gap

Sebastian - thanks for your detailed response. And both were well crafted messages - like you said, it was always going to be a tricky topic to dance around

Sebastian - having followed your various posts for a few years, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't say that without some scientific backing. Is there anything available publically on the topic?

Desiderio, don't know if you've seen this thread? http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=121554 The book is available again on the PH website

They had a couple of copies of PH10 in the Rue Bonaparte store when I was there a few weeks ago - if you have a friend in Paris they might be able to pick it up. I'm hanging out for my copy of Macaron to be forwarded on by a friend in Ireland who is taking delivery for me

I like caramelised rice bubbles/rice krispies. There is also a product out which is sort of like a chocolate covered rice bubble/rice krispie which is nice - expensive though. Cheaper just to caramelise them with sugar yourself

I usually think of buttercream as being whipped butter, incorporate fondant (other "sugars" can also be used such as a jam, say) and then your flavouring.

The book is back on the Pierre Hereme website. I tried ordering it today - we'll see what happens.

I am probably setting myself up here as I'm not great on the science, but I think a higher DE means a higher conversion of the starch to sugars and, therefore, more sweetness. And vice-versa for a lower DE. Edited to add: not sure what Karo DE is

Perfect - thanks nickrey, we'll get onto that right away

Hi, my wife wants to make some malt and raisin cookies from her Grandmother's recipe. The recipe calls for malt extract and we're having trouble locating a source here in Melbourne. We have tried several health food/body-building type stores and also Essential Ingredient but all to no avail. Does anyone know where we could source malt extract in Melbourne? Thanks

Chocolate designs has some very solid basic techniques which are easy to get into if you haven't done much showpiece work before. Kerry - I'd love to see how you go with the polished granite. I've seen it before and it looks great when it's done

Thanks for that

Sebastian - assuming a cold store, would both "types" of coconut oils appear solid? Is there a way to tell them apart from the nutritional label - ie., does one have a slightly higher fat, protient or carb content than the other?

Thanks for the tip. I tried the pistachio gelato last weekend. It's made with all milk (no cream) which gives it a slightly . . . fresher/crisper, rather than creamy, texture. I subbed in some glucose powder and invert sugar for some of the sugar component and it has kept well over the past week. Enjoyed the flavour, but I might try it with 50/50 milk and cream next time for my preference.

You could take it one step further. I've seen waterproof flatscreen TVs for outside which can be washed with a hose. Why not have a flat-screen, touch-screen on the wall in your kitchen? It could link in to your recipes, photos of your recipes or else relevant e-books. Read from the screen mounted on your wall and save on bench space as well.

Cocoa butter covered pop rocks at: http://www.mfcd.net/store/product.asp?pID=1187&cID=76

I've seen them cocoa butter covered as well to prevent moisture problems

Not so sure about smoked salmon, but . . . is it Reese's Peanut Butter Cups . . . they always seem very USA to me sitting on this side of the world. Edited to add: and I agree with your suggestion of a good BBQ sauce - also very American

I would have said 5g is the unbloomed weight - that's how all my books/recipes work

Thanks for setting up this thread Kerry - very keen to see what comes out of your weekend gathering!! It should be great fun.

You want a good firm contraction of your chocolate to make the transfer stick. So it needs to start in a good temper and then cool correctly to get best contraction. Sometimes putting it in the fridge can help with that contraction. If the room temperature is suitable, leaving the transfer sheets overnight will give a good contraction.

It's not cheap, but Chocolate by Ramon Morato has everything you need to know about using chocolate as an ingredient. Breakfast snacks, drinks, cakes, gateaux, petit fours, bon bons etc etc. If you want a book that covers chocolate in all its glory, I would recommend this one. Edited for typos

yeah, very interesting to watch. Thanks for making the effort to share

Hi Lior - you could slab it or use in moulds - just vary the ratios for what you want. I use in moulds and add a fair bit of honey (don't have my recipes right now) but a piped recipe I have (ie., piped for hand-rolled truffles) is 250g cream, 600g milk chocolate and 40-50g honey. You could prob add more honey than that if you wanted a stronger taste. Maybe you could use something like this honey ganache for making the "hive" part of your beehive then you would have pure honey in the middle and honey in the ganache as well . . . just a thought

Which, if anyone is not familiar, is honey that is allowed to crystallize then is whipped or beaten to a creamy, spreadable consistency. ← Thanks for that - I had always wondered how they did it