Lisa2k

I added bulgur wheat, parsley, mint, lemon zest and topped it with more parsley and mint, and tiny grape tomatoes to make a Tabboulh Bread. I was amazed at how fantastic it turned out with all the additions! The crust on this bread is close to a bread baked on a hot stone in a steam oven. I'm wondering if the non-stick pot has anything to do with that?

Here's another idea. Put the almond paste in a ziplock bag with a slice of fresh bread. Seal it, and let it sit overnight. The moisture in the bread will be absorbed by the almond paste and you'll have soft almond paste again.

Hi all, I'm putting together a 9-inch round entremet, and I want to add a feulletine insert. Does anyone have a formula with the right amounts of chocolate, butter, praline paste and paillete feulletine, for a 9-inch round preparation, so nothing goes to waste? Thank you in advance, Lisa

I always keep a slab of marble in the fridge, and usually roll my doughs, from puff to pie, on it. I love it, as the marble retains the chill for quite a while. I also have a small oak board and a large Boos chopping block, floured, when in a pinch aka marble slab being washed.. I use a french rolling pin, and roll from the middle outward, but never over the sides. You don't want to lose or melt any of that buttter/lard etc.

Tri2, thanks for all of your help I used the small amount of gelatin and it worked out perfectly! I only used the juice of one lemon, so the pomegranate flavor wasn't masked. You can see it here

AHHH..MY SAVIOR I checked your blog but didn't see the recipe for the pomegranate curd, though the photo of it looked gorgeous. I was toying with one of my lemon curd recipes and scribbling notes. I decided I might use 5 yolks instead of two whole eggs and two yolks, and a whole stick of butter instead of the 6 T called for in the lemon curd recipe, then add the juice of one blood orange or one lime along with the pomegranate juice. However, I'd love to see YOUR recipe before I attempt anything, or at least something! Tri2 - By the looks of your creations, I don't doubt your suggestion would work out perfectly, although my execution in these cases is what you would call questionable..lol Regardless, if worse comes to worse, that's the route I'll take.

Actually. I'm pouring the curd over the set ganache I thought of using gelatin leaves but I don't want it to even come close to a gelee, just a nice, smooth curd. With my luck, no matter how small the amount of any gelatinous component, I would end up with JELLO LOL

gFron1, where are you? I hope he sees this thread! In any event, I need a a solid, somewhat sturdy curd, and I don't want to take a chance of even the least bit of 'the runs' since I'll be pouring it over a lot of $$$ worth of chocolate used in a ganache. Silly me for not thinking this out and testing beforehand. As for the scientific aspect, it's all a little confusing to me, as I'm also stumped as to why an acid is needed to set a fruit curd.

Thanks, Tri2! Do you think using blood orange juice in lieu of the lemon juice would also work? Enough acid?

I was going to experiment with substituting pomegranate juice for lemon juice in a basic lemon curd recipe, but was told it doesn't work (doesn't set up). I know there has to be a way around this. Although I would like to avoid cornstarch, if I have to use it, so be it, but I was thinking all egg yolks plus half lemon juice cut in with the pomegranate juice might make it work? If anyone has made pomegranate curd with success, and/or has any suggestions, I would be incredibly grateful.

Flourless white chocolate and 70% bittersweet chocolate cake topped with ganache and served with strawberry-lime pink peppercorn cream cheese ice cream. Plated with strawberry-raspberry coulis, chocolate straws, and a chocolate dipped strawberry.

WOW!! Those cakes are works of ART - perfectly executed and so clean!! Great job! Happy Holidays to all, and MERRY XMAS!

WOW, just WOW, Rob. I love how you bake over the edge and wish I could sample your gorgeous creations! That said, I haven't been here in a while due to surgery on a bunch of torn ligaments in my right knee and the inability to cook or bake except when the physical therapy facility I'm staying at lets me use their recreational kitchen and the staff becomes my 'legs' lol, but I have to say, all of everyone's latest sweets and treats look absolutely AMAZING and have turned my salivary glands into an ocean! Hope to be back baking, creating and picture taking with you all soon!

cough <recipe> cough cough.. I need me some of that! What temperature do you cook the caramel to? ← Thanks, prasantrin The recipe in full is in the second entry on the first page of my blog which is linked below.

A few weeks ago I craved some kind chocolate and peanut butter concoction that was not a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. I came up a tart that includes a flaky, tender pate brisee with a layer of salted peanut honey caramel, topped with a fluffy peanut butter mousse-like layer and white and dark ganaches drizzled all over the top. Definitely satisfied the craving, for me and all who grabbed a slice in time!

I made what I call a 'Dim Sum Cake' for a friend's birthday. She LOVES steamed buns filled with sweet red bean paste, so I made a vaniila black sesame batter, steamed each cake layer in my bamboo steamer, torted them, filled each layer with sweet red bean paste mousse and frosted just the top with a very light ginger buttercream topped with more black sesame and some candied azuki beans and ginger. I was going to use this idea for 'unique' cupcakes for a Sugar High Friday's challenge, but I had a little accident .

Hi all, I'm in a little bind. I just came up with a wonderful black sesame cupcake filled with sweet red bean paste. The problem is, I cannot think of a buttercream or whipped ganache topping that will go well with these flavors. I tried a ginger infused swiss meringue, but it just didn't fit. I was thinking maybe coconut, but I want to remain true to the cupcake as far as chinese or korean flavors go. Any ideas would be so appreciated.

The whoopie pies are from the latest MS living (you can see how we made it on our site as well). ← Joe, first off your desserts and savories in your blog are gorgeous and absolutely mouth watering..but I have to know..what kind of camera do you use, and is it natural light with a background, or some kind of photography artificial lighting/makeshift mini photo studio? Your photos are magazine worthy!

Actually, I make my own vanilla extract, but never even thought of making peach extract! Thank you so much for all that info, which I just copied and pasted into a file in a recipe folder. Having said that, I did fill my peach cupcakes, with a fresh peach curd napped with Peach Schnapps and frosted them with a honey-reduced peach nectar cream cheese frosting. All in all, it came out great, but I'll get started on that peach extract tomorrow, as I didn't want to use store bought peach extract. It's mostly artificial.

Thanks so much for the advice, Lisa. Many others confirmed what you did, but I had to try it anyway, using half milk and half nectar. Didn't work out well as far as obtaining a nice, fluffy cupcake! However, through trial and error, I finally came close to integrating a deeper peach flavor into the crumb of the cake by using roasted, pureed peaches. You can read about the whole process and final product (with photos) in my blog. That said, I still need to figure out a way to get a 'REALLY' intense peach flavor into a cake!!

Thanks so much, Lisa! I'd never used anything but milk or buttermilk in my basic yellow cake recipes, so it's good to know this before attempting it. I've already made the 'less peachy' batch, and didn't want to 'waste' a batch.

I originally got this idea from Art Culinaire, but naturally, I couldn't leave well enough alone, and decided to tweak it to my preferences. It's a grilled center cut pork chop with an apple cider-chicken stock redux glaze, served along with cornbread pudding studded with red bell pepper, zucchini, red onion, fresh herbs and aromatics, binded with eggs. cream and seasoning. It's simply amazing. I like to bake it until it's still slightly soft in the middle, but baked it a little more for people who preferred it less soft..more like a hunk of creamy cornbread stuffing. I cooked down the extra glaze with some butter and white wine, for a nice, shiny sauce to accompany the dish. Unfortunately, the cornbread pudding came out a little overexposed in the photos below *still trying to get my 'photography groove' on.

I've been experimenting with peach cupcakes, and just adding chopped peaches to the batter doesn't give me the all around peach flavor in the cake, I'm seeking. I was thinking of subbing ALL peach nectar for the milk, and maybe incorporating some dried peaches into the batter for an extra peach bite along with the fresh peaches. My question is, should I just use part peach nectar and part milk, or would ALL peach nectar be ok? I'll also be adding a little habanero kick to it, so the more peach flavor, plus heat, would be ideal. Any opinions or experience with using some other liquid other than milk/buttermilk, in your basic yellow cake batter?

Hiya LaCook! Isn't it an amazing dish? My friend's mom would make it in what seemed to be a square pressure cooker, and I think that's what made it so special, as baking it just doesn't seem to give me the same results. Do you use anything different in it? As I mentioned above, her mom would add green or string beans as an extra layer, but most recipes I see for it, do not contain green beans!

Thanks Susan and Shelby They were both really delicious, and I wish we could all share our dishes for real! Now, if I could only get photos like Chufi and the rest of you, they'd look even more drool worthy..LOL Regardless, everyone's dishes look so amazing. I'm feeling plantains, the sweet ones, so I think I want to make a Pinon. It's a Puerto Rican plantain/egg/picadillo/green bean type of thick omelet or frittata. My friend's mom used to make it all the time, but mine will never be as good as hers! Has anyone ever tried/made it?