Handmade Cat Beds

Sunday, July 20, 2025

I had a bunch of random fleece, quilted fabric, and clean waste wool lying around, so I slung together a couple cat beds with removable (washable!) covers. Even the wool pillow that makes up the base is removable. The whole thing is washable! Yesssssss

Recipe: Rose Essence Meringues

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Who knew just blobbing partially mixed meringue batter could make such pretty little cookies?
I had 4 egg whites leftover from a big batch of canneles de bourdeaux and ended up with these colorful little dollops. Recipe is adapted slightly from lepetiteats.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 large egg whites
• 0.5 tsp cream of tartar
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp rose essence
• 1 drop pink food coloring (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit (95 Celsius).
2. Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
3. Gradually add the sugar, while continuing to whisk. The mixture should be very stiff and glossy.
4. Add the rose essence and food coloring to a small bowl, and fold in a cup of the meringue.
5. Transfer the mixture back into the meringue, and fold gently to combine until color is evenly distributed.
6. Blob tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets, and bake for 1.5 hours or until the meringues are very dry and peel off the parchment easily.

Semi-Success: Madeleines

Sunday, July 6, 2025

These madeleins from Sally's Baking Addiction didn't come out quite right. Not quite as lofty as expected. And while I did get the signature ridges, the underside of the cookie was way lumpier than it should have been. I suspect the batter is somehow more solid than it should have been.Tasted fine, though!

Success: Chocolate Almond Pear Tart

Sunday, June 29, 2025

This chocolate almond pear tart from Marcellina in Cucina is not quite the chocolate-pear tart of my dreams. I'm picking up the hunt again. It's quite tasty when heated up, but I think I'm expecting a more ganache-y filling?

Recipe: Browned Butter Gateau Magique

Sunday, June 22, 2025

I had been thinking of this cake for weeks. And so, I made it! It's the ingredients from milk street which is rather similar to this recipe from Simmer and Sauce, but you replace the unsalted butter with browned salted butter, and the white sugar with light brown sugar.

It's a crowd pleser, because you take rather unappetizing batter, pour it into a pan, and the cake separates itself out into three layers, magically. Very custard-y little cake.

Browned Butter Gateau Magique

Ingredients

• 8 Tbsp salted butter, browned
• 4 eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)
• Fresh whipped cream, for serving (optional)
• Sliced strawberries, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (160 Celsius) and line an 8" x 8" cake pan with parchment paper.
2. Brown the butter in a small saucepan, set aside to cool a bit
3. In the bowl of a kitchen mixer add the egg yolks and sugar, and beat on high until the mixture turns pale yellow (~1 minute).
4. Add the vanilla extract and browned butter and beat until the ingredients are well incorporated. Add flour and beat mixture until just combined.
5. With the mixer on low, slowly add the milk 0.25c at a time. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
6. Clean the mixing bowl and add the egg whites. Whisk the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form.
7. Using a silicone cake spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter, one-third at a time, until just incorporated. Do not overmix and deflate the egg whites. The batter will be thin but lumpy. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
8. Place the cake in the oven and bake until the top is golden brown and the cake does not wiggle when you gently shake the pan, about 35-40 minutes.
9. Remove the cake from the oven and cool. Once cool, remove the cake from the pan and dust the top with confectioners' sugar (optional).
10. To serve, slice the cake and top it with whipped cream and fresh fruit, if desired.

Handmade Violet Soap

Sunday, June 15, 2025

Violet soap that isn't violet (because I didn't color it with anything besides sage powder and titanium dioxide). Despite infusing the distilled water with violet flowers, that coloring is not really intesive enough to stick in the final product. Same for scents, too! Despite infusing the olive oil with violet leaves, I mixed up some flowery essential oils to be the main scent for this soap.

I used thenerdyfarmwife's violet soap recipe but used some sage powder instead of chlorella, because it's what I had on hand.