Cassis Filling Recipes

PARISIAN MACARONS

Steps:

• To make the macarons: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and ground almonds. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites with salt on medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar. Continue to whip until stiff glossy peaks form. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the confectioners' sugar mixture until completely incorporated.
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Fit a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch #4 round tip, and fill with batter. Pipe 1-inch disks onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. The batter will spread a little. Let stand at room temperature until dry, and a soft skin forms on the tops of the macarons and the shiny surface turns dull, about 15 minutes.
• Bake, with the door of the oven slightly ajar, until the surface of the macarons is completely dry, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet to a wire rack and let the macarons cool completely on the baking sheet. Gently peel off the parchment. Their tops are easily crushed, so take care when removing the macarons from the parchment. Use immediately or store in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
• To fill the macarons: Fill a pastry bag with the filling. Turn macarons so their flat bottoms face up. On half of them, pipe about 1 teaspoon filling. Sandwich these with the remaining macarons, flat-side down, pressing slightly to spread the filling to the edges. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Variations: To make coffee-flavored macarons: In step 1, add 2 drops brown food coloring to the egg whites after they are whipped. In step 4, blend 1/2 cup macaron filling with 1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder dissolved in 1/2 teaspoon warm water for the filling. To make cassis-flavored macarons: In step 1, add 2 drops purple food coloring to the egg whites after they are whipped. In step 4, use 1/3 cup good-quality cassis jam for the filling. To make pistachio-flavored macarons: In step 1, add 2 drops green food coloring to the egg whites after they are whipped. In step 4, combine 1/2 cup macaron filling with 1 tablespoon pistachio paste for the filling.

CHOCOLATE WHOOPIE PIES WITH CASSIS FILLING

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together sugars, yogurt, oil, eggs, and vanilla on medium speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a spatula. With the mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl again and transfer batter to refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip (such as Ateco #809) and a large coupler. Pipe 2-inch circles onto prepared baking sheet, leaving 1 1/2 inches between each. Take care to keep your pastry bag completely vertical to make nice circles. If working in batches, keep batter refrigerated between each batch.
• Transfer baking sheets to oven; bake until whoopie pies spring back when touched, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
• Fit a pastry bag with a large plain round tip (such as Ateco #809) and a large coupler; fill pastry bag with cassis filling. Turn half of the whoopies over so that they are bottom side up. Pipe a small dollop of cassis filling onto each whoopie bottom; sandwich with remaining whoopies.

WHOOPIE PIE RECIPE

Steps:

• Make the cakes: Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, and vanilla and mix until combined, then mix in buttermilk. Slowly add dry ingredients, and mix just until combined.
• Scoop mounds of batter, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons in size (I use this ice cream scoop), onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2-3 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the tops spring back when touched. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Make the filling: Place all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until creamy and fluffy. If the filling is too stiff, you can add a little heavy cream or milk.
• Assemble the cookies: Spread filling on the flat side of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies.
• Store in the fridge, well covered, for up to a week. Serve at room temperature.

CASSIS FILLING

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together cream cheese and butter on medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down bowl with a spatula. Add creme de cassis, food coloring, and salt; mix on low for 30 seconds.
• With the mixer on low, slowly add 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar; beat for 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. If consistency is too soft to hold its shape, add additional confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.

WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE AND BERRY TART

Steps:

• For Crust:
• Combine flour, sugar and salt in large bowl. Add butter and cut in using fingertips or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Beat egg yolks to blend in small bowl. Pour yolks over flour mixture and stir with fork to combine. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes. (Dough can be prepared 3 days ahead. Keep refrigerated. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before continuing.)
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough between sheets of waxed paper to 14-inch round (scant 1/4 inch thick). Peel off top sheet of waxed paper. Using second sheet of paper as aid, invert dough into 11-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Carefully press into pan. Trim and finish edges, patching any holes with scraps. Freeze until firm about 15 minutes.
• Line crust with aluminum foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until sides are set, about 23 minutes. Remove beans and foil and continue baking until crust is golden brown, piercing bottom with toothpick if crust bubbles, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Immediately sprinkle chocolate over crust. Let stand until chocolate melts, about 4 minutes. Using back of spoon, carefully spread chocolate over bottom and up sides of crust. Cool.
• For Filling:
• Measure 1 tablespoon crème de cassis liqueur into heavy small saucepan; sprinkle unflavored gelatin over and let stand 5 minutes to soften. Add 3/4 cup whipping cream and stir over low heat until gelatin dissolves. Add 7 ounces white chocolate and stir until melted and smooth. Transfer to medium bowl. Refrigerate until cool but not set, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
• Whip remaining 1/2 cup whipping cream in medium bowl until soft peaks form. Add remaining 2 tablespoons crème de cassis and whip until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into white chocolate mixture. Fold in raspberries. Spoon filling into crust. Refrigerate until beginning to set, about 30 minutes. Arrange strawberries atop filling, cut sides down and points toward edge. To form optional white chocolate curls, slide vegetable peeler across white chocolate. Garnish tart with chocolate curls. (Tart can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Refrigerate.)