RWood

Thanks! But, the macaron gods don't like me at home this weekend. I've been trying to make Xmas gifts, and they are so not cooperating. At work, no problem, could be the oven is better. Gonna give it one more shot today, if no go, no macs .

Macarons for a holiday party at work. The customer wanted almond and raspberry.

I've used this one for years, and it works great. It's from David Lebovitz I believe. I add grated parmesan to it before and it made it even more flaky. I've found I like the way it comes out of the food processor the best. 11-1/4 oz. (2-1/2 cups) all-purpose flour 2 Tbs. sugar 1/2 tsp. salt 8 oz. (16 Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled 5 oz. (about 2/3 cup) ice water In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the chilled butter using a stand mixer, a food processor, or a pastry blender until the butter is evenly distributed but still in large, visible pieces. Add the ice water all at once to the flour and butter. Mix the dough just until it begins to come together (if using a stand mixer or a food processor, be especially careful not to overmix the dough). Gather the dough with your hands -- don't worry if you see streaks of butter -- and shape it into two disks. Wrap the disks in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

I will be following your experiments closely as I already love this recipe. One question (or two)- what is the "ice cream stabilizer" and how critical is it to the recipe? I will be following your experiments closely as I already love this recipe. One question (or two)- what is the "ice cream stabilizer" and how critical is it to the recipe? I don't think the stabilizer is necessary. I just use it because I have to make a lot of ice creams, and it does help prevent crystallization and makes the texture smoother. The one I'm using now is from Albert Uster and has different "gums" and sodium alginate. I checked the tiramisu this morning, and the texture straight out of the freezer was still very good, but all the alcohol may contribute to it not freezing too hard either. Once this batch runs out, I'll give it another shot. Our shipping guy got carried away on ordering mascarpone, so I have some to get through

OK, so I messed around with the tiramisu ice cream today. I ended up winging it for the most part. The texture was perfect, flavor wise, very close to the original. This is what I can remember I did (I hope ). 4 cups 2% milk pinch salt 8 yolks 1 1/2 c sugar + 1/3 cup sugar 3 cups mascarpone 1/2 c kahlua 1/4 cup rum 1 T ice cream stabilizer Mocha Ripple (from book) I made an anglaise with the 2% milk, 1 1/2 c sugar, yolks and stabilizer. I whisked together the mascarpone, 1/3 c sugar, rum, kahlua. Whisked into the anglaise base. Layered it out of the machine with the mocha ripple. I think I will still work on it, I want the mascarpone to come through a little more, so I may decrease the yolks still and increase the mascarpone. I also felt I should get some marsala in there. Texture wise though it's very nice.

Sift the flour over the batter in three or so batches. I fold in with a large balloon whisk. I find it helps break up the flour lumps better than trying to fold in with a rubber spatula. Never made a genoise with cream either, only butter. After folding in the flour, I remove a cup or so, whisk it into warm butter, then fold that back in, with whisk as well. This prevents the butter from sinking to the bottom of the batter, and having to fold too much to get it incorporated. I believe the recipe I use had cake flour and a small amount of cornstarch. I haven't made it in a while, so would have to look it up.

I have to stock up the ice creams at work next week, so I'll give this one a shot and see what happens.

Well, I still make a custard base, then add the mascarpone after. I think the problem was that mascarpone is so fatty, and this recipe just purees it with either cream or half and half. (sorry, don't have book in front of me). I have a heavy duty ice cream maker at work, and maybe it churned it so fast it caused a problem. It churns 3 quarts in about 7 minutes. I like the idea, but need to experiment more.

Flavor wise I liked this, but texture wise, not so much. I made it to go on our ice cream sampler at work, and we all axed it for texture. I felt it was too grainy from the mascarpone. I've made mascarpone ice cream before that had a much better mouth feel. I'm going to go back and try it again, only using my recipe for the base. But, it does taste just like Tiramisu.

Kim, I looked and I think I used an Ateco 825 star tip.

Anyone ever try it? I've started a new job, and this was one of the chocolates they had brought in to try. They had bags of the 60% that I have used for brownies, truffles and ganache for cakes. It's easy to work with and emulsifies very easily when making ganache. We get it from Italfoods, haven't seen it anywhere else. I asked the rep to send some of the white and milk to try. Not being a fan of white, I really like the flavor of this one. Not too sweet either. Only drawback some people may have with it is they use organic ground vanilla bean in it. So, there are little specks. I attached a picture. I melted some yesterday and it's viscosity is very fluid, so it may mold well. I'll have to try it and see. I don't mind the little specks of vanilla. It might make an interesting molded chocolate. I made my usual passionfruit ganache with it, and it was very tasty. Still have to taste the milk chocolate.

A few cupcakes from a wedding this past weekend.

I used to make the whisper cake a lot in a bakery I worked in, and I believe we used Callebaut. It always worked well.

RWood – what did the quinoa add to the cupcakes – texture, taste?Not much of anything that I could tell really. There was a slight texture thing going on, but I wasn't really sure what the point of it was. I think it was more confusing that anything. A lot of the people were thinking it was gluten-free, made with quinoa flour, and I had to explain that it was just added to a regular cupcake.

So, after 6 trials and 2 days production, I finished 900 quinoa cupcakes for Cooking For Solutions at the Monterey Aquarium this weekend. The client we worked with sent a recipe, but it was a bust, so I had to come up with a substitute. They are just a yellow cake with cooked quinoa added. I frosted them with a chocolate stout frosting and topped them with crumbled bacon and chocolate sprinkles. They seemed to be a hit, but we had about half leftover. Better too much than too little I guess. There's way too much food there anyway, so people taste so much they get full fast. Just glad it's over.

What I have found that works best for me is to shift the flour over the egg batter in 2-3 additions, and fold in with a whisk. I've noticed that the whisk doesn't deflate the eggs as much as a spatula, and it helps to break up the flour so it doesn't clump. Then I remove about a cup or so of batter, and thoroughly mix that into the melted butter. Return this back into the main batter, and fold in gently. This will prevent the butter from sinking and forming that eggy, rubbery layer. The recipe I use shifts together cornstarch and cake flour as well. I can dig that recipe out if you'd like.

I second the Whisper Cake. Not that I love to eat it myself, but I have made many a wedding cake with it, and it works very well. It's texture is firm enough for building tiers.

I've used both quite a bit. Both are easy to work with and have good viscosity. Flavor wise, the white chocolate may have more of a chocolate aroma to it. El Rey doesn't use deodorized cocoa butter in their chocolates. I've heard some say they want a more neutral flavor in white chocolate, but I've never found it to interfere with any flavors that I've used with it. It's not as sweet as some white chocolates either. The milk has a good taste. My first choice is Valrhona, but their prices prevent me from using it more. This one has always been a good second choice. Shelf life would be a year, maybe more depending on storage.

I don't have it on me right now, but a friend gave me a recipe that she says is from Julia Child. There was a mistake in transferring the recipe, and I've been using buttermilk in it instead of milk. I make slider buns with it for work, and everyone loves them.

I use the whip when I make it, and the paddle when I reconstitute it. I very rarely make it and use it the same day. I use the paddle when I get ready to ice a cake. I find it leaves it smoother with less air bubbles.

I've found the syrup seems to work best between 240-248F. When pouring in your syrup, pour it as close to the side of the bowl as you can, don't pour it directly into the whisk. I read one recipe a long time ago that suggested pouring in some of the syrup, and turning the beater on immediately after, and do that in stages. Never tried it. It freezes very well. I just move it to the fridge the day before I need it. Then, set it out a while before using it. My method for re-whipping was taught to me in pastry school. Place it in the mixer bowl, and set it over a pot of simmering water. Break it up and stir with the paddle attachment. My instructor always said to melt it about half way, then put it on the mixer and let it go on low speed. I usually don't have the patience, so I will turn it up a little higher. If need be, I will also use a torch around the bowl or return it to the hot water if it's not coming together yet. I've had people try to rush it and put cold BC in the bowl and start whipping with just the torch trying to warm it. That's when it breaks and you have a bowl of water with butter chunks. If you just watch your sugar temp, make sure the meringue is whipped until cool to the touch, and your butter is soft, it shouldn't be scary .

When I make IMBC, I usually cook my syrup to about 240. While the syrup is cooking, I whip 8 whites with a 1/4 cup sugar to stiff peaks. Add the syrup, whip till cool. Add the room temp butter. I use a whip attachment when I make it, and whip until it comes together. I've not had any problems in the making stage, but if it's been chilled, when bringing it back to a usable state, it can separate, and it's usually because of temperature. When it's whipped up, it should look smooth and glossy.

You're welcome, glad it was of help So, I finally had a chance to showcase my stuff at the Monterey Museum of Art last night. It was to try to get the catering company I work for on the list of caterers they use. This is a picture of my table set up. Pistachio and Chocolate Raspberry Macarons, Triple Chocolate Drop Cookies and assorted chocolates.

This is a crazy dessert plate I did for a fundraiser last night (not my menu, just made everything). Chocolate Marzipan Heart, Goat Cheese Ice Cream, Dark Chocolate Ganache Cube, Chocolate Pot de Creme (madeleine), Triple Chocolate Cookie, White Chocolate Cardamom Orange Sauce, Raspberry Coulis, Orange Dust, and one of my Valentine chocolates.

Thanks! I believe I got some of the transfers from www.bakedeco.com. They have a large selection. Most of them are PCB transfers. I think they only sell them in large packs though. Individual sheets I've found here. They told me they could sell me larger packs of them if needed.