aidensnd2

I've never checked the temp of my brulees but whole eggs with added liquid will coagulate around 175-185 so I'd shoot for 180 and see how that works for you. Think about when you cook anglaise, much over 180 and you get scrambled eggs unless for some reason you have some form of starch in it which will let you take it to a higher temp. Also the amount of sugar in your recipe will affect the finished consisitency. More sugar= softer custard. Hope that helps

Anyone have any ideas what to do with donut peaches which will retain their uniqueness? I mean I could use them in any typical peach dessert but then I might as well just use 'normal' peaches. Thanks in advance.

I think it should depend on what you are goign to be using the rehydrated fruit in. Raisins rehydrated in rum are going to taste much more like rum than raisins, etc... So if you want the taste of the fruit I would use plain water or at the most a 50/50 blend of water and alcohol. If you're not too concernced about the 'fruitiness' coming through then go for all alcohol. Personally I like watered down Grand Marnier, rum, kirsch, calvados for my fruits.

Here's last weekends special. Bing cherry clafouti, vanilla bean ice cream, cherry Amaretto sauce and Rainiers for garnish. Tasty if I do say so myself.

As a matter of interest, will you be leaving the stones in your cherries? This is one of the big French cullinary debates. ← Nope, as it's being served in a restaurant I thought it would be best to limit our liability and pit them. I can see maybe leaving the stones in if you were making it at home but in a formal setting having people spit out the stones might not seem too 'proper' Thanks Dan

So I'm running a cherry clafouti as a special at work and someone asked why it's called a clafouti. I'm stumped, anyone? Thanks Dan

Here you go: Hopefully that worked.

I went. It was pretty good. I'll have some pitcutres shortly

I would go for Grand Marnier myself. Chambord would be nice if there isn't much sugar in the compote, otherwise I could see it getting cloyingly sweet.

Good idea, I think I'll borrow that.

I like this thread and would like to see it continue so here are my last couple of specials from work: Chocolate and honey mousse with honeycomb. Redcurrant mousse wth mango/mint salsa and redcurrant coulis.

Anyone going?

You don't need a bread machine to learn to make bread nor would I recommend that you get one. If you just want to bang out some bread to eat as opposed to buying it at the store you might do alright with a machine, but if you want to really learn to make bread, are passionate about bread, and can tell the difference between good and bad bread then a mchine will do you no good. Bread making is something that is so dependent on feel and touch and using a machine will rob you of those experiences. I would recommend finding a simple recipe and just start baking off some loaves. Try to develop a relationship between how the dough feels/acts before baking and how the loaves bake off. Getting a sense of when the dough has been worked properly, when it has proofed for the correct amount of time, etc... can only really be done when making it by hand, and these are the things that will make or break you bread.

I'm not a salmon fan, actually it's near impossible to get me to eat it but I tried some Copper River at work today and it was damn good... I know that as of today at least 5 restaurants in PDX have it on the menu.

Exactly what I was thinking. Perfect timing with the Sugarveil thread just happening. Either that or I would just take a drawing on parchment and prick through it onto the cake to get the lines.

WHAT, no picture of the cat??????

I don't have a recipe in front of me but I will try to remember and post one when I get home but what I recall from the last time I made them was to use powdered sugar instead of granulated and then fold more powdered in at the very end. Crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle.

How long did you refrigerate them for before serving? Assuming they chilled then I'd say the runniness was definitely due to underbaking. Personally, for a single serving size ramekin I would bake until there's an area the size of a quarter in the middle that still has a decent jiggle to it. I've never had much luck using a broiler in a consumer oven for brulees. I don't think the heat is intense enough to do a good job of caramelizing the the sugar without burning the custard. If you don't have access to a torch I'd go with the spoon method that culinary bear suggested. Make sure that you get the spoon incredibly hot as you need it to caramelize the sugar fast or it will stick to the spoon. Good luck

Well said.

How long do you whip everything for, the recipe just says 'thoroughly'? How long can you store them in the fridge before baking? Thanks

How do you make these for service if you don't have the time to bake them to order?

-Offset spatulas, large and small. -A good vegetable peeler -Microplane -Silicon spatulas -Metal whisks, 1 each small, medium and large -Pastry brushes, large and small -Spoons, I like the Exoglass ones -Measuring cups/spoons -Digital scale -Mixing bowls, I prefer stainless steel to glass -Pastry bags and tips. -Silpats -Instant read thermometer -Sieve -Good quality baking sheets -Sturdy, thick cake pans. I would just start with 2- 9 inch pans -Muffin tray -Good quality removable bottom 9 inch tart pan I think that should cover most of your basic needs. -Buy the best equipment you can afford, but only buy what you know you will use. -Beware of all the cool, high-tech, nifty looking gadgets that fill up the cooking stores, and my cupboards, that will not get used regularly.

I'm not sure how much they are charging for it but in the past I've just used pvc pipe or those plastic flourescent tube light bulb holders. Not sure what they are really used for, I saw them in a hardware store next to the long flourescent bulbs and I'm guessing they are used to store the bulbs in. They are made out of clear plastic with black plastic end caps. They had them in various lengths and sizes to match the different bulbs. I like these better than the pvc because if you are piping in a filling without a 'wrapper', like the joconde, you can see if you have any air bubbles. I like these for making things like mousses that are going to be plated to order because you can just slide out and cut as much as you need each time, the rest stays wrapped up and protected in the tube. Shapes other than round would be cool though.

When I started my current job I played around with baking brulee at different temps and times and I found that I got the best result in a 200 degree oven, low fan (can't turn it off), uncovered and without a water bath. I bake off a full 200 hotel pan at a time and then portion when serving. It takes about 45-50 minutes to set. I think the texture is different when using a water bath, almost more gelatinous. With a water bath it was taking almost as long to set while baking covered at 300 degrees. I much prefer the results when not using a water bath.

I like that Neil. What kind of batter did you use for the bananas?