Macaroons

I really didn't think it was possible making these small macaroon delights in real life;) I have only been making them in polymer clay and in 1/12 scale. Now I have tried it and must say that they taste heavenly. Salted caramel macaroons. Also my favorite from Laduree. Sure there are small imperfections here and there but I will fix that in the next batch..Lol I made these for my husbands birthday tomorrow. That is if they will last that long. See under photos for the recipe I used. I also hope you all are having a great Christmas time and are not stressing too much...lol Who isn't these days I wonder:)

Decor on my table. Marie is inviting you on macaroons.




Macaroons

125 grams almond flour
225 grams powdered sugar
3 egg whites
25 grams of sugar
Pinch cream of tartar.
Preheat oven to 300 °F (I used 310°F to compensate for opening and closing the oven door).
Run the almond flour and powdered sugar through a food processor and sift twice.
Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat at medium speed. Slowly add the granulated sugar and continue beating until the whites attain medium-peaks and are glossy.
Add your dry ingredients slowly to the meringue taking about six additions all in all. Pipe the batter to a diameter of an inch. And let rest for 30 minutes before baking.
Bake for about 11 minutes or until done, turning the sheets halfway through.

Salted caramel for macarons
1 cup sugar
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) salted butter
Additional pinch salt
1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
Melt the sugar over medium heat in a saucepan where you can see the color. Whisk the sugar as it melts to ensure it heats evenly. When the sugar is a lovely dark copper color and you can smell that it smells adequately caramelized, turn off the heat, add the butter all at once, and stir it in. Then add the cream, stir to incorporate, and store in glass jars in the refrigerator.

Like I need to explain...;)


I got the recipe from this site Kitchen Musings

Tick Tack

See what I found while browsing the Antique fairs in London. Great old watch parts:) These are so cool to use in a dollhouse for the really trendy shabby French look. I am selling these for $5 each. Contact me if you like one:)
The largest is a little over 1,5 inch in diameter or 4,5cm.

Dish soap

I have made this little Norwegian dish soap for a customer, and now I can't seem to find her phone number...Silly me!! Please if you see this. It is finished and ready for you. Please contact me:)
In Norwegain: Jeg har mistet telefonnummeret til deg som bestillte Zaloflaske i miniatyr. Kan du være snill å kontakte meg:)

Treasures

A couple of minutes drive from my home we have every Sunday a big antique fair. I usually spend some time there looking for goodies. I am not always lucky but today I really got something special. It is old jewelry parts from a jewelry factory in Norway, in Arendal. Dated back to the early 50ties. They are no longer in production. I bought the whole lot and as you see it will last me a lifetime. It is so useful to all kind of things. Of course I am thinking miniatures, making little lamps, cake trays or whatever I fancy. Could be used as jewelry parts too of course, but also for scrapbooking. I will most likely make little mixed bags of these gems and put some of it on my Etsy store. Hope you see the possibilities here too. Let me hear what you think:) These are bronze and brass parts, and can be painted or let them be as they are with the patina. Beautiful, and I am quite ecstatic about it. Just showing you a little part of the lot here. I also like the little vintage boxes. This made my day:) I just love any kind of treasure hunt. Flea market or antique fairs. It is equally fun:)

Cookies

Since it it Christmas time I have got myself a new blog design. Hope you like it. It is made possible by using this very talented woman

Also here you have some cookies that I have made. Little pink pigs and hearts cookies laying on a tree shaped plate. Fun with Christmas don't you think:)

Christmas decor

I have been making some Christmas decorations for a little shelf. Setting the mood for the holidays:)

Buche Noel

This little French Christmas treat has been so fun to make in miniature. Time consuming for sure, but I am getting into the Christmas mood. Are you making anything Christmas related? You will find it on my Etsy store.

Ice-cream

Been making some ice creams in cones lately. Lots of different flavors. Now I will need to make an ice-cream shop or maybe just a little counter with the ice-cream for sale to display some of it.

Antique house

Showing a bit of the kitchen in the "antique house" I am not finished with it yet and wonder if I ever will be. It is a huge kitchen and I love the fact that I can have a kitchen island + a table with chairs. You will see some serious cooking from this place;) It will be the test kitchen for my mini food.

Strawberry cake

Time for cake:) A light mousse cake with cheese and strawberry flavor. A crumb crust on the bottom and fancy decor on top.

Mini tutorial

I am always on the look out for small items that I can turn into something useful in my miniature world. I am very fond of boxes and containers of all sorts. I came up with this idea using small candle brass parts, buttons and beads. Glue them all together. Put a bit of sealant inside the bead to cover the hole. Give it a couple of turns with the spray paint and glue on a decorative label, either like a transfer decal or just printed on normal paper. Look so good paired with different "in the making style boards" but of course on a shelf as well. You can see the cookie jar "in use" below. Hope you found this inspirational:)

Macaroons

Christmas decor can be in pastels also don't you think? I have made a couple of macaroon towers with some tinsel spirals around it. Will put these up on my Etsy shop. Great in a candy shop or bakery. Hope you all are having a nice weekend.

I failed again...

Yes I did! Second time around trying to get the artisan status at Igma. I first thought that I would just hide, stick my head in the sand or whatever, and not blog about my failure. I have come to think otherwise. I will like to show you, not so I can get your pity and hear oh but you are so good but I see a point in not only sharing the golden moments, but also the ones that is not so pleasant but are with me to make me be the artist I am and makes me do the decisions I do. Next time is November 2010 and I will try again!

Here you have the submission. Lobster alone took me 7 hours..go figure!




You can click on picture and zoom to see it better.

Cookies

I have made some chocolate chip cookies in the making style. The cookies was made from Betsy's tutorial on CDHM. I am sure many of you have tried to make them too:) Do you prefer pink or blue bowl and plate? I also used my newly made faux marble boards.

Christmas Pudding

Christmas pudding anyone? I was intrigued by the design and the simplicity of the English Christmas puddings. What also made it interesting to make in miniature was the texture, color and amount of shine. Fun to make.

I love mail

Who doesn't love small packets in the mail? I certainly do. The little teacozy was custom made for me and made by the very talented Rosanna. The stitches are unbelievably tiny and the design is really beautiful. Don't you love it too? Also I got some cute little canisters and the sweetest candy box ever. I don't make any stitchery myself so now I know who to turn to.



Sweet Linda from Australia sent me these little darling letters with a box. It is facinating, some letters are even sticking up from the envelope.

Cakes and minis are healthy!

We have already talked about my obsession for books. Here is my latest edition to my collection and it is so nice. Besides from being a totally amazing cake book the author uses ingredients to make the cakes more healthy! Can you believe that? It's like a dream come true. Another great feature about this is that there are several pictures of the cakes taken with miniature furniture's and a dollhouse. How cute is that! I also love the imperfection in some photos, like showing a half eaten cake with crumbs and besides there are roses in a vase that are literally falling apart and are being overripe. Like in real life. After all whos life is like a glossy magazine or cookbook anyway. I haven't cooked anything from it yet, but will. These days it seems like we have the flu. Have to ride off this storm first. Then I am sure my body will thank me for putting beets and squash in my chocolate cake. Stay healthy out there:)

Marble

Today I have been making a whole lot of faux marble cutting boards in miniature. I love marble in large life and have a couple of boards that I use for cutting. I would very much like to have my counters in real carrera marble. Don't you just love the cold and smooth feeling it has? My mini marble was made of polymer clay. I did use white clay, translucent, some stone colored clay, a bit of black and some green and beige to the mix. I put it in a kitchen machine with a cutting blade until the clay was formed into small pliable nuggets. Then just some turns in the pasta machine. Voila! I then cut it so the streaks was diagonal as in real marble. Baked, sanded and a light touch of varnish. Now all these slabs wants to be filled with goodies:) I cant wait...

Tiny cookbooks from Mercedes

I have got the nicest little mail and I love it. It is absolutely so precious. Look at these nice little books an pillows that Mercedes has created. I am over the moon excited about this. Thank you so much. I am sure you all know this woman but if you haven't seen her blog you should defiantly take a look. She has a magic wand in her hand. I am sure about that:)

Tracy Porter

This woman called Tracy Porter is so creative and positive that you just have to love her. I have just watched a couple of her videos online and wanted to share my found with you. Here take a look at the videos of Tracy Porter

Macaroons

More macaroons from me. I will put these three boxes on my Etsy shop

Back to Paris

Back to the summer of 2009...


Nice Eiffel shoot taken by my daughter June




A vintage champagne cooler found on a market




My youngest daughter June soon to be 16




Hot cocoa from Laduree. This was chocolate heaven, almost like a sauce.




Beautiful Laduree at Champs-Élysées

Halloween cupcakes

I have some food for sale on Etsy. Cupcakes and pasta, so please come over for a look: My Etsy store

Laduree

Don't you just love this Laduree poster? I don't know if these are all their flavors or if they have more. I just wanted to share this macaroon map;) with you.

Macaroons

Before I started making macaroons in miniature I thought that it would be fairly easy. That has proven to be very wrong! I have been trying several methods and think now I am somewhat pleased with the design. I haven been inspired from the famous Laduree designs both in colors of macaroons and boxes. Of course now I have endless designs spinning in my head:) I will eventually put some of these on Etsy:) Hope you like them. I am looking forward to buy some real salted caramel macaroons when visiting Paris in January, and framboise and lemon..oh the list is long you see;)
Weekend already!! Have a nice one:)

Update: Last picture shows 6 in one box. Witch is the correct number at least for Laduree style that I am trying to copy;) Thank you Papillon Bleu for pointing that out:) I just had to make them a bit slimmer! It still can be improved on for sure. Now I lost some of the frill! I will take better pictures when there is light oustide.