Powder Puffs

I love watching Laura Calder on French Food at Home. She's so adorable.... and I just love her dresses.. The recipes on her show are really easy too.. I've tried several recipes I got from the show .. so far so good :)

Anyway one night while making dendeng for my customers at Dendeng, Etc I felt the urge to eat something sweet. Plus, I just watched her show .. and she was showing how to make Powder Puffs. It's a bit too sweet to my taste so I reduced the sugar a little. From 3/4 cup of sugar to a little bit more than 1/2 cup. She also used some really expensive raspberry jam.. I only had this blueberry jam which was more like jelly than jam. Coincidentally I had some whip cream leftover in the fridge. Wouldn't want it to go bad ;)

The decision was worth it. They tasted so good! I didn't have cornstarch at home.. so I substituted it with flour. It was a success.. Brought some for Kak Ina and Kak Ida to taste. They loved it. Kak Ida even ordered some from me.. hehehe :p

Some tips on separating the eggs... I got this from Joy of Baking website I think.. can't remember... Anyways, separate them when they are cold. then leave the eggs covered to warm up to room temperature before whipping the egg whites :)

Anyway the original recipe can be found here .. Here's my take on the recipe :)

Powder Puffs

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs, separated
1/2+  cup caster sugar
1/2 cup jam
3/4 cup whipping cream, vanilla flavored for filling

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. 
2. Blend together the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Set aside. 
3. In another bowl, separate the egg whites from the yolks. Set yolks aside. 
4. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks. 
5. Add the sugar in three stages, beating after each addition to make a stiff, glossy meringue. 
6. Whisk in the egg yolks one at a time. 
7. Sift the dry ingredients together, then sift them over the egg mixture and fold in with the whisk, without beating or you'll lose volume. 
8. Pipe or drop by tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving room between so they can spread. They just grow in size..like nobody's business! 
9. Bake until lightly golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. They will harden slightly. 
10. Sandwich the rounds together with jam and sweetened, vanilla-flavoured whipped cream. Let sit an hour or so to soften before serving. (This is important. They will not be sponge-like right away, and you want them to be.) Dust with icing sugar before serving if you like.. I didn't. .. already too sweet :D