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Has anyone tried candying mint leaves using gomme instead of egg white? When I've used egg white the sugar has ended up patchy, and gomme seemed as though it might be a viable alternative, although it might not dry as thoroughly/quickly (which would not be a problem).

How complex is the chocolate-cherry loaf recipe?

Is the oil the main source of the savoury flavour in fresh black sesame seeds? This black sesame dessert is a longstanding favourite of mine, and I think it's a great dessert (although I also have a relatively Italian palate), but it seems to have little or no perceptible fat (and is clearly quite processed, so far from fresh).

Auguri, Franci!

I didn't know cooking quality matcha existed. There were very few places where I could look for it, since I was in a small Danish town with a restricted selection of ingredients, so I was also really excited to track down locust bean gum at a pharmacy, and I'm quite certain the velvety texture of the sorbet was due to using it. Have you made this with black tea, too?

@ paulraphael and teonzo: Thanks again! Teo, the recipe came out really well, despite some challenges (including a scale that is a literal antique and a bit unreliable, and someone's casual assurance that the sorbet would stay frozen at cool room temperature, followed by a hasty refreezing). I haven't had matcha in any form before this, and I really enjoyed it; in fact, apart from small scoops somewhat reluctantly taken by a few others (including the hostess, who'd specially requested this), I ate nearly the entire batch

@teonzo: Thank you; I've had no luck finding a reliable-looking matcha tea recipe (for comparison), and I know that certain plant enzymes have a significant effect on proteins (such as those in gelatin), so I'm a bit concerned that using a recipe for another flavour of sorbet may not be that reliable. Has this been your experience? @paulraphael: Thank you for the link to that page! I'm pinning my hopes on gelatin, because it's the only certainly-available option here (in the currently tight timeframe, at any rate), and no one eating this is vegetarian. I may be able to get locust bean gum (which sounds like a good option, based on your discussion of it), but it's also much more expensive here than gelatin.

Thanks, Teo! Would gelatine work as a stabilizer? And if so, about the same amount?

Has anyone got a reliably good recipe for green tea/matcha sorbet? I'm on the lookout for a recipe for a true sorbet (i.e. no dairy or dairy substitutes), and the green tea to be used is in powder form, but apart from that, there are no real restrictions (i.e. use of animal gelatine would not be a problem). Thanks, all!

Butterscotch recipes do not include whisky of any sort, 'scotch' notwithstanding (e.g. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030600264.html).

Thanks for the links! Also, I worded my question poorly, I meant to ask, 'is there some overlap between Los Postres and Elements of Dessert'? I have Migoya's book and like it very much, but am also interested in something completely different to it, in the modernist dessert category, so Natura might be a better bet.

Thanks! Does it kind of overlap Migoya's Elements of Dessert?

Does this book include that dessert that looks like an apricot?

I use the thickest pan available, which usually is my sauté pan (but I've used pretty much every sort of cooking vessel when making risotto at friends' places). I've found the thickness of the pan to be the most important thing.

Depressing, but unsurprising. What's left, now?

I don't think it's so much about pulling out the stops only for special occasions, as the right ones. I factor in two points: whether the special qualities of an ingredient are going to even make it through the cooking and baking process, and the palate of the person I'm cooking for, because high/extended heat tend to alter flavours, and that's not even considering all the other ingredients, which will also have an impact on how a given ingredient tastes. Then, some people either do not have particularly perceptive palates, or straight up don't care for the 'better' ingredient. In this cookie recipe, the Hershey's just feels more appropriate to the whole context, you made the right call.

I can see ratings being useful only if they reflect objective aspects, such as reliability in terms of delivering what was described as the outcome, and even then, you have assume a certain amount of uncertainty (individual error, inconsistencies owing to use of volume measurements or unreliable equipment). It's so easy to get caught up in subjective reactions (e.g. I've found ATK's recipes consistently reliable, at least when they also include weight measurements, but I haven't always loved the results, sometimes finding savoury things too sweet for my taste).

Until one of the chocolate experts weighs in, take a look at this discussion of water ganache, another on white chocolate ganache, and the general ganache tips and techniques discussion, at least one of which may have something helpful to offer.

The link goes to a half recipe version of the original (which I'm looking at now, for comparison), and it occurred to me that if you measured the flour by volume instead of weight, you may have ended up with less than you actually need, and since this is a half recipe, the smaller starting amount would have less tolerance for error. As Lisa Shock suggested, I've always added the vodka first, then cautiously added water as needed. Also, since I don't have a food processor, or a huge amount of patience, I don't get the smallest fat-saturated-flour bits as small, even though I go for the described consistency, so I think there is more free flour to take up the liquid.

Have you checked this, http://forums.egullet.org/topic/94540-water-ganache/?

I don't know a thing about this particular unit, so it may be an exception to the general trend, but I've had mediocre to unsatisfactory performance from every OBH appliance (kitchen and other) that I've used, and there have been quite a few because the local kitchen shops (e.g. Imerco, Inspiration) feature this brand heavily. Have you come across any reviews of this online?

This sounds really tasty, and it could be paired with figs and chestnuts (dried ones, cooked in both until it reduces to form a glaze, are amazing), which should be just about in season now (I'm a good bit further north, so I'm not 100% certain, since eeverything is later here).

!00% agree. Whichever faucets you get, check first that are sized to release the water into the middle of the basin when you open the tap, instead of closer to the front or back wall, and if you get the kind that has the tap incorporated into it, make sure that simply turning on the water doesn't release a tidal wave. The faucet we have in our new kitchen looks great, and is solidly made, but the arc is too small for the basin, so when I wash up, I end up having to hold out my arms at nearly full length, which plays hell with my neck and shoulders, and the tap opens too hard, so even though we have a deep basin, they water splashes about a foot around, unless the tap is opened very carefully.

I'd intended to spare everyone the sight, although I did take a shot of the interior, which looked like this: It tasted sugary, strawberry-adjacent and crazy unmodified sweet with a hint of synthetic red, and had that mouthfeel that makes you think, 'Mmmm...Crisco'. The overarching effect was, 'My teeth itch, and now feel vaguely Simonized'

Coffee (out of frame), and this: That's an 'Andreakage'. I couldn't recall seeing one of these before, although I must have done, at some point: the 'Kajkage' is a longstanding tradition (and not just in Denmark, although here, they represent Kaj and Andrea, characters from a popular chidren's programme). Anyway, the mild novelty of it meant I definitely needed to eat this thing, after which I left the bake shop slightly lightheaded, and happy-queasy