Tri2Cook

Never mind, it was irrelevant to the topic so I edited it out.

I want to invest in a selection of frames and rings. The rings are fairly easy to find (although not in depths as low as I'd like to have on hand, I haven't found anything under 3.5cm) but I'm not having any luck finding sheet or half sheet frames in very small (2mm and up) depths. I've found "mousse frames" but only down to 9.5mm (3/8"). I'm in Canada so the sources have to be in Canada or have online ordering (or a catalog) and ship to Canada.

I loved both seasons too and the christmas dinner was completely insane. I have the BBC broadcasts on my computer, the foodtv Canada version was edited quite a bit from the BBC broadcasts. Not sure about the U.S. food network version. I've done the Black Forest Gateau. I wouldn't classify it as hugely better (or worse) than a few others I've had in flavor but it has a lot of textures going on in addition to the flavor which earns it some bonus points in my opinion. The aerated chocolate is fun and I've been using it often for a variety of other cakes and plated desserts. One of my favorite uses of it so far has been aromatizing white chocolate with coffee beans and aerating that. I just break it into chunks and use them as part of one of my plated desserts. I have some ideas in my notebook that I plan to try with it soon that are of a completely different nature. Of course I won't be at all surprised if, as soon as I think I've done something cool, I find out 3,246 others have been doing it for the past 19 1/2 years.

This is where my respect for the experienced pastry chef is at it's greatest. I see something like this and, feeling confident, think "I could do that". Then they come back and say "yeah, I did 6 of them in an hour and I'll be doing 18 more one day this week". Reality comes crashing down on me and I realize exactly where I'm not. Actually I only partially thought "I could do that" in this case, flowers are not a skill of mine.

Temp: same Time: 'til done Seriously. Not being a smartass. When they start looking and smelling like they might be about done give 'em the ol' toothpick test. You can always keep track of how long it takes for a future ballpark reference.

This is the result. I didn't do anything pretty with it for the picture, it's just piled in a bowl, but it was easy to pipe or spread before chilling and plenty (maybe a little too) firm after chilling. The flavor is sweet and milky but I'm curious about dissolving some skim milk powder in the evap just to see if it would up the milk flavor even more. Maybe another time. I bloomed 14g gelatin powder in 120ml evaporated milk and whipped in 300ml sweetened condensed milk, 60 ml evaporated milk and 60ml corn syrup cooked to 110 c (230 f) until it thickened and cooled. I then folded in 250ml cream, whipped soft. I didn't add rum because I didn't have any on hand but if I had to make the cake you described I would probably just make a pistachio cake, soak it with rum syrup, fill between the layers with the mousse and coat it in whipped cream. Notes: If I were to make it again I would try less gelatin, it's a little too spongy once chilled. If you try it, pay close attention when cooking the s.c. milk. It scorches VERY easily. I toasted the first batch just by walking away for ~30 seconds to check on the cream that was whipping at the same time. For the second batch, I stirred constantly and poured it through a sieve at the end.

Very nice. Both. Fresh passion fruit is non-existent here. I can get it through our suppliers at work but have to take a much larger quantity than I can reasonably expect to use. So I have to work with puree instead. I miss those seeds sometimes though.

Thanks for the kind words. I did see that episode of kitchen science. He gave a good walkthrough of it being constructed but didn't give actual recipes. If it's in his book when it comes out later this year I'll find out how close I got.

I'm wondering what would happen if you made a soft marshmallow by soaking gelatin in the milk then adding the sweetened condensed milk cooked to 240 f then fold in whipped cream to make it mousse-like and flavor it with rum* (if you use it). That's off the top of my head, never tried it or even thought of it until I read your question. Maybe I'll try it tonight and report back later. *or maybe use a rum syrup on the cake layers instead

Interesting. I must have missed that one. So far I've never had problems with pop rocks not holding up in a ganache but that's probably due to the fact that I'm only using it for desserts, not chocolates, and usually don't need them to hold up for more than 24 hrs. I'm going to have to give that a try though. Thanks!

I'm not familiar with Starbucks caramel banana bread (actually I'm not really familiar with anything Starbucks now, haven't been in one in about 10 years). Is it caramel flavored banana bread or banana bread with pieces of caramel in it or what?

Why does everybody have a "I don't know why I watch" or "it really sucks but..." disclaimer? I watch it if I'm home when it's on, no disclaimer or apology included. I realize it's scripted to some (probably high) degree and edited for maximum drama. I know it's going to be Chef Ramsay and whatever assistants he has that season yelling at a bunch of jelly beans and maybe two or three people at best that have some real potential. That's the point, I already know it so I'm not expecting any more than that. I do think each season has gotten progressively worse in regards to the contestants though. They're definitely seeking people who will give up plenty of ass-chewing opportunities during casting. I don't know what the hell that "sous chef" thought he was doing to that poor chicken and does anybody really start working in a new kitchen without looking at the menu? He should have made them kill and butcher the live chickens. Based on all the whining going on when they thought they were going to have to, that would have brought out some upper level yelling!

I'm not Schneich and I lack the ability to speak other languages as well but... Metil is methylcellulose. Gelatin doesn't work as a sub for methylcellulose in the things I normally use it for but I'm not familiar with this (until now, thanks Schneich!). The reason for the plastic wrap while infusing (from other sources I've read) is that, if you put the wrap on while the liquid is still hot, it creates a natural vacuum in the container. As I'm sure you know, the plastic wrap will first balloon out, then it will be sucked back down into the container until in is concave and very tight. I have absolutely no idea beyond the word of those who recommend it that this vacuum actually helps with infusions though. I trust the sources I read about it from so I do it. The rest will have to wait for someone else.

I don't have anything that old in my collection. The best I can do is a 1936 edition of the Household Searchlight Recipe Book. Inside is written "Ressupe book: Alain McSwain and Mae Bell McSwain" followed by several names that I assume are grandchildren because half have the McSwain name and half have another name. There was also a clipping from an old Tractor Farming magazine with a couple recipes (stuffed green peppers and Mrs. Gilmore's Lemon Custard Pudding) and an add introducing the soon-to-come International Harvester Farmall Cub which "will replace 2 or 3 horses or mules". There's no date on the clipping but that tractor was introduced in 1947 (I was curious so I looked it up). I don't have a cool story to tell about the book though.

No personal attack intended. Apologies if it seemed that way. I wasn't saying you are closed-minded and arrogant, I don't know you, just that that was the image that came to mind based on the way you were arguing your point. My point was that you started the post by saying "is this wrong or is it just me" then followed that up by calling the person who did it amateurish and telling everybody who suggested that it's just your viewpoint that they were wrong too. That cast an arrogant light on you in my opinion, even if that's not the case. I don't doubt that you're a nice person and very good at what you do and I'd probably get along great with you in person and learn a lot from you but when you ask a large group of people a question you're likely to get answers that don't all agree with your point of view. I was just discussing, not attacking.

Hey Sethro, I think this relates enough to the original question to be ok. If not, the mods can zap it for me. I did that basic process you described for the handkerchief when I was trying to recreate (without recipes) the Fat Duck version of chocolate delice for the pulled chocolate caramel shard they use. I caramelized sugar, added fondant and glucose, cooked it and tossed in a little unsweetened chocolate. I was just going on instinct and a general description of what they do so that may be way off. I used (fortunately I keep notes so I know for sure) 50g sugar which I caramelized then added 100g fondant and 50g glucose. I cooked it to 310 and added 25g chocolate at the end. It worked for test purposes but it was very fragile and hardened very quickly which meant some seriously fast pulling. Never mind burnt fingers, get it done now. The picture below shows the end result. The chocolate sorbet was too soft and the cumin caramel was slightly too firm at that point in the experiment. The soft sorbet and too-firm caramel were easy to correct but getting that shard to a formula that allows a little more room to get the work done has been troublesome for me. What this long winded rambling is leading up to is the question: could you suggest a good way to work the caramelized sugar and chocolate into it or was the problem just not getting the 50/50 ratio right with base ingredients?

I'm not arguing against your right to your opinion or questioning your experience but, just for the sake of discussion, cooked apple tarts weren't in the books either until someone tried it and put it there. Where would food be if nobody ever thought outside the book? Books are guidelines, not rules. I very rarely use books. I don't have your credentials or experience but I don't get many complaints either. Your credentials make it inappropriate to consider you amateurish. However, the fact that there is your way and anything else is wrong does make it difficult not to picture you as "arrogant and closed-minded" even if that's not actually the case. How do you create if anything you don't already know can't possibly be acceptable?

I have a couple orders I'm getting together anyway so I'll spend the $12 for the team and report back with the results. Sosa has a few interesting things I'm trying strictly out of curiosity so one more won't hurt.

None of the rotten exterior smell because only canned jackfruit is available here (which is fine with me, I didn't really want to deal with the smell and glue involved with cutting up the fresh ones for this project anyway). That slightly musky interior smell is there but at a lower level than the fruit on it's own. It went over very well with those who tried it, for me personally it was a bit too sweet. Maybe something more tart or spicy than the melon with vanilla next time to balance things better.

I'm wondering how well that Sosa antioxidizing gel works. I may have to order some just to check it out. Worst case, it won't work any better than lemon juice but at $12 lb. and no juicing required that won't be a huge disappointment. If it works significantly better then it'll be a nice thing to have around.

Nice Rob! You may convince me to check out this book after all.

I'll take a dozen donuts, half a dozen cupcakes, a piece of chocolate cake with buttercream, a piece of ginger cheesecake and a huge chunk of that banana pecan cake... and a diet pepsi. jackfruit gelee, honeydew in vanilla syrup, caramelized rice crispy disc, jackfruit-cardamom mousse

I was very happy with the smokey flavor with the orange but it did lose a lot of it's fresh brightness in the transition which is why I decided to use the fresh orange juice coulis and minced fresh orange zest as garnishes. It returned those special elements of fresh citrus to the flavor. Without those elements I would rate it as a nice flavor but not something I'd sit there and eat in any large amount.

Cool Rob. Grapefruit is one of my current favorite flavors so you can toss one of those this way if you want.

Awesome Rob! Nice work. It looks great but I want to hear about the flavor. Burnt cinnamon, curry, mango and chocolate sounds interesting. What was your verdict on the combination? I love that upside down cake building technique too. I used it for the first time for the chocolate-cherry cake I posted a while back and was so happy with the results that I've been doing cakes that way since. I'm trying to come up with a way to construct a permanent pan to use for it so I don't have to build a spacer each time. There has to be a food-safe way to bond a metal or silicon disc to a springform bottom.