fanny_the_fairy

hi, for anything like this, I would recommend classic fine foods http://www.classicfinefoods.co.uk/, they stock luois francois products which are usually 1kg. as for the pate de fruit, maybe pectine jaune (yellow pectin) is more suitable due to its non-thixotropic properties.

I usually caramelise mine at 160C for just 8min. and I make a lovely ganache with it.

thank you so so much Rob. your words make me super*happy. xxx

I happen to know this awesome organic goat farm in the south of france. Bruno, the farmer, is the sweetest guy ever. I did an internship there as a first year student of an école d'ungénieurs. However, while I was there, I met a couple of woofers. Bruno is usually booked quite a long time in advance, and many people, seing that I talk about his cheese on my blog, email me to know how it is. I loved it and everyone that went there did too. Let me know if you're interested. I know that's nowhere near Paris, but he'll offer you a bed + food for free (well, you'll have to work on the farm). xxx

Stabilisers? Hmm no way. And to be honest, I don't think pastries at Pierre Hermé are lacking taste. But this is just my two cents. Michalak? I'll agree on that one.

What do you mean when you say full of artificial crap? I worked there and all I saw were out-standingly sourced ingredients. I do always say openly how fond I am of Pierre's work, and although I understand I can't everyone to have the same point of view, I just don't understand yours. But then, I also happen to hate some of the famous places like Ladurée, while it seems to be on the top-ten list of many people. Anyway, I'd love to hear more about why you're being so harsh towards Pierre's pastries.

rob, i want to see a picture of the finished dessert it looks and sounds heavenly! xx

It makes me wish I had a brick oven. Might have to hask my dad if he can build one.

I'll make sure to check his carrot cake recipe.

Funnily enough I was already checking your pictures when you replied. Thanks (and good night) xxx

Oh they look soooo sweet. I should try and make some mini ones next week end.

Oh please tell me more about the recipes you've tried. Which ones? Pretty pretty please!

Oh yes, he's just the nicest person and I was also lucky enough to get the booklet (the muffins are actually from it).

So I know I'm one week late, but since I noticed the evident lack of topics on the epiphany's goodnesses, I thought I would ask you a few questions... Do you guys make anything special for the epiphany? At my house, we make both galette des rois and couronne briochée. Do you have a favourite? The galette des rois consists in a rich almond and pastry cream filling called frangipane enclosed into two sheets of puff pastry. The couronne briochée, more popular in the south of France is more like a simple brioche, shaped into a couronne [wreath] and decorated with coarse sugar and candied fruits.

Big news. Dan Lepard is officialy my new favourite person in the world and as I suppose (hope) I'm not the only one to feel that way, I created this topic so we could rave about how wonderful his breads are. So far I've only made: - simple white bread (sometimes with twists) - focaccia (serious thing guys) - English muffins However, I can't wait to try ALL his recipes as they just seem to work perfectly for me. Here is some eye-candy, hoping that will get you to tell me more about the recipes you've already tried.

Hey guys, I just made Dan Lepard's English muffins and they turn out well. But before I can go on, let me tell you that I'm aware that one's not supposed to eat muffins plain, by just biting into them (you'll understand what I'm talking about, do not worry). Ok, so yeah, I made Dan Lepard's English muffins - the recipe, which I found in the Guardian's guide to baking (got it in November along with the saturday edition), totally rocked. It's got apple cider vinegar and yogurt in it, so the finished muffins have a pleasing sour taste. The dough was fun to work with. Very soft and smooth. The night before 50g unsalted butter, melted 100g warm water 50g apple cider vinegar 100g live yogurt 1 large egg, at room temperature 1 tsp salt Melt the butter then mix in the other ingredients and whisk until smooth. Add 375g flour (Dan class for strong flour, but since I can't find it in France, I used T55) and 2tsp easy-blend yeast. Mix well then allow to rest for 10 minutes. Then start kneading Dan's way - three times at 10-minute intervals (use some oil to prevent the dough from sticking to both the work surface and your hands). Refrigerate overnight. The next morning Oil your work surface and turn the dough onto it. Do the regular stretching and folding (see here for more info) at 40-minute intervals for 2 hours. Roll the dough 1,5cm thick and cut out discs using a 8cm cutter. Lay the discs onto a floured surface, dust the tops with flour and allow to proof for at least 2 hours. Place a heavy-bottomed frying pan onto moderate heat then slide the muffins into the pan. Cook for 3 minutes then flip over and cook for a further 4 minutes. Then turn off the heat, flip the muffins and leave them in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and get on with the remaining discs of dough. So let me tell you one thing. Those muffins. They're out of this world. The taste is fantastic, so is the texture. Yeah, I bit into one. Just to check you know. But then I kept biting and just when I though it couldn't get any better I found that gorgeous pocket of air. This is a bit of an exclusivity since I haven't posted about it on foodbeam yet, but well, I needed to tell someone about them.

This list makes me want to mak marshmallows right now.

Tri2Cook, that is such an inspiration. I love olive oil in my desserts and that ice cream looks very tempting. I so wish I were a pastry chef too. Maybe one day... Who knows?

as a French, I have to buy my baking soda at the pharmacy baking powder is readily available at supermarkets though x fanny

here are some delicious florentins i recently made just honey, caramel and almonds over a pate sucrée base no peels or chocolate! x fanny

Savoury cannelés and madeleines work well.

Kerry that would be FANTASTIC!

Thank you both. I find its selling prices on the crazy side. Who would pay 800$ for it? I certainly would't. I'm pretty sure the fine for not returning a book from the library is worth less than that!! xxx

okay guys, this is some serious stuff i've lost my copy of claudia fleming's the last course i loved it and now i see it's not printed anymore and costs over a hundred bucks i know i should have posted this on the cookbook section, but i have the feeling that i might get more help here i am desperate does anyone know where i can get a copy (online as i live in france)? or if one of you has two or don't care about that book, i'd love to give you some money for it... pretty please xxx - fanny

To this Canadian, "Ontario" and "on" have the same initial vowel sound... I always have trouble with millefeuille. I know the "mille" part, but I get stuck on the "feuille" part. French pronunciation was never my strong point, and that's why I quit as soon as I was legally allowed! ← Oh well, I asked my British boyfriend, and to him, on is more like onnnnnn (yep, I'm slightly exagerating) while the vowel sounds 'shorter' in ontario.