filipe

Back on this topic again... I need one more tip from you egullet friends... (and by the way, its a competition, not just a demonstration) I'm confident about the final taste and texture. I can say I'm also confident about the final look : one round ganache-covered cake. But I need that "magic touch" which will turn people's "Oh, it's very nice!" to a "WOW, It's awesome!" This is a chocolate recipe competition, open to amateurs as myself. This is not a professional one, although the juri members are all pastry/chocolate professionals. So, I'm a little confused about what to do with this cake's decoration. I personally don't like "baroque" look-alike cakes. I'm into a more minimalist look. I thought on doing 3 or 4 chocolate leafs and dust them with some matcha green tea... But I don't know... Any ideas?

A spanish friend told me that this could be found at El Corte Ingles department stores, at their section called "Club del Gourmet".

Hard to give an opinion without knowing more precisely what kind of pastry items you pretend to do. Anyway, for my particular taste i like a minimalist look, specially when there will be so much people to serve. Why don't you choose a theme (one ingredient for example : chocolate, pineapple, strawberry, cinnamon, whatever) and build your table presentation AND the pastry items all around that same theme/subject ? Non despite that "theme" idea, I guess that a round table worked as a "wedding cake" structure allways work fine. (8 ft table, 7ft 2nd layer, 6 ft 3rd layer and a non-eatable center piece) The mirror trays displayed on the previous post from McDuff work gorgeously and give your table a trendy look. I guess that having some non-eatable elements modularly displayed in-between the pastry items might avoid that "junked look" gfron talked about. At least partially. Smaller trays will be easier to replace because they get empty quicker than larger trays. That way you will avoid the "half-empty" effect. I had never done anything similar, i don't even work at the pastry industry. But these are the things I do notice when I go to any similar event.

You can find some "visual" information about Paul A. Young and Melt at this post i've wrote some time ago, here Sketch and Yauatcha are def/ly my favourite places in London. I've once had a Sacher at Maison du Chocolat. It was not bad, but it's not something I still dream about of... Just across the street at Fortnum & Mason's you'll find what I consider the best chocolate eclairs I've ever tasted. And if you're going during Xmas time you might get lucky and find some Imperial Torte's (directly from the Imperial Hotel in Wien) being sold in F&M's wood boxes. Def/ly a MUST taste.

You can also check Flores, at the new Bairro Alto Hotel(Praça Luis de Camões) For a more casual meal you could try Cafe 3, at Tivoli Forum (Avenida da Liberdade) or Yasmin, near Mercado da Ribeira.

That's it! And they do have a refrigerator on site, that's not the problem. The problem is with time. Let's look at it step by step : Cocoa Chiffon - 10min + 1h30 to 2h baking + 20min cooling = 2h to 2h30 Chocolate mousse - 15 min Green Tea Mousse - 25 min Ganache - 5 min Assembling - 15 min Setting Up - 6 to 8 hours So, since I'll have about 2 hours for the whole presentation, I guess the best steps on which I could cut on time is on baking the chiffon and on refrigerator time for set up. That way it would make a total of 1h, which easily turn out being 2h LOL

Now some help/tips/suggestions... I've been selected as one of the 10 finalists for the International Chocolate Recipes contest this festival helds. I've entried a recipe of a cold chocolate/green tea and wasabi cake. It's a layered cake, with a base of cocoa chiffon, then chocolate mousse, then cocoa chiffon again, then matcha green tea mousse. All covered with a wasabi spiced ganache. My question is : We'll have a maximum of 2 hours to present/bake the recipe for the audience and juri. When I've send my recipe I told the organisation that would be a good idea to have the cocoa chiffon cake already baked, as that would take a lot of time both in the oven and then cooling. Anyway, I guess that this won't be enough. What do you think of having both the baked chiffon already done and cooled, just spending my presentation time for the mousses, all the assembling and making the ganache, and also having a previously 6-8 hour refrigerator cooled cake which I'll do the covering alive? Or do you think I'll should take the risk of covering a probably not properly set/cooled cake? Thanks

As not to duplicate posts, here is the link to my original post on this subject (which I think could be of common interest to the P&B forums)

Thanks Any year in particular?

Can anyone advise me on which are the best price/quality Chianti's one can buy in Italy at the present moment? I'm not looking for the "créme de la créme", I'm just looking for good wine at a reasonable price, to serve when dinning with some friends at my place. Anytihng up to 15 euros per bottle would be nice.

Shame you hadn't had a good experience in Lisbon, at least on what concerns to food. I would never choose Terreiro do Paço without assuring myself first of who was really at the kitchen... Eleven would be a much better option if you were after "michelin-type" food. On the other hand, if you were into experiencing true portuguese flavours, then any of these "slick-like" places should be an option. If I had seen your post earlier I would have advised you to split your food experiences by 3, according to the number of nights you were staying. First i would tell you to start by some ordinary portuguese food - almost any place in Bairro Alto could be an option. The 2nd day could be some intermediate step and then places like "Pap'Açorda" or "100 Maneiras" might fit the deal. And the 3rd day to a more "international-style" place/experience, like "Eleven", "Pragma" or Hotel do Bairro Alto's "Flores" for example.

Aren't you forgeting the GOLD? I've never tasted it, but according to this article, the gold seems essencial to the whole experience...

You're right I would be glad if I could be abble to have them for about $0.60-$0.75, I'm contacting producers soon, but I needed some opinions first, to know if people think it worths the effort

I'm designing something that I would love that could be an option - it all depends on the production costs and the final price achieved. It's basically the same shape and size but made of porcelain. If you could have that by the same price of the card ones, or at least by 20%-25% more, would you use it? Or even by twice the price...

Not only in a restaurant, but mainly in pastry shops, and even for take -away

Althoug it's a diferent recipe, chocolate chiffon is one of my favourite cakes. And it has a great potential por some variations as well, and some flavour combinations. These are mine "4 Seasons" versions...

This is one of Paul A. Young's (London) sea salt caramel delights...

Can you guys help me on a design procedure I'm carrying on.. ? Why do the major pastry chefs use card plates at their shops? 1. Because they don't look that bad? 2. Because they're cheap? 3. Because they fit their actual needs on what concerns to individual sizes? 4. Because that's what's available in the market? 5. Because... (you name it) ? and IF they could get exactly the same shapes, for a similar price ( +20% of the card ones price, not more) but in PORCELAIN, would they use it instead? I personally feel that sometimes it's a bit outrageous to eat such wonderfull pastry items on a card plate...

Michael, that sounds great but that way i would have to be plating and burning it one after another... and that would take some time and concentration, which while hosting a buffet dinner i won't have.

I saw that recipe on a Cordon Bleu "Just Desserts" book I've bought at Selfridge's. Get a ring and cover its base and walls with crépes in a way that half crépe sits outside the ring shape to be wraped over the filling, like a flower or something similar to it. Fill it with an orange mousse - which takes Grand marnier, of course - wrap it up and brush it with a peach (or other flavour you like) jam/coulis and decorate it with some orange slices. That's just it.

Thank you guys for all your tips I took some time to sit at my sofa, gathered some books and started to draft a menu. I'll tell you the whole menu as this way you can tell me what you thing about the flavour combinations and variety. On what concerns to deserts and petit-fours I know there's a lot of chocolate, but I just can't help it - that's what I am! It goes like this: amuse-bouches cold : - tulips with prawn paste hot : - shitake mushrooms with spinach pesto topped with a thin lobster slice - pate filo baskets with genovese pesto and duck confit soup aspargus créme with mozarella and corn croutons main course yuzu and garlic chicken stripes with lime-vanilla mash deserts orange crépes cake (from Cordon Bleu) parfait glacé au chocolat (from PH's Larouse du Chocolat) petit-fours chocolate-coated candid citrus peel (from PH) chocolate-dipped candied mint leaves (from PH) chocolate and banana brochettes (from PH) mini-ecláirs au chocolat et matcha ice-cream petit-fours mango bars with yogurt+black pepper ice cream (from El Bulli) crackled pineapple ice-cream with marshmallow heart (from El Bulli)

I took some time to sit at my sofa, gathered some books and started to draft a menu. I'll tell you the whole menu as this way you can tell me what you thing about the flavour combinations and variety. On what concerns to deserts and petit-fours I know there's a lot of chocolate, but I just can't help it - that's what I am! It goes like this: amuse-bouches cold : - tulips with prawn paste hot : - shitake mushrooms with spinach pesto topped with a thin lobster slice - pate filo baskets with genovese pesto and duck confit soup aspargus créme with mozarella and corn croutons main course yuzu and garlic chicken stripes with lime-vanilla mash deserts orange crépes cake (from Cordon Bleu) parfait glacé au chocolat (from PH's Larouse du Chocolat) petit-fours chocolate-coated candied citrus peel (from PH) chocolate-dipped candied mint leaves (from PH) chocolate and banana brochettes (from PH) mini-ecláirs au chocolat et matcha ice-cream petit-fours mango bars with yogurt+black pepper ice cream (from El Bulli) crackled pineapple ice-cream with marshmallow heart (from El Bulli)

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure i will (first with some cheap champagne to do a lot of variations) A syrup might be a good option. I've also thought on boiling some champagne and then mix the cocoa powder while hot to dissolve it well, and after it got cold mix it with the champagne or foam it over some champagne already in the flute. Other option, good for summer, would be to make a cocao+champagne granita, fill in half flute with it (as if we were making a caipirinha but without the sugar and the lime) and then fill the flute with champagne. I guess I'll try them all and compare the results.

Thanks for all the tips till now This is why these forums are unmatchable

And what about if something looks great, tastes great... but it's simply VERY HARD to be eaten ? Example : Pierre Herme's Cherish at the top of the Cake How do one cut this cake? It's like 25-30cm tall... and with that shape...