chefmoni

i love the idea of adding liquid smoke...but perhaps try infusing cooked bacon in the heavy cream before making the ganache or substituting some of the butter for bacon fat (not all or it could negatively change the texture). hope it works!

wow your blackberry macarons look fantastic! very interesting choice of filling, too, but i love it! wish i could try it mind me asking what recipe you used for your shells? thanks!

perhaps you're intolerant to yeast...like me

well it sure looks delicious! where may i find the recipe?

thanks so much! wow no eggs? is that correct? can't wait to try it...

absolutely beautiful! would you mind sharing your recipe for the genoise? many thanks!

wow thanks for trying my recipe!! i do hope you enjoyed it! it's always a delight to see what others think....feel free to visit www.gildedfork.com for more....

he's there quite a bit, but no not "manning the stove"

what i would do is bake the cheesecake in a normal pan without the crust. once cooled, scrape it into a mixing bowl and paddle until smooth. refrigerate again, and once firm enough, scoop balls or pipe rounds and roll them into balls, then freeze. just a suggestion.....

i actually used different ratios than your truffle bc i decided to do a ganache for chocolate molds (i had already made too many truffles). i, too, used canned pumpkin and ther was really no need to burmix the heated hc/pumpkin mix before straining over the choc. anyhow, i let my ganache set up overnight and then i fixed it this morning. added more cream, more glucose and more butter. seems a much better consistency now, so i'll just have to wait and see. i also just remembered that, since i'm using 45%, it will naturally result in a more "gooey" ganache......

i made pumpkin ganache (for molded chocolates not truffles) tonight but found that the ganache (while completely emulsified) is slightly grainy -- i'm assuming due to the fibrous nature of pumpkin. if i used less pumpkin, the flavor would just not be there...but the ganache just isnt' right. i did heat the pumpkin with the cream, then strained it over the chocolate (45%), burmixed and then incorporated butter in. it also just wasn't nice and shiny, as ganache should be. any ideas?

thanks!! i was debating whether to use commercial eggnog or just heavy cream infused with all of the spices...but everything i've seen so far uses eggnog. can't wait to try it (perhaps tonight??)

my pleasure!! and i'd love to hear your seasonal specialities, too....

Hi! I am actually trying a pumpkin truffle this week, so thanks for the recipe. eggnog truffles are also on the list (so I'd love your recipe ). already made gingerbread, and roasted pear this week. gingerbread: 16oz white chocolate 4 oz heavy cream 2 oz molasses 1/2 t ginger 1/4 t cinnamon pinch nutmeg pin h cloves pear: roast 2 pears 450degrees with olive oil, cool, puree to get 8 oz 8oz puree 8 oz heavy cream 2 oz corn syrup 1/2 vanilla bean steep for 30 minutes 16 oz 54% or 62% chocolate 2 oz butter, soft salt

i'd like to make a caramel buttercream (either italian or swiss) but not sure how to do about. should i caramelize the sugar syrup in the imbm, cool slightly and procede? would this work? swiss -- woudl you add caramel sauce at the end? any tips or recipes would be greatly appreciated! thanks!

well keep up the great work ling and thanks for responding!

hi ling! your tarts are lovely, as are all of your other creations...are they chocolate ganache or baked custard tarts? and, may i ask, for what occasion do have the opportunity to bake for dorie greenspan?! did you ever go to culinary school or work in a professional establishment? or is all of your fabulous work self-taught? just want to say i've admired your work (desserts + writing) for quite some time now.

hi ling! would you mind posting the recipe for those chocolate chip cookies? they look divine. always looking for ways to improve upon the classic.

ok i ahve tried it many (actually probably about 10-12 times, all different). my basic idea is to make a peanut butter pastry cream and lighten it with the whites. the souffles made in this manner actually had the best flavor, yet were too heavy and dense in texture for a souffle. i did try steeping peanuts in the milk to make a peanut/vanilla pastry cream (then lightened with whites), but the peanuts caused some sort of odd separating effect, most likely from the extra oil. also tried using natural peanut butter, as opposed to processed skippy brand....which resulted in a better consistency, just more of a peanut taste rather than peanut butter, so to say. in a few, i also tried adding lemon juice, as that is supposed to reduce the "egginess" taste that resulted in some the pb pastry cream recipes that i lightened wiht a large amount of whipped whites. also added a little bit of alcohol (rum) to one trial to see if the alcohol would affect it, but no significant change. overall, the recipe i used that i liked the taste best was a pastry cream -- milk, vanilla bean, salt, sugar, cornstarch, peanut butter...lightened iwht whipped whites -- but the texture was off. they all rose beautifully, so adding extra whites did not help and only caused it to taste eggy. any suggestions? thanks!

Hi Suzy, May I ask what is your recipe for the Pumpkin Flan? I've tried to make it, but it came out a little tough -- I'm guessing due to the fiberous nature of pumpkin, event though I passed it through a fine mesh sieve..... Thanks!

Canela added to the scalding milk....divine. i use canela most of the time rather than regular cinnamon sticks, as i prefer the depth and roundness of flavor. highly recommened! 4 eggs and 6 additional yolks. 1 quart of reduced milk and only 1/2 a cup of sugar. This wan't bad but just a bit too eggy for me. I'm quivering just thinking about it! Recipes , please! Meringues I'm ok with but the other two..... I'll get there but I want to master the old fashioned way first. I see recipes all over the map. Some ask for sweetened condensed milk and others call for evaporated milk. Some call for whole milk while others want milk and cream. I've tried Kennedy and now I have Bayless open and will give him a try unless one of you gets back to this thread lickety split. I have lots of eggs coming so there's plenty of room for mistakes and experiments. Has anyone tried a stick of canela while reducing the milk? Here's one of my girls in action!!! Hey Jaymes- weren't you visiting when she was just a chick???? ←

has anyone made one? we're trying to come up with a recipe, but the peanut butter seems, being so heavy, creates a dense souffle. not light like one would want. any suggestions? and increasing the whites, only makes it taste like scrambled eggs! thanks!

try sifting equal parts cornstarch with powdered sugar...should do the trick!

and i think you're right! these seem like the best prices....thanks a bunch!

thanks for the suggestions! yeah i can purchase through the restaurant i work at, but wanted to get a feel around to see if i could find it cheaply myself. but probably not! thanks again