So after our yummy lunch of pho, Vince and I went in search of two independent bakeries that I had planned to visit. Carmen recommended both Jelly Modern Doughnuts and Yann Haute Patisserie to me, but to be honest, I was most excited to visit Jelly! The reason being that everytime I used to visit Calgary, it was mandatory to stop at Krispy Kreme! Their Original Glazed donut is such a treat, and I would always get one dozen to take home, and easily eat 4 or 5 of them all by myself. About two years ago, Krispy Kreme shut down, and the spot for donuts in my stomach has forever been left unsatisfied.

Jelly Modern Doughnuts - #100 1414 8 Street NW - Calgary AB

Jelly Modern Doughnuts is located conveniently in downtown Calgary, and to our biggest surprise - across the street from the hotel we were staying at! If it weren't for them closing for the long weekend Monday, I probably would've had a very sweet breakfast.


The moment I walked into the bakery, the aroma of delicious, fried dough reached my nose - familiar to the scent of Krispy Kreme, but not as sweet. At the other end of the bakery is a cute little seating area - I could imagine myself enjoying a donut and getting some work done, if only the tables were taller!

Enough of the shop, onto the goods.. in which the pictures will speak for themselves.














They cater to younger children too!
Don't they all just look amazing? Their donuts (with exception to the cake donuts) are available in snack or regular size - snack is perfect if you're looking to try a variety. The donuts were fresh and not too sweet. I loved the soft dough, which wasn't too airy or dense, giving it the perfect texture. If I had to choose, my favourites would be the maple bacon and s'mores flavour. I really want to try the salted caramel the next time I'm there!

Something that I really love about this establishment though, is that they use and support local products, and try to give back to the community as much as they can. Accordingly, everything is made fresh on site each day - they don't even have a freezer on the premises! At the end of each day, any leftover baked goods are given to a local organization. Each month they promote a different charitable organization as well. Although the donuts are quite delicious, I still have to say Krispy Kreme has my heart. Next time I'm in Calgary though, you'll find me here. Love the Food Network? Jelly Modern will be appearing on the show 'You Gotta Eat Here!' on May 18th, 2012.

Yann Haute Patisserie - 329 23 Avenue SW - Calgary AB

After spending a chunk of our day drooling over donuts, the next stop was at Yann Haute Patisserie. Located about five minutes from Jelly Modern Doughnuts, this bakery was situated inside a bright yellow house.


Opening the door to get inside, there was a long line of about 7 people ahead of us. And as we waited, the line moved ahead of us, but also grew behind where we were. Overhearing the conversations, many of the people were loyal patrons, whom told me this bakery consistently produces high quality baked goods. I was extremely excited.


The decor on the inside is simple, clean, and elegant. I loved the red & white! Bold, but classy.. and maybe a little romantic in the spirit of the recent Valentine's Day that passed.


The main reason for my visit to Yann's was for their macarons. I was expecting macarons with similar flavours and sizes to those at Duchess, but I was blown away by their offerings.




Flavours for the day: salted caramel, lavender creme, coconut & chocolate, raspberry & chocolate, hazelnut, mint chocolate, orange blossom, milk chocolate & lime, PB&J, Irish coffee, lemon & pistachio
In addition to their unique flavours, the size of the macarons is about triple that of those offered by duchess. We ended up buying one of each flavour, and I must say that my favourites were salted caramel, coconut & chocoate, raspberry & chocolate and pistachio. The shells were soft with a light chew to them - I could eat quite a few without even noticing it.


Yann's is a place I wouldn't think twice about returning to - their offerings are decadent and perfect to satisfy that macaron craving! Delicious, and highly recommended. :)


This post is a continuation to my mini trip to Calgary over the weekend. Read part one here if you missed it!

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that I've been on a baking binge lately! No, not THAT kind of baking.. but rather, dessert baking.

If you've never had a macaron before, it's basically a meringue based cookie sandwich, that can be any which flavour you desire. The shells usually come in a variety of colours, while the fillings are many different flavours. Macarons themselves are characterized by having "feet" at the bottom of the cookie, and they're notoriously difficult to make.

"Macaronnage" is the process of making the perfect macaron. I've heard that making them takes lots of practise, so I challenged myself to make them, to see how well they would turn out on my first try.

I put together this recipe after hours of reading recipes and watching macaron making videos! Unfortunately, things didn't turn out exactly how I wanted them to, so I will be pointing out mistakes along they way. That way you won't make them! Enjoy!

Tools

Mixer
Kitchen Scale
Piping bag
Large rounded piping tip
Baking sheet w/ parchment paper or Silpat sheet

INGREDIENTS

Cookies:
90g Eggwhites aged at room temperature for 24 hours (approx. 3 eggs)
20g granulated sugar
200g powdered sugar
110g almond flour (finely ground almonds)
Food colouring (optional)

Vanilla Buttercream:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 - 2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 - 2 tablespoons milk
pinch of salt


Aged eggwhites after 6 hours

Now, I'm really paranoid about food safety. I thought to myself.. 24 hours of eggwhites at room temperature has to be wrong! Wouldn't the whites go bad? Well, if you look up there, that's the whites after 6 hours at room temperature. It starts to form bubbles.. so I was scared and put the bowl back into the fridge! The aging of the eggwhites is very important for the formation of the characteristic foot, so go ahead and leave them out for 24 hours. After a full day, you can put the whites into the fridge.



To start off, take the aged egg whites, and whip them until they start to form a foam (seen above). Gradually add in the sugar while mixing, until you reach the look and consistency of a glossy meringue (seen below).



While whipping the egg whites, I was worried about over beating. Beating the egg whites too much will result in a dry cookie, so I stopped when the mixture looked like the image above. I'm pretty sure that I actually didn't beat the eggs enough, as the peak isn't very stiff, and it looks more foamy than glossy. But I went ahead anyway. When making these macarons, make sure you have stiff peaks forming in the mixture, but not so stiff that its a gooey mess.



Take the almond flour and combine it with the confectioner's sugar in a separate bowl (if your almond flour is not finely ground, give it a good pulsing in a food processor). Fold the dry mixture into the meringue, being careful not to overmix - it shouldn't take more than 50 strokes to mix it all together. I chose to add some colour to my cookies, so around the 35-40th stroke, I poured my mixture into two different bowls, added my desired colours, and continued to mix until fully incorporated.



I made both pink & blue cookies in this batch. Fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip with the batter, and pipe onto sheets in rounds with a 1 to 1.5" diameter (depends on how large you want your cookies). Now here's where the good part comes in. Right when I was reading to pipe the batter.. I honestly could NOT find my piping bag and tips. It was GONE. So I made due and used Ziploc bags and cut the corners. I do not recommend the use of Ziploc bags at all when making macarons. The batter becomes relatively runny when warmed by the hands, and the ziploc bag is too small and too flimsy to work with. I had to use so much effort just to stop the cookies from being piped too big..



So much irregularity.. I'm embarassed! But hey, we can learn from my mistakes! :) When you're done piping, lift and drop the pans on a hard surface a couple times, to rid of any bubbles. Preheat the oven to 280F and allow the pans to sit out for 30 minutes. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

In the meantime, you can put together the vanilla buttercream. Beat the butter until soft, and gradually add 1 cup of the confectioner's sugar at low speed. When fully incorporated, choose a higher speed and add the vanilla extract, salt, and a tablespoon of milk. Beat for 2-3 minutes, or until smooth. If the frosting isn't holding shape, add more confectioner's sugar. If it needs to be thinned out, add a little milk.

Once the cookies are baked and cooled, group them into pairs of similar size and shape. Pipe or spoon the butter cream mixture onto a cookie, and squish it's partner right on top.



And this is how my first ever batch of macarons turned out. They look fine, but were not to my full expectations. I wanted a more prominent foot.. All the more reason to try again!

Let me know if you try the recipe out, and how things turn out for you!