laduree

in 1930, Pierre Desfontaines from Laduree had the crazy idea of 

pairing two meringue cookies together with ganache as filling. 

in 2011, Talita Setyady went to Paris and hit that shit up.

i bought a box of 8 macarons..

 and a rose religieuse..

pastry puffs filled with rose pastry cream and fresh raspberries.

sounds dreamy, but i've always wondered what the inside looks like!

dessert just does not get anymore opulent than this..

i quite like it here

x

what i ate today

I'M IN PARIS!

I FOUND PIERRE HERME!

I ATE THIS!

I MEAN COME ON...

HEAVEN.

my own macaron class

i'm currently at the airport lounge in doha awaiting my plane bound for paris feeling quite a cocktail of emotions. looking back on my last hectic couple of weeks in auckland, i get slight heart palpitations. how did i fit all of those last minute things in?! so many band rehearsals, so much baking..! i recorded ALL my parts for teacups' upcoming EP all day saturday.. and even held a full on macaron class on sunday before I had to leave tuesday morning. it was crazy. it was berserk. it was full on. although because of all this my immune system is on the fritz, i guess i'm quite happy i got to see so many friendly faces before i had to leave :)

about the macaron class, out of the blue sometime last week, chelsea suggested that i should hold my own macaron class before i go, she even offered me her kitchen to use. (thanks chelsea!) if anyone has been to chelsea's place, they'd know that her place is pretty much perfect for anything that involves hoards of people.. and how could i have said no to those pretty blue eyes of hers? so i said alright. bring it on. 

within two days of the facebook event and the blogpost went online.. the class of 20 is fully booked! 

we piped some and baked some shells..

filled them with ganache and buttercream..

(we made rose, pistachio, salted caramel, lavender and 

toblerone if your stomach was wondering)

and everyone got to take a box home!

(there was way more steps than that, people. it wasn't that easy! the people that 

was there can tell you about all the drama that unfolded! hahaha) 

martin took a lot of film footage for a video he's working on for our Toblerone sponsorship.. so stay tuned for that! i'll post it as soon as he finishes editing it.

ok. i think my flight has just been announced. man. i don't know about you guys, but i am excited for "talita's kitchen PARIS EDITION!" :)

talk again soon

x

ps. check out sarah of bread and butter letter's blog post about the night here - thanks sarah! 

update 19.09.11

here's the video we did for toblerone from the night!

tea with friends, season finale.

the teacups' last show was supposed to be a couple of weeks ago at a rowdy pub in kingsland. but we didn't think that was a fitting farewell for our band, as the noisy pub-goers probably were more keen for a DJ to go on. so, chelsea offered to put on a proper final show for us which will hopefully give us one last chance to play and thank everyone who has contributed to the band.. she also designed the poster, which is very cool!

everybody knows that for a uniquely "teacups" experience, some baking had to make an appearance!

I decided to try out a couple of recipes from my trusty copy of 

Rose Levy Beranbaum's Rose's Heavenly Cakes book.

The plum and blueberry upside-down torte..

(tastes as good as it looks!)

And her lemon and poppy seed-sour cream cake baked in a fluted tube pan.

 after two cakes, two batches of macarons and two trays of chocolate chunk cookies..

it was show time!

some spicy chai macarons..

some fairy lights..

some friendly bands..

some happy people..

some laughs!

at our last show!

i had fun.. 

but am sure going to miss these faces:

til we meet again mes amis..

x

ps. most photos by martin

update 04.10.11
here's a video from the night, courtesy of reuben. thanks reuben :)


Teacups at the cross street flats from Reuben Stephens on Vimeo.

my first cooking class

would you like to come?

First thing's first..

Macarons are not impossible to make! With a little patience and attention to detail, these seemingly troublesome treats are one of the most delicious, rewarding and addictive things you can bake :)

(chelsea got pipes)

Out of requests from close friends, I have decided to hold a one night only event in which I will divulge the tips and tricks I have accumulated over making trays and trays of these dreamy treats for Teacups' Cake Stall and various other events.

It's going to be a low key, private occasion with only 12 20 spaces available. You could bring a plate of nibbles to share, and enjoy some wine/bubbly.. word on the street is some mulled wine might be on offer :) 

only $30 per person ($25 each if you bring a friend)

You will have some macarons to take home! these things retail for around $3 each, so you will definitely get your money's worth in sweets!

5.30-8.30pm

This coming Sunday the 21st of August.

at 1/5 Cross Street, Auckland City.

email me at talitasetyady@gmail.com to reserve your space for this one night of fun in the kitchen :)

and feel free to leave a comment below with flavour requests for the night! I know salted caramel and pistachio are strong contenders...

hope to see you there :)

x

mario kart championship and leaving party

it's kind of scary to think i have only 8 more days here in auckland before i set off into foreign european territory.. a friend suggested that i host a little get together to be seen off.. so martin and i decided to host a mario kart championship on nintendo 64 to get the crowds a'comin. i am so grateful to have been blessed with such beautiful, good-hearted friends that i decided to honour them with lots and lots of food. a little way for me to give back the looove :)

we start with..

a five layer pumpkin and carrot cake with cream cheese icing. 

a little lopsided as you can see... stacking five cakes is harder than i anticipated... the result.. almost disastrous.. but i think i managed to pass it off as being.. "rustic".. lol

a classic chocolate tart..

some much requested macarons.. 

vanilla bean, salted caramel and peppermint chocolate :)

and i thought i'd better make something savoury so that people would not get too rowdy on sugar..

mini bacon and spinach quiches!

these disappeared very very fast!

at the end of the night.. martin won the tournament.. 

hosts usually do not win their own tournaments.. 

but he said it would have been disrespectful to the championship to not do his best.

that's all good and well i guess..

but i hope i still have friends after this..

lol

x

ps. thanks to hongi for most of the photos! 

dinner for one

it has been a bit quiet about the house lately. my sister tania flew away in a plane bound to jakarta and later on to new york a couple of days ago. boyfriend doesn't want to drive all the way to my house everyday after work to be cooked for.. which.. i guess is understandable since i live 25 km away from him... but i take it that he just does not feel that my FREE food made with LOVE compensates enough for his fuel usage.. lol.

anyway. usually when i'm at home alone i get some sad sloppy take out as i find cooking for one a bit depressing. BUT TONIGHT I DECIDED THAT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. and that just because there's no one to share the pleasures of the food with... doesn't mean i have to eat crap. i deserve good food every day dammit!

henceforth.. tonight on the menu..

PUMPKIN AND MUSHROOM RISOTTO WITH GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST!!!

it was delicious and i ate all of it.

that is all.

what did you have for dinner, martin? 

lol

x

this is why I like baking cakes

and that's just the first three years.

ps. the blue castle on the third pic looks like Le Cordon Bleu eh..

¡buen provecho!

Being an Indonesian, I thought I had tried all the types of rice there is.. White rice, brown rice, red rice, black rice, yellow rice, sticky rice, fermented rice, coconut rice, rice cakes.. countless of different nasi gorengs.. and the list goes on!  So this made me a bit skeptical and hesitant when opportunities came to try risottos and paellas at restaurants in the past, as I would've already had eaten rice all week and would've wanted a change. But out of encouragement from friend Hongi, I FINALLY DID try some paella last Sunday.. And let me tell you.. what a revelation that was. Such a revelation, in fact. That I bought me a paella pan.

Dictionary Entry: paella

Part of Speech: n

Definition: in Spanish cuisine, a dish of saffron-flavoured rice cooked with meats, seafood, and vegetables. Originating in the rice-growing areas on Spain's Mediterranean coast, the dish is especially associated with the region of Valencia. Paella takes its name from the paellera (paella pan), the utensil in which it is cooked, a flat round pan with two handles; paella is traditionally eaten from the paella pan

Origin: 1890–95 - Catalan, frying pan, pot, paella, patella pan, paella pan

Etymology: Spanish Cuisine

Dictionary Entry: paella pan

Part of Speech: n

Definition: a wide round shallow pan with splayed sides and two handles, made of metal or earthenware and used for cooking Spanish paella

Example: The paella pan set comes with rice and saffron

Etymology: cooking

Feeling inspired.. I made my own paella last night. I had just gotten back from a brutal spin class with sister Tania all beat up and hungry.  Even though I knew that paellas take ages to cook and prepare.. you should know that there's no swaying me when I've made up my mind of what I want to cook or eat. But I have to admit.. yes, this was a little ambitious.. I started cooking at 7.20pm and we ate at 9.40pm. Tania and Martin were total sports for being so patient.

I didn't have an element big enough to heat the 34cm wide paellera, so I used two elements and kept turning.. and turning.. and turning..

two hours and twenty minutes later..

we ate the whole thing.

I'll do another blog post with the recipe and the steps within the next few days when I most definitely be making this again. Sorry the pictures are of poor effort. I got too hungry. And it smelt TOO GOOD. 

ps. I have also made my first Risotto two weeks ago. I've made it three times ever since. I'll do a post on it soon.. We just ate it too quickly all those times.. hehe

x

cookies city big band

hi there. sorry i have not posted in a while! i just got back from a pleasant trip to indonesia.. where i attended my grandma's 75th birthday parties. yes parties. one at night and one the next morning. we were partying all through the night yes ;)

ok. you'd think, grandma, eh. 75, eh? what did you guys do...? sit around looking at photo albums..? sippin some tea... NOPE. CHECK OUT THESE CAKES:

here's me with two.

big eh.

so yes. as you can see.. indonesian party cakes are IMMENSE! maybe that's another reason why i have loved baking since i was little.. and our family have always had awesome birthday cakes too! but maybe i'll save that for another blog post :)

anyways.. i've got two weeks left in chilly auckland before i leave for the even chillier paris. i have decided that the time i have left will be spent saying "a bientot" to friends.. with foods.

tonight i will be driving to the queen city big band rehearsal in epsom bearing fresh warm soft-centered chunky chocolate cookies! i have been a part of queen city for three years, playing the double bass at various swing gigs and concerts. the big band is comprised of twenty talented jazz instrumentalists and a few vocalists.. i was quite lost as to what to make them to say thank you.. then.. it occurred to me. who does not love cookies! especially in a cold winters evening :)

my new yorker sister tania is also around for a couple of weeks to hang out and be cooked for. she was kind enough to take pictures while i whisked about in the kitchen with sticky fingers. thanks tania :)

we start with some chopped up whittakers milk chocolate.

i prefer using chocolates from a bar than packeted chocolate
chips as they give chunkier pieces that actually
taste like real chocolate!

mix mix

mmm cookie dough..

i used an ice cream scoop for even cookies :)

cute eh.

into the oven they go..

check check them out!

man these are so good

they flatten a little bit, as the middle is left a little uncooked

for maximum chewiness!

oh man. so much butter. but so good. 

HERE'S TO BUTTER!

ok more posts soon. no more slacking off this time. see you buddies x