LucyInAust

Thanks Kerry for the suggestions ... it was a smaller amount of chocolate I was trying to temper - and my first time with that particular chocolate ... will work on mixing the chocolate better ... and I think I need to allow more time to make my chocs rather than hurrying them along in the fridge! I was thinking for next year I might put some dried fruit soaked in alcohol in the ganache to make it even more hot cross bun like!

I used the Gingerbread Squares butter ganache recipe to create a "Hot Cross Chocolate" ... I replaced the gingerbread spices with cinnamon/allspice to replicate the flavour of a hot cross bun, and used treacle instead of molasses - I probably should have used golden syrup or something lighter in flavour again. Oh - also replaced the liquer with a bit of vodka (to get better consistency but without flavouring it). Quite pleased with the outcome - not much shine because I was trying to do them fast and using the fridge which created a bit a condensation. I would have liked the centre to be softer (but the original recipe was supposed to be slabbed, so even though I thought I had made it soft enough, they set quite hard). Used the Sao Thome origin for the dark outsides, Lindt for the milk inside, and boring Cadbury white choc for the crosses (left over from something since I don't eat white chocolate!) I also did some soft caramel filled milk chocolates (not a Greweling recipe) but thought I'd ask here ... some of them were in temper - some not ... same chocolate, same mould, right next to each other? what did I do wrong?!?! Once again - doing them fast using the fridge, so did some cool faster than others? (hope the pictures worked!)

I made a half batch of the sesame squares .... soooo easy!! Unfortunately all my photos are blurry so I can't put any up. I did cheat a bit , I didn't have the time to dip them (and I still can't keep chocolate in temper long enough for me to dip stuff ... well ... without spreading it all over the kitchen and getting grumpy!!!! ), so I just put a layer of dark chocolate on top, and sprinkled toasted sesame seeds on them. I used Lindt milk chocolate for the centres, and Kennedy & Wilson 70% dark (an Australian chocolate) for top and bottom. VERY tasty for something so simple! I'm off to do a one day chocolate course on the weekend, so I'm looking forward to that, though I can't see it solving my tempering problem as I know they just use the Mol'D'Art (or whatever the name is) melters ... have been considering lashing out on one of the chocovision (?!) machines ... but I really can't justify it for doing the occasional chocolate (then again, the amount of frustration it causes it might be worth while so I don't end up with chocolate on the ceiling!)!

I often have my extract in milk - warm or cold ... it swirls around the top before I stir it but no curdling at all??!?!?! I love it and it is my bedtime treat when it is cold! My base was vodka if that makes any difference? I add 1-2 tspns into a cup of milk (hot or cold) without any problems. I've used mine extensively in cream and milk based custards and no curdling. Pat W ... just make sure than you think you'll need I use so much more essence just becase I have it (and I love it) ... eg. my cup of milk with vanilla is happening a lot more often than when I used to purchase my vanilla extract!! I also double the vanilla in many recipes which makes it disappear faster. I had made up 750ml with the aim to give it away (as I could never imagine using that much in a lifetime!), but I'm keeping it all for myself!!

My family do the very traditional British Christmas ... hot turkey, hot pudding (got to have the hard sauce / brandy butter (depending on what you call it!)!), lots of mince pies and a christmas cake!! Very unadventurous, but I think there is always something fun about sitting down for a hot lunch on a very hot summer's day!! And my favourite bit - left overs ... love cold pudding with cold hard sauce!! mmmmm!!! Or Turkey gravy sandwiches!!

Could you freeze the cake to make it more stable for longer? I'm not sure about carry-on ... I recently travelled some brownies in their baking tray on a domestic flight - not sure if they would make it through on international given tighter restrictions on liquid etc. I did phone the airline before I travelled to check it would be OK (they thought it was, but were quite iffy about it - I thought I might have to abandon the baking tray!). Having them frozen meant I didn't have to worry quite so much if a bag was placed on top of them in the overhead compartment - but the hostesses on one of my two flights found a lovely spot for me to put them!

My absolutely favourite steamed pudding is a take on the sussex pond lemon steamed pudding ... by Jamie Oliver it is a chocolate and whole orange pudding. Eaten hot or cold, it is the easiest thing to prepare for guests and tastes just divine ... sort of like a Terry's chocolate orange (if you have tasted one of those). There is a copy of the recipe here: http://www.cook-book.com/recipes/chocolate...ge_pudding.html

I did it ... I bought the book and tried one of the recipes!!! (I'm a home cook with no training ... and most of this book goes way over my head ... but I just love drooling over the photos!). I've wanted to replicate an Australian Mars Bar ... but use dark chocolate and real ingredients!! From the picture the Sleeping Beauties nougat looked about right ... and I wanted to use another salted caramel recipe I've used before for that layer. Excuse my chocolate dipping ... I think more chocolate ends up plastered all over the kitchen than on the actual bars!!! And as for my tempering ... umm ... back to the drawing board ... I can't find an effective way to keep the temperature stable! Other than over heating the caramel a tiny bit so it was too hard ... I was really happy with the nougat. Even using my little hand beater it still came out good (I'm sure it would be better if I had something more powerful, I had to stop beating before it had cooled properly as my machine was making scary noises!!). I did have one replacement in the nougat recipe ... the only cocoa butter I could find was 5kg .. and I wasn't buying it just for the 20g required in the recipe, so I replaced it with copha (vegetable shortening) ... seems to have come out OK. A question ... in the recipe it states heat the sugar to a certain temp, then set the egg white mix beating in a stand mixer, then once the sugar reaches another temp - pour it in ... but it doesn't say what the egg white mix should look like!! Obviously depending on the mixer used and how fast you heat the sugar - this could be very different!! Can anyone tell me what I should be looking for??

They actually sell emu eggs at my local farmers market ... I haven't been game to try yet! Just breaking the shells could be interesting!!

Thanks for a wonderfully informative post. I'm so glad you've got time on your hands to try this type of experiment as it has been puzzling me a lot recently!!! I often have access to duck eggs and use them in cooking ... and I don't tell anyone which eggs I've used - and no one comments (but if I mention to someone I've used duck eggs ... then I get the whole "rich" sort of comment line!) I've recently had the opportunity to cook with goose eggs ... after getting over their size ... I can't say the taste has been hugely different (but I'm definitely not a super taster!) I've put them in custards, cheesecakes and other baked goods ... with very little differences seen. http://dessertaholic.blogspot.com/2007/09/...d-meringue.html Goose egg in comparison to chicken eggs ... I just weigh out the required egg for recipes and replace them with what ever egg I have on hand.

I've made a sort of "Snickers" type bar with the nibs in caramel with nougat (though used a slightly different salted chocolate caramel recipe): http://habeasbrulee.com/2006/11/22/cocoa-n...er-nougat-bars/ I really liked the caramel with nibs - I found the nougat too sugary for my tastes - I'll make caramel with nibs again! On my "to make list" I've also got this: Chocolate-caramel tart with drunken raspberries and vanilla creme fraiche http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/235176 which has cocoa nibs in the pastry.

I'm not a very patient person! Mine is only 6 weeks old and I'm using it ... each night 2 tspns in my mug of hot milk before bed ... mmmm!! Nukeing it in the microwave removes the alcohol smell and I'm just left with lovely vanilla flavour!! It can only get better ... I think my idea of giving it away as a gift for Christmas might be scuttled by it being used up before then!

Not sure if your malt balls are a completely different thing to ours here in Australia ... but I assumed they were something similar to a honeycomb type recipe? where the bicarb soda causes the texture?

I've joined in the experiment!! Bought some madagascar beans, put in jars at a ratio as mentioned above (50g beans to 500ml vodka) ... it has only been a couple of days and the vodka is going a lovely colour. Now I'm searching for small essence jars so that when it is ready (hopefully around Christmas) I can give it away as gifts!! Thanks so much for the inspiration!! Here in Australia there has been media attention paid to young people buying up vanilla essence and drinking it as alcohol, as it is not restricted for their purchase (have to be 18 to buy regular alcohol here). So at least in Australia it seems to be about as alcoholic!

I'll get it posted in RecipeGullet today. Let me know how it works out. EDITED TO ADD: Here it is. ← Thank you!

After being a recent convert to salted caramels, and chestnuts are in season here at the moment, I'd love to attempt something like this - would you share the recipe or the source? Thanks!

Thanks for the hints! They disappeared at work very fast (only negative comment was from someone who only likes milk chocolate ... can't work out why they ate one since they're obviously dark and I only buy dark chocolate!!) ... which means I can make some more! Going to try a different filling next time - maybe something lemon or I'd love to try a jelly of some sort. Kerry I didn't coat the bottom of the caramels as I couldn't work out how to coat them without making a mess (do you coat them individually?) and keep the nice clean tops ... will it make a difference to the amount of foot?

Very hesistantly I put forward my first ever attempt at tempering chocolate and dipping: Salted Chocolate Caramels I'm a complete amatuer, just LOVE chocolate! ... also take bad photos too! The chocolate was a mix of various 70% and 85% types ... does mixing different types of chocolate cause problems? Lots of foot at the base of the caramels!!!! - even after reading everything I could find on dipping ... I did the touching it against the melted chocolate with no improvement, I tried wiping them against the edge of the bowl - and each time the caramel squished out chocolate from underneath! Do I just need to keep practicing?! I bent my chocolate dipping fork as I'd read on here - luckily I had two because the first one snapped as soon as I bent it .... I'll be looking for better ones! I also didn't have a way of keeping the chocolate warm whilst dipping and toward the end it was getting a bit thick - I put it in the microwave for a couple of seconds but that obviously ruined the temper and the following ones wouldn't set (I was using up some almond danish filling made into balls). Is there any way of rewarming the chocolate keeping the temper? I tried moulded chocolates when I was about 13 maaaaany years ago ... but this is my first attempt at tempering chocolate and dipping ... I think it could be addictive - now I just need to find more people to eat my experiments!! Sorry for my very amatuer questions - especially after following the fantastic creations on here (HeatherM's toads with red caramel amaze me!)

Thank you so much! I didn't think 10kg would be required! Your 800 people must have been very light on the chocolate (I'm expecting to find a couple of children dipped in chocolate during the party!)! We've organised a range of dipping things: marshmallows (of course), fruit (strawberries & melon) and dried fruit (apricots) ... and I'm going to make meringues and either mini-cupcakes or mini-muffins to dip as well.

So I should have kept my big mouth shut and my chocoholic tendancies under control :lol: ... BUT ... a friend is having a large birthday party and I suggested a Chocolate Fountain ... she went out and bought a chocolate fountain (small one I assume!) ... and has now volunteered ME to turn 10kg of Cadbury's milk chocolate into a suitable mixture for the fountain!!!!! My starting point is that she has 10kg of milk chocolate ... but I've got no idea how much I'll need to mix up for 100 people (including children) ... by choice I'd NEVER use milk chocolate, but it is there so I have to use it!! I've had a look through some of the previous posts on chocolate fondues and fountains, but they seem to all start off with the idea of using decent chocolate! I don't have access to cocoa butter, so I assume I'm going to have to use corn syrup, cream or vegetable oil to thin the chocolate. Would the oil be better with the milk chocolate given syrup/cream is going to sweeten/lighten the chocolate even more? I'm assuming I'll be doing a number of batches through the evening since the fountain is small, I also wont have a chance to do a trail run. I'd love any suggestions on quantities and recipes (my usual chocolate fondue recipe involves creating a sugar syrup with cocoa then adding chocolate http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/102222 ... but I make small quantities with this and it doesn't have to go through a fountain).

What a fantastic result, it looks so wonderful I am tempted to have a go if the recipes are put up! Could be used as a good alternative to Christmas pudding in a hot climate!!

Personally I like the denseness!! The biggest complaints about regular fruitcake I hear, is when it is dry ... or from those who don't like dried fruit in the first place ... would it be possible to create a freshfruit fruit cake still retaining the density? (would also improve the colour!)

I think there has been a recent change to the laws regarding cheeses ... previously Australia could not import unpasturised cheeses but this has changed. I'm not sure of the exact laws etc ... I just know my sister has been after certain French cheeses that she couldn't previously buy here and now can.

As an Australian that Vegemite Parmesan Cheesecake will be added to my list of "must makes" one day!! What a fascinating idea to work with vegemite in desserts ... now since I'm a chocoholic ... I wonder how the two would work together?!

My family's idea of heaven - dessert only My father used to confuse waiters by ordering two desserts ... one for main and one for dessert ... he was of the opinion that if the things you liked most from a menu were dessert ... why not have both? My family & friends went to one restaurant that was offer a 5 course semi-degustation menu ... and the waiter was very shocked and had to check with the kitchen when we choose 2 out of the 5 to be dessert! I'm also of the opinion that the dessert menu should not be separate ... rather it needs to be considered when selecting other courses ... you need to plan to have the rich gooey chocolate dessert in advance!! BUT ... I know my family and friends are odd ... most people are happy to go out to dinner and skip dessert ... I'd rather skip mains I'd love a dessert only restaurant!