And found a recipe that would use up the egg whites I've had in the freezer for a little while, since I made something or other that needed just yolks. Almond friands. The book even tells you how to pronounce it, taking nothing for granted.
This recipe proved to be one of those frugal moves that lead to complications. Like making a button down coat with matching skirt, to use up a few buttons you found in the box.
Anyway, I was interrupted by a friend coming over all in a tizz over some medical tests, and obviously needing tea and sympathy, so we did that. And she marveled at the stuff I freeze, had no idea you could freeze egg whites. Well, neither did I until I tried it and it worked okay.
Then she left, and I got to work, with the assistance of Duncan, who was hoping for a bit of raw egg white as a treat (!). And found that this recipe to use up a couple of egg whites involved stages. And melting. And sifting. And beating and two different oven temps. And special little tin things.
So, since I did have the ingredients, I ground up the almonds, beat the egg whites, sifted the confectioner's sugar and the flour, melted the butter, on and on. And put the batter in ordinary cupcake cases sitting in a cupcake pan.
There is apparently some mystique about these things, related to being Foreign, and needing special tins you have to send away for. Hm. The book made them look very appetizing, though, so I made a batch. Supposed to make 10, but made 11. Extra one for the cook.
After all this faff, I took another look at the recipe
and found it had two stars. And checked what that could mean. It means "needs a little extra care, and a little extra time." Cookspeak. Meaning don't imagine you're going to just whip these up like cupcakes, nooooo, where did you get that idea? It doesn't say the results are wonderful, worthy of two stars, though..
I tried one, and it's okay, very delicate, interesting texture and flavor. I'll see how they go down tomorrow night. If it's anything short of ecstatic, this might be the only time I do them.
The book turns out to be Australian, written by a cast of thousands, so nobody takes the blame for anything, I suppose. But it's wonderfully photographed, and they do translate metric measurements into the old fashioned ones we still use in this so-called advanced country. I'll try other things from it, perhaps, but not the many starred ones. Which may prove to be ill starred, we'll see.
They look interesting, but not magnetically so. When in doubt, do as my mother used to do. Frost 'em. She'd frost anything that was in danger of going stale (and a few that weren't).
ReplyDeleteI admire your in-for-a-dime-in-for-a-dollar approach to baking, Liz - your comparison to the button project made me laugh :)
ReplyDeleteI usually enjoy the "delicate" type of baked treats, though to be honest, I rarely make them myself.
About frosting. The batter is ground almonds and confectioners sugar with a v small amount of flour, all bound with the egg whites. Translation: wildly rich. Not sure I could handle more sugar! Also I used up all the confectioners sugar! Not even enough to dust them as in the book.
ReplyDeleteIt maybe that I rarely make this sort of thing, either. My cakes are usually pretty sturdy.
And it beat digging ice off my car and fussing at the HOA to get the plowing finished. Which they finally did today.