ComeUndone

Just a few notes on some of my findings: Recipe 1 [based on chocolate panna cotta on Partistry.com] - I used too little gelatine (6g powder). The end product was still pourable after 2 days in the fridge. I thought 4 sheets of gelatine is equivalent to 11g powder gelatine but apparently, more is required in this recipe - mixture was only flavoured with milk chocolate (I used Lindt Excellence with 30% cocoa 20% milk solid). Yes, it's rich and creamy but reminds me too much of chocolate milk. Expensive chocolate milk. Recipe 2 [malted chocolate panna cotta] - 375mL 35% cream, 125mL whole milk, 6g powder gelatine, 60g granulated sugar, 0.5oz dark chocolate (Lindt Excellence 85%), 1.5oz milk chocolate (Lindt Excellence), 65g malted (i.e. Classic Ovaltine) - sets to good texture but can be a bit softer - love the flavour! Perhaps I'm biased because Ovaltine is one of my all time favourite drink. However, the milk chocolate flavour is only a supporting role. It's malted all the way. I think instead of making a panna cotta, I'll use the second recipe as a filling for a tart in my chocolate tasting plate. Hopefully I'll have some pictures tomorrow.

Thank you for all of your wonderful feedback. Since I can't get my hands on some cocoa nibs yet, I'll try a different approach tonight. I was reading Claudia Fleming's book last night and thought the flavouring used in her milk chocolate malted ice-cream may work for a panna cotta. The flavouring will be 3:1 ratio of milk chocolate to dark chocolate + enough malted to my liking. I'll report back later with my finding.

I really want to make a dessert that showcases the velvety smoothness of milk chocolate. Bounced around a few media including mousse, parfait, pots de creme but I'm thinking perhaps a panna cotta might be a refreshing idea. However, I'm stuck in terms of how to incorporate milk chocolate into panna cotta. If I understand correctly, in order to impart enough chocolaty flavour, the amount of chocolate added to the mixture will harden up the panna cotta for sure. Is adding cocoa my only option? Thanks in advance.

Thank you for your help. I knew I should have done a more detail search on the forum first.....

Regarding the suggestion of adding lemon zest to the batter....wouldn't the oil in the zest destroy the structure? How about folding in some poppy seeds to the cake and serve it with lemon curd?

Considering that these silicon molds are quite pricy, I would like to find out as much information as possible before making a splurge. Other than the sizes and shapes available (and price of course), would you prefer one brand over another? To my limited knowledge, Demarle (flexipan), Gastroflex, and Martellato (Siliconflex) all make similar products. Is the quality of the products any different or are they pretty much comparable? Your feedback will be much appreciated.

These are what I made for Easter: individual chocolate mousse cake dome individual mango bavarois mango marble cheesecake strawberry marble cheesecake macarons (green tea and raspberry) financier kugelhopf with black currants (awesome with pear jam) foccacia This is non-pastry related but I'm really glad to discover how my dessert-making skills transfer to cooking. I made hollandaise sauce for the first time (in front of a bunch of guest too!) to great success. It was really quite similar to making lemon curd.

Elie, This is my amateur interpretation of Louisa's instruction plus my own comments and observations. Hmmm...I guess this is just a long-winded way to say that if what I write is incorrect, it's my own fault. 1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line three 11 by 17 pans with parchment paper. Whisk together the icing sugar and ground almonds in a large mixing bowl. 2. Bring the egg whites to room temperature in a bain marie. Whisk at high speed until foamy. Gradually whisk in granulated sugar to glossy firm peak but not yet dry. 3. Add gel food colouring to egg whites. Gently fold almond mixture into egg whites using a rubber spatula. Don't be alarm when the egg whites deflate. When thoroughly mixed, the mixture should be glossy and thick but fluid. I think the "liquid magma" description is perfect (this description really helps me to judge the correct consistency). 4. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain round tip. Holding the piping bag perpendicular to the pan, pipe mixture into 3.5cm rounds in staggering rows. Each round should be approximately 0.75cm in height. The recipe usually yields 66 rounds of this size. The mixture will spread a little. Leave to dry at room temperature for approximately 45 to 60 minutes until the top of the round forms a skin and is dry to touch. 5. Bake for 16 minutes in the middle of the oven. After the first 10 minutes, the macarons should rise a little so that they begin to form a frilly edge around the bottom of the cookie. The frilly edge is called the foot of the macaron. If the cookie turns golden, that means the oven is too hot. 6. Cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. If the cookie is stuck on the parchment paper, put the pan of cookies into the freezer for 15 minutes (I couldn't convince myself to try the cold water under parchment method). Gently peel the parchment away from the cookie and cool completely. To make a more decadent macaron, sandwich a small dab of filling between two cookies and store in an airtight container at room temperature for one day. I find that aging the macarons for one day results in a more pleasing texture. As with any recipes, there are many variations. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Your feedback would be much appreciated.

The egg whites had been sitting in an airtight container in the fridge for at least a week. Wasn't intentional....I didn't have the time to work on the macarons until then. I think the whole idea of using old egg whites at room temperature is because they whip up the most volume. I have read elsewhere that sometimes meringue powder is added to the egg whites in order to strengthen the mixture without adding extra liquid. I did not experiment with liquid egg whites. The glossy surface is the result of drying the piped mixture until a skin is formed on the surface. Similar to royal icing (meringue and icing sugar), the macaron will dry to form a smooth surface when left at room temperature. The time it takes for the skin to form depends on the humidity, the viscosity of the mixture (i.e. how dry is your mixture), and the size of the macarons. Naturally, gerbets macarons take less time to dry than full size. Perhaps your full size macarons need more time to dry before going into the oven?

The recipe was written for full size macarons but I made mine gerbets. I found that smaller rounds are easier to pipe. Since my piping skill is far from spectacular, I used a template underneath the parchment paper so I can get all the rounds about the same size. Using a small round cookie cutter, I penciled in as many circles as needed onto a piece of parchment paper. This served as the template. Just slip the template under another piece of parchment before you pipe. I didn't preheat the batter. Rather, I warmed the egg whites to room temperature using a bain marie before whipping. Hope this helps.

There's a parfait chapter on Gordon Ramsay's Just Desserts ( http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157...1/egulletcom-20 ). The parfait recipes in his book are similar to what you described.

I routinely use their chocolate chips for baking when it's inconvenient to acquire better quality chocolate chips. It cerntainly beats the other brands of chocolate chips Loblaws keeps in stock. I also enjoy their English muffins and crumpets over other national brands.

Here is a trick that I use to prevent the top of cheesecakes from sticking to the plate when I flip them over. Instead of using a cardboard round to support the top of the cake, I use a large plate covered *tauntly* with plastic wrap. First, the cake is less likely to adhere to plastic wrap. Secondly, because of the depth of the plate, it means there is usually some space between the plastic wrap and the bottom of the plate. It's kind of awkward to describe, but it gives the plastic wrap some "bounce" which means the weight of the cake will put less pressure against the plastic wrap. Once the cake is flipped right side up, gently peel away the plastic wrap.

I tried the recipe for Fraisier from Francois Payard's Simply Sensational Dessert. It contains a mousseline filling which is pastry cream lightened with whipped cream. The result is stiff enough to be used as a 1 1/2 inch filling with sliced strawberries between two layers of genoise set in a 8-inch cake ring. If I remember correctly, the proportion is 1/2 pastry cream and 1/2 whipped cream. Hope this helps.