Tri2Cook

But I'm not going to be adding the madras curry powder called for in the recipe so I can't really give you a fair opinion. I'm just investigating it for it's coconut flavor potential.

I've used cocoa butter of unknown-to-me brand name, Mycryo (because I had a bunch of it sitting around that I wanted to use up) and I'm currently using Callebaut, all without incident. But it's nice to know there's a solution if it ever does happen. I give it a good stir the next morning after putting it in the machine the day before and usually don't mess with it after that unless I'm going to be using it that day, then I follow the same routine you use.

I haven't tried it. It was just something I was considering, minus the curry powder. I'm probably going to make a very tiny amount of it since I already have the cream of coconut sitting here just so I can decide for myself if it's something I want to make use of.

I was trying really hard to think of any kind of negative I've experienced with it. Not because I want to say negative things about it, just been so happy with it that I've never thought about negatives. I've become so comfy with the fact that it always does what it's supposed to that I find myself rarely bothering to check chocolate for temper anymore. So I guess I could weakly argue that I've allowed it to make me less careful... but that's not the fault of the machine and it's never once come back to haunt me. It always does what it's supposed to.

That's exactly what I would do if I wanted it to be pistachio mousse and wasn't concerned with the cost of the pistachio paste.

Maybe they were going for that familiar (to some) taste of the Jello Pistachio Pudding which tastes much more like almond pudding. Seriously though, I don't really know unless it's because almond paste is infinitely less expensive than pistachio paste so they figured out how to stretch it a bit in a way that they can live with in the result.

We have a local grocery store that has improved over the years but still would be considered sadly lacking in most areas, any form of ethnic market doesn't exist within 5 or 6 hours of where I live. To get an idea of where I am, drive to the U.S. - Canada border at International Falls in Minnesota, cross, then drive north-east for about 3 hours until you've seen nothing but trees for a while... then turn due north and drive another hour. If you blink at the wrong moment and miss the town, you'll go north another few hours before you see anything else besides more trees.

Using the Coco Lopez for this isn't important to me, I only bought it because the recipe I was going to use as my base called for it. I'll be surprised if they sell coconut cream powder in the local store but I can check amazon. Thanks!

Minus the macadamias and the coconut flakes and with the addition of some lime juice to add a little tartness and balance, that sounds similar to what I was going for. I know coconut and lime is a common combo, I was just going to model mine after the Coconaut tiki drink by making it more rum-forward. I was going for a rum trio, the Dark and Stormies from Chocolates and Confections in dark chocolate, this one modeled after the Coconaut in white chocolate and I'm hoping to come up with one using milk chocolate as well, still working on that.

Ok, I'm not losing my mind... at least, if I am, this can no longer be presented as evidence. I did see a recipe that called for white chocolate, cream of coconut (the sweetened Coco Lopez type) and butter. It also contains curry powder, it's the Madras from Chocolates and Confections. I went through the book again because I kept thinking that's where I'd seen it and finally stumbled across it. I'd intended to make it minus the curry powder and see what I thought of the coconut flavor before trying to work some rum and lime into it. So now I guess I'll make a small batch along with a small batch of the buttercream and see which I like better.

Pretty sure that's the chocolate world CW1129. I've had it bookmarked on the chocolat-chocolat site for a long time, just never got around to ordering it. Edit: I'm too slow, pastrygirl already covered it.

So shiny!

Because I'm a big dummy and didn't think of that. I'd already bought cream of coconut because I was sure I'd seen a recipe for a ganache that called for it and then couldn't find that recipe anywhere after purchasing it (which has my questioning if I ever actually saw it) but it can be used for actual tiki drinks instead so that's not an issue.

I will make up my mind in a timely manner.

Thanks, I'll give that a shot. Just wasn't sure with the fondant and cream of coconut both being so sweet if I should reduce the fondant.

Lead me not into temptation! You're removing one of my last reasons I've been able to come up with to talk myself out of it. How soon would Bhavani need to know for sure? If I'm weak and unable to convince myself I really don't need it, I'd prefer the non-tilting version if possible but I'm going to do one more round of soul searching before I commit if I have time.

Do you think part of the fondant in this could be replaced with cream of coconut (the Coco Lopez type stuff) to get a coconut buttercream? Or does that sound like a really bad thing? I'm trying to model a filling after the Coconaut tiki drink which is cream of coconut, rum and lime juice. I'm just not entirely sure of the role of the fondant plays in the buttercream formula so I wasn't sure if bad things happen if you alter it.

I wish this had come up sooner. I've already started investing in the dome molds I decided to go with as my primary mold so I feel like I should stick with it... but I like the look of these.

I'm trying to convince myself I should invest in that Premier melanger. I'd be happier if there was a Canadian source for it just to cut down on shipping and border crossing fees but I've been tossing the cost vs. potential around in my head for a while now. It's not difficult to come up with ideas it would be useful for.

But that only matters (potentially) when cooking for others... it's easy to get it perfect for oneself. When I cook for myself, I try to get things perfect for my taste. Don't really care if that makes it imperfect by traditional standards. Besides, there's recipe after recipe written for everything. Recipe volume doesn't really have anything to do with recipe difficulty.

I typed "molasses powder" into google and found a large number of culinary suppliers of said product. Be glad to link a few if you'd like but they came up right at the top of the search list.

Yeah, it was only available used anywhere I could find it. amazon.ca had one that was listed as being in very good condition (the used book seller that has the amazon store listed it as a former library copy with everything intact and no heavy wear) for $8 with free shipping but only 1 available. Felt kinda like a "he who hesitates" situation so I decided not to be he who hesitated. And then what you spelled out clearly in your post finally made it's way through the fog and I realized who's book it is.

I might as well go ahead and ask it, since I'm going to end up asking eventually anyway... is this a book I want? It's only available used on amazon.ca but I'm fine with that. Used books need love too. Edit: never mind, it was only $8 with free shipping so it's mine now regardless. Edit yet again: ok, I'm slow tonight. I just made the connection as to who's book that is. So there was never any question of whether I'd want it in the first place if I'd just been paying more attention.

Looks like I'm doing exactly what I said I was probably going to do for today's meal... nothing particularly special. Made the older daughter's b'day cake yesterday (a few days late but my work schedule and hers made it the most convenient time to do it), flourless chocolate cake topped with banana caramel and encased in passion fruit mousse. Younger, still at home, daughter wants spaghetti and meatballs today. Has to be miles away from anything Easter dinner traditional but it's what we're going to have. Dessert's going to be the extra passion fruit mousse I have left from the cake with shortbread cookies I'm working on right now.

That's what I was thinking. All this obligation and reciprocation and worry over whether a gift is right or wrong would just steal all the fun right out of it for me.