Tri2Cook

I did this one a few years ago. I called it Olive Me. lemon olive upside down cake - candied olive nibs - olive oil ice cream - chocolate olive oil mousse "olives" - olive oil - sea salt This is Sam Mason's recipe but, being a fan of Chef Mason, I had to know what it tasted like. So I made it. kalamata cobbler - almond ice rceam

I did this a while back but I'm going to toss it into the mix here because it was fun. It was just an experiment in response to someone asking about ideas for dessert fries. They were getting lots of nice suggestions about fried cake sticks and things of that nature. I thought: why not make some actual dessert fries instead? So here's the result... Post-simmering in vanilla bean infused sugar syrup: After the first fry in low temp oil: After the second fry in hot oil and seasoning with a salt/sugar blend: An interior shot: I can't say it's the best thing I ever had but they were tasty, crispy and held their texture for quite a while after frying. With some tweaking to the seasoning in the syrup and at the end, they would be even better but they're still not going to replace cake and ice cream for dessert.

Thanks! Sounds like a good starting point. I really like the rice milk sherbet from Francisco Migoya's Frozen Desserts, I was debating just infusing it with toasted cinnamon and tossing in some cooked rice but it sounds like that wouldn't be as rich as it should be after looking at the recipe you linked to.

Stabilizers shouldn't be used in large amounts. 1% of the total batch by weight is pushing the upper end with most stabilizers. Even if it didn't mess with the taste, it will start to creep into gummy territory. I'm not sure what we're talking about as "even the tiniest amount" but, for the batch size you're experimenting with, I'd probably start at .5 - 1 gram of stabilizer at most and adjust from there. I make my sorbet syrup by cooking water, sugar, glucose powder and stabilizer together to dissolve the glucose and hydrate the stabilizer. I do it that way because I can make large batches that hold well in the fridge and allow me to do on-the-fly experimenting and emergency batches by simply adding some of the syrup to whatever flavor base I want to use. The milk or cream powder will dissolve in liquid. Some require heat, some don't. I didn't realize dairy was ok for the project, for some reason I thought it wasn't.

Spam for breakfast... I keep up with Rob's work via his blog, he has the catering thing completely under control at this point. His restaurant is doing great as well.

I used to be really bad at taking compliments. I'd get a compliment and immediately go into "oh garsh" mode, start explaining everything I wasn't happy with and end it with "but I'm glad you enjoyed it". It never occured to me that I was basically telling them they didn't have the ability to know that it wasn't that good after all. That all changed one night when a lady was complimenting me on a catered dinner I did and I went into my usual disclaimer mode. She stopped me mid-explanation, smiled and said "the correct reply is 'thank you'". The sheer bluntness of it reached me in a way people arguing against my explanations of the flaws never did. I've worked on it since and do much better now.

This may be a dumb question but keep in mind that I'm pretty new to this cocktail stuff while I ask it anyway. With the comments that the homemade stuff could use a little boost of almond flavor, is there any reason replacing the often included brandy with Luxardo Amaretto would be a bad idea? Just curious because I'm planning to make a batch in the near future.

They're a Chadzilla thing too...

Gelatin is a great suggestion if it doesn't have to be vegetarian. I use a commercial stabilizer and glucose powder in my sorbet syrup if I'm going to use anything other than a basic sugar/water syrup but both of those have already been ruled out. I've made successful rice and almond milk sherbets many times but they included stabilizer, glucose powder and a small percentage of cream.

Yeah, I guess I didn't really word what I posted very well. Reading it later, it sounds kinda like I was minimizing the value of these forums to me. I have learned a lot through these forums and much of what I've learned here has helped me grow in what I do. I just don't really post about my job much so there's no visual evidence for anybody to gauge whether or not I've progressed. I'm currently learning an incredible amount through the cocktail and spirits forum, much thanks to the above Mr. Amirault who seems to have no problem with paying it forward when we newbies ask our silly beginner questions. I've watched the progress of people who, when they first joined the forums, were asking the most basic of questions and who now, in their area of interest, frequently provide information that I'm looking for. It's an awesome thing to see and at the same time it's a bit of a kick in the pants... it sometimes makes me feel like I'm resting on my heels rather than pushing forward as hard as I could be.

I don't think it would be possible to look at any developing I've done via eGullet. If I've posted pics of my job-related work here, I don't remember it. Most of my eGullet stuff that showed any work was fun and experimental weirdness or late night creations when I was feeling energetic after work, usually the result of trading riffs with Rob when he was around or having someone ask a question about something and seeing if I could make it work. Posting about what I do at work isn't really what I come here for. I come here to play.

Fair enough. But that doesn't make it taste better to the individual. It just increases the likelihood that people will want to be seen with it or be able to name-drop it in discussions. "I picked up a $700 bottle of chateau de snoot last week!" "That stuff tastes like pickled horse pee!" "Quite... but it was $700 and looks charming in the liquor cabinet carefully arranged so it can be easily seen without looking like it's being spotlighted!" "Nice!" Obviously, some things are more expensive because they are better but that still doesn't mean it will be better to every individual. More expensive or not, the person who started this topic doesn't like it.

Reaching him at Tailor is going to be extremely difficult but the recipe is all over the internet.

Liberties with naming foods are taken regularly (and I personally have no problem with that) but the first thing you need to keep in mind when doing your research is that non-dairy, non-fat means you're not making ice cream or gelato. You're working in the sorbet range of the frozen dessert spectrum. Also keep in mind that most commercial soy milk frozen desserts contain some type of oil to fill in for the dairy fat and a long list of stabilizers. They don't have that fluffy faux-ice cream texture due to some perfect balance of sugars. I think flavoring the soy milk with the vanilla beans and combining it somewhere around 70:30 with a neutral sorbet syrup would be a good starting place that is easily adjusted. Sticking strictly with the ingredients you're working with, you can make a sorbet syrup with (by volume) 1 part sucrose, 1 part water and 1/2 part glucose syrup. Just out of curiosity, is the product icy straight out of the machine or only after some time in the freezer?

If a person doesn't like something, the pricetag won't make it taste better.

This is from 2 or 3 years ago but it fits the discussion. The sliceable curd is made from smoked oranges. I cut the oranges in half before smoking and the juice and zest picked up a nice light smoke flavor. The rest is caramel popcorn with orange zest and chipotle, cornmeal shortbread, an orange fluid gel and some of the smoked orange zest that was soaked in syrup.

Yeah Kerry, most of the shockers from the time this thread was started are commonplace or old-school now. One of Michael Laiskonis most recent posts was discussing chorizo in the pastry kitchen. Carrot, celery, peas, miso, bacon, beets, avocado, edamame, chanterelle, chiles, bell peppers, parsnip, prosciutto, olives, corn, potato, almost any herb you can think of and much more have been/are being used in desserts and confections. I think it would be extremely difficult for an ingredient to be considered unconventional in pastry at this time without it tasting like it shouldn't be there at all.

The caramel sheets are made with fondant patissier ("pouring fondant"), isomalt and glucose. I've never tried substituting anything else but that's definitely the type of fondant it refers to.

Don't feel lonely. We all face that problem and, if we want to continue to learn, always will. What we don't know can make what we want to do challenging. That's why doing exactly what you're doing is a good thing. Get an idea, try it, learn from it, enjoy it even when it doesn't work because now you know what doesn't work. Copying the flavors and balance of a cocktail in a dessert is probably a better goal than trying to mimic the cocktail exactly. Most popular cocktails (outside of the typical college bar/club) are not pushing the sweet end of the spectrum. Some are sweet in comparison to the really dry drinks but not in comparison to even the least sweet of desserts. To mimic most cocktails exactly would limit you more than it's worth. You'd be looking at granitas, sorbets, gelees, fluid gels, encapsulations and not a whole lot else. Think about it this way, the judges on TCJD were impressed with the dessert that inspired you to do this. It was based on the margarita. There is no dairy in a margarita and a margarita isn't typically as sweet as that dessert sounds like it would be... but it captured the essence of the cocktail that inspired it enough that the judges understood what it was supposed to be. Get your flavors and balance where you want them and it will translate even if some of the components seem out of context when compared to the cocktail you're using as inspiration.

I did a dessert based on the Maple Leaf cocktail by making a Canadian whisky ice cream with maple cake, maple caramel, lemon fluid gel and a couple of garnishes. What I learned from it is that it's more about the right balance than how you choose to incorporate the components. Cocktails are all about balance which is why I've had an interest in studying them for the past several months even though I'm not a serious drinker. There's nothing to hide behind in a cocktail.

There's not a lot of actual black, especially that will work in a sweet setting. Licorice, black sesame paste, black cocoa, some coffees, teas and chocolates are pretty close. Tough color but doable. Any dark purple ingredient that works with dark chocolate could be tweaked in a ganache or sauce or something. It would be fun. Maybe a black sesame pain de genes with a ginger parfait or ice cream and a few other components to pull it together as a complete dessert. Licorice would be fun to work with but would require a lot more restraint than some of the other flavors available in black to do well.

The quickfire "twist" was a low point for me. The savory challenge could have been really cool. I love working with traditionally savory items in my desserts and I was looking forward to seeing what people came up with. Then they throw in a "one pot meal" theme and take all of the fun right out of it. The Black and White challenge, on the other hand, would be really fun to do. That's the type of challenge I would like, boundaries but no real restrictions. "Do whatever you want with whatever you want as long as it fits in this box." I enjoyed seeing Michael Laiskonis as a guest judge. He's on my short-list of pasty heroes. Now if they'd just do Pastry Chef Masters...

I appreciate the suggestions but I don't really want to pick up any of the store stuff. That was the point of rolling my own. I only caved on the C.M. because I'm unfamiliar with spiced rum and wanted some kind of base to compare my results to.

Yes, it's worth mentioning since heat at least reduces if not eliminates the risk. Like I mentioned above, I use pits from time to time. Cherry pit ice cream is my favorite but I work with others as well. I don't roast them and I'm sure they're not heated enough in the infusing process to cook off the bad stuff, but it's a risk I'm willing to take for myself. The flavor just isn't the same after they're roasted. The almond is still there but they lose too much of the subtle flavor of the fruit that the unroasted pits add. If that's the case with the peach pits in amaretto then I don't see the point. Infusing more almond into something already intensely almond?

So I gave in and bought a 375ml of Captain Morgan. It was worth the small cost because I'm relaxed about mine now. It tastes much better than that already. I think I'm going to give it a little longer though. I want mine to be "Hey! That's spiced!" not the "Yeah, I think I taste something behind the vanilla" of the Captain Morgan.