fanny_the_fairy

Hi robert, thanks for being so nice. Regarding the temperature i have no idea as i didn't have a sugar thermometre on hand when i made them. Though, i would say the mixture reached firm-ball stage. - fanny

I am an addict of Le Saunier fleur de sel. And no, Maldon isn't fleur de sel; though I use it on a regular basis because of its delicate taste and high salting power. - fanny

Here is a recipe i made some months ago. The caramels turned out great. 150g golden syrup 150g caster sugar 75g salted butter, diced in small chunks Place the golden syrup and sugar in a pan and mix well. Cook over low heat -and without stirring- until the sugar has melted. Mix in the butter, one chunk at a time. Pour into a lined 20cm square tin and refrigirate for one hour. Cut in small squares and wrap in baking paper.

Hi Rachel, thanks. - fanny

This is not exactly what i am looking for but i LOVE your way of thinking. That would do a sexy chocolate mousse indeed! - fanny PS sorry for your kitchen!

Hi Robert, i'd love to find the original recipe. But if you've got a recipe for 'the best chocolate mousse ever', i'll be more than happy! - fanny

Hi there, last year (well, the 30th of last december to be accurate) i watched a Tamasin Day-Lewis show on UKTV food which featured a recipe for THE sexiest chocolate mousse. This mousse is so luscious (call it sexy if you want), looked and sounded delicious. Though, it seems i've lost the paper on which i had written down the recipe. It was made over a double broiler and used lots of chocolate. Do you want to see me die from desperation - in pain and tears? I guess you don't, so i BEG you: do have the recipe for it? - fanny

Wow Daniel the bread looks amzing. I must try it over the week end. And the picture is great too - very sharp and a nice colour balance. - fanny

Hi Michael, what a great job. I am totaly in love with the 'lego creme brulée'. It looks SO SO good, funny and cute. I'm just... blown away. Such an amazing creation. - fanny

Hi there, i'm not sure wether i should post here or not. Last week end i made four different chocolates from Pierre Hermé PH10. They were all outstanding. Very tender, smooth and tasty. I was amazed to see how much butter goes into these little delights!!! I am currently working on the impact of colour/vision on perceived flavour, so i thought it would be funny to see how people react when eating different chocolates but with no visual hints. In that aim, i simply rolled the chilled ganaches in cocoa powder (i also dipped another batch in various tempered chocolates; eg. white chocolate+vanilla seeds for the vanille truffles). Here are the results: With visual clue (i.e. ganaches dipped in different chocolates) The people detected the flavour almost immediately and the resulting perceived flavour was stronger. Without visual clue (i.e. plain truffles rolled in cocoa powder) It took a longer time for the people to guess the flavours which are now considered more subtle. - Balthazar or cinnamon truffles This is always a winner combination. The cinnamon adds warmness to the already rich ganache. - Makassar or salted caramel truffles These were very mellow and had a great caramel au beurre salé flavour. They definitely were a favourite. - Lou or ginger truffles These had the most robust flavour; tangy and powerful. I really liked it at first but quickly got bored. - Barbade or vanilla truffles Probably the most difficult flavour to detect – very delicate at first but then you get a burst of banana/vanilla taste which is due to the vanilla-enriched ganaches. And to wrap up this very-unnecessary post here is a picture of the plain truffles (no pictures for the beautiful and shiny chocolates - blame my battery for that):

I made a pumpkin pie out of it and it was utterly delicious. - fanny

I like my cookies moist and chewy. Almost underbaked!!! - fanny

Hi, this is such a great post. I'm enjoying every single word you wrote about this wonderful experience. - fanny

I love love love the idea of a gingerbread cheesecake being myself both a cheesecake and gingerbread lover. I think it's a great idea to adapt a basic recipe by doing the following: - use light muscovado sugar instead of the regular caster sugar - mix in cinnamon and 4 spices Another great trick for the 'pain d'épice' twist would be to use less sugar and add honey to the batter. Anyway, tell us how it turned out. - fanny

Regarding savoury cupcakes, i love: - pesto - dried tomato, parmesan, artichoke and ricotta - hazelnuts and bacon

I usually cook the custard on low heat for 6-8 minute before pouring it into ramekins and baking at 160°C (and in a water bath) for about 30 minutes and always have great results. Regarding your problem i guess it's because you didn't heat the cream before adding it to the egg yolks.

The chesnut and vanilla spread is excellent. It is not oversly sweet (but then i added some more water - see note above). The texture is perfect - smooth and grainy, but in a good way. I will make it again even if my thumbs suffered a lot during the peeling-pipping-hot-chestnuts phase! Here are two picture: the spread in its can and on a spoon (sorry for the bad picture - photographing jam is something i have to learn!)

I am making the tomato and vanilla jam at the moment and it looks so tempting. I have to let the mixture rest overnight... and the least i can say is that it's going to be difficult. I tasted it and it is delcious. I also reduced the sugar to 800g instead of 900g (for 1100g of peeled/cored tomatoes) but it's still a bit too sweet (well this won't stop me eating the whole jar in a minute!!!)

I'd be interested to hear your results as well. This recipe has been on my list for awhile. Do you have pre-peeled chestnuts are you starting with the shelled beasts? The red tomato and vanilla jam sounds very interesting as well. Good luck with your weekend of jam making! ← Hi Ludja, i started with whole chestnuts. It took a lot of time to shell them and a lot of courage too. My thumbs are now burnt and sore, but i can hopefully enjoy this delicious creme de marron! I think i will submit a modified recipe (using less sugar) and post on foodbeam about this experience. Thanks L, i will have a look!

While making the chestnut and vanilla jam i couldn't restrain myself not to taste. It is very sweet indeed. Though as the chesnuts decided they would not cook (after 20 minutes) and as i was scared of the syrup turning into caramel, i pushed the chesnuts through a sieve, kept the liquid/paste and cooked the chestnut bits in about 400ml of water (i only used 450g of chestnut at the beginning) until thick. Then i pushed that mixture through a sieve and kept the paste, which i added to the first paste (wow i'm not being very clear here! sorry). So basically i didn't follow the recipe except for the ingredients (although i added 400ml). And the finished result is smooth and sweet (just a bit too much on the sweet side) - just as creme de marron should be. I love the nutty aftertaste that industrial creme de marron hasn't. Will post some pictures as soon as possible.

So i just called Christine Ferber and though she wasn't here today, a nice lady answered me: it is indeed creme de marron, meaning it needs to be puréed! Sorry for this useless thread!

I am having a 'jam weekend' as i call it. I planned to do three jams from my newest cookbook: Mes confitures, Chritine Ferber. I started with the Chesnut and vanilla jam. I first thought it was supposed to be like a spread but after having read the recipe twice, i notice Christine doesn't call for a food mill. She just say 'crush any big bits with a wooden spoon'. I find it quite original - chunky creme de marron. I know i could use a mill if desired, but really want to make sure the jam is supposed to be 'chunky' and not smooth (to tell the truth i haven't a food mill in my tiny student kitchen and like the fact that this jam goes off the path!). I have the french version of the book and wondered if it was different in the english version. And by the way, did any of you tried this recipe? I am also planning to make the potimarron and vanilla jam and the red tomato and vanilla jam. Very vanilla! Will tell you about the results tomorrow when finished. xoxo fanny

I have made a hazelnut flavored ganache by infusing heavy cream with ground, toasted hazelnuts, straining out the nut powder and then making a ganache. This worked really well as a chocolate filling for my "fruit de mer". ← Sounds good to me! Will try the next time.

Truth to be told, i've never made hazelnut spread before, but thought it would be delicious. Sad to see that sometimes industrial products are better than homemade. And while i'm confessional i should admit that i do love nutella. It reminds me of my childhood when i would always have slices of white bread thickly spread with nutella for my 'gouter'. I even used to call these 'nutella au pain' [nutella with bread] because of the high nutella/bread ratio!

I totally agree with you. I thought of making my own gianduja, but given the time i opted for the easiest solution. I should let you know i am an avid 'use natural produce' baker but not this time.