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Depends what you're after. There is a special piping tool which lets you pipe two different colours in swirls for a shell. Alternatively, put two piping bags (filled with different colours) inside another one and snip the ends off and pipe away for a two toned colour but not the definite swirls achieved with the piping tool mentioned above. Lastly, you can cook your shells per normal and then just use a brush to lightly brush with an alternative colour (use a food colouring) once they are cooked Gingerbread macarons are also good for Christmas

Hi plunk, this is the book for you then. Not an intro to pastry at all. While it doesn't assume pre-requisite knowledge, the recipes are involved and challenging. The cakes and the desserts section have similar things to what he has done on Masterchef. We tried the sticky date macarons last weekend - they were fantastic

just to add to Edward J's post - fat bloom typically feels "greasy" if you run your finger over it and sugar bloom feels "rough" (ie., like sugar crystals). And I agree with Edward J, I always dump excess chocolate after production into a large container and let it set before I store it - guaranteed to produce fat bloom. Next time I need, it, however, I just re-melt and re-temper it and everything is fine.

could it be improper storage has allowed moisture into the product?

I like that logic - I must try it with my wife!!

Agree with Kerry - one of each should be enough. Once you've stencilled in the chocolate, you scrape off the excess and pull the chablon up from a corner while they chocolate is just starting to set. Then you can move straight onto the next lot of stencilling.

For me that's the key. I'm not sure Donna Hay is necessarily aiming for depth and compelxity of flavour. I know both my wife and her sister regularily use her recipes at the end of a busy day to whip up something that looks good and is tasty, but can be done in a manageable amount of time.

Wow, that's a good price for a book just released. I should have added above, I have done a fair bit of pastry work before, so the fact that some of the Zumbo recipes have multiple components and a recipe might go over 2 pages of text doesn't bother me. That said, it might not be what every home baker wants.

I was wondering if anyone else had purchased the book "Zumbo" or was using it? I just received my copy today. I bought it on-line from the Adriano Zumbo store at http://adrianozumbo.com/new-book-zumbo/ (it came signed by the man himself) But it is also available from other Australian retail outlets such as http://www.readings.com.au/collection/adriano-zumbo Or internationally at http://www.amazon.com/Zumbo-Adrian/dp/1742665713/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317859251&sr=8-1 (not yet available internationally I think) For international readers, Adriano Zumbo is a very well known Australian pastry chef who has spent time learning the craft with Pierre Herme and others. He has his own stores now in Sydney, Australia. http://adrianozumbo.com/adriano/ He became more of a household name through his numerous appearances on Masterchef Australia with extremely challenging pastry pieces for the contestants to create and has since had his own (short) series on SBS TV. He also does a lot of food festivals around Australia. His Masterchef recipes are challenging and can be located at: http://www.masterchef.com.au/guest-chef-adriano-zumbo.htm (See the list on the right of the screen under "Adriano Zumbo Recipes") And his SBS recipes are at: http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/zumbo/recipes/page/i/1/h/Recipes/ (Click through the different episode tabs near the top of the screen) His reputation is for being a little "different" - which comes through in the books layout and graphic design - with his pastries and so for me (who owns a number of pastry books already), this was a welcome addition to my collection as it has some unusual flavours/combinations - eg., sticky date, strawberry bubblegum and chocolate mayonaisse macarons to name just 3. The book is broken up into 6 sections: - Zumbarons (macarons which he is probably most well known for) - Chocolates - Pastries - Gateaux de Voyage - Cakes - Desserts with basic recipes and a glossary at the back. For a pastry book, the book is good value - $50 (or less at some spots) for a 250+ page, hardcover, book with colour photos on pretty much every page is pretty cheap compared to some others out there. I'll be spending the next few days reading through it and then I'll be trying a few things from it - it'll be nice to make an Australian Pastry Chef's recipes for a change

Sous vide would be the neatest way. If you don't have the setup, you could temper your chocolate in a melting tank and infuse with tea for several hours and then strain the chocolate to remove the tea.

What about Boozy Rouge in Richmond? Both food and venue are good (although maybe not quite at Cumulus/Flower Drum levels). I've had a few work functions there and it has had a great feel/vibe for a celebration. It has function rooms as well. Order ahead for suckling pig which could be a winner for Chirstmas.

You can also work backwards for this sort of question. Start with what you could sell your product for in your area (ie., what is the competition of similar quality selling for?) Then subtract your supplies (ingredients and packaging) and work out the difference. Divide that through by how long it takes you to make the product and you'll get an idea of your hourly rate in labour. Then you need to decide if that is something you can live with. If it's a business, don't forget to add in fixed costs such as rent, electricity etc

You can pipe truffles without worry or you can mould them - both will take time and practice to learn though

And that's the real crux of it. Depending on the size of partner and relationship, one method of prtotecting yourself is to make sure there is a guaranteed payout (for example, 1 years salary) if you are let go at their discretion within a certain timeframe (ie., within the first 2 years of business). As previous posters have mentioned, you're going to have a hard time keeping your recipes once the partner knows them, they're easy to change and actual copyright is dubious for a list of ingredients and amounts. The important thing is to make sure you're compensated in some way for your recipes if you are forced to leave.

I second all those opinions - you shouldn't have to work with someone who is that unorganised for such a large event - at the end of the day people will reflect any failure of the event back on you

Re tempering: an electric blanket can be used to keep the chocolate warm, or heat periodically in the microwave or have a heat gun (ie., paint stripper from local hardware store) to add a bit of heat every now and then. The more chocolate you have in the bowl, the more it will hold its heat. Re your ganache: there are many ways. Most common is to boil cream and glucose. Pour over chocolate. At 32C add the butter. You can also try melting the chocolate, tempering it, heating cream to 30C and combining with chocolate, then adding butter. This theoretically keeps the ganache chocolate in temper which some believe extends shelf life.

Soul Mama in St Kilda is good http://www.soulmama.com.au/

At the risk of being shot down in flames could all of the vibrating be causing the bubbles given the fluidity of the chocolate? Maybe just try a couple of test moulds and bang them on your bench. If the problem disappears, you could try vibrating for 10-15 seconds instead of 45. Just a thought, no basis for it.

I have done just that and it works very well. Keep the chocolate melted while it is steeping at about 40C. I left the coffee beans in the melted chocolate for about 4 hours, then strained, tempered the chocolate and used as normal.

Using a packaged fruit puree ensures consistent sugar amounts and fairly consistent pectin amounts in the puree so that you have a better chance of the recipe working. Using your own fruit purees is fine, but you may need to make adjustments to the recipes to suit the level of sugar/pectin naturally in your fruit puree.

Interesting. I had never heard of this before but when you say it, it makes perfect sense.

Wow, citric and tartaric acid are both available in the supermarket here (well, they were when I last bought some)

That ties in with Chef Migoya. Taking from the Comments of the Blog Post linked above, the author states: Francisco Migoya said... Mixture is 90% white chocolate and 10% canola oil, which gives it fluidity to take in the bubbles. I use the iSi whipper only, keeping it warm throughout the process so that it does not seize in the canister.

Have a look at this link. http://www.thequenelle.com/2009/10/cappuccino-chocolate-bar-or-using.html

Alternatively, is your warmer still keeping the chocolate at the same temperature? Maybe check it with a thermometer. In my experience, having chocolate at the higher end of the "holding" temperature range will make for a better coating on curved surfaces. Maybe your machinery is the cuplrit and is no-longer holding to the same temperature it once was?