alanamoana

i really like the time/life candy book. you can usually find it used on amazon, etc. it is a bit old school, but it covers the basics with a lot of color photographs.

donbert, i'm not sure i'd go as long as 12 and 24 hours on the ddl experiment. keep it at a low simmer and do something like 4,6 and 8 or 6, 8 and 10...wouldn't go much longer. you'll still see differences in color/texture. awesome experiment and i can't wait to see the results of the cajeta (real goat's milk ddl).

donbert, great blog so far. differences in thickness of dulce de leche are probably mostly related to how long it cooks. color will also be an indicator. i.e. darker=thicker, lighter=thinner. no need to punch holes in can. your method is the easiest and best. you can cook multiple cans of the stuff and just keep it in your pantry (labeled of course, so you remember what's in them) at room temp. that's fine.

edited to remove original post but to then ask: phaelon56, you mentioned Expobar upthread (early on) as being an ugly duckling but good performer. what makes this brand stand out? the prices on the machines seem pretty decent in comparison with others (isomac, ecm) that are part of the e61 style machine that you recommend.

funny you should post this as i just had nachos this weekend...at a taqueria...$7.50 for a plate which included the following: a ton of chips, refried beans, cheese, carnitas (literally about two pounds worth), guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo. this taqueria is soooo good and their nachos are delicious. i can barely finish 1/3 of the plate, but i order it all for myself

i would use one vanilla bean and 1/2 t vanilla extract. but that's just me

Hi Alana, Preface: I tip my hat and will yield the floor to your expertise any day of the week (and twice on sundays). The melted chocolate should store just enough heat to achieve partial thickening power. Not full though. Honestly, I am not sure the starch is added solely for thickening power. My first guess would be that it "mimics" the structure of milk. If it were just chocolate, water and alcohol, I think that would break. Could I be close? With the recipe, I don't notice a starchy flavor. ~Chris PS - I'd kill to eat your fruitcake from the challenge. ← thanks chris (re: fruitcake) the gingerbready recipe is in recipe gullet and if you serve it with boozy whipped cream, you'll come pretty close to what i made)! i think you're right, the corn starch is probably there more as a binder than anything else. although, in the right proportions, chocolate, water and alcohol shouldn't break either...

what amount of vanilla paste does the recipe call for, and what is the recipe for? you shouldn't have a problem subbing either vanilla beans or vanilla extract or a combination of the two for vanila paste. it is a matter of taste as to how much you want to add if it is just a flavor component.

it's pretty ironic considering your sig line. i'd have been a bit more skeptical but thanks for the warning!

I used a dremel to route grooves in the roof that the walls would fit into. Also, as the project we were working on was rather large scale, we used hot glue to stick everything together and then used royal icing on the seams to hide/decorate. Trimming is a very good idea.

TimH, I thank you for your common sense and objectivity. I think this is what piperdown was looking for in the first place. I heartily second your comments. I went to school after first working in a restaurant and deciding that it was what I wanted to spend some money on. Ultimately, you take from school what you put in (as in most things in life). It gives you time to play around with food and use ingredients you won't have time for or be allowed to play around with once you get a job. The only time I ask where someone went to school is when I see that they are a terrible worker and I ask, incredulously..."you went where? and spent how much?" of course, I'm saying that somewhat tongue-in-cheek piperdown, if you've been working in a restaurant for a while and can see yourself doing it for at least another ten years, then school might be the right thing for you. just protect yourself from burning out (as this business can certainly do it to you), but at least you have your other education to fall back on if it doesn't work out

wow kerry! what a great job. the flavors are perfect for this weather and the dessert sounds like just the right combination of textures and flavors with a touch of chocolate to top it off! and you're a day early to boot! damn, you're efficient as well as talented.

there is a difference between the "standard" Guittard line of chocolates and their "higher end" E. Guittard line of chocolates. the company sells a huge range of products from artificially colored and flavored candy melts on up to single origin bars. the stuff that most of us are probably referring to (i know that's what i'm referring to) is the e. guittard line of higher percentage couvertures... here's the ingredient list on the box of the 61% Lever du Soleil: cacao beans, pure cane sugar, coca butter, soya lecithin, vanilla beans they might use milk fat (dried milk powder or something like that) as an additive to their milk chocolates...as most companies do. here's additional label info: cacao-61% minimum cacao mass-50% cocoa butter (added)-11% total fat-39% sugar-38% i've used their product in restaurant kitchens for the past five years and have been pretty consistently happy with the results. particularly for the price in relation to the quality. it is a good general use chocolate for cooking, baking, tempering, etc. i don't like their milk chocolate though. but as a disclaimer, it has been a while since i've done a taste test of different chocolates and eating out of hand is very different from working with chocolate in a production environment where you don't have the storage facilities (and other factors) for a different chocolate for every use. we did a taste test of a ton of different chocolates about five years ago which is when i was sold on the e. guittard line. edited to add: here's the ingredient list on a bag of valrhona 40% jivara lactee (milk chocolate, which i like to use): 40% minimum cocoa content cocoa butter, whole powdered milk, sugar, cocoa beans, brown sugar, natural vanilla extract; emulsifier: soya lecithin, malt extract, natural vanilla extract

i think it only comes out like four times a year, but i like donna hay. she is sort of an australian martha stewart and her magazines are just full of beautiful food photography and interesting/easy/good sounding recipes. don't know how it would be to subscribe here in the u.s.and a.

also, if you're storing your cheesecake in the fridge (as most people do), the humidity in the fridge will help destroy your garnish. i say, keep an airtight container of the crushed mints on the side and when you slice and serve the cheesecake, sprinkle some on the individual slice as a garnish. you could also spread a very thin layer of tempered chocolate on a piece of plastic wrap on your counter, sprinkle the crushed mints on top before the chocolate sets up (like a bark), cut out a circle the size of the top of your cheesecake (or wedge shapes for the individual slices) and top the cake with the chocolatey-mint garnish

actually, they don't use special gloves. most people i know use latex gloves because they are tighter. or...they use very thin cotton gloves (like what they'd use at a photo shop) underneath latex gloves so that they have some insulation. you'll still end up with a blister or two while you're learning.

i thought cornstarch was activated by heat...if this is just simmered, how does the cornstarch thicken the sauce? and do you have a raw cornstarch flavor in the sauce?

Vanessa and anyone else who is interested...I have a colleague of mine who is very talented with sugar showpieces. I'll check with the forum management and see if they'll allow a sugar demo. I already spoke with him and he wants to do a demo, but it will have to be after the holidays. I hope this works out because it would be a fun addition to the culinary classes. Hey Vanessa, you must be talking about Venuance pearls (an isomalt product) by albert uster. they sell them in different colors. but they're a bit expensive. probably better just to use plain isomalt. it looks like you're getting some good shine on your sugar already, so good job! the sugar ribbons are the same as chocolate ones. they make each bow section separately and then "glue" them all together once you have all the pieces you need. good luck with your practice. the chocolate box is also a great piece already. we always learn "what NOT to do" before we figure out what to do, right?!

I have used Glerup Revere before and been very happy with their pricing and customer service.

why would you toss any cookbook? i'm sure there's someone who would love a copy...there's a thread on eGullet for people exchanging free cookbooks...you could sell it...etc. they're all good.

i also like cacao barry's milk chocolate more than most other milks out there. don't much care for callebaut chocolates in general as i think they tend to be too sweet(?!). patrick, i've never heard of the l'harmonie from e. guittard. it must be one of their newer products. it's not even listed on their website. i've never tried any of their single origin bars. i've only used their 55%, 61%, 72(?)%, milk and white. they have funny names for the 61% (sunrise or lever du soleil) and for the 72% (sunset or coucher du soleil) or something like that. i've never gone beyond those chocolates though. i feel like they (and many other companies) started doing the single origin thing to keep up with the joneses.

e. guittard also has a 55% that's a pretty good general use chocolate. their (e. guittard's) 61% is great. i use it for everything and haven't gotten complaints about it being too bitter. great meltability, etc. i prefer e. guittard products over callebaut. guittard chocolates are also a bit cheaper than the european chocolates without sacrificing quality. i find that it isn't so much the cocoa content (if it is too high, of course it gets bitter) with scharffenberger, but their chocolate tends to be very tannic or drying in the mouth. it doesn't exactly scream out melty-chocolatey-goodness, if you know what i mean. it does it for some people, but it isn't my favorite for either eating out of hand nor (especially not, i should say) for baking and dessert making.

maybe grocery stores cycle through toasted nuts faster than raw nuts due to the human being's inherent laziness.

Thanks Patrick. I'm sure it would have looked even more appetizing had you photographed it! The gingerbread fruitcake recipe is good even without the fruit and nuts. I think the original recipe calls for some coffee soaked raisins (and no other chunky stuff)...about a half a cup of raisins if I recall.

Hi everyone... Here are the links to the fruitcake recipes on RecipeGullet: Gingerbread Fruitcake and Pouncake-Like Fruitcake If you have questions, please feel free to post or PM me. I'm not always clear on what I did. I still have to post the Eggnog Cream recipe...that's a bit of tough one because I don't think I took notes on what I did...