PastryBoy

Tournayre has returned to his new place on Mt. Pleasant near Eglinton called Jules Patisseries. It's pretty convenient since you have 4 other french pastry shops within walking distance: Bamboche, Rahier, La Cigogne, Le Comptor de Celestin.

Thanks for the ideas. I never thought about éclairs or shaped meringues. and that cake site is hilarious although I'm not sure if I would ever have the nerve to make some of their cakes. and I think I'll definitely be doing something with ice cream... perhaps mini bananas with ice cream "balls" sundae. hmm... keep 'em coming!

Hi all: I've been asked to provide some desserts for a bachelorette party for 20 coming up and I have been having problems coming up with some good ideas. I was thinking of doing a 'naughty & nice' kind of theme with lots of suggestive desserts (there are lots of penis-shaped cake molds out there but I am not sure if i want to invest in them as their shape is quite 'specific' and i couldn't see myself pulling out those molds for anything else except maybe valentine's day (depending on the clientele)... Does anyone have any good ideas they'd like to share? I'm currently thinking of doing iced cookies (like naughty gingerbread men), something with whipped cream (maybe ice cream sundaes)...

Now that summer is fast approaching I'll be slowly re-introducing chocolate-dipped ice cream bars into our line of desserts. I simply combine 7 parts dark chocolate to 1 part oil (by weight) - don't overheat. Hold the dipping chocolate between 86 to 89 degrees farenheit for optimal dipping (won't melt ice cream, minimum of bubbles etc.). The temp is a few degrees less for milk/white chocolate. Make sure your ice cream is rock solid before dipping - I have my down to -20oC in the walk-in freezer. I hope this helps and good luck!

Does anyone know where I can get fennel pollen in Toronto?

Qualifirst used to carry Valrhona but now carry on Cluizel and Callebaut. Lentia is the exclusive distributor of Valrhona in Ontario I believe.

By chocolate syrup I assume you mean the kind you make chocolate milk from like Nesquick?

I've tried ripening the cookies in the freezer overnight once they have been sandwiched with the cookies but they're still pretty crispy. I am trying to make mini ice cream sandwiches so perhaps I am overbaking the cookies. I believe I will give Martha's recipe a try since it has been mentioned a few times here. I'll let you all know how it goes. cheers!

I can't believe summer is fast approaching. I'm trying to make ice cream sandwiches like the ones you buy at the grocery store (rectangular chocolate cookies with ice cream) where the cookies are soft and yield immediately when bitten into (no crunch). I would like them to look like this. All the recipes I have tried thus far have made crisp cookies more like shortbread. Here is the recipe I am using at the moment: 12 tbsp butter 1/4 c shortening 1 1/3 c sugar 1 egg 1 tbsp vanilla 2 1/4 c flour 2/3 c cocoa powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt It's the basic cream fat and sugar together, add egg, then add dry ingredients type of procedure. I roll and chill before baking. I bake at 350 F till just barely set. Does anyone have any tips of recipes they'd be willing to share for soft ice cream sandwich cookies? thx, David.

Thanks for the tips! I think I'll be trying what alanamoana suggested... I'll let you know how it goes soon as the donuts are on the menu for this weekend. cheers!

I was thinking of putting (raised/yeasted) donuts on the à la carte menu at night and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with them in a restaurant environment. I would be making the dough during the day and I will have a separate fryer for the donuts so they don't absorb bizarre odours. Since my shift starts at 6 AM, the garde manger station would be frying/plating the donut dish during service at night. What I am unsure about is how I am going to handle the proofing. We do not have a separate proof box so I will probably have to rig something up. For the moment I am thinking of proofing only a certain amount every night and if we run out by say 10 pm then we run out. However, that would mean that I would be proofing a large amount of donuts late in the afternoon. I am afraid that the donuts would be sitting out proofing for several hours and they would be overproofed by frying time (hope that makes sense). So, would it be best if I punched out the donuts and stuck them in the fridge or freezer and have them pulled/proofed as needed? Or perhaps I could proof them ahead of time and freeze them in their proofed stage so they could be popped directly into the fryer... Any thoughts?

... make that books (plural) since the Larousse de Chocolat - also penned by Hermé - is debuting in October.

Does anyone know a reputable online source where I can find (foodsafe) tonka beans? I would like to use it in a new dessert. Any info would be helpful!

I am having cravings for red beans lately and wanted to try making mizu yokan for the first time. All the recipes I have found use sticks of shiro kanten (white agar agar). Would I be able to substitute regular gelatin for the agar or does the agar set the jelly somehow differently (i.e., different set / texture / taste...)?

Hi JeanneCake: At work instead of using a custard base, we use a cinnamon pastry cream which works very well. just pipe/spoon the (cool) pastry cream into a tart shell, top with thinly sliced apples, and bake. we only do individual tarts at work and from your post it looks like you'll be doing large tarts for your buffet. The format can be used in last tarts as well. It's to your advantage too since the larger surface area will allow you to do really beautiful concentric rings of apple slices like the one shown here in another thread. Hopefully this helps! David :)

hmmm... I think I need to get my hands on some coloured cocoa butter (not too sure where I can get it in Canada as I think Chef Rubber only delivers in the States). I did 400+ chocolates for work (haven't tempered chocolate in over a year... yikes!) and they came out alright. I tempered dark and white chocolate and coloured my white choc with fat-soluble pigment. The chocolates lack the shine and the punch of colour that you all seem to be getting with coloured cocoa butters. The coloured swirl should have been much redder (I filled that one with raspberry ganache) but I was afraid of breaking the temper of the white chocolate by adding more colouring.

just stopped by the food shop and picked up a small bag of cocoa nibs and can't wait to start experimenting. i'm thinking they'd be good in a dark choc shortbread/sablé or folded into ice creams for that hit of intense cocoa flavour. does anyone have any favourite recipes / uses for cocoa nibs they'd like to share?

The results have been posted! 1st place: France 2nd place: Pays-Bas (not too sure how to translate) 3rd place: United States Best Chocolate: Canada (yay for canada!!) Best Sugar: South Korea Best Ice Cream: Japan You can get the full results and photos here. cheers, David

I just attempted heart-shaped macarons at work in preparation for Valentine's day. They turned out better than expected although I need to pipe them more carefully when I prepare them for real so the tail-ends match up properly. I filled them with raspberry buttercream or rose buttercream (just mixed in some rose petal jam).

i agree wholeheartedly. there is no point in putting in all the extra work when there is not much differencin flavour.

thanks for the photos neil! the shop looks amazing. the pastries (and everything else) look flawless! i must start planning my next trip to las vegas!

good luck! i'm sure everything will be a hit. can't wait for your pictures!

Does anyone know where I can get my hands on some live scallops (i.e. still in the shell) in Toronto?

Simply amazing! Exquisite photos Neil. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to post pics for those of us who couldn't be there. cheers!

Don't get discouraged Milena. There is an upcoming issue of Toronto Life where they profile up and coming pastry chefs (in Toronto of course - you said in another post that you lived 2 hours away) and they all happen to be female! From my knowledge of pastry in Toronto, you have Heather Pollock (Drake Hotel), Charmaine Baan (Splendido), Joanne Yolles (Pangaea), Iris ?? (sen5es) etc. You'll have to keep your eye out for the issue (I'm not sure when it comes out).