditional Chinese New Year must haves.  To celebrate the occasion, I baked these Tangerine Macarons (大吉大利馬卡龍).  The pronunciation of tangerine in Chinese (大吉) sounds exactly like lucky, or fortune as well.  That’s the reason why tangerine is one of the symbols, and must-have's, for CNY celebration.



We have some relatives visiting us from overseas, so, I’ll keep this post nice and short.   I’ll try to post the recipe for these macarons on a later day, so please stay tuned.  Meanwhile, please check out other delectable CNY recipes at the bottom of this post if you’re interested.  As we say goodbye to the Year of Snake and welcome the Year of Horse this Chinese New Year, I want to wish you all good health, great fortune and have a wonderful celebration with your family and loved ones.  祝大家身體健康, 龍馬精神, 大吉大利, 與家人和親友有一個美好的時光。







Traditional Chinese New Year Recipes:

1) Chicken Pot Stickers:
The crescent shape of these Pot Stickers resembles the shape of a traditional gold nugget, in Chinese called (元寶). The dumplings represent wealth for the family.  (Please click here for the recipe and video demonstration)




2) Coconut and Azuki (Red Bean) Glutinous Rice Cake 椰汁紅豆糯米糕:
Rice Cake in Chinese (年糕) sounds exactly like "grow (taller) every year", these rice cakes symbolize growth and improvement for the year to come.  (Please click here for the recipe.)





3) Vegetarian Chop-Suey (羅漢齋):
As we enjoy many meat and fish dishes for the Chinese New Year, this Vegetarian Chop-Suey (羅漢齋) is a must have to balance out the diet.  (Please click here for the recipe)





4) Matcha Shortbread Cookies (抹茶酥餅):
A great homemade gift to bring when we visit our relatives during the CNY celebration.  (Please click here for the recipe)

  

5) Butter Cookies:
A great homemade gift to bring when we visit our relatives during the CNY celebration.   (Please click here for the recipe)






6) Homemade Fruity Pork Jerky (自家製果汁豬肉乾):
Meat Jerky is a popular treat for CNY in many Southeast Asia Countries. (Please click here for the recipe)

Vanilla Bean Easter Bunny Macarons and Carrot Cake Macarons

I love Easter.  It symbolized new life and reborn.  Easter is also filled with pastel colors things and furry bunny ears headband that my Baby Girl adores.  Easter also includes the fun Easter Egg Hunt and chocolate eggs that my Little Boy loves.  Ever since my kids could take their first step on their own and held onto a basket, I planned and organized little Easter Egg Hunt at the backyard for them.  This year is no exception.  By the way, Easter falls on March 31st this year.



For the Easter Egg Hunt, I usually prepare plastic eggs filled with treats and hide them in the backyard.  I also prepare big beautiful baskets for the kids to carry their treasures as they search and continue their "hunt".  I really enjoy seeing the smiles on their little faces as they discovered each egg.  Wait, I see something hatching from an egg below.  What is it?



Oh, it’s an Easter Bunny!  Wait, it isn’t just any Easter Bunny, it’s a Vanilla Bean Easter Bunny Macaron!



Wait, there’s another one hatching out…..



And another….



Wait, there’s more.  Shhh….this one is still asleep!  She’s just so cute.  Let’s call her Sleeping Beauty, shall we?!



Oh…and Mr. Grumpy is here too!



I hear someone whispering….



So, here goes the Easter Bunny Tea Party.  Care to join?  Oh, and Sleeping Beauty is still sleeping, shhh…..



Of course, you can’t have a Tea Party without some treats!  Can you?  What do we have?  Oh, Carrot Macarons with Cream Cheese Buttercream filling, of course.  Those are Easter Bunnies’ favorite treats!



These sure look tasty and perfect for the Easter Bunnies.



This is such a fun party, let’s taste some carrots, shall we?



How was it, then?



Everything was in harmony, peace and quiet, until my kids decided to join the Easter Bunny Tea Party.  Of course, you know how it ended.



The kids couldn't resist for a taste test.   And yes, the Easter Bunnies were as delicious as the Carrot macarons.  The End!



Have you ever wonder, what’s inside of an Easter Bunny Macaron’s head?  Creamy Vanilla Bean Buttercream, that is.  I’m not dare to watch!



Carrot Macaron Shells and Cream Cheese Buttercream fillings.  I’m telling you, they taste just like a carrot cake, in macaron form.



In case you wonder, I sliced and dried some carrots in the oven for the shells.



Until they look like this (below).  Then, I ground them all up with almonds, powdered sugar to make the shells.



Here are the Easter Bunnies before they went into the oven.  Oh…sorry, that just doesn't sound right. hahaha…..I hope you’re looking at the picture below too and not just reading the paragraphs alone.



Here’s the Easter Bunny being filled with Vanilla Bean Buttercream.  Oh so yum! 



Do you celebrate Easter?  What's your plan for the Easter weekend?  I would love to hear from you.  I hope you all enjoy today’s special Easter post.  Until next time...



P.S.:  After I was done editing the pictures for this post, I found out that Baby Girl has a sweater with a bunny that looks very similar to “Sleeping Beauty”.  So, my Baby Girl was my model that day and I snapped a few fun shots.  Say goodnight, I mean goodbye to "Sleeping Beauty".  She’s living happily ever after in my Baby Girl’s tummy!     




Disclaimer: No Easter Bunny was hurt during the production of this post.  We all had a fun tea party and a happy tummy!

Mint Shamrock Macaron with Dark Chocolate Mint Ganache—For St. Patrick’s Day

Obviously, I’m not Irish.  I’ve never been so excited about St. Patrick’s Day, until this year, really!  Why am I so excited?  Food, of course.  I created these Mint Shamrock Macarons with Dark Chocolate Mint Ganache and couldn’t wait to share them with you.  I know, shaped macarons are not new, if you remember these or these from a while ago.  But it’s the flavor and how fun these are that won me over.



Saint Patrick's Day is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on the 17th of March, the anniversary of Saint Patrick’s death.  This day is supposed to commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the most commonly recognized of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.  Why the Shamrock always associated with St. Patrick’s Day, you might ask?  Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to the Irish people. That was why. 



Are you still with me?  Okay, just checking.  I’m known to be amongst the first few who always falls asleep the fastest in History classes.  So, just want to make sure I didn't lose you with the last paragraph.  Let’s move on to the fun stuff.  How about we talk more on food, recipe and how-to’s instead?  Yeah? Come take a closer look on the shamrock macaron below.



If you've made macarons before, you know the macaron batter is filled into a pastry bag and piped onto baking sheets before going into the oven.  So, I'm sorry to tell you that there’s no cookie cutter you can use to make these shamrock macarons.  However, don’t be despaired, they are pretty easy to pipe.   Basically, they are a combination of 3 mini heart shapes and a trapezoid as shown in the picture below.  After piping numerous heart shaped macarons for the Valentine’s Day, I probably can pipe a heart shape macaron blind-folded (nah…I wished!)  So, these are not hard to do at all, just need a few practice and you’ll be all fine.



Here’s how they look before going into the oven.



With these macarons, I added about 10 fresh mint leaves and grind them all up along with the almonds and powdered sugar to make the shells.



The scent of fresh mint is amazing. 



Along with the Dark Chocolate Mint Ganache filling, these shamrock macarons are so refreshing and totally rock!  (Hey, that rhymes.)  They totally reminded me of the thin mint Girl Scout Cookies and the After Eight Chocolate Thin Mints, if you have tried those before.  Amazing stuffs.



I say, they are even better than a pot of gold!  Just sayin’!



If you’re looking for a fun and festive treat to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, give these Mint Shamrock Macaron with Dark Chocolate Mint Ganache a try.  I know you’re going to love them!

I found this at my local craft store, or click here to see a similar product online.

Last but not least, may each petal of the 4 leaf clover (Wait! Why 4 and not 3?  I’m totally returning this dish!) bring you good health, good luck, love, and happiness!  Thank you for reading and I hope you’ll enjoy today’s recipe.  Until next time….