
I don’t know about the rest of you out there, but here in Melaka, it has been raining A LOT in the past few weeks.
And while I am always grateful that I don’t live in an area when water scarcity / drought is a problem,
I can’t help but think that right now, we’re getting too much of a good thing.
My plants for one, do not appreciate the lack of sun as well as the constant torrential rain descending upon them.
Baking is a b*tch now as well.
Try getting whipping any kind of meringue to a stiff peak with this kind of humidity!
All my meringue recipes have had me whipping my egg whites for 1/2 an hour at a high speed,
only to end up with peaks were still droopy.
And I’m very sure that they have not been overwhipped either.
I ran into the same bad luck making macarons last week.
Not one to waste — it was approximately six egg whites in total — I folded all the dry ingredients in anyway,
and ended up with a mixture that resembled a very runny cake batter.
And while I didn’t take any pictures of it at that stage,
I did manage to snap one of them all piped out and resting
— and their runniness is quite evident here: see how they’re reaching to kiss one another!

The humidity laughs at my meringue!
Though, because I use Italian meringue — which is a million times more stable than its easier French counterpart — the end result didn’t turn out so bad after all.
I allowed the shells to sit for a whole 1 hour 15 mins under a fan in an air-conditioned room
— yes, macarons are really that finicky —
until a nice skin was formed (pressing on the unbaked shells didn’t leave so much as a fingerprint at this stage);
preheated an oven @ 180°C;
popped them in & reduced the temperature immediately to 150°C;
and baked them for 15 mins — opening the oven 2x & rotating it.
Voila!

Rose buttercream macarons — not too shabby, eh?
And while they weren’t as crumbly as they could have been if my meringue was properly whipped,
they tasted just as good.
*yummeh*
I do make macarons in other favours, but you can probably guess by now,
I have a weak spot for pink. 🙂
Hi Nyonya, I love your lively eloquence. I found your blog by chance via google. I was looking for buah keluak and noticed your callsign, ‘Nonyacelup’ ha ha….love your humour.
I too am or rather was from Malacca, wayyyy back in the early 50s. My mom was a 5 generations pure Nyonya, thus my interest in this buah keluak.
I have not eaten this since …..can’t remember when.
Should you decide to cook this buah keluak curry, send me a telegram.
And yes, a true Nyonya worth her salt does not cook by recipe, always by agak agak.
As well again, no Nyonya does not know how to make a good sambal belachan….not to hot, that FIL or MIL have to put face under a tap, but just tangy enough to tease the palate.
You have a nice day and keep a song in your heart.
Best regards,
Lee.
Hi Lee,
Thank you for reading – it’s always nice to hear from a reader, however few that may be.
I don’t cook this as often as I should, although the Baba loves it, as I find it too time consuming.
So we usually save it for special occasions – perhaps during the next Chinese New Year. 🙂
Cheers!