jumanggy

Mary: Oooh, that chestnut square is killing me! Kim: (You guys seem to be torturing me with chocolate-- not that I don't have any sitting in storage ) I love that the pots de creme is no-cook. By how much does the texture differ from a baked PDC, or a stovetop pudding? Joe: Cool, they look like peanut butter brownie millionaire's shortbread, I love it. Honey Castella (as per Pichet Ong's recipe): I'm following a discussion of this at the eG Japan Baking forum. I've already gotten a request to repeat it, but I don't like repeating so soon after I just made it a few days ago. Good thing it's quite easy to make.

No problem 400g Whole eggs 280g Sugar 240g Flour 280g Butter (It's translated to "butter fermentation." Er...) 80g Honey 40g Invert sugar 28g Baking powder (!) The sequence is almost the same-- sweeteners and baking powder in eggs, beat over a flame until 40°C. Whip until thick and pale. Fold in flour, then the butter that has been melted and cooled to 60°C. I'm not sure if there's a step before baking. (Er... It's not like they freeze it or anything like that, right?) Bake at 180°C for 35-40 minutes. Cool inverted? Dunno.

I was about to write a joke-- something along the lines of, "NO! Just EAT IT!!!" But Rachel, I'm a little choked up inside! What a lovely sentiment you've written here. Keep on keepin' on. (Er, is that the expression?)

I was wondering how I got here via Google and not the P&B Forum index, hahaha! Found the topic too late, though-- I already made Pichet Ong's Honey Castella. It should make an appearance soon on the Desserts thread. The top of mine didn't brown as dark as the examples here (or Ong's book), but it was still spectacular. The crumb was too open based on the replies here, but it's my first ever taste of Castella, so I didn't mind. That is the fastest that a cake has disappeared in this household. The reason I was drawn to the castella recipe first (I just received the book) was because of this entry at Cake Chef: http://www.cakechef.info/special/chef_aida...tte1/index.html If you backtrack to the opening page, the crumb is very dense and the top's very dark-- very appealing indeed. Unfortunately, the recipe called for invert sugar, to which I don't have access (whaddya think? Use corn syrup?). If you watch the movie at the site, he doesn't whip it to a thick ribbon either (Ong's recipe is very thick-- beat it using a hand mixer for 10 minutes over heat, then 6 minutes-- I didn't think it could get any thicker as a whole-egg meringue). Neither does he disturb it while in the oven, I think. There's a step that I can't understand, even with Google Translate-- the step before it goes in the oven.

When indeed? I don't think this has happened. I like to think that the eating is still the most important aspect to most people. Just because they photograph their meal doesn't mean they don't appreciate it the way they should. But that's just my theory. I can't possibly claim to know what people who photograph meals (all/ majority/ some/ few/ one) in restaurants are thinking. I live in a 3rd world country and am more likely to buy a happy meal when I'm out (okay, that's... An exaggeration ). I don't read restaurant reviews and such because they're not very useful to me. But browsing the corresponding cookbooks of big-name chefs and restaurants at the shops (yep... Can't afford 'em) does give me a lot of inspiration and with some luck I hope I can approximate the experience at home.

Speaking of diner food, the next cover ("Summer Scoop") is an ice cream cone. I'm frightened the recipe might call for buying a tub of ice cream. Also promised on the cover? "Healthy Burgers." Hey, didn't you just have a grill issue last month? With a burger on the cover? Peter, do they have burgers on every month? BUT the burger you did make does look incredible, Peter I haven't read it yet, but did you adopt BA's patty protocol? Or did you stick to your own and just make the chipotle ketchup?

Mary Elizabeth: A friend just gave me The Sweet Spot as a congratulatory gift, so I may be able to help you on your problem pretty soon. Kim: Ah, you're being too hard on yourself! The use of jelly roll is pretty imaginative, and the execution's good. That's a chocolate swiss roll with the same IMBC to fill it? Randi: Humph, make me jealous with your abundance of berries why don't you?! it looks really good! Sugar Plum: Well done! I've never done a tiered cake before (no occasion for it, PLUS I'm frightened), so I'm very impressed! I can just imagine your hand mixer huffing and puffing, heh It looks really beautiful (plus I am once again jealous of the berries...) Here's a few I've collected over the months.. Hidden Berry Cream Cheese Torte from Baking: From My Home To Yours. Really good, though I would add way more jam next time. Frozen Banana Parfait with a fudge sauce (okay, ganache. whatever...) White Chocolate Poundcake with Peanut Butter Ganache and Strawberry Ice Cream filling. Peanut Butter Ganache made with bittersweet chocolate is a horrible, horrible idea. As is pairing it with strawberry ice cream. Gross. Pear Belle Helene with Maple Walnut Ice Cream and Salted Butter Caramel Sauce. The last two components are from The Perfect Scoop. I was supposed to put it in the plated desserts topic but I don't think it's complex enough. Spice Cake with Penuche Frosting. Hah, "frosting" my *ss. Really thin and runny, more like a grainy glaze. But it did taste good. Poached Plum Frangipane Tart, inspired by a recipe from Gordon Ramsay's Recipes from a 3-Star Chef "Tarzan": crepe filled with bananas and served with condensed milk, chocolate sauce, and dulce de leche ice cream. The last bits are store-bought of course... (whaddya mean, "of course?!") Passionfruit vacherin with blackberry sauce. I wish I had made raspberry sauce so it'd stand out more. Oh, and I wish this country had passionfruits that tasted like passionfruits and not water.

That's really impressive. Looks good too. The settings of rice cookers are too variable, though. Mine switches to warm after the rice is cooked. I wonder if that's the way I'll leave it be if I make the bread-- baking it for a total of 3 hours at maximal heat sounds like a disaster (some of the comments aren't too helpful, either). We use rice cookers here as steamers-- basically for rice buns, leche flan (caramel custard)

No, no, there's no such thing as a bad cook! Just bad recipes! Let me divert a little traffic to this blog post: http://thursdaynightsmackdown.com/2008/07/...deen-casserole/ If the last few words of that URL shows up, you'll know what you're in for The picture of the unbaked casserole before the crispy cheese conceals it is particularly disturbing. I like her description of the meal, too. Oh my God! Giant planaria!!! Hahahaha!!

Maybe they might think pastry chefs know nothing of making ice cream

I'm not very qualified to comment on the kitchen and stuff, but I will say that your place looks very quaint and welcoming-- the kind of place I see myself frequenting and wasting time in with friends. Also, I'm not sure if you'll like hearing this, but it looks like you've gained a tiny bit of weight, and it agrees with you Best of luck (again), Rob!

Hi Fern, The 7-Minute Frosting actually is the method for making a Swiss Meringue, while pouring hot syrup into egg whites while beating is the method for an Italian Meringue. I've actually not needed to make an Italian Meringue before but I hear it's stiffer and forms a nice crust. But 7-Minute Frosting is my go-to frosting... And the temperature here is usually in the 27°-35°C range. I don't have a stand mixer so I've always done the 7-minute hand mixer beating. Cook's Illustrated has a stand mixer method that should work well: 2 large egg whites 200g granulated sugar 60g water 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon corn syrup Heat everything in a bain marie for 5-10 minutes, or a thermometer registers 160°F (70°C), stirring constantly. Transfer to the mixer bowl and beat on medium for 5 minutes, then at medium-high for 5 more minutes. Regarding the crumb coat: I've only ever frosted dense cakes (white butter, devil's food) with this, but I didn't apply a crumb coat in the strict sense of the word (you know, thin haphazard layer, refrigerate, re-frost). Instead I just lop it on in voluptuous swirls. Applied really thickly you won't even get to touch the cake with the spatula.

Does a straight meringue fit the bill? How about using shortening instead of butter?

Good luck on the tasting+catering, Rob, and good luck on the restaurant! I'm surprised you have any time at all to come here and tell us about it! (I'm eGullet taught too. I wonder if this is a sign of things to come for me, lol.)

Raagamuffin: No freakin' way! That's fantastic! Maybe you could try piping it, hahaha. Force the pattern

I don't know what they do in high-output bakeries, but from what I picked up in the cookbook, you're right, they do pipe on a separate batter onto the surface of the sponge.

Gosh! I recall seeing the recipe in a Chinese cookbook (a small inexpensive one) imported from Hong Kong, but I didn't buy it. How close are you to the recipe? What problems have you encountered?

Tracey, I hope your brother-in-law understands that beer is a particularly high-risk beverage (!!). Anyway, in relation to diet specifically, this particular study may be a nice read (it has some interesting conclusion regarding purine-rich vegetables like spinach, peas, beans, lentils, mushrooms, cauliflower, and oatmeal and dairy products). Choi HK, Atkinson K, Karlson EW, Willett W, Curhan G. 2004. Purine-rich foods, daily and protein intake, and the risk of gout in men. N Engl J Med 350:1093–1103. (links to a PDF file) With regards to pharmacologic (and non-...) therapy, this summary may be a useful read. Zhang et al. 2006. EULAR evidence based recommendations for gout. Part II: Management. Ann Rheum Dis 65:1312-1324. For some reason the website requires subscription, but with some creative Googling I was able to get around that and download a copy. It doesn't really put out anything new, but it does say that there need to be more studies regarding the optimal dose of drugs for both acute attacks and prophylaxis so we can minimize the toxic effects.

Hi Torren, it seems to be very comprehensible on Google translate. http://translate.google.com/translate?u=ht...TF8&sl=fr&tl=en Happy jamming!

Re: pitting-- I tried the paperclip method, but my thumb and forefinger became sore after it. I wouldn't recommend it. You could also drive three nails through a board so their points are sticking out in a small triangle formation, then as you drive each cherry through them, the pit will sit on the nails' points. But that seems overly involved and kind of dangerous. I think if you have to pit more than 30 cherries at one time and see yourself doing so in the future, a pitter will already have paid for itself

I didn't start a new topic, but I was wondering what people thought of the one month-old Chocolate Epiphany. I just saw it as a new arrival on our local bookstands. I took a peek inside and the photography looks great (lot of extreme close-ups), and I remember on some older topics here that Payard's previous book was generally well-received, so I'm pretty excited. Anyone bought it yet? I feel a little strange buying a dessert book devoted to chocolate (I only bought Herme's book because it was on sale), but even if chocolate is harder to work with than fruits (not to mention fruits are healthier, even if it is in dessert), I find that chocolate desserts tend to be crowd-pleasers...

Spoke too soon! Two *more* indexers: Newtastings - has the added features of a tag cloud, saving favorites, and commenting (but otherwise looks like Tastespotting and Foodgawker FPdaily - (Food Porn Daily is a misnomer-- it is actually updated a few times a day.) is manually edited and added by one person at a much slower pace, but has the advantage of super-insanely large pictures, her personal musings, tags, and if you find the blistering pace at which pictures were added to Tastespotting overwhelming, you will appreciate that the additions are one every few hours and are probably selected more carefully. Spoke too, too soon! ONE more indexer! Tastefix - Extremely simple and minimalist interface (for the visual people), no descriptions except on mouseover makes for a very quick browsing experience.

I haven't yet tried that, but I was interested in making this particular cheesecake by Dorie Greenspan, which has jam at the bottom. Maybe you could adapt it to your liking http://www.jwmag.org/site/c.fhLOK0PGLsF/b....e_of_Heaven.htm Somehow, I envision that precooking the berries a little would give a more predictable and consistent result, but as I said, I have yet to try putting fruit at the bottom.

Hey paul, sorry to hear about your misfortune. I'm glad you're recovering. You may be interested to read this previous topic: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=111572

There are two new indexers: Foodgawker and Recipemuncher. The first one relies on what the contributors feel are worth the food-porn feed (like Tastespotting), the second one automatically adds newest entries from member food blogs.