Alex's Lemonade Stand at the Brooklyn Flea

On Saturday, Lemon-Slice and I went to the Brooklyn Flea to fundraise for Alex's Lemonade Stand. We certainly had lemonade, but we decided to come out armed with baked goodies to get more people to come over. We raised a few hundred!

I'd like to thank Eric Demby of the Brooklyn Flea for all of his help and support. The Brooklyn Flea was an excellent venue with a friendly crowd and high foot traffic. We gave out many cards with some information about Alex so they could go onto the website and learn more about her cause. I hope we raised some awareness.

Here's the cute banner Alex's Lemonade Stand provided us with.

I used my macaron skills and made Vanilla, Mosaic, and Salted Caramel.

Chocolate Chip cookies, Mini Pecan Pies, Thumbprint Cookies, Palmiers, Mini Apple Pies, Tiny Cheesecakes, and Butterscotch Pecan.

Blueberry Pies in front of the display on facts about Childhood Cancer.

Lemon-Slice wearing a cute yellow dress to match the mood.

There's also some snickerdoodles and florentine shortbreads.

Samples out front brought the crowds!

This Friday, lemon-slice will be having a bake sale at her lower school in the hopes to raise some more funds before we send in our check to Alex's Lemonade Stand.

xoxo,
lemonie

2 Days of Macarons at Pierre Herme

I haven't updated in a month. Awful, I know, but it's at least been a busy month. I went to Paris at the end of April and spent 2 days studying macarons at Atelier Pierre Herme. It was incredibly informative and a great excuse to take a few days off of work to go to Paris. While I was there, all I did was eat pastries and desserts. Yumyum.



Here's my meringue whipping away.


When it's done whipping, it looks like this. It shouldn't be below 50 degrees C or else it won't be warm enough to melt the confectioner's sugar.


My piping skills leave much to be desired. Look at that baby in the top left corner.


Here are some rising in the oven.


My partner is filling his with avocado and banana ganache with a chocolate square.


My favorite ones were the cinnamon pistachio with morello cherries.


Here is chestnut and matcha green tea.


My team set up this mandarin compote. I think we all were confused when it set in under 5 minutes.


Since my piping skills are apparently no good, my partner piped the mandarin mousseline onto my macarons.


I packed some to take back to New York.


Here's the batter for the chocolate and nuts cake.


The finished cake!


Brittany Shortbread hanging out in the oven.


Out of the oven!


We didn't have enough to fill up the container. Shame because I really liked these.


Florentine Shortbread. Awesomely delicious with a hint of orange.


About to get chopped.


In a cute container.


Hazelnut crunchies!


Packaged and ready to go.


Fruitcake.


The fruitcake was dipped in a syrup 4-5 times and then topped with...it looks like gummy bears. I'm not sure what it was exactly. I think their translation was off.


Our final presentation. We then had a taste testing and we tried all of the macarons out.

It was a great experience. I only wish the instructor translated more things into English for me because my comprehension of French is next to none. Even so, I learned a lot by watching and I filled up an entire notebook with notes and instructions. Since coming back, I've tried making a few of the macarons and the florentine shortbread. I haven't been as successful, but I swear it has something to do with my oven and baking trays rather than a flaw in what I've learned. Plus, I made the florentine shortbreads in a broken oven! Still came out good, but it took forever.