Easy Canapés
CourseAppetizer
CuisineAmerican, French
Prep Time15 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Servings8 people
Calories180kcal
AuthorJohn Kanell
Ingredients
1 Baguette toasting each piece is optional
15 oz whole milk ricotta
2 radishes sliced thin
6 quail eggs hard boiled, or hen's eggs
1 orange premiumed
5 oz smoked salmon
1 cucumber sliced thinly
1/2 cup blueberries halved
1/2 cup strawberries sliced
1/2 cup cherries pitted and halved
1/4 cup honey
2 sprigs mint leaves
2 sprigs fresh dill
2 tbsp fresh chives chopped
Instructions
1. Cut the bread into half inch slices. I loved the way this tasted with a fresh baguette right
out of the oven but you can toast the slices for a little extra crunch or even brush them
with some olive oil and then bake on a sheet at 400F for a few minutes.
2. Spread ricotta on each piece of bread.
3. Add toppings. I paired salmon with dill, cucumbers with mint, radishes with dill, hard
boiled eggs with chives, and give the fruit a drizzle of honey.
Notes
If you want to make this in advance I recommend toasting the bread in the oven first.
You can sub chicken eggs for quail.
Feel free to use what's in season and add your favorite ingredients.
If you're toasting the bread let it cool before spreading the ricotta on top.
Macaron recipe
CourseDessert
CuisineAmerican, French
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Servings36 Macarons
Calories63kcal
AuthorJohn Kanell
Ingredients
For the Cookie
100 g egg whites room temperature 3 large eggs
140 g almond flour 1 1/2 cups
90 g granulated sugar just under 1/2 cup
130 g powdered sugar 1 cup
1 tsp vanilla 5mL
1/4 tsp cream of tartar 800mg
For the Buttercream
4. 1 cup unsalted butter softened 226g
5. 5 egg yolks
6. 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100g
7. 1 tsp vanilla
8. 3 tbsp water 30mL
9. 1 pinch salt
Instructions
For the Macarons:
Sift the confectioners sugar and almond flour into a bowl.
Add the room temperature egg whites into a very clean bowl.
Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites. Once they begin to foam add the cream of tartar
and then SLOWLY add the granulated sugar.
Add the food coloring (if desired) and vanilla then mix in. Continue to beat until stiff peaks
form.
Begin folding in the 1/3 of the dry ingredients.
Be careful to add the remaining dry ingredients and fold gently.
The final mixture should look like flowing lava, and be able to fall into a figure eight without
breaking. Spoon into a piping bag with a medium round piping tip and you’re ready to
start piping.
Pipe one inch dollops onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (this should be glued
down with dabs of batter). Tap on counter several times to release air bubbles. Allow to
sit for about 40 minutes before placing in oven.
Bake at 300F for 12-15 minutes, rotate tray after 7 minutes. Allow to cool completely before
removing from baking sheet.
For the French Buttercream Filling:
Combine sugar and water in medium saucepan. Heat over low heat while stirring until sugar
dissolves. Increase heat to medium- high and bring to a boil
Put egg yolks in a stand-mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat until thick and foamy.
Cook the sugar and water syrup until it reaches 240 degrees F. Immediately remove from
heat. With mixer running, SLOWLY drizzle hot syrup into bowl with yolks.
Continue mixing until the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch and the yolk mixture has
cooled to room temperature.
Add in butter one cube at a time allowing each piece to incorporate before adding the next.
Add vanilla and salt. Continue mixing until buttercream is smooth and creamy. (About 5-
6 minutes.) Add food coloring if desired.
For Assembly
Pipe your filling onto the back of half the shells. Form a sandwich and repeat. Macarons
should be aged in the fridge for 1-3 days for best results. This allows the filling to soften
the shells inside.
Notes
THE MERINGUE!!!! That meringue HAS TO BE STIFF! I had no idea French meringue could be
whipped to such a thick marshmallowy consistency but all it takes is a bit of extra whisking.
You'll notice the meringue start to fill the whisk when you're getting close to the right stage.
Sift, Sift, SIFT! Those larger pieces of almond flour will mar the surface of your macarons. Best
practice is to sift then whiz in the food processor and repeat two more times. Discard the larger
particles, don't try to press them through the sieve.
Use a scale if possible, accuracy helps with this recipe.
The mixing will take some practice, you will fold and fold the batter and then use the spatula
to GENTLY press the batter against the bowl. You want to remove some of the bubbles but not
to many... Continue this until it reaches a thick "lava" consistency. It should slowly fall off the
spatula in ribbons and be able to form a figure eight without breaking.
Pipe the macarons perpendicular to the surface. If your tip is pointing a bit in any particular
direction when you pipe the macarons might be oblong or malformed.
Add your coloring to the meringue after it reaches the soft peak stage.
When you are finishing the piping motion stop squeezing the bag and pull up with a circular
motion.
The macarons will be best after 2-3 days resting in the fridge.
If you over-bake the shells and they're too crisp, brush the bottom with some milk before
assembly to soften them up.
Reference:
https://preppykitchen.com/easy-canape/
