emmalish

I just got my melter yesterday – thanks prairiegirl! I haven't used it yet, but I've cleaned it up and gotten it ready for use tomorrow. I've fiddled with the dial a bit though, and when I turn it on, I don't hear a "click" until the dial reads about 17-20°. Is that normal? Or does that mean my dial is off by about 20°?

Danielle – YUM. That sounds amazing. And Heartsurgeon, I had a helluva time finding unsalted pistachios too. Not for ice cream, but for a biscotti recipe. Why are they so hard to find?

I picked up one of these today. Wow! This may become my go-to chocolate bar. Very clean chocolate flavour, not very milky at all. I also got a wee Chili & Highland Whisky Coppeneur bar and a couple of the Stella bars. And in keeping with this thread, I also got a few of the Zotter bars: Blood Orange, Lemon Curd, Chili, and Blossom Pepper & Mint. I've only tried the Blood Orange so far. Very nice flavour. Not too sweet, blends nicely with the flavour of the chocolate. I love the wrapper designs too – I want to collect them all!

That would be perfect! Of course, you'd have to make sure to take a photo of it too.

I finally had a chance to pop in and check Monde Chocolat out today (after walking by several times and peering in the window). All I can say is "wow". They have an amazing selection, and they're really making an effort to carry the world's best chocolates. I thought I'd just pick up 2 or 3 bars, but it wasn't long before the woman working there came up to me with a shopping basket to relieve me of my armful. So far I've just tried one of their truffles made with their own signature chocolate. Again, "wow".

Ooooh, pretty. I love the gloved finger effect. How many colours did you use to get that effect?

Good to hear you found a recipe you liked. I'm also not a fan of PH's cocoa madelaines. In fact, I need to sticky that page to remind myself not to make it again. ← sanrensho, this is the recipe I tried this morning. They're not as dark as PH's, but they have a much richer chocolate flavour. I did like PH's idea of adding lemon zest tho – I'll probably try that next time I make these.

Wow, those berries are perfect. How was the lemon filling? I'd like to try that one myself...

I'm not quite sure why, but this made me laugh out loud. ← Whoops. No pics yet, but I made the 2nd madeleines recipe this morning. MUCH better. VERY chocolatey. Pierre Herme's used cocoa powder with the flour, this new one has bittersweet chocolate melted with the butter and folded in at the end. They have the delicately spongey texture I'm looking for in a madeleine. Oh, and Kim, I agree with everyone else – I love the jelly-roll spirals you used to decorate that cake! I'll totally steal that idea.

I made Pierre Herme's chocolate madeleines this morning. I'm not sure how I feel about this recipe. It's the first madeleine recipe I've made where the butter isn't melted, which made for a heavier batter. I'm not sure I like the texture. And I'd definitely like something with more chocolate flavour. I'm going to try another recipe tomorrow and see how it compares. I will say, however, that this is the best hump I've ever gotten on a madeleine. I also made Ina Garten's cheese dill scones, but without the dill (it's not a sweet – do savouries count?). I've only tried a little piece so far. I'll let you know tomorrow how I like these, but what I tasted was pretty flavourful. Edited to say I couldn't wait for breakfast – I'm eating one of the scones right now and it's delicious. So buttery and cheesy. I'll definitely make these again.

Mary Elizabeth, I'm probably missing something (I'm quite new to this myself), but I don't see how you tempered your chocolate. You say you melted it, but that it was quite thick and there were still chunks of chocolate in it? What process did you use to temper? Did you check the temperature of the chocolate with a thermometer? As I said, I'm new to this too, so I don't know if percentage will have an impact. I've only worked with Cacao Barry 64% so far, but I just bought some 70% as well.

I've got a Mol d'Art melter on order, so I'm also interested in hearing how to work with them. According to the manual posted on their website, the melter should be set between 45° and 50° to melt the chocolate, and then lowered down to 30°-35° to temper. It also says it should take approximately 3 hours, depending on the amount of chocolate. I like alanamoana's idea of melting the chocolate in the microwave (waaaay faster than 3 hours) and then transferring it to the melter to temper and maintain temperature. Does anyone who has a Mol d'Art melter have any advice? Also, do you have a thermometer to check the temperature of the melted chocolate?

I love that little curl on the "good" one, but when I enrobe my chocolate is never thick enough to hold a shape like that. Is that tempered chocolate in the melter in that photo? Again, it looks much thicker than what I work with. It's hard to tell from the photo, but it almost looks like it's seizing up. What kind of chocolate are you using? And how did you temper? I haven't attempted enrobing anything formed in balls like this yet, so I'm curious to hear other comments as well.

As I said, I'm not familiar with this place and from their website it appears that it's a store that offers tasting classes, not a tea room. Am I wrong?

Would you be allowed to break it down separately and say something like "Some pieces may contain..."?

I just discovered a blog called Cake Wrecks. I think the name says it all. This has to be my favourite so far. (I couldn't think where else to put this... technically it IS decorating related, right?)

Jealous!! Say hi for us all!

I'm not in New York and am not familiar with this place, but I'm not really understanding your post. From their website it appears to be a tea store, not a tea room. Do they normally serve tea and refused to serve you? I've been to several places here in Vancouver, and while they usually offer a tea sample, they don't always offer. I don't view it as something that's due me just for walking in the store so I'm not overly upset if I don't get one.

I'd love to see this recipe in weights too if you don't mind.

Yes! I was going to post this too, but I couldn't remember her name offhand.

Mmmm, Chufi, that looks amazing! So summery.

You can read the coffee shop owner's response here. An excerpt:

Sadly the cheap one at Amazon has been listed as "temporarily unavailable" for months now. And after getting that email about the other one, I'm not holding my breath.

I'm tempted. They have them both for $89 and $95 respectively. However Amazon had them priced at $59 and $62, which made it a much easier decision.

Poo. I had both these books in my Amazon shopping cart. The first said "ships in 2-3 weeks" and the 2nd was "currently unavailable". I just got an email saying they can no longer get the first. This doesn't really bode well for the 2nd, does it?