stuartlikesstrudel

I was just thinking of the same solution as Kerry... I haven't tried making this pastry for mini tarts but I think it would be a lot easier to handle. Let us know what you decide on and how it goes, I'd be interested to have a solution for this as well

There was a vegan dessert thread here not long ago, which had a few good ideas... even though you don't technically need vegan here, it's an easy way of thinking about the no-dairy thing. Being able to use eggs does open up more options. You could still make pastry using shortening, which some people don't like but can still yield a good result in my opinion, so pies or tarts may be a nice option. I've never tried a soy pastry cream but i know some people do it, so a fruit tart could be classy. When you say "dairy(other than butter)", does that mean you CAN use butter? Then even butter pastry is available, and you could do a terrific pear or apple tarte tartin. It's one of my favourite desserts! If it was ok to serve cream on the side for those who can eat it, even better!

They've just started showing this in Australia as well. I caught the last bit of the first episode by mistake, and was immediately disappointed that I hadn't seen the whole thing. I've discovered that it's available online, at least here in Aus. Not sure if outside visitors will be blocked. Here's a link to it. I am very much looking forward to seeing more of it. Even though I've done little to none of it, I'm interested in MG and this kind of experimentation, and it's presented in an easy to watch way. And I just remembered that my parents have some port glasses that have a "straw" coming from the bottom, a bit like the ones Heston designed for his 5 flavor drink, so i might actually be able to play with the idea. I think it would be great fun to try out some flavour combinations.

I have never gotten around to making these slices, but it sounds similar to what you're looking for (and also what Kerry has mentioned, though in this recipe it's not referred to as chiboust). The principle sounds like what you have already tried though... perhaps it's just a matter of finding the right balance of flavour/texture. Here's the recipe.

Ah, the clarificaction r.e corn STARCH is helpful. Makes sense. Thanks for that. Sounds like I'll have to make some corn bread... not common here in Aus but i've always been keen to try it

Hey all, I recently bought some "Maize flour" when I was at a shop with heaps of different types... I was hoping it might be an alternative name for Masa Harina, which I haven't been able to find here in Melbourne. However, it appears that it's not. I haven't got a photo to attach for now, but it's a yellow-ish flour, not grains like polenta but fully ground to flour texture (smooth, soft). I don't think it's the same Cornflour as the white one we buy as a thickener, because this one is different in color and, since it was with other flours, I'm guessing it's used like a regular flour in some way. But this is just speculation I guess. Anyone know what this might be useful for? Special recipes or suggestions would be great. I am mighty confused!

I've made a few other icecreams before, but it was my first try with a vanilla one (which i see as an important one, since there's not a lot going on (such as add-ins, unusual flavours), so the texture, flavour and everything need to be right!). It worked out well, I was surprised at how strong the vanilla is, it's terrific! The end result was a little icy, but that's probably because I had a bit less cream than I should, and my ice-cream churner is super-old... it's one of the ice-and-salt ones. Hooray for ice-cream indeed! And for Paul! Next on my list is the orange szechuan pepper icecream from DL (which you brought my attention to, actually, Darienne ). Looking forward to it very much. Gini, those pies look so good. I don't know if i've ever had a straight cherry pie. But I very much want to, along with a scoop of my vanilla icecream.

I don't have any pictures or fun stuff to show right now, but I'm in the middle of making my first batch of Vanilla ice cream, and my fingers are smelling so good from handling the vanilla bean I just had to mention it! I'm using paulraphael's recipe, and looking forward to churning it in a few hours... Not really sure what kind of ice creams I like best yet (custard based vs. cornflour/philly/other additives) but i'm hoping I'll like this so i can use it as a base for other flavours and add-ins. Mmmmm. (it's the first day of summer here in Aus, so icecream is very appropriate... though many would agree with me that it's appropriate at any time )

The "standard" cream we have in Australia is fine for whipping, and is what people will typically think of when cream is asked for in a recipe. It's about 35% milkfat, i think. Pavlova, for example, is pretty much always topped with whipped "standard" cream. We don't use the term "single" when discussing cream. I think some call it "pouring cream" but I don't. There are indeed thickeners in most of our commercial cream, either gelatin or a vegetable gum. This would be why it's called "Thickened cream" i guess. However I've never had problems with this stopping it whipping or creating issues in recipes. Not that I'm AWARE of anyway! I think double cream on a pavlova would be pretty intense. I love it for things like lemon tart or other rich, classy desserts, but in my mind a pav has a pretty good layer of cream and doing that with double cream would be heavy, rich and ruin the nice contrast of crispy/chewy meringue with light, airy cream. OK, i actually just found THIS LINK which has some pictures and there's a great reply in the comments at the bottom from someone who knows their stuff more than me, which has equivalent terms and all that

Ooooooh, I bet stout would be so good in this! It looks like it's almost just a case of using stout instead of water with the dates... What a great idea. I think it wouldn't be such a drastic change that it would scare people off, but a nice added "layer" to it.

I voice a Third for date chunks. I have useda recipe by Stephanie Alexander (Australian chef) with good success... I don't actually see STP as a very difficult/fussy dessert, so I think you'll do well with any reputable recipe. It's so loaded with sugar and fat anyway One thing I have done which I like is to bake it in muffin tins, so they come out individually portioned. Which the person in the blog I linked to did as well. I haven't tried making a caramel sauce with dark/burnt sugar like Canadian suggests, but I have been meaning to. Anything that adds an 'edge' would be welcome, I think.

I agree with the schedule idea... I ran a bit of a class on breadmaking just to show a few friends some basics, and we had 4 doughs on the go. With a bit of planning and staggering, we managed to keep it *fairly* organised so that while one dough was proving, we mixed another, then autolysed, kneaded another etc. It wasn't too hard to do - i just made note of how long the periods were for each bread and tried to fit them together. In the end, there was a bit of a wait for the oven for a few things at the end, but they were just chucked into the fridge for half an hour which wouldn't have done HEAPS but helped slow it a little i s'pose.

Richard, that looks so very good! I know I would love it, since I am a big fan of all those elements, and the presentation is great, I haven't really seen a tart decorated like that before with big waves of mousse...

Just a quick update for anyone who's interested... I haven't had a chance to repeat the long-rise doughs discussed here, but I did have to make some dough quickly (in a morning) for an event, so it had a total of about 3 hours to rise. But I did get to use the pizza stones this time, and a much hotter oven, and the results are already a LOT better! The base had a much more satisfying crispness to it, and the cooking was much more even. So I'm excited about trying it with the good doughs Fun times!

Hmm, that's a good question. I think what Theresa says sounds logical - I'm not grounded enough in the scientific side of things to really add much. One thing that came to mind, though, were Honey Joys... not sure if they're very popular in the U.S, but they're essentially cornflakes bound together with honey and a bit of butter. The honey really comes to the front. Now I'm not saying you should make them, but perhaps adding something like corn flakes or another textural element to the cookie could add to the crunch factor. Actually for some reason shortbread just came into my head - a quick google for "honey shortbread" has brought up a bunch of results, so maybe that's a good avenue to pursue... seems pretty classy too

I have been reading about fresh curry leaves recently and am very keen to try and find some What do you use gram flour for, Jenni? I have some, and have used a LITTLE in a few recipes but don't really understand the extent of its usefulness, and you sound very keen on it! Would love to hear more...

*sigh* Raoul, don't get me started! After I started breadmaking I read one or two articles on building a wood fired oven, but had to quickly shut myself down before I got too keen on the idea, haha. Thanks heaps for the comments, paul and blether. Blether, my dough definitely didn't end up anything like that, I wouldn't have described it as very bread-like. I suspect that among other things, I underproved it. Paul, thanks for confirming Our oven can get decently hot so the potential is there, I was just running short on time and couldn't let it heat up enough. The 1/4inch suggestion is a good one too, i'll keep it in mind. And I know what you mean about variables! I have been doing occasional breadmaking for a few years now and still find it difficult to pinpoint one particular thing when I make a loaf... need a lot of experience to really know what to look for, how to modify, etc. But even the less-good efforts are tasty and rewarding, so it's a good ride!

Can someone give me some guidelines as to what expect from a long-retardation Napoli style dough? I made paulraphael's recipe and cooked it after 3 days in the fridge. I liked it, but I don't know if I got it right, and it wasn't my ideal dough. First caveat is that my oven wasn't cranking as hot as it should have, and I didn't have a pizza stone (or even prewarmed baking trays). The edges of the crust ended up crispy and golden on the outside and a bit chewy inside i guess, i liked this aspect quite a lot. The rest of the pizza was a bit "eh". The underside was quite pale (probably due to the lack of warmed tray or stone) and if I picked up a slice straight after the oven, it would droop. After a minute or two it was a bit firmer, so it wasn't SOGGY or anything but not very similar to take-away pizza (which I am just using as a comparison, I definitely don't see as the benchmark!). I reckon I got less than 25% rise/oven spring, is this what you would expect, particularly with the toppings on it? I should have taken a photo so I could get some better analysis... I guess I'm just trying to work out if I did anything noticeably wrong or I just wasn't expecting quite the right thing. I will try it again for sure, particularly with a stone and a super hot oven.

I haven't tried this yet, but an idea came into my head which I think would be kind of cool, if it works. Roast a whole head (as Peter so beautifully demonstrated on the previous page) and then somehow (probably with a piping bag, maybe a wide nozzle syringe) inject bechamel sauce into all the gaps inside the cauli... it would look "normal" from the outside but when you cut into it it would be all gooey and have the traditional cauliflower-and-white-sauce vibe. I think it would be great! Even better would be finding single-serve size baby cauliflowers and doing it with that, so each one could go on the plate. Haha.

Haha, that's excellent! Is there a link to explain the egg-scrambling method? I googled but only found this link which isn't very descriptive or helpful

Are we talking Sesame Snaps as in the semi-candy thing ... thin wafers of sesame seeds in honey/toffee stuff? I don't think i'd *ever* have thought about that in a salad, but i am starting to imagine how it might work, combined with the right other stuff. They're pretty sweet, but there is that nice sesame flavour coming through. Or maybe you mean something else (which is cool too, but i'm a bit caught up in sesame snaps now

Mmmm that would be great Too bad that the halvah didn't turn out right but seems like a very good result! I'm still following this thread carefully... bought a new tub of tahini on the weekend to prepare for my own attempts soon.

Hmm, i'm not sure if it will matter but I think there are a few things to note for the future (bear in mind that i'm no expert myself, i only dabble a little with all this too!). You can probably think about the halvah as similar to caramel in procedure, so in that way, I think it's best not to stir as it heats. My understanding is that if you keep stirring sugar/toffee/caramel, it can make the sugar crystals start to form which will make the texture all wrong. You may have read instructions to wash the side of your pot with a wet pastry brush to get off any stuck sugar... this is to avoid having to stir, and makes sure that there are no stray grains which will later start the crystalization forming too soon. I normally don't bother with it though. Check out this link for some good tips (and he give a link to another one of his 10-tips somewhere too). http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/01/how_to_make_the.html In terms of Halvah specifically, it's pretty similar to fudge in technique. I am a bit interested in some of the thinking behind this kind of thing so i looked up fudge making to find out why it is the way it is. If you are interested, check out this link for a bit of the science involved... it's not heavy, and it's explained pretty simply. Bottom line is for a smooth, dense texture, apparently you need to avoid crystallization while heating, then wait until it's lukewarm before giving a vigorous knead/stir, so the crystals suddenly form and end up very small which = smooth. But I noticed the recpies I suggested don't address this... they ask you to stir straight away, so I don't think you did anything WRONG here. Might be something to look at if the results aren't right though I wonder if perhaps adding the tahini makes it cooler than straight sugar, so the kneading can be done sooner (though as you said it was stil hot hot hot!). Look forward to hearing your results, hope it's successful - stu

Darienne, some people recommend storing nuts in the freezer to keep them from turning rancid, so I'm guessing the freezer doesn't affect the nut itself, it must be the moisture or sugar in icecream that changes the texture When I make choc chip cookies, I love to keep a little bit of the dough and mix it into vanilla ice cream to make cookie-dough ice cream. It's so nice to find the occasional lump of buttery, salty dough in the icecream... mmmmm! I think some recipes would work better for this than others, my dough gets too hard in the icecream but i guess reducing something (less butter maybe) would fix this.

My only comment was going to be that I like the concept of candy apples but find them very unwieldy. The idea of wedges is great - you might actually be able to take a proper bite, rather than with the full ones where I spend 10 minutes licking the toffee (which isn't a bad thing!) and then taking bites of the sour apple... being able to combine the two would be great! I thought of the chinese-style apples... they batter and deep fry chunks of apple before applying a toffee. I wonder if the batter helps block the moisture from dissolving the sugar too quickly. But I'm not sure how those last anyway so maybe not.