AmritaBala

just wondering, if i were to buy it, (i know only basic words in french....for example, different fruits, eggs, flour, butter etc. )....would I be able to successfully translate it with the help of an online translator, ie babelfish?

I believe it would just send the bacteria to sleep, but once they enter your warm tummy, they'll be active again! eeks! Anyway, im not too afraid of raw eggs these days. Them chickens out there are pretty clean =o)....Good luck!

Oh dear...I'm so sorry your cheesecake turned out that way! I heard adding a little flour into the batter prevents it from cracking...(

Thanks for the lovely comments, Lisa However, i've been having extremely terrible results with macarons for the past 2 weeks or so. ( They end up lop sided or have feet which look like sunhats! I used to boil my syrup to 118 and it worked for a great deal of time, then I suddenly had this sunhat problem. I then changed my temp. to 110 celsius and it worked for a great deal of time as well. However, the same sunhat problem is happening to me again!!! How stupid/spooky/annoying is that?? Sometimes, one side doesn't have feet but the other side's feet explode, so the macaron resembles a baseball cap

Hmmm...that's a tough one! I would suggest using Italian meringue if you wanna add the paste to the shell. It might bomb if you use french or swiss meringue. I suggest adding no more than 2 tbsp of the paste to your almond "putty". I actually bought some Sevaron Pistachio paste the other day and I think its the most disgusting thing on earth. It has only 20% pistachios and the rest of the stuff is made up of sugar and ethanol...gross! I think I'll stick to making my own, like you do. However, the last time I made it, it still had numerous coarse bits of nuts in it..

Amrita, I cooked the raspberries slightly in a bit of blackberry jam and lemon juice which took an edge off the tartness. The slight tartness balanced out the richness of the mascarpone and the nuttiness of the almonds/amaretti biscuits. BTW, your creations are truly fabulous! Those macarons especially look divine. Next month, I will be heading over to Paris to indulge in all the macarons available at Pierre Herme! Also, I used to live in Singapore over 10 years ago. The culinary scene has certainly changed as now all the best ingredients are readily available for the home cook. Back then, it was rather torturous for me to have to live in flats that did not have ovens... Did not bake a single thing the entire 3 years that I was there. ← Lannie, im glad I was not born a little earlier, LOL! I think it would have been hell trying to make things and not having the proper ingredients ( Flats nowdays do have ovens, but I think space might be a problem if people wanna decorate cakes etc..... I dont live in a flat, but in a terrace house (i still need more room for all my gadgets and cake rings!! argh!) Were you here on business? Oh my, I'm sure you'd be surprised if you were to visit again! There are many baking supply stores and 2 major importers who import stuff like Valrhona, Boiron fruit purees etc....(though those come at a hefty price!)

Lannie, that looks fantastic! Did you toss the berries in some sugar before baking? I find raspberries a little too tart on their own. Monavano, never heard of a Guinness Choc. Cheesecake. Sounds and looks divine! SanaaSol, gosh! How do you make your custard look SOOOOOO silky and smooth? :oD

Yes...It is from an Australian food site called Iced Doughnuts but I used individual bundt pans to bake it...here is the site: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/5161/iced+doughnuts Amritabala...seeing that I cannot eat your creations from my screen, I have to say that your photos are superb! The presentation...WOW!! austramerica ← Thank you!!! And by the way, I love love love taste.com.au....you should try out the Low Fat Pork Laab recipe...sooooooo good!

I'm about to make my own macarons in a few days time, so I know nothing - your feet looks fine to me! Mind telling why you are unhappy with them? Maybe I can learn something ← See how theres a disinct line before the feet emerge? I hate that!!!!! Some tips for you: 1. Make sure theyre completely DRY before you bake them. If they're not dry, they'll crack/not develop feet. 2. if you find that your macarons dont seem to be drying even after a couple of hrs, then your recipe probably has too much egg whites in it. 3. Do not overmix the batter. A few white streaks left in the batter is fine. 4. Use italian meringue! Its more stable and produces consistent results. Good luck!!!!

Why thank you Brigid! You really should get your hands on a macaron sometime soon! They are divine! Austramerica, those are soooooooo adorable! Bet they are just as delicious!

Cassis Macarons. Funny feet today

Hi David! Thanks a million for the compliments! I am using a Canon Powershot G9....I set it on macro and under the "cloudy" setting to get a warmer looking image!

Hey everyone. Tried my hand out at tempering WHITE chocolate for the first time today. It practically set before I could even pour them into my moulds!!! Perhaps this is a mis-conception, but I always thought that white/milk would actually take a LONGER time to set.....hmmmm. It was also a pain in the a%% to get out of the mold. Probably because I didn't temper it well. I hate how you have to master tempering 3 diff. types of chocolate all on their own. I thought because I had mastered dark chocolate, that milk and white would be a piece of cake...WRONG!

I know, its like a Sauna here. I feel lethargic all day long! When I made Pierre Herme's Plaisir Sucre, the milk chocolate ganache (which was supposed to be pipeable, was as runny as soup).....I had to alter the cream:chocolate ratio the second time I did it. Yeah, isn't it weird, I'm practically tempered chocolate myself! (living in a 30C climate)...

John, thanks a bunch! I never seem to bother wearing sandals or aprons or anything..big mistake! I'll def. take note of that advice. thanks!!!!

Well after all this time maybe this will motivate me to get a little blowtorch.Thank you! ← I have to admit, I used my pal's blowtorch..which was really tiny and pathetic. HAha!

If you must refrigerate or freeze your truffles I suggest placing them in a vacuum bag first. That will eliminate the condensation problem. ← Do you have to be really careful when vacuuming it? I would imagine the chocolates being crushed if too much air is sucked out

If your chocolate is too thick when in proper temper, I'd add the extra cocoa butter before tempering. What kind of chocolate are you using? You might want to think about getting a different chocolate that has a better viscosity for what you want to accomplish. I store my chocolates at room temperature in an air tight container. The ingredients you add to the cream should reduce the available water sufficiently that they are safe at room temperature. ← I vary between using Valrhona and Cadbury..........Thanks for the tip on the cocoa butter! What is your room temperature? Room temp here is around 30 degrees celsius....quite warm and humid. Also, I find that when stored in the fridge, they have a real *bite* to them (the crispness of the tempered chocolate), which is lost when they're stored @ room temp. But then again, it could just be the warm climate here....

Hey Everyone After skimming through all 15 pages, I've placed my order for this book. I always walk past in the the store, without really paying attn to it..(big mistake!) A couple of qns.. 1. Chocolate viscosity - When in temper, I find my chocolate a little too thick for my liking......as for cocoa butter, do I add it in BEFORE tempering or AFTER tempering? Not too sure about that one! ;o 2. How do you guys store your chocolates? I find that I have to store them in the fridge cos I'm afraid that the fillings may go off since they contain cream etc...however, once they're taken out of the fridge, there tends to be ugly condensation on it...sigh (

Thanks for the suggestion K8. I'll give it a try. It's amazing how close many recipes are but I guess it's a matter of getting it just right for your preference. Anyone else have a vanilla cupcake that they are really happy with? ← Well, I ALWAYS use this one which took me a while to create after trying out so many terrible recipes..... Vanilla Cupcakes: 125 grams unsalted butter 250 grams caster sugar 2 eggs 1 egg yolk 225 grams pastry flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp vanilla extract 150 mls whole milk Method: 1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius. 2. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. 3. In another bowl, cream butter & sugar till light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time and then add yolk. Finally add in vanilla. Mix well. 4. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix on low. Add 1/2 the milk and mix again. Continue alternating, ending with flour. 5. Spoon into lined cupcake trays and bake for 15 - 20 mins, checking @ the 15 min mark. *This makes around 14-16 cupcakes when I do it ;o)..* Hope this helps!

Thanks, dearie. Oh, look at those crumbs ....mmmmm

The carrot n flower are made out of sugarpaste. The eggies are Organic Chocolate Easter Eggs which I bought. The amber sugar piece is just plain sugar cooked to dark caramel stage and poured on a silpat randomly to cool. )

thanks k8memphis! The process of making them was extremely fun too!...)

Hi everyone I came up with some un-usual deco. ideas for cupcakes today...hopefully my photos will help you guys in someway or another! ) I find that to ensure good texture in a cupcake, one should always use the creaming method. A couple of martha's one bowl cupcakes always end up gummy and loaded with air pockets when I make them, so I stick to good ol' creaming. Mango Passion Cupcake Dark Chocolate/Vanilla Cupcake Cinnamon Chocolate Cupcake