AmritaBala

Hehe....Lol! Could my excuse be that I like cream cheese?

I think it's just a matter of personal preferance and not skills or anything like that. Raw apples would lend a clean and chic look to the tart, while cooked/caramelized apples would give it a more rustic look. Also, cooked apples tend to look a little wonky sometimes. The apple is a wonderful fruit, raw or cooked. )

Yeah, if it is foamy, I just pass it through a fine meshed sieve. That should catch all the little bubbles and leave you with a relatively clear custard. I too have not heard of using whipped egg whites in custard, though

Taking a break from all the fancy schmancy entremets I usually make =o) Old fashioned Banana Pecan Cake

That cake looks so rich and delicious! Good job on the italian meringue buttercream! It looks silky smooth.

Delicious-looking and beautifully photographed, as usual, Patrick. ← Ah, those donuts look stunning! Nothing homer-esque about them, LOL! =op

Thanks everyone. I received it yesterday. I do understand all the ingredients except for maybe 1 or 2, which I will check out on the internet. Safe to say i do NOT understand the instructions. Since I am SO patient, whenever I wanna make a recipe, I will try my *best* to translate it online.... Oh the joy of having books in other languages...lol =op

Have you heard of Ezekiel bread? Nothing but sprouted wheat. No yeast, salt, flower, sugar, nothing! And its YUMMY!

First of all, thanks LennyK!!!! The feet of my french meringue macs don't stick out. Its the italian ones that look horrid. Khlide, I suspect it has something to do with the boiling of the syrup and beating of the meringue, So weird since they were perfect for a year and suddenly they're turning out lop sided now, even though Im doing the same things I always do. Raggamuffin, i LOVEEEEEE that macaron tower!

why thank you david ross! that's sweet! gfron1, awesome!!! Mette, shes ADORABLE!

passionfruit, espresso and salted caramel macarons =o)

Here's my attempt at french meringue Passiofruit, espresso, salted caramel

If you're just adding espresso powder, I don't think there's a need to add more gelatin since it is not a liquid. With that said, I'm not too sure what PH's recipe is like. I have to add way more gelatin to most recipes since the climate here is so warm and humid...

Hi everyone. There's 38 pages and I might die if I were to go through all of them, So do tell me If what I'm about to say has already been mentioned. I made the perfection pound cake twice, and I find it okay, though it takes a little water to wash down your throat. Someone else who tried it said it was really dry. I don't understand why! With the amt. of butter in the cake, it should'nt be dry...right? Anyway, I went blog hopping and noticed that about 3 or 4 other bloggers also encountered the same problem. Help!

I try to most of the time, but I am not artistic, so they normally look horrendous. On the other hand, when it comes to decorating cakes, I am just as un-artistic...sigh.

They seem to have low sodium ones now days (yeah maybe 10mg less, LOL!)... I don't believe some people live on this stuff..

I'm not sure what brand you guys have in the US but over here, I think the best has to be KOKA, hands down..they even have new ones which use Rice Noodles and are only 210 cals..(Or maybe thet are just lying) They have... 1. Tom Yam 2. Laksa 3. Chicken Abalone 4. Spicy Marinara 5. Seafood So, which brand or flavor do you secretly indulge in when the chef in you goes to sleep?

Could be that too, since I've never tried making it again with the same brand.

I had the same problem once. Did you store your icing sugar properly? Was it exposed to air? I realized that mine wasnt sealed properly so it absorbed "odours".

John, sad to say but I detest making Opera. I can never get a clean cut no matter how hard I try...hehee...Maybe I have a faulty knife :oD

Yes, I do bang it voilently on the counter...hehe........I think I need to fold the batter properly... Also, do you macarons stay "matte'' once out of the fridge? I hate condensation which turns it glossy!! And when I have tartar on the hand, yes, I do use it. If not, then I just use salt..a large pinch. I find that it stabilizes the meringue a littler (esp. in french)....and cuts the sweetness of the macaron.

hey lenny. awesome explanation...thanks! Anyway, I tried using french meringue for the 3rd time in 2 days today. Perfect, I must say. I am getting used to this lazy method (less clean up, really!)..... They aren't hollow, though I do find it more difficult to get smooth tops...they also tend to use the same amount of nuts but produce a way smaller amount of macarons than italian meringue.... Also, there seem to be little air bubbles on top of the macaron after they're piped...I don't have this problem with Italian, though. Any solutions ? Other than that, there aren't any problems. Which brings me to think that the problem with my italian meringue is the sugar's temp? I used 110 celsius for ages and it worked perfectly. Then after things started to go wonky, I tried 120 celsius like pierre herme mentioned in his recipes. Those turned out EVEN worst. I don't wanna rely on french meringue since results aren't consistent. However, I do find that they dont take as long to soften once filled and dont need to be kept out of the fridge for 5 mins to soften before eating. Not to mention, they take on food coloring very easily and produce vivid colored macarons.. Am I starting to annoy you? =op

Good idea, John! I'll hop down to the library some time soon.... Do you happen to make macarons as well? I'm having one heck of a time with them now...Using the same recipe but they are flopping over and over again. Eg: hollow, crusty, crunchy, overly chewy, no lopsided feet, bursting feet....sigh

Another strange thing is that they are coming out hollow and CRUNCHY. god, CRUNCHY!... I've tempo. switched to french meringue since I NEED to make macarons (im selling them)....and the STRANGE thing is, they do not turn out lop sided! And the good thing is they soften quickly once you fill them as well. However, as we all know, french meringue doesn't produce consistent results, so I really need to find out what I'm doing wrong with my italian meringue macarons!!! (..... I bake them for 10 minutes on fan setting...without using the fan, I find that the feet dont rise properly...

Honestly, I think it'd be a very difficult undertaking. But possible, with diligence. Probably it would get easier each time you do it, though. If you had to do each recipe, I'm not sure it would be worth it. ← Perhaps you could be my translator (LOL, joking!)... I thing ingredients wise it would be easy...but the tough part would be the various methods and instructions, no?