baking.stoned

take a standard brioche recipe, add some orange blossom water, candied lemon and orange peel, and dried fruits. add approximately 200g of 'inserts' (chocolate, dried fruits, nuts, etc.) for every kilo of flour in your recipe. you can get more complex, with predoughs and the like, but this recipe will give you a fantastic result.

i'd suggest that the chocolate was too thick when added to the molds. vibration isn't really meant to eliminate large air pockets like the ones you experienced, but instead to remove small bubbles from the chocolate. two reasons why the chocolate was too thick....either your working temperature was too cold, or the chocolate was over-crystallized. pay close attention to temperatures when crystallizing the chocolate prior to working, and make sure the chocolate is tempered, but fluid when filling the molds. good luck with the next batch!

i'm looking for a ribbon-shaped cookie cutter, something similar to the breast cancer ribbon. does anyone know of a shop that sells a wide variety of cutters in the lower mainland? (other than ming wo chinatown - i've tried, no luck) thanks in advance...

awesome. thanks for all the tips! i'll keep you posted on where we end up!

here's the deal. i'm in town until monday morning. the weekend has quickly been booked up with various obligations involving family and friends. sunday has thus become the only night i'm able to make it out for a nice dinner. problem is, it's everyone's night off. susur, lee, canoe, bymark, north 44...the list goes on. all the big names are closed. so, i'm looking for advice on where one could eat a wonderful, high-end meal in the city on a sunday night. any ideas? thanks in advance...

nevermind.... i should have poked through the yellow pages first. European Specialty Food Importers carries it, at 220 Prior. in case anyone else was looking....

i have a whole bunch of recipes for eastern european christmas goodies that i'm hoping to bake this year. my mother always had a big jar of baking ammonia in the freezer, but with her on the other side of the country, i'm at a loss for where to find the stuff. any help would be much appreciated. perhaps i could share some of the bounty when the production's finished. thanks!

can't wait to stop in for a taste. i'm excited about gastropod, and your neighbours, fuel.

if 'hardness' is related to mineral content, i would infer that by comparing labels one would be able to determine the 'hardest' water available. i don't have the data to help though. fascinating topic though. i make pizza dough at work all the time, but had a huge stockpile prior to the boil water advisory. i'll have to make it again soon, and will be monitoring my dough for any changes.