The Gray Rose Bake Shoppe

Latest baking adventures!

Cinnamon buns, King Cake style
And French silk pie in honor of Pi Day

I think going forward I will be doing the cinnamon buns instead of traditional King Cake. The cake recipes I'd tried before ended up dry, and didn't have enough flavor. The cinnamon buns were bursting with the brown sugar cinnamon mix, and that icing tasted just like I remembered from my Alabama days! These will be made available for order next year.

And the pie, well, when your hard-working husband has been on overtime for the last month solid and feeling the effects of the long hours plus the last of the winter blues, what do you do but make him his favorite?

I can't do anything simply, so when he asked for a French Silk pie I couldn't just go to Wegmans. No way! I'd never made one before, and sometimes you just don't know what to expect in trying a new adventure. It wasn't hard, but the preparation of the filling was definitely involved. It was late when we settled in last night, so I put the finishing touches on and we dove in tonight. It's not likely to be a purchase item because it does need to be kept cold, but it will be a make again for home or parties.

Ponytail tightened, playlist on, time to create!

New flavor alert!!! S'mores, yum!

The first week of my St. Jude's baking challenge is complete! We have one dozen hot cocoa macarons, and one dozen chocolate covered cherry.

Next week's challenge is cakes! Cupcakes and cake pops will be up for sale. Flavors not yet determined, contact me for pricing.

I've checked the legal jargon and found that if I'm shipping a gift as a thank you for a donation, it IS allowed to go out of state! It is then considered a gift. So if you've made a donation and would like a tasty treat as a thank you, please PM me your order.

This weekend, the fun begins!

I'm raising funds for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital and for the month of December, every week brings a new baking challenge. Everything you see will be up for sale, and every dollar will be given to the cause. Week 1 is cookies, so naturally, I'll be making macarons!

Flavor choices will be chocolate covered strawberry or peppermint hot cocoa.

$10/half dozen, $18/dozen, $30/2 dozen. Make your order now!

If you've thought about ordering, now is the time! I'll be registering for the December challenge for St. Jude's. Get some yummy treats and help some children, yes please!

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=497448199089148&id=100064719159020&sfnsn=mo&mibextid=6aamW6

December Weekly Baking Challenge

It's a birthday party! And what's a birthday party without some cake?

In the blue we have some birthday cake macarons, with sprinkles. I meant to put some on the shells, but got on autopilot and put them in the oven before I remembered that that was the plan! And in the white, we have strawberry and white chocolate ganache. These, may be my masterpiece. And, a new available flavor for order!

I still have another twist in mind for the ganache, but this is a children's party so it's on the shelf for next time 😇🥳

Strawberry JAM? Lol, that's cute.

Here we go again!

Coming soon: A new flavor experiment for my Macs, and a savory snack!

Some of my recent shenanigans!

Macarons have made a great comeback for me. I made my most popular flavor, mint chocolate chip, and my personal favorite, apple compote with a cinnamon buttercream.

A few other treats I've made! When your bonus daughter lays down a challenge, you gotta rise to it. And so we have apple strudel, eclair, and chocolate croissants.

The croissants, will not be a regular shop item. They were a very lengthy process and in the end, they ended up quite dense. I'll try tweaking the recipe, but it doesn't change the fact that it was a 2 day process. Mix in a disastrous half marathon I was lucky to finish and it turned into 3 days. Whew!!

So what's next for The Grey Rose? Macarons are always available for order, and personalized fudge. I'm looking at some crafting shows, getting the containers and business cards I need to start making a presence. Next challenge, I've been wanting to make Tarte Tatin for a long time. So that may be next! Stay tuned to see

I'm back! And by me I mean my confidence.

I haven't made macs in so long I almost had to remind myself how it's done! Every recipe has it's own ratios of almond flour and sugar and eggs, but I mean the meringue, the macaronage, the oven temp, the time... So many variables, so many ways they can go wrong.

I took a break for several reasons. First of course, I was pregnant and had no energy. Then I had a newborn and no time AND no energy. And for a while, still mad over all the ways they've gone wrong and no longer believing in myself that I could do them. But I had a few good weekends... I made a nice King Cake for Mardis Gras, and cinnamon scones. Today is Easter of course so I said why not give it a try, for dessert. I've been wanting to make banana cream flavor for a while! And strawberry is one of my most popular flavors, so I figured a nice pink and yellow will be appropriate for the holiday. I tried a new recipe for the shells and it seems I finally have nailed it! The shells are smooth, no cracks, and for the first time, FULL!! Then it came time to filling.

Oye.

The buttercream is where my creativity shines. And usually, the easy part!

The goal was a banana buttercream with a dollop of chocolate in the middle, and my standard strawberry. In trying to make the banana I broke the base. I tried adding more butter, more sugar, until it was just a sickening sweet mess. I assured myself, even Chef Ramsay must get it wrong sometimes, and scraped it for a fresh batch.

Well now, I only have two sticks of butter left so I can't screw this up. I make my strawberry concentrate and my buttercream base, and mix it up. The flavors are there, but it ended up still a bit wet. Now I'm feeling like a total amateur! How did I mess up another buttercream, and one of my best at that?

I decided to keep it anyways because it tasted good. For my banana cookies I decided to make a chocolate buttercream and mix in banana a little at a time until it's right, without breaking it. I realized my problem while making my banana concentrate.

I've been using room temperature butter, as usual, but skipped a very important step: COOLING MY CONCENTRATE!! So my hot fruit is melting my butter, and breaking my buttercream.

This one was saved just in time. And finally, I have some appropriate macrons.

Happy Easter to you and yours, from me and my newest sous chef.

I never know what's going to be my best method. I've now tried Italian, French, and Swiss meringue. I'm never confident in any of them really... But Italian especially I worry won't come together.

My chocolate ones today are Italian method, where you basically take half of your egg whites and make a paste with your dry ingredients. Then you make a hot sugar syrup and mix it in with your meringue, and macaronage the whole thing together. The paste never feels like it's going to integrate, and then it does. They look a little puckered, but the cocoa powder has that effect. Maybe I'll try them again next time without it, because the shells themselves are soft and beautifully full!

For my other set I went back to tried and true French. Fillings today include a chocolate butter cream, cinnamon swirl, and cookie dough.

Any new adventure comes with some trial and error. But all in all I'm very happy with my first set of hot chocolate bombs!

I did learn a couple of tricks before starting my second set. A spatula is great for mixing the chocolate as it melts, but a small spoon is much better for spreading it in the mold.

Sprinkles are not just decorative. They help seal the pieces together. It's easier to fill the spheres and put the pieces together, seal them, and freeze them, than it is to peel the pieces out and try to fill them THEN seal.

So lessons learned translate into a prettier second batch. But when I showed one to Jon be expectantly held out his hand, as if to say "Yes please" in not so many words, so I guess that means they're still pretty!

These little beauties will be available for purchase at the Gray Rose Bake Shoppe for $5 each, or $25 for a 6 pack.

With irony that can only be described as God's timing, my approval to operate days after I decide to take a break from macs. Good time to start trying since new adventures, no?

Now the rules of the state are very specific, and a bit odd. I cannot ship over state lines without an FDA license. At least, not for a sale. Only for a gift. Also, they are very specific about what ingredients I can use. My butter cream, for instance, cannot contain dairy or raw eggs. Well, I do American buttercream so the eggs are no problem. But they do have butter and milk. Unless I use vegan butter, and coconut milk, which doesn't sound half bad!

Or again. If it's a gift.

I can sell bread, but it can't have fruit or vegetables in it. I can sell pie, but only if it has a top crust and a bottom crust. I can sell fudge, but not homemade chocolates. (Confused yet? Me too.) I can advertise online, but I cannot use an online platform to sell. Also every sale has to include a list of ingredients, which is not unreasonable. I just gave to get some labels.

In the coming days after the holiday I'm going to start setting up something of a store front. Menu options, if you will.

For today I'm getting some practice with a few new items: I'm tired of wasting egg yolks, so I'm attempting some lemon bars. And I'm going to see how tricky it might be to pull off some hot chocolate bombs. Stay tuned!

Once upon a time, before I became obsessed with perfecting the macaron, there were other things I enjoyed making.

I did it for the joy of it. Because I wanted to set a challenge and see if I could do it. Somewhere along the way it became all about the Mac. They sure are tasty, and it's such a thrill when you get em right! But are they ever a pain in the ass. The only thing I can think for what happened today is, they know I cheated on them with eclair and are taking out their revenge.

They are, after all, little divas.

I made a promise. I promised I would have goods to sell for a cause. Only one of four sets of macs turned out useable, and that wasn't good enough for me. So I asked myself, what happens on MasterChef when things go wrong? They have a pity party, Chef Ramsay has a temper tantrum (I think I covered both today since Chef Ramsay isn't here), then they get their s**t together and remember what they're capable of.

I had caramel all ready and waiting to go into some butter cream today. That flavor didn't make it. So instead I said, what else can I do? And I remembered these beautiful little ganache tarts I used to make. They go together quick, and they're delicious. So I got my s**t together, and I made it happen.

I probably will still be taking a break from the Macs because right now, it's not fun. But I have a whole list of other things I want to try. Now is a great time to start visiting that list.

I swear these things are going to be the death of my sanity.

Maybe it's the food coloring (?) The white (cinnamon bun) look perfect! Maybe a chocolate ganache on the outside of the (peppermint) pink ones to hide the mess??

Second series is whipping now. Pray for me!!

When I decided to start this, I knew I wanted to have a purpose. My love of baking (and those finicky little divas that drive me so crazy) was a good reason to start, but not good enough.

Today my little shoppe realizes that purpose. A young man has been diagnosed with glioblastoma, the very same brand of hell that took my Jesse. The young man is only 20 years old, newly married. Tomorrow they will have a fund raiser for his treatments and it's my honor to donate 3 dozen macarons to the cause. I have plans on flavors but will hold on announcing until I see that they don't erupt on me like last week 😳🙈

My long time friend, Cynthia Paoli, is friends with the mother and helping to organize the fundraiser. It's called Bite Me Cancer. It will be a live streamed auction with live music. Please get in touch with me if you're able to help the family in any way or if you want information on the event, and I'll put you in touch.

Ohhhh today did not go to plan!

I meant to make peppermint Macs with white chocolate ganache and crushed candy canes, and then chocolate Macs with cookie dough filling. I tried a new recipe because my shells are always hollow. I said, one way or another, I'm going to figure this hollow nonsense out!

Well. You can see how well the peppermint ones turned out! The tried and true method to know if your Macs are done is to give one a little wiggle. If it's still moving, it's not done. I kept poking, they kept wiggling. Finally I said enough, they're coming out done or not.

Yeah they're burned. They have no feet. They're cracked. But, they're not hollow!!

So I went back to my old tried and true recipe. It's never failed me! Until today. I put the first tray in, and immediately the shells started to crack. I turned down the oven but it was too late. They're ruined!

Second pan of the same batch came out absolutely flawless. And finally, NOT HOLLOW!!

I was so tired by the time I finally finished filling them that I skipped the candy canes. The shells are awful, I'm not wasting the good stuff on them. But the chocolate ones are pretty sensational, even if cracked!

The shoppe is still waiting to go live. At this point, likely, sales will officially be able to be received after the new year. I'm likely going to release a tutorial video for purchase, $5 for access, with funds going to startup money to buy boxes and labels. Stay tuned for more details!