in my previous entry of the sicile, the very fantastic pistachio biscuit sponge uses both almond & pistachio paste in it and some of my readers hv been asking me where they can purchase or make their own so i'm gonna post the recipe here. obviously nothing compares to the commercial ones in terms of texture coz even with my decent 600W blender i couldn't really get a really smooth paste but this is a good alternative to buying. unless you frequently use the pastes, i would recommend making your own if you just require a small quantity as the pistachio paste especially is not cheap.

this is a second recipe i tried from hidemi sugino's book and its nothing short of amazing. during the lunar new year, my family requested for a cake (as with every year, or rather, every occasion) so i decided to make this coz its one of the easier recipes from the book. in terms of appearance, its similar to the fruits rouges but simpler to make and better tasting.

remember the last time i said i was really lucky coz i got to try pierre herme's macarons from both tokyo and paris just two weeks apart from each other? this time i'm even luckier coz i got to try sadaharu AOKI's macarons from both taipei & paris on the same day, thx to my two lovely friends angela and claire! since claire returned from paris for almost two weeks already, i ate the macarons straight without taking any photos :( here are the ones from taipei that angela got me.