LucyInAust
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Posts posted by LucyInAust
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I've got visitors coming in November so have been looking as well.
Lots of interesting ones around ... not sure about dates but I've been on an Italian tour and some other classes with William Angliss which were quite good: http://www.angliss.edu.au/Short-Courses.html
http://www.savourschool.com.au do chocolate/cake classes (not such a fan)
As mentioned earlier The Essential Ingredient are worth looking into.
The CAE have tours and classes: http://www.cae.edu.au/?category=8 (haven't done anything through them).
Queen Victoria Market: http://www.qvm.com.au/november_classes.aspx
Some other links:
http://www.beverleysutherlandsmith.com.au
http://www.pipscookingschool.com.au/calendar/calendar.php?op=cal&month=11&year=2009&catview=0
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I loved that thing and still think about it nostalgically. You name it, I cooked it in there, including pot brownies. You can use it as an makeshift oven.
Could you share your pot brownies recipe? I got mine yesterday, and looked through the provided recipes, and although it says you can make cakes, it didn't include a cake recipe! Since I'm more of a baker, I'm trying to find pastries/cakes that I might be able to make in it.
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I'll be watching this topic ... I've just bought one for whilst my kitchen is being renovated ... got no idea what to do with it.
They seem to be something that you've been brought up to use or not ... my step-mother loved hers and used it all the time ... my mother never had one.
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Thanks ... we had another hot day on the weekend (and major bushfires nearby) ... so I can't see much point trying to rescue it until I actually need to use it (and I'm just eating the bars ... though they lose a bit of their appeal when they don't melt quite the right way in the mouth).
I do have a tin of cocoa butter (I assume it is the same brand mentioned above) ... but that will have been heated to the same temperatures??
If I've got time on Friday night I plan to have a go with some of it. Luckily I'll only be feeding it to friends/family and they wont care if the temper is far off!
I know people have wine fridges ... I'm about to renovate ... maybe I need to investigate a chocolate fridge!
We've still got at least another month or two where the temperatures will get high ... looks like I'd better take advantage of the cool days and start using up that chocolate (my friends are going to love me!).
Thanks for all the information!
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Thanks for the replies!
I was thinking if tempering was the answer, I'd have to do the "proper" method and take the temperature high; and not my usual seeding (actually ... I seem to change tempering methods quite often, not quite achieved perfect temper with any method).
I might buy some more chocolate to use as a seed base as well (what a good excuse for more chocolate!)
Will it make a difference how long before I use the chocolate now? Given the temperatures I'm not game to try and do chocolate work at the moment ... so it could be months before it is all used.
VERY relieved there is some hope ... not quite sure what I'll do with the "eating" chocolate, as it would be a pain to try to temper small amounts just to get the nice texture/mouth feel back.
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We've had a major heat wave here ... we haven't got below 30degC (86degF) for over a week ... four days over 40degC (104degF) ... and topped out at just over 46degC (115degF). The house has heated up ... and my chocolate looks awful *sob*.
Kilos of Callebaut ... hundreds of dollars of Michel Cluizel ... all my special collection from various countries ... I've tasted some and it is pretty icky. Is it all gone?
Can I resurrect it by tempering? Or is it now only fit to be put into crappy baking? Does anyone have any suggestions?
I tried to keep it in a cooler part of the house ... but the reality is there was no where under 30degs unless I put it in the fridge (which I thought would cause just as many problems ... we've also had power outages so not even a guarantee there).
(note: quite funny to think that one of the most valuable items in the house is the chocolate ... bet someone breaking in would never think to take it!!)
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The Michel Bras Chocolate Coulant uses a frozen ganache centre:
http://www.chocolatetradingco.com/magazine...ection=28&id=36
I've done this recipe without the coffee extract using iceblock tray as the mould.
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Thanks Darienne ... I'll try that next time ... MUCH cheaper than buying it!
Gap - the lot I have came from Savour! But they are a long way from where I live so not easy for me to stock up again (was also a bit pricey to use for anything but special!).
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Thanks! I've only got a little bit of invert sugar and keep saving it for a really "special" recipe ... maybe I should just find out where to buy more and use it!!!!
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I made the lemon mint ganaches and marshmallows over the weekend.
I had some issues with the lemon mint ganache - it was quite soft at room temperature, and I was worried if i I stuck it in the frdige to help with chopping it (no guitar cutter here!), then I'd have issues once I coated them? Did I stuff up the recipe?
The marshmallows - I flavoured them with rosewater and cinnamon, and used all honey (instead of invert sugar). Really pleased with the flavour - but they got sticky after a couple of days. Once again - did I stuff up?
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I made a croquembouche and, reading recipes, I decided I needed lots of toffee for the amount of choux I had. I made up the toffee and put it in a tray, to break up and reheat for assembly. Unfortunately I totally over estimated the amount I needed ... now I have lots of chunks of toffee
... and nothing to do with them!!Any suggestions?!
I was thinking remelting it, adding nuts and making praline - but then what to do with the praline?!
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After mixing chocolate up for a chocolate fountain - I realised the same mixture would work to create shell chocolate ... very simply I added plain vegetable oil (or grapeseed oil or other very plan flavoured oil) to chocolate, this keeps it fluid at low temperatures, but sets on the icecream nicely.
Was thinking it might be my chirstmas gift this year - made with very good chocolate it would outdo anything sold in supermarkets!!
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I think I've read that milk chocolate is still more popular in Europe but there is a gradual shift towards dark? And we have one vote for lighter chocolates in Australia. Lucy, are the varietal chocolates and higher percentages available but not catching on, or are you not really seeing those specialty bars of 75, 80, 85% in stores?
I would say (with absolutely no facts or stats to back it up
) that the majority of the Australian population still prefer Cadbury's Milk Chocolate to even 50%-ish dark chocolate. The different percentage chocolates are getting more common and are now stocked in most supermarkets (but most are of awful taste) ... I don't see plantation chocolate out where I live (in a rural area) at all.The high sales of regular (disgusting) easter eggs shows that Australians still haven't developed a decent chocolate palate!! I'm finally convincing people not to give me easter eggs!
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It mostly depends on personal taste - but from my experience (I'm just a home cook) more people are likely to enjoy the 53% as few are real dark chocolate fans.
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I had an attempt on the weekend ... I'm really going to have to buy something to temper chocolate with ... there was much swearing with chocolate and cats flying around the kitchen ... during the process I swore I would never make chocolates EVER again ... then I tasted the result ....
Outsides:
Inside:
Note: came out of fridge so had some condensation on it ... you can see the bit of cocoa butter in the corner that I attempted to seal this lot with. Not sure the sealing helped - more because of my skill than the actual theory of it (I spilt a fair bit of cocoa butter all over the kitchen!)! It meant I had less of a base to fill ... I did two batches with cocoa butter and one without ... they are all leaking a bit (as I said, my skill was lacking
) ... next time *grumble* *tempering* *should never do it again* I would just do it without sealing. -
Thank you for all your ideas!!
I tried creating the curd last night - I doubled the butter in the recipe ... after sitting in the fridge last night, I don't think it will be firm enough!! Thinking tonight I might re-heat it and add cornflour (but worried that I'd need to heat it too hot to activate the cornflour now it has cooled) or cocoa butter.
Kerry ... the suggestion of a layer of cocoa butter sounds like a great idea to keep the texture nice and soft!
The chocolate I'm going to use is Callebaut Sao Thomé, so I'm hoping for a lovely contrast between the dark chocolate and centre.
And a picture to show the gorgeous golden lemon curd - made with eggs from my own chickens!
gap: the lemon curd ganache you did - can I ask how you created this? (and yes, certainly cold enough at the moment to keep well - especially in my cold house!)
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Thanks for the links Rob.
Ylee - I was trying to avoid white chocolate because of the sweetness it would add ... but I might try a batch and see if a small proportion of white chocolate can add stability without too much flavour.
Some of the suggestions on the links contained gelatin which is not an option for me (best friend is vegetarian!) ... but I may try some of the other suggestions! Hoping to get a chance to experiment next week!
My absolute favourite filled chocolate is a lemon creme from Harrods - it is a fondant like centre, but interestingly the ingredients list apricots - but I can't work out how they fit in as there is no apricot flavour.
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I really like the combination of lemon and chocolate, so have been thinking about making a lemon curd (or lemon butter) filled chocolate ... but the concept seems to have a couple of potential issues. One of which is that the curd is quite soft - and I've had issues before when putting the bottoms on moulds with a soft filling, that the filling mixes into the botton - creating holes that leak.
I was thinking of making the lemon curd firmer - but not quite sure how to achieve this ... could I mix it with chocolate to create a sort of ganache? (would mixing the lemon curd with chocolate = lump of disaster?!
) or would ie be better to up the egg component?
Given lemon curd is usually refridgerated - would I also need to keep the chocolates refridgerated (and therefore have problems with moisture?).
Would be interested in any comments or experiences?!
Thanks!
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I'll send you a pm with my experiences there!
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Are there recipes without gelatine? I have a friend who loves halva but is vegetarian ... I was thinking maybe even putting it in macarons!
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Perhaps you could try this Australian company: http://www.savourschool.com.au/moulds.asp ... if you contacted them they could probably give you a quote on postage to your country.
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My friend and I have an annual chestnut dinner ... and this year I'm doing pasta with a chestnut theme. I was planning on making ravioli filled with chestnuts, pumpkin and some sort of cheese ... hadn't thought of making the actual pasta with chestnuts!!! Do let us know if you try it - I'm now thinking the chestnut flour might be a good way to go!
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I made goose egg custards and meringues ... recipes on my very defunct blog (ran out of time)
:http://dessertaholic.blogspot.com/2007/09/...d-meringue.html
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Based on the Raspberry Truffle filling - I made "Raspberry Creams" ... I didn't have any raspberry liquer - so I added a bit of vodka and some powdered raspberries .... mmmm!!! Yum!! Also reduced the amount of white chocolate as I wanted a really soft gooey centre.
Very pleased with the outcome! They taste nicer warm (eg. 20 degC+) though, as they are softer. I had planned on some kind of decoration (glitter or colour) ... but set up the first lot of shells and realised I'd forgotten - oops! So they all got to be boring and plain!
Problems working with ginger desserts
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
To make ginger custard ... the chef I worked with once would get me to peel slices of fresh ginger, add it to the milk/cream as it boiled ... you could strain it immediately and use the milk, or for a stronger flavour leave it to cool, strain then reheat and add it to the eggs/sugar etc.
I also make ginger caramels ... by doing the same, boiling the cream with the ginger slices, strain, then add it to the sugar.