nightscotsman

Toasted coconut sounds like a good match for the lime curd, but I would add some neutral flavored cookie crumbs and a bit of butter to help hold it together. Maybe some vanilla wafers, or I think Cooks Illustrated recommended animal crackers in one of their recipes.

If you've already tried one or two of the other top recipes we've already tested and you have one you think is better, then bring it on! It would be helpful if you also added a few words on why you think the new recipe is better than the current favorite - moister, better flavor or texture, etc.

ah-HA - big difference. I'll try it again (with a dutched cocoa) and see what I get, though I may also increase the cocoa amount as well.

While not actually Mexican food, I thought my lunch at Mesa Grill in Caesar's was quite good. Give dessert a pass, though. A little farther away down the strip, Diego in MGM Grand has been getting good buzz.

Just wanted to say I tried the "She Ain't Heavy" cake recipe this morning and I have to say I was hugely dissapointed with my results. The cake is moist, but very crumbly and has virtually no flavor at all. I used Hershey's cocoa which seemed to work fine for the other chocolate cakes I tested for this thread. The recipe as written seems to have a rather low proportion of cocoa and sugar to flour - am I missing something?

They're used to people needing to finish in time for shows (as most Vegas restaurants are), so just tell your waitperson when your showtime is and they can expedite things. Of course the earlier you get there after they open the better.

Would that be this thing here? Looks interesting. Please let us know what kind of instructions they provide how it works for you.

I think this could also work, however you might risk drying out the custard before it sets producing a tough skin on top. The trick is to bake slowly, but not too slowly, and the thermodynamic qualities of the water bath help to even out the temperature so the edges don't bake much faster than the center, as well as slowing the dish temperature reaching the boiling point. It also adds moisture to the oven environment keeping the top of the custard from drying out quickly. Not sure what a "wittco" is - care to explain?

You can get the pre-show special without seeing any shows at all. To tell the truth, it's not really any savings over ordering from the menu, it just prepackages some choices for people in a hurry. And the donuts aren't available as one of the courses on the $40 deal, so I'd skip it and make your own choices.

We bake all of our brulees in a convection oven with a water bath and never have any problems. The only times it takes longer for the custard to set is when somebody misscales and uses fewer yolks in the basic mix. Our recipe uses half cream and half milk, heated with vanilla beans to almost boiling before mixing with yolks and sugar and straining, then completely chilled before pouring into dishes and baking. Using less water in the bath can help speed setting. When I bake the brulees I put them in sheet pans and add only about 1/8-1/4 inch of hot water, then bake at 250 F for about 30 minutes.

Just a very simple batter: 2-1/2 cups flour 1 cup sugar 2 TBs baking powder 2 cups water

Rock salt? Haven't heard of that one before. Is salt really more hygroscopic than sugar? Can any of you science guys out there clue me in?

Uh... non-stick rolling pins?

We don't get to see the finished plated desserts we make at work since we do the individual components in the morning and they get assembled and plated in the restaurants at night. Here is one from school, though. We had to do a mystery basket dessert using bananas, passion fruit and nuts of some kind (coconut was OK). This is caramelized pineapple with banana fritters (slices of banana dipped in batter, coated with dried coconut and deep fried), and passion fruit sherbet. I thought it came out well and really liked the combination of flavors, textures and temperatures.

I've had the scallops with potato cakes, bacon, spinach and crab hollandaise and thought it was excellent. Steaks are their specialty and seem to be well prepared (the chef came from N9NE steakhouse at the Palms). The best dessert IMO is the donuts. We're working on a new dessert menu for them right now, but I'm sure the donuts will still be on it in some form. Be sure to ask for the cocktail menu. I really like their cucumber martini and strawberry basil cocktail - very light and food friendly.

Oh, wait - don't go to Cravings. Since my initial report that it was an above average buffet, they've downgraded both the preparation and ingredient quality. It really was good the first time, but I guess they had budget cuts. Bellagio is still very good, and if you're looking for a second, you might try the Aladdin (though the desserts suck). You absolutely MUST have drinks in the lounge at Mix, the new Alain Ducasse place in The Hotel in Mandalay bay. It's on the 64th floor with outdoor seating, so the view is breathtaking, and the room is drop-dead gorgeous. The food in the restaurant is very good too, but extremely expensive. I've also heard good things about Mesa Grill in Caesar's from my chef, though he thought the desserts were a let down.

Some pectins also require less sugar and acid in order to set completely, though I'm not sure if NH is a low sugar type or not.

The packages of stuff we use say "Feuille de Brick" and the product is very much like a stiff crepe. Certainly nothing like puff pastry. We mostly use it for crispy garnishes and tuiles. We brush it with honey butter or sweetened fruit puree, sprinkle with sugar, and bake until it starts to brown. Like other tuiles it will still be soft when hot at this stage, but will crisp as it cools. Great stuff.

I think what might be missing from what you're looking for in the cake flavor has to do with one of your changes. Sour cream has substantially more fat and is less sour than buttermilk, and though it will add a richer taste to a recipe, it also tends to mute the chocolate flavor. I recommend re-trying it with the buttermilk to see the difference.

Yes, I think it would hold up in a layer cake. It's basically just whipped cream sweetened and stabilized with white chocolate. You might want to whip it a little stiffer to make it pipe-able/spreadable, though don't overdo it since it will get firmer when it sets.

I agree that a mousse or bavarian with eggs will have a much richer taste and smoother, fuller texture. Sometimes, though, you need a lighter and cleaner tasting white chocolate mousse, and for that I really like a recipe from "Book of Tarts" by Maury Rubin: 4 oz white chocolate 1-1/4 cup heavy cream boil cream and add to chocolate as for ganache. Chill thoroughly. When very cold, whip with mixer or hand whisk to soft peaks. This recipe has several advantages - besides being not too sweet and fool-proof easy, it will keep for days in the cooler and you can whip just the amount you want when you need it.

The white chocolate was probably not warm enough when you added the whipped cream, so when the cold cream was added it solidified some of the chocolate before you could mix it in. It's harder to see since the chocolate is white, but you basically have tiny chocolate chips within the cream. The trick with recipes like this is to get the chocolate very warm, but not so hot that it melts the whipped cream. When we do a similar milk chocolate chantilly cream, we actually have one person slowly pour the hot chocolate into the whipped cream while a second person whisks like crazy.

They are very similar to the standard rice crispy squares, but in a spheroid shape, and come in chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavors.

Hey - this is a family site. Watch the pornography there, bub.

Here's a story in the local Vegas paper about the shop with more info on the chocolate waterfall: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/200...g/25853825.html