gfron1

Different uses. I enjoy a square (or more) with a glass of wine or port after a good meal pretty regularly, and I'll scarf a candy bar during the day 'just because.' But, I used a lot of bulk and couveture, as well as some high end bars in my baking too. No either or with this guy.

I really appreciate this dialogue since my store right now is debating what to do about bags. We use plastic only, but we're so sick of seeing Wal-Mart bags hanging off every cactus and cholla plant. Fortunately (or unfortunately for sales) we don't see our bright orange bags out in the fields yet - probably because our clientele is a bit more careful. All that said, we know its not a reality to have all of our customers buy cloth bags. We've also heard of the new corn plastics coming around that biodegrade (in more humid climates, not ours) in 3 months - we're already serving our coffee out of the corn cups. This will be a bonus once they strengthen them a bit more. Our ultimate goals (as consumers) is to give the bags a good life. Not a single bag goes unreused in our house - every single one will end up with dog doo at some point...some bags attract roaches - some doo

After 3 days of discussion that cake better be gobbled up by now! And we don't mind pictures of mangled cake.

Tammy those look super! And as far as not looking forward to the wrapping - its going to be a blast because HOW COOL IS THIS JOB!

RE: Thyme Torta Interestingly enough I just had a customer who explained the vinegar and baking soda process in this cake. She is gluten-free and rises all of her baked products in this way. So by using olive oil as the fat, the vinegar/soda riser counteracts the oil/heaviness of the olive oil. I learn something new every day!

I'm thirding the Taleggio. Seconding the Castelmagno. Firsting Blue del Moncenisio and Moliterno with Truffle!

Okay so this may be a bit nuerotic...I measure everything with my ultra precise micro-scale, then I look at it and say, "no - it needs more." So why did I measure in the first place! I think we all eventually get the sense when precision is necessary. I don't mess with my macaron recipes. Genois - I'm a bit less disciplined with. Bars and gloppy food - who cares! In the end its all about licking the spoon. Speaking of licking the spoon - I never measure vanilla (or honey) because I dont want to have any waste and I am cheap, cheap, cheap!

I understood the problem a bit differently. I assumed that it was a moisture problem. Try dabbing the berries dry before glazing. Or, its possible that the jelly was too thin (was it a Farmer's Market jelly or was it a overly gelatinized Smuckers?) and again the moisture broke it down. But my money (and I'm pretty poor) is on moisture.

Of course leave, but go now before any open positions are taken by co-workers.

Poor Ling takes so much abuse! You know we only tease the people we love, right Ling? ← Wow, I always thought using Ling as a verb was a sign of honor and respect...

Okay, so look - I'm as snooty as the next guy on EG. I turn my nose up at things that couldn't possibly be as good as the real thing. I offer this post in the spirit of the recent Bakers Best v. Scharffenberger thread. This past weekend I made a dessert that used Pierre Herme's pastry cream. I added 85% Michel Cluizel to it. It was great and received rave reviews. But, I had 3 cups of it left, so I've been eating/Linging it spoonful by spoonful for the past 3 days. I love it! Each bite though reminded me of a childhood memory - Bill Cosby's Jello brand Chocolate Pudding. Surely not, I thought. So I bought a box of the stovetop (not instant) Jello pudding, and sure enough, the flavor difference is so minute that an unsuspecting eater would miss it. So what does this mean? I used an outstanding chocolate. Pastry cream has corn starch as a thickener, versus what I assumed pudding would use (egg or some chemical from New Jersey). But, yet, the taste and consistency are so similar. Any other balloon deflating mysterious finds out there? What have you found that could pass for the best, when really its just a box of chemicals and preservatives?

This post totally made me boggle, because a year ago I wasn't posting my pictures, because I didn't think I was good enough! ← I've been thinking about your comment (above). This is exactly the point. I remember when you were throwing tons of questions out for the pros, and look at where you are now. I also remember my earlier pastry pics and see how far I've come. EG is such an incredible resource - so much knowledge, and so many people willing to share. I love seeing less experienced or beginning folks post their creations and ask questions - that's what makes EG so strong and so much fun.

That I don't know - but in my variation I used orange infused Olive which did come through on the taste, so you'd be losing something if you used canola.

Hey Zoe, There's none of that "I'm not as good as Kerry Beal/Tammylc" stuff around here! Post pics - we want to see. Its all for the good of the cause!

Owen, I'm concerned about the "controls" on your experiment. Please send the SB brownies to me for further analysis. You can send the BB brownies to the teenage boys. Yours in scientific pursuit, Rob

That's correct - no baby chickens (or ducks) were harmed in the making of this cake I was tempted to add an egg thinking the base recipe wrong, but no need since they turned out moist, bouncing, yet dense in a good-oily kind of way. The only question with the recipe is that I'm at 6,500 feet, so I do altitude adjustments - kind of - but the recipe is written for flatlanders.

Here it is. Let me know how it turns out for you.

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Thyme Serves 12 as Dessert. My spouse said that thyme could not be used in a dessert, so I set out to prove him wrong. 3 C. Flour 2 C. Sugar 6 T. Cocoa - Valhrona 2 t. Baking Soda 1/2 t. Salt 3/4 C. ExV Olive Oil infused with lemon or orange 2 T. White Vinegar 1 T. Vanilla Extract 2 C. Cold Water 1 T. Thyme flower heads Oven to 350 F Butter and flour two 9 inch pan or pastry forms Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, salt and thyme in large bowl. With hand mixer on low, beat oil, vinegar and water until smooth. Pour liquid into dry and mix. Pour into pan and bake until done using toothpick test. Cool at least 15-20 minutes. I frosted with Pierre Herme's chocolate pastry cream, topped it with cinnamon whipped cream and a chocolate square. The base recipe comes from Ciao Italia. Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Cake ( RG1972 )

That's absolutely true, but what's even scarier is that many folks really, really, REALLY enjoy and expect this type of food because they’ve been conditioned from a very young age to enjoy and expect it, at least in the U.S. IMHO. ← Yet, when we take a moment to educate and introduce folks to a higher quality food, they do "get it" and become more adventurous and willing to seek out good food. That's my profession, but I also do it when guests come over for a simple dinner. Just two nights ago I had friends over for a meal. Throughout the meal I pulled a LeBlanc raspberry vinegar, a 25-year balsamic, and then a Cluizel chocolate. They "got it" and I know I found converts to higher quality products and hopefully a way of cooking.

I'll post it in Recipe Gullet later today. And you're welcome.

Torta di Cioccolato di Olio de Oliva e Timo. Inspired by an EG post about savory uses of chocolate, and then subsequently told by my spouse that I couldn't make a sweet with thyme because it wouldn't work, I made a thyme olive oil genoise using clementine infused olive oil, filled with Pierre Herme's chocolate pastry cream, and topped with cinnamon whipped cream and a 70% Cluizel square. My spouse was wrong

That's interesting - you temper as if dark not white. Now that I think through it, that would make more sense - they are more similar in content. Thanks Kerry. Rob

I'm in the airport on the way back from Chicago. Yesterday we hit the pastry shops (also had dinner at Alinea and Le Colonniel and Devon St.). I saw that Bittersweet had a booth at the Fancy Food Show so I was biased before I stepped in the door thinking you can't maintain quality when you grow too much (not fair, but its what I was thinking). The staff was a bit understated and almost grumpy which didn't sit well with me since I had been looking forward to this even more than Alinea, but I figured I didn't need to eat in front of them. I was hoping for more non bars and brownies. I grabbed a variety of macarons and shortbread, both of which were nice. I also had a small espresso ganache tarte which was very creamy. The ganache may have been the creamiest I have ever had and now I have a new standard by which to judge my own. Then we took the walk to Vanille Patisserie. This was 100% exactly what I was looking for. I felt like Ling when I walked out with $50 in pastries with little intention to share. I bought a variety of macarons, a Vanille Tart, an Entremet Vanille, and the Cubano (caramel and espresso). The tarts and entrements died from heat before I could get them photographed so I borrowed from their website. All were amazing - even melted. What really made it special was the staff's friendliness and generosity of information. I presented myself as an untrained pastry hobbyist, and they explained how they made a number of the items. Now I just want to get home and start playing again!

One of the dishes at Alinea this weekend was a shot that included green apple juice or cider inside of a cocoa butter orb dusted with horseradish set in celery juice. The orb was crisp and thin. I've never worked with pure cocoa butter...can you temper it by itself? I didn't taste the sweetness of white chocolate, nor was it billed as white chocolate.

Like you Steven, we decided to let go to the moment, so we're very happy you took pics - our meals we're very similar. Not much more can be said about the food, but I'll tell you, our sommolier and the rest of the staff are what made the night for us. Every wine was perfectly paired (we did the upgraded wine list). The only not-perfect pairing was the pineapple and bacon lozenge (my term not there's) paired with Philippe Portier Quincy, Loire 2005...not so good together. And the staff's attention to detail! At one point a customer next to us had to shift a course that was placed in front of him. I heard the server say, "Oh, you're left handed. I'll remember that for the remainder of the evening." After that, no matter which server came out, if the meal had a handed-ness, it was placed appropriately. We were also taken by the realness and personableness of the staff - not snooty of aloof at all, which made the meal more accessible and fun for us.