stuartlikesstrudel

I put on a chocolate high tea for some friends, as a fundraiser, and had a great time planning out what to make - I took the opportunity to try some things I'd seen and never had the chance to play with, and overall was very happy with how it all came out. For savouries I just did some savouries, wanted to focus all the fun onto the pastries. Firstly there were white chocolate and cherry eclairs (white choc pastry cream with chunks of cherry). Then some flourless hazelnut, date and chocolate cakes with a chocolate glaze. These turned out really well but were very messy/fiddly to get onto a platter so the whole thing looked slightly slipshod. I think the individual cake cardboard things would have been a great help here. And finally a pear and ginger chocolate tart.

Great ideas, thanks I look forward to getting into it soon!

Hi everyone, I was recently given a few blocks of fancy/expensive cultured butter, and other than eating it straight with good bread (don't get me wrong, this is a great option and I'll be doing that with some of it!) I was wondering if there are any recipes/applications in which a good butter, or particularly a cultured butter, might shine...? Something like hollandaise or a butter-based sauce just came into my head, but having not used cultured butter before I'm not sure to focus on. Would croissants work well?

Just what I wanted to hear Thanks everyone. Good point too about couveture not necessarily being better chocolate... I'm not at the stage where I know enough to choose a specific chocolate for a purpose, but even just tasting them it's clear some are better than others, so I guess I should keep some of the 'regular' blocks and brands in mind for baking. Thanks for the link to Culina too, gap. I haven't heard of Felchlin but i live very nearby that shop so I might go and have a look. (ChrisZ, if you're interested in ordering some I could run an errand for you... not sure how much postage would be though, probably $10 to $20 for a few KGs).

Hi all, I read a comment somewhere recently (can't remember where) suggesting that couveture chocolate is not really ideal for non-confection uses. Something along the lines of the higher % cocoa butter muting the chocolatey taste and/or the final texture of recipes (I guess that the extra fat might separate or end up greasy?). I've started buying Callebaut for some confectionary playing and would like to minimise the number of different chocolates I need to keep on hand - while I've seen that some people don't like callebaut, it's the best combination of price and flavour that I can get in Australia (or that i've found, at least), and so I'm wondering if it would be such a bad thing to use in my general baking/cooking...? Previously I was just buying the supermarket blocks but apart from the lindt I haven't found them too pleasant (and they end up costing more anyway!).

I'm with Sylvia in adding in fruit and alcohol flavours. I haven't tried this yet, but I've read about a raspberry and white chocolate bread pudding which I think would be tasty. Similar to the white choc/raspberry muffins which are very popular (in australia at least!). You could also try chunks of milk or dark chocolate I bet, with appropriate fruits or nuts added. A dark chocolate and cherry pudding would probably be delicious!

Ah perfect, I missed that thread in my searches I understood (though still need to practice) the tips for avoiding an overall foot but hadn't thought of the side flick to clean off the tails! Time for some more fun this weekend I think!

I recently made my second batch of dipped chocolates - learned a lot from the first ones and this time managed to get a pretty good temper! Nice snap, a few streaks but not too much. They were my version of Greweling's PBJs... I don't have the book, so had to make it up based mainly on Chris' very handy photo step-by-step a while ago. He made it look so enticing that I had to try them! The one consistent problem I had with my dipping was these two little tails that were left behind where the fork was... is there a trick to getting the chocolates cleanly onto the tray without leaving a trail?

I had a delicious eggplant dish at a vietnamese restaurant that I can't find online... Sounds a little like annachan's recipe, in that it was halved eggplants (they just used the "regular" big ones) that had been somehow cooked to a beautiful silky/melting texture and simply flavoured with a sauce. I'm wondering if it might have been deep-fried, because the texture was so unctuous and I'm not sure it'd be achievable through steaming alone. But I should try that sometime, because perhaps it would be (and i'd be happy if it didn't need all that oil!).

I've done eggplant-based ball things before and found them to be quite lacking in the meatball-substitute stakes... taste pleasant enough in their own way but really a different beast - that mushiness totally changes the texture. The ones I mentioned above are the best I've found for texture, and they don't exactly taste meaty but have a distinct savouriness to them which fills the same role for vegetarians/vegans (of which I am one). Adding some garlic and herbs is always a good idea too.

I've used the filling from these vegetarian/vegan sausage rolls and formed it into balls for spaghetti and 'meatballs'. Works pretty well, texture is good. Can't remember if I sauteed or baked the balls, I guess either would probably work

Yeah, I didn't really want to seek too much advice until I've tried a few times with the thermometer, since I know I'm almost certainly way out. I want to know... but I guess I should just wait entirely until I've given it another go... too impatient Is the old chocolate (about 6 months past use-by) likely to be a problem?

I don't think it was seeded in the demo... appears that the temperature and agitation as it cools is what makes it work.

Hi, I've just started experimenting with a bit of chocolate making and am loving it - I've had a few problems with tempering and I'd love a bit of analysis of my results: The chocolate i've been using is Lindt 70% dessert chocolate (labelled as a good one to use in desserts/pastry, not sure if it's actually different % cocoa butter). However, it's out of date by 6 months now, and i don't know if that is the source of my problems. One of my blocks had gotten slightly warm and looked like this when I opened it, the fat had separated I guess, but when I melted it it looked fine. Anyway, I tried to temper but didn't have a thermometer, so I'm pretty sure I got it wrong. That's fine, I've just bought one so will try again and anticipate more success! Do you think the results I've gotten (see below) are all caused by lack of temper, or is the age of the chocolate also a problem? The big blob is a pool of leftover stuff after I dipped, and it set up with a weird swirl pattern and also was a bit crumbly when I snapped it... this is what I'm unsure about (the streakiness I guess is just varying temperatures of the chocolate around the bowl?). These are three truffles from the same batch of chocolate - the different combinations of matte, slight shiny bits (is that in temper?!) and even some blooming have me a bit confused. And lastly, one general question that I haven't seen an answer for - I've been using the method in Kerry's Demo, but I wonder if the chocolate needs to be already tempered to work? (i.e if I buy "regular" chocolate from a supermarket, apart from maybe not tasting great, will it still temper if I get the technique correct?. Thanks I look forward to many more adventures!

Aw thanks I just use a flour paste - flour and water with a bit of oil so they don't get so hard, and usually a small amount of a sweetener (sugar, honey etc) and maybe a bit of mixed spice, so they don't taste quite so pastey Sometimes they turn out better than others - getting the perfect consistency so they pipe easily but hold their shape is a bit of guesswork but i'm getting better. These ones were also glazed afterwards which always makes them look glossy and beautiful. In fact, what am I saying?! Here's the recipe I used, which I pretty much followed exactly. Much easier to explain. Although now that I look at it my crosses are much less defined than his, I guess I didn't follow that closely Another nice option is to make a slash or even snip with scissors in a cross shape, so they open up slightly but have no paste. Looks kinda rustic/artisan.

Mette, those Smarties rounds are beautiful - as an adult I'd be drawn to them (though by the sounds of your other chocolates fillings I'd quickly be distracted back to the grown ups table!). I made another small foray into chocolates last weekend. I've only done a few things before, just truffles a few times, and I decided this time to try a slabbed ganache. I needed to make something vegan so I used a dark chocolate ganache with coconut milk. For flavour, I copied the idea of Greweling's Dark and Stormies which I've seen mentioned here - some lime juice and zest, a bit of ginger and rum. The flavour was great (if a bit subtle), the dipping process was slow and messy but enjoyable I attempted tempering but continually forget that I don't have a thermometer that measures those temperatures so every time I go to try it, I have an "oh" moment... nevertheless I try to wing it and inevitably fail! Must remember to buy thermometer! But even with the flawed look, I was happy with how these came out and people enjoyed eating them.

Last weekend I made a giant batch of Hot Cross Buns for Good Friday. As an above poster commented, I think these aren't so popular in the U.S? They should be, I absolutely love them... nothing better with a cup of tea. Well, maybe a few things, but they're pretty darn good. I also tried a variation which was dried figs (soaked to soften slightly) with orange zest and some cardamom and fennel spices instead of the usual spice mix. To me, I'd probably rather a plain hot cross bun but they were still tasty - any other time of the year I'd happily eat one if offered. This is the dough monster - can't remember how much it weighed but it was about 42 buns worth...

Ok, delayed and not-particularly interesting update I have just finished my month, and enjoyed it very much! As I said, it wasn't about just eating tasty food, but that's a happy side-effect and I did manage to embrace it a few times. I didn't get to cook as much as I would have liked, myself, but did manage to make or buy some pretty good food. Some highlights : Beef massaman curry made from scratch using an eG recipe, cooked till the meat was beautifully tender. The curry had such a savoury taste to it from the meat and also the shrimp paste I guess, very different to veggie curries I usually make! Juicy burger from a local shop - there's a retro diner that serves a 'classic' burger and really thick thickshakes, quite a treat one night on my way home. BBQ ribs my brother cooked in his weber BBQ. Fatty, smoky, sticky, delicious! I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it all... I was never the biggest meat-eater and thought that most meat meals I ate were ok but not really that extraordinary. But I guess after so long without it, the new layers of flavour and texture were very noticeable. I've also become a much better cook and eater in those 5 years, so I think I can appreciate it more as well. Also interesting was how much easier it was to plan meals, everyday stuff. Usually I'll start with beans, eggs, tofu etc as a protein source then add a vegetable or two and maybe some salad as well - lots of veges, not too much carbs and a protein or "main" part of the meal. With meat, I found the filling/satisfying part of the meal much easier, so the salad or veges didn't have to be as plentiful or varied (for interest's sake) so it was quicker to prep and much more flexible... A grilled fish with a salad was easy, quick and felt light but satisfying, whereas a similar meal with tofu would have needed more bulking up and extra flavour injections. From a pure taste point of view, I would definitely become a less-meatarian, or maybe just a normal-meatarian, but I still have to think about my other considerations (ethical etc) so I'm going to take my new data I've collected, go back to vegetarianism and see how it goes. All in all, a tasty and refreshing jaunt, and probably not an easy one to recover from, haha. And I still have your lists of other foods I never got round to trying, floating in the back of my mind...

Look into Evernote. It's a free web app that also works on phones etc and is perfect for this sort of thing - i've just started using it myself. You can "clip" a URL or select some text (such as your snippet from Chris) and create a note from it. Notes can be tagged and also searched, so you could have categories or any number of ways to sort your notes and find things that would be relevant to what you're doing. I have a physical notebook too but find that for some things it's not quite what i'm after.

I've done pulled pork using a rub that includes coffee grounds. Maybe that would help to reinforce the "deeper" flavours, even though it's not smoky itself.

OK wow! Sounds like I'm going to have to spend the next YEAR tracking down/making all this Great suggestions, though... thanks everyone. There's too much to comment on it individually but there's some excellent ideas I hadn't thought of (or even heard of) and I think it's going to be a tasty month!

Hi all, I've been vegetarian for the past 5 years but have decided to eat meat for a month (perhaps 2) to observe its effects on my body and health - if I feel better, more energy etc. I expect to either return to vegetarianism or probably a low-meat diet afterwards, but we'll see... Anyway, for this month, I'm going to eat what I think is a "suitable" amount of meat without changing the rest of my diet too much, but at the same time, i'm looking forward to trying a few delicious meals that used to be off the menu. And so, I come to you all for some suggestions of delicious tasting, standout dishes that I should make! So far it's been a week and mainly just some simple preparations - grilled fish, some lamb backstrap, the other night I tried brining on some chicken breasts, which turned out excellently. I'd love to try a few long-cooked things, perhaps some kind of beef stew or curry... And fish is a bit of an emphasis so any killer preparations for that would be welcome. Hit me with your best!

I made something similar to this and used the Korova/World Peace cookies - which I guess are like shortbread, kinda. In australia we have a commercial biscuit called a Chocolate Royal which is a cookie base with a marshmallow (and usually a little jam in between) and then the whole thing enrobed in chocolate. I made my version with the chocolate cookie base, then peppermint marshmallow and dark chocolate coating. ETA : I found they did get a bit too soft - the ones that I coated entirely in chocolate fared better than the ones with the base exposed, but from memory the contact point between marshmallow and cookie (I didn't put chocolate between them) always ended up a bit soft).

Kim, those recipes both look like winners! For anyone else who saw that chocolate mousse cheesecake and needed to know more, the recipe is here

The panforte I've had in Australia often uses rice paper as the base. But it's not the kind used for spring rolls (or rice paper rolls), it's a thin, dry-but-somewhat-flexible sheet that is also used for nougat. It's very thin and doesn't really intrude on the taste or texture, I think. Perhaps this is what you're referring to when you talk about ostie, i'm not sure, but it would be a good option and they're not expensive (a packet of rice paper is about $2 at an asian grocers here).