stuartlikesstrudel

Thanks for those links dockhl. However I think neither are quite right... It's hard for me to explain exactly what it was like, even though i paid careful attention as i ate!! The pastry wasn't really crumbly at all, like the pate brisee i have made before (again, i'm sure that my pastry skills aren't the best but my understanding is that pate brisee is MEANT to be a quite crumbly and short pastry). The one i had wasn't at all like shortbread. I was thinking of more descriptions, and i guess it's a bit like a cross between a chilled cookie dough and a normal crust... so a bit firmer and crisper than dough. As for the filling (not the lemon tart one but for the one with raspberries on top), it was seriously dense! Pastry cream is delicious and would work well (like in fruit tarts) but the filling in the raspberry tart it was so much richer and denser than any pastry cream i've had or made. In terms of denseness and firmness, it was a bit less than, but kind of like making a 1:1 chocolate ganache with cream, then chilling it in the fridge... it was SERIOUSLY thick and solid. Almost seems like it wouldn't be good, but it was! And Highchef, both were served semi-cold... they are sold and stored in the fridge, but they came up to about room temp before we ate them. thanks for trying to help

Hey all, In Melbourne (Aus) there is a bakery/patissiere (sp?) called Browns that makes generally high quality pastries, cakes etc. Yesterday I tried 2 of their tarts, a Lemon tart and a raspberry tart, that both had a crust which I really enjoyed. It's hard to really describe, but it's quite different to most crusts I've made myself, and i'm not sure how much of this is to do with my technique but i'm pretty sure the recipe is pretty different to what I often see. Firstly, the crusts were soft but firm. So, when you were getting a spoonful, you could feel the difference between the lemon curd and the pastry, but a firm press would cleanly cut it, no chance of crumbling or shattering. There were basically no crumbs, so it was moist(ish) and i would describe it as dense. The only thing I can think of is that it wasn't cooked very much, and perhaps had different ingredients than the usual flour/butter/water... maybe some cream, or even powdered sugar as part of it? The pastry was definitely sweet, but not intensely so. Anyone got any leads on what this might be? The raspberry tart also had a great custard layer that was so thick (not at all oozy, almost the texture of butter) but worked so well with the raspberries... i think it must have had lots of cream in it and something to make it extra dense (but not just a thickener). This is of less importance to me but would also be interested if anyone can think off the top of their head too... cheers, Stuart

Hi all, I've been learning a heap from eGullet, and have searched about this but can't really find a helpful answer... I have just bought an old Kenwood Chef mixer, which comes with some kind of plastic bowl, as nearly all the old Chef mixers do. However, I've also read around the place that whipping egg whites and cream (in particular) are a no-go in plastic. Are there any tricks about this, or any options I have, as I quite often need whipped egg whites and don't really want to use a hand mixer (imagine that for Italian Meringue!). Would something like cream of tartar help? cheers, Stuart.

When you are thickening with cornflour or arrowroot, what's the best way to do that? I read somewhere once that if you overboil cornflour, it actually loses the thickening effect that you achieve when you first boil it. (haven't read much about arrowroot at all, though i have some and have heard it's good for thickening). I am imagining you would just dissolve a small amount in a little water and add it towards the end, and not bring the stock back to a hearty boil after that point...?