alanamoana

Thank you for this most eloquent argument...the opposite of what mine would have been had I allowed myself the pleasure...

probably not too much help (as it isn't chocolate), i often do cookie "pops" in the shape of hand or foot (for new baby)...royal flood icing with baby's name written on them. individually wrapped in cello bag... or i just did cupcakes for a friend's baby's first birthday party and did tempered chocolate plaques with baby's name. i actually printed the baby's name in a cute font repeatedly on computer and then flipped the page over so it would be backward, put a piece of acetate on top, piped the name in tempered white chocolate, then spread tempered dark chocolate over the top, then punched it out before the chocolate completely set using a fluted cutter...placed at an angle on top of the cupcakes. everyone asked the mom where she bought the cupcakes. if you have any cute mini cookie cutters on hand, you could fill a bunch with tempered chocolate for cute "baby" shapes...ahhh forget it...doesn't she know you just finished easter and are too tired for this?! hehehe hopefully this works...obviously these cookies were made for a shower before the baby was born...you can adjust accordingly...they were a last minute request with no constraints and are rather simple and easy. link to imageGullet

artistic sugarworks, you seem to already have a cake business up and running. what are you looking for in attending pastry school? you might be better served by taking some continuing education courses at culinary schools (to bolster your skills where you think you need them). the french pastry school in chicago has a lot of very interesting three day courses throughout the year taught either by their staff or guest chefs who are tops in their field. i'm sure the schools in new york city also offer these short classes. as an investment in your business, they are probably tax deductible expenses and three days at a time three or more times a year...i'm sure your family could spare you just something to think about.

it is often the case that people recommend leaving the chocolate in the mold or on the acetate for a longer period of time (to "cure")...i'm sure that this affects the shine on the chocolates. as we're always in a rush and pushing unmolding by refrigerating, the chocolates come out less shiny. but then again, chocolates that go through cooling tunnels in factories come out nice and shiny...so that may blow my theory out the window (but they probably have fans to control humidity which we don't have in our home refrigerators).

depends on what kind of powdered sugar you're talking about. typically, the "powdered sugar" they use on commercially made donuts and pastries is a particular product called "snow white topping" or something to that affect. it also contains starch (wheat, not corn like regular powdered sugar) and is used because it doesn't dissolve when moist, humid, warm, etc. like regular powdered sugar does. all of that, and i still don't know why it is "cool"...but just wanted to clarify that there is another product out there... chemists?! anyone?!

off topic, but to clarify: Community colleges (as Christopher Michael knows) are very common in Southern (and Northern) California. The idea is to go for a two year "associates" degree at the minimum...or to turn the two years into a four year degree by transferring to a four year college or university. In California, you can go to a community college with the intention of transferring...if you maintain a certain GPA, you qualify to go to any California State University (Fullerton, etc.)...if you maintain a slightly higher GPA, you qualify to go to any University of California (Berkely, Los Angeles, etc.). It is a great way to save some money and really decide your course of study before jumping in. Pros and cons abound. Orange Coast College in Orange County is very well known for its culinary program. At least it was when I lived down there about 10 years ago...wow, was it that long ago?! Transparent: if you live in the NYC area (Brooklyn sort of counts ), then you must know about ICE (Institute of Culinary Education) and the French Culinary Institute...both in Manhattan. Both expensive. I think (without any experience with any of those particular schools to back this up) that the Frency Pastry School in Chicago might be a better choice.

gfron1, unfortunately, i think pistachio is one of those flavors that really doesn't come out very clearly in pastry. even with pistachio paste (which is very expensive for the good stuff) you get more color than flavor. if you've tried pistachio syrups, they taste more like almond extract. we used to make a pistachio shortbread cookie with pistachio meal (finely ground sicilian pistachios approximately $70/kilo restaurant price) and they didn't taste like pistachios to me either! if you post the cremeux recipe, maybe some of the other pros might be able to see if the formula is way off... also, in your picture, the strawberry "gelee" looked frozen and a bit thick...was that what you were looking for? or were you looking more for a mirror glaze? if you look at some french "entremets" you might be better served coming up with a saffron mousse, pour it into a ring mold half way, add your pistachio cake/genoise, fill up with the rest of the mousse and then mirror the top with the strawberry gelee...you can bottom it with a plain shortbread crust if you need it to sit on something sturdy. to be honest though, i pretty much hate saffron...and i think that the flavor would mask anything else it was paired with. maybe just layers of pistachio? pistachio genoise with a pistachio mousse, strawberry gelee and chopped toasted pistachio on the outside?!

chef from momofuku is named as one of food and wines ten "best new" chefs of 2006 food and wine

it is a pretty involved dish where they clean and poach the foie, roll it, smoke it...ahhhh i can't remember the order of everything...i think at one point they roast the whole shebang to give it the color you see on the outside. at any rate, it is about a three day process.

why can't you use the ganache filling as the crumb coat? would it be too dark under the fondant?

i only saw him to them at his demo. i saw that he's doing a three day class in november at the french pastry school in chicago...$850 for the three days...i'd really like to go because i just like him so much. i like his approach to chocolate, i like his personality. but it is quite a bit of dough. if i can save up until then. we'll see.

does this mean you slept with the "rather attractive floor manager"? there was also an episode of seinfeld with the whole scenario going terribly awry...you can imagine it, i'm sure. working in the industry, it happens all the time. we actually had a maitre d' who would come in on her days off when she knew certain vip's or regulars had a reservation...just to show her face in the hopes of cashing in. of course, we didn't think very highly of her. i've also seen it happen where someone calls for a reservation and the reservationist makes it seem like the restaurant is totally booked but they'll "squeeze you in"...invariably, the customer shows up, asks for the reservationist who works somewhere in the back and they'll get payola. it is crazy, but it does work. being a back of the house employee...i never do it. but i do end up overtipping on the check...which i think is a bad habit and another topic altogether.

and finally... to reiterate what carolyn said: i'd much rather eat four to five great, moderately priced meals than spend the money at one of the following: TFL, G. Danko, Fleur, Ritz, etc...i think i've just gotten jaded but i feel that the law of diminishing returns applies to my eating out...there's just a point where the $200 premium i'm paying isn't worth the extra serving of foie gras or shaving of truffles. it probably has to do with the fact that i'm in the food industry and know what goes into everything...or maybe i just hate getting dressed up , but i'd much rather snack on the foie scraps in the back and go out to enjoy a really great burger! of course special occasions call for a special meal...it's just deciding where the enjoyment doesn't cause sticker shock after the fact.

you might be disappointed to know that their chunk of aged compte is getting frighteningly small...they might be out by the time you get there

ling, that machine you have a picture of might be the roaster which is...if you're facing the machines with the big grinding stones...directly behind you in the other room. it should have been there when you were there as i took a tour on the tuesday before you were there. they might not point it out as it is in a different room. also if they were in production when your tour was taking place it might have been louder and noisier. they weren't actually making chocolate when we were there. from what i understand, they're still using the old machines...also since they've been bought by hershey, we asked what changes are being made...it sounds promising that hershey doesn't want to change what scharffen berger is doing, but they do want them to up their production. i don't personally love scharffen berger chocolate, but it has its place in the chocolate world for sure. in my opinion, fleur de lys is just the type of restaurant to get a lot of attention from michelin as they are french and owned by french people. not wanting to stereotype, but that is the cuisine they serve. there's nothing wrong with it, it just isn't overly imaginitive or interesting. to compare, i think the french laundry does "french" cuisine, but it uses the best ingredients at their freshest and takes the time to be a little inventive...but i have never eaten at the laundry, so maybe i'm wrong. i ate at fleur years ago and wasn't overly impressed. we were well taken care of because i was friends with the maitre d' and i'm also in the restaurant business...so we were definitely treated well, but i didn't think the food was that impressive. maybe just not to my personal taste. i might consider the dining room as ron siegal is a little younger and maybe a bit more inventive, but his food is very french leaning and very rich. i have only eaten his food when he was cooking at masa, so can't comment on the dining room. i wonder how la folie is doing these days? roland passot is another of the old guard french chefs in the city that has four stars to his name. the restaurant is much smaller and cozier than fleur or the dining room... of course, i dined at these places many years (at least four) ago and who knows what has changed since then. edited to clarify

you could brulee the top crepe separately from the rest of the "cake", and once the sugar hardens, cut it separately as well. then place it back on the cake and use it as a template to cut the rest into slices. just like on a creme brulee, the sugary top is supposed to add a textural contrast. but with the creme brulee, it doesn't matter if it cracks unevenly. on the cake this is more difficult to deal with.

sounds great. i love ANYTHING with yuzu.

he (wybauw) says the best plastic bags are the grocery store ones that they use for produce...they're thin and very flexible.

filipe, heat the cream up before adding the juice...if you add it right away you're likely to curdle the cream. since the juice is bottled, it has probably been pasteurized so you won't have to heat the juice.

from what i understand, larry stone no longer works there. i'm not a huge drinker but my friend had the pairings. as we had different dishes, i don't know how well the wine paired with the food. i tasted one or two of the wines and liked them very much but couldn't tell you who the sommelier is. edited to add: sf chronicle article

gfron1, they are beautiful...with the whipped filling, you can just adjust the recipe by adding more cream to the mix. the chocolate is just a flavoring so you can add more or less to your taste. also, i've made chocolate whipped cream/ganache the same day, just chill in an ice bath (stirring constantly) until cold and then refrigerate until ready to use...i think the cook book recommends longer because they'd rather err on the side of caution and don't want to have to explain the whole ice bath thing. i love your little shell plates too! do you sell them in your store?

scott123, tempered chocolate gets its shine from being in contact with something shiny when it sets up...for example a sheet of acetate or a shiny chocolate mold. the side that is not in contact with the mold or the acetate will be matte. Kerry, thanks for the demo! i usually use just heat up and seed without bothering to cool down and re-warm. i'm leery of using water because i know i'll screw it up (i used to do this method when i first started working with chocolate...i screwed up a lot back then ). what are your thoughts on just the heat up and seed method? where did you get your heat gun? very cool. we appreciate the time you took to prepare the demo and photos.. thanks again!

you can make a batter and freeze it in individual ramekins or aluminum cups and then freeze them. molten cakes are molten usually because of raw batter in middle. high temp and short cooking time sets the outside of the cake leaving the middle liquid. if you make them yourself, don't cook them before you freeze them.

i ate at rubicon last night. i really enjoyed my meal. i don't think i had any expectations, good or bad as i didn't know anything about the chef, etc. regarding the space, i was surprised at how small and warm the room was. the chairs and tables seemed a bit casual looking next to the food, plates and glassware. my friend (disclaimer: my friend is a food professional in the city and knows the chef and his wife who is the pastry chef) and i received a tasting, each of us receiving a different item for each course so we were able to sample quite a few menu items. i don't make it a habit to take notes or over-intellectualize my meals, but there were a few items i really liked: tuna roll: raw tuna, flattened and rolled around sauteed fois gras and chanterelles, the entire roll glazed with a beef demi halibut: simply seared and served with some lardon and greens...a little salty but rich and satisfying with nice smokiness from the bacon beet ravioli: sweet and fragrant with truffle oil, sauteed mushrooms, asparagus and shaved parmesan dessert: some type of financier with a fruit paste (can't remember), olive oil ice cream, shaved pecorino, toasted walnuts and segmented citrus...dee-lish...lightly sweet with the cheese offering a balance to the sweetness. i often choose not to dine out at higher end restaurants because i am so disappointed with the cost versus the quality of food and service, but last night was an exception. i felt the service was professional, maybe a tiny bit casual but certainly matched to the surroundings. edited to remove redundancy

i think yasuda is more like $4 for one piece of nigiri (around that) depending on fish...they are also smaller than most places. i usually don't keep track but if you read further upthread, you'll find a ton of discussion of price...it is very individualized depending on if you drink alcohol, etc. i find for two people with one order of sake and letting yasuda-san feed us it is around $200+tip+tax