teonzo

I would suggest you to try microwaving the apples: peel and core the apples, cut them in dices (about 1-1.5 cm), then microwave them at full power for 5 minutes or more (this depends on your microwave and on how much apples you are cooking, so you need to make some tries). I think microwaving is the best way to cook apples, you get better taste than with the other cooking methods, plus you remove a lot of water content (the more you cook them, the more water you loose, obviously). If you are quick there's no need to use some acid to avoid oxidation. You get the best vivid yellow color in this way. Beware that they keep cooking after you take them out of the microwave, so you need to take them out before reaching the stage of doneness you are aiming for (you need some tries to get ahold of this method). Teo

You just need a bowl and a whisk. I would suggest to start with softened butter and everything except egg yolks, whisk butter and the rest a bit (no need to whip them), then add the yolks and whisk another bit, then put everything in the fridge. It's better to add the emulsion when it's quite cold (around 10°C) so it will lower the dough temperature and you won't risk it becoming too warm. I don't have MB, I was thinking about the traditional method for panettone, sorry. Here in Italy making panettone has some sort of "religious" rules (my suggestion of making the emulsions is against those rules hahahah), everyone follow them. For the first mixing stage the rules say to add butter and yolks after the gluten reached appropriate development (from what I understand it's called "middle" development in MB). If mixing eveything together just to a shaggy mass works fine for the first dough then this would be a significant improvement: less work and less hassle. I'll try this the next time, thanks! Teo

Two main reasons: - the levain will be part of the final dough, if your levain has poor gluten then it will cause problems (you can't succeed making panettone if your gluten content is medium/low); - the microorganisms in the levain will be accustomed to the "food" they will find in the final dough, so their balance won't need major changes. Teo

Please tell us if you'll get any new superpowers. Teo

A couple more suggestions: - for the levain it's better to use the same flour as the dough, so when you feed the levain remember to use the flour with added vital wheat gluten; - if you are making small quantities (which I assume is your case) then it's better to make two emulsions for the two mixing stages, this helps reducing mixing times (which means better gluten matrix and better final result); for the first mixing stage prepare an emulsion with butter + sugar + egg yolks, add it to the dough (levain + flour + water) after you reach proper gluten development, add it in parts (5-6 parts) wait for the dough to absorb it before adding the next part; for the second mixing stage prepare an emulsion with butter + sugar + honey + vanilla + orange zest + salt + egg yolks, add it to the dough (dough from the first mixing stage + flour) after you reach proper gluten development, always in parts (3-4 parts is ok here). Teo

Good but not essential. You get bit better results when cooking a tarte shell, nothing to say "OMG I absolutely need this". Tarte shells end up with little dots in place of all the micro perforations, some people think they look better, others think the opposite. If you need new rings then you can consider the option of spending extra money to get the perforated ones; if you already have enough rings for your needs then just keep going with what you have. Teo

More stuff for the next year: Redzepi René - A Work in Progress: A Journal I have ho idea if this is a reissue or whatever. Takahashi + Yoda - Wagashi: The Art of Japanese Confectionery Finally this book gets an English translation, I'm happy cause I'm a wagashi fan. Marcolini + Verlinden + Bibaut - Belgian Chocolate: The Bean-to-Bar Generation Panoramic on the Belgian bean to bar scene, with interviews and recipes. Darroze Hélène - Joia From what I understand this book is based on Joia, the new Paris restaurant by Darroze which opened just few weeks ago. Seems way to soon to release a book, unless it talks only about the behind the scenes on opening it. Aduriz Andoni Luis - Mugaritz. Puntos de fuga This seems to be a treatise on creativity. Teo

Here are some more professional books that were released this year. If you are a fan of fine dining restaurant cookbooks then 2018 has been a bloodbath for your wallet, they are publishing way too many books. Hay Christophe - Signature: Un chef et son terroir This is from La Maison d'à Côté, 1 michelin star from France. Cruz Jordi - ABaC: Cocina en evolución Bi-lingual Spanish and English, this is a 3 michelin star restaurant from Spain; Cruz published another professional book (called "Logical Cuisine") more than 10 years ago, it was really good so I have high expectations for this, funny thing he still looks 20 years old. Chai Isadora - Edible Satire: French Cuisine with a Twist This is a restaurant from Malesia, seems to be a degustation only menu with modern twists. Don't know what to expect, but I'm happy to see more books by women chefs. Préalpato Jessica - Desseralité Plated desserts by the pastry chef of Alain Ducasse's Plaza Athénée, I would be surprised if this book wasn't top class. Roger Patrick - Tome 1, Sculptures This seems to have only photos of some of Roger's latest chocolate sculptures. Roger Patrick - 100 degrés 5 This book seems to be HUGE and EXPENSIVE. I have found contrasting infos, some sites say there are recipes (without specifying what kind), others say there are no recipes... don't know what to expect from this, one thing is sure, I won't splurge my money before seeing it. Roger Patrick - Patrick Roger, Chocolatier et Sculpteur This, on the contrary, is really cheap, but don't know what the contents are. Rivoire Aurélien - Itinéraire d'un chef pâtissier Plated desserts by the pastry chef of Yannick Alléno's restaurants. Bras Michel + Sébastien - Desserts New book by Bras, this seems to be dedicated to home style desserts. Nicolas + Pairon + Segui - Le grand livre de la charcuterie All 3 authors are MOFs, publisher is Alain Ducasse, so I think it's safe to say this is going to be a reference for the subject. Legay Guy - La cuisine de Guy Legay French chef who is MOF and has 2 michelin stars. Lallement Arnaud - Emotions en Champagne: La suite Second book by this chef, who has a 3 michelin star restaurant in France, Champagne region. Simonin Frédéric - La cuisine d'un chef engagé 1 michelin star restaurant from France (Paris). Lepine Marc - Atelier: The Cookbook This is from one of the most renowned restaurants in Canada. It was scheduled for 2019 but it's already for sale. You can preview a lot of pages on Amazon France. Rouquette Jean-François - Chez Jean-François Rouquette au Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme 1 michelin star restaurant from France. Bach + Candelon - Regalez Vous au Puits Saint Jacques 2 michelin stars restaurant from France. Christensen + Poulsen + Stenstrup + Thostesen - Enthusiasm This book presents 24 restaurants from around the world, considered among the best (San Pellegrino top 50 and so on). There are photos, menus and descriptions, no recipes. Chauvet Michel - Encyclopédie des plantes alimentaires A treatise on edible plants, with more than 700 species. French language. Van Damme Roger - Njam - Desserts Plated desserts by the restaurant Het Gebaar from Belgium, 1 michelin star, unfortunately it's only in Dutch language. Kruithof Martin - De Varende Chef 2 michelin star restaurant from the Netherlands, unfortunately it's only in Dutch language. Goujon Gilles - Gilles Goujon à Fontjoncouse: ... quelque part en Corbières 3 michelin star restaurant from France, this book seems to have been totally under the radar, I just found the page on Amazon but haven't read it mentioned anywhere else (quite strange for a 3* French restaurant). Pacaud Mathieu - Collection Mathieu Pacaud: Cuisine gastronomique - Volume 1 Author is the son of Bernard Pacaud, chef of L'Ambroisie (3 michelin star restaurant in Paris). After working with his father he opened various restaurants, receiveing 1* or 2* for all of them. This is the 2018 epitome of publishers going BIG with their cookbooks: it costs 150 euro, has 800 pages, dimentions are 36,3 x 27,5 x 9 cm (!!!! 9 cm width! hahahahhaha). And it's just volume 1! Foster Paul - Salt 1 michelin star restaurant from England. This restaurant was opened a couple years ago after a successful kickstarter campaign, in my opinion it's too soon to publish a cookbook, so I have low expectations. Arzak Juan Mari + Elena - Arzak Another book by this 3 michelin star restaurant from Spain. This is said to have 66 dishes from the last 10 years. It has a kindle edition which is relatively cheap ($15). Ruscalleda Carme - Felicidad 3 michelin star restaurant from Spain. Finally we have a professional book by Carme Ruscalleda, just when she decided to close her business. Di Carlo Leonardo - Evoluzione in rivoluzione This is a professional pastry book, text is bi-lingual Italian and English. Seems like the focus is on modern interpretations of baked stuff (viennoiserie, cakes, enriched breads, cookies, so on). Perruchon Jean-Michel - Héritage & Créations New book from Ecole Bellouet et Perruchon, text is bi-lingual French and English. It's based on new interpretations of classic desserts (saint honoré, paris-brest and so on). In my opinion it's the least interesting of their releases, but you can be sure you'll get reliable recipes and great explanations as with all their books. Steinheuer Hans Stefan - Steinheuer: Unsere Wurzeln Gebundenes 2 michelin star restaurant from Germany, only in German language. Hunziker + Ludwigs + Schliephake-Burchardt + Siefert + Vogel - Törtchen: Kunstvolle Konditorei im Kleinformat Seems to be a high quality book on modern pastry, too bad it's only in German language. Wohlfahrt Harald - Die Kochlegende Harald Wohlfahrt 3 michelin star restaurant from Germany, only in German language. Teo

That's a a medium/low value, it's a cake flour, not suitable for panettone. You have no chances to make panettone with that flour, the gluten structure will always collapse during the second mixing stage. You need a flour with at least 13.5% protein content for panettone. But most importantly you need to watch the W and p/l values: W should be around 350, p/l should be around 0.60. The p/l is pretty important because you need "firm" gluten, not extensible gluten. Flour for pizza (for example) has a similar protein content but different ratio between glutenin and gliadin, this gives a different p/l value. For panettone you need "firm" gluten structure, gluten matrix must be able to stand long mixing times; for pizza you need an elastic gluten structure, there's not much need for it to be able to stand long mixing times. If you go below 13% protein content then there isn't enough gluten to give proper firmness to the dough. I have zero experience with vital wheat gluten, I've read about its existence but it's not available here in Italy, never seen it for sale. So I can't give you a solid answer, sorry. It's possible it could be a solution if it has the proper ratio of glutenin and gliadin, but I don't have the answer for this. I would suggest you to look for a flour with 13.5%-14% protein content, which is not labeled as suitable for pizza (for baba/savarin almost ok, for bread so-so, for pizza no). I don't think you will find something ideal for panettone, you need the peculiar values I wrote above, which are ideal only for panettone and similars (pandoro, focaccia veneziana...) but not ideal for other uses (pizza, bread, whatever). Producers make and sell that particular flour if they have enough request. Here in Italy those enriched breads are a strong tradition, outside Italy there's not much request. Try to avoid stuff like pizza flour, otherwise you will end up with something similar to melted cheese during the second mixing stage. If you can't find a flour with such high protein content, then try adding vital wheat gluten to reach around 14-14.5%. Don't know how to do the math since I don't know the protein content of vital wheat gluten (don't know if it's 100% protein or less). If there is some Italian bakery near you that makes panettone, then try to ask them what flour they uses. If you have other questions / doubts about panettone then feel free to ask, there's a lot of misinformation on most foreign books. The recipe in the Reinhart book has nothing to do with panettone, same with almost all recipes I've read in books in English language. Teo

The most probable cause is you used the wrong flour. To be successful with panettone (the real stuff) you need a strong flour with peculiar gluten content, it must be able to stand the long mixing times required for panettone otherwise the gluten structure collapse during the second mixing stage. Can you write the W and p/l values of the flour you used? (The recipe in the Reinhart book is not for the real panettone, it's something completely different) Teo

Hi Kerry, I tried to write you a personal message but the forum says you can't receive messages, so I'm writing here. I would like to ask you a favour, since you are at the World Chocolate Masters competition. I'm friend with Maurizio Frau, the Italian contendant. If you see him, can you sing him "Living in Sardinia" on the notes of "Living in America" by James Brown? It's a joke between him and me, I adapted the lyrics for him (see below) for the Italian championship. It brought good luck that time, hope it will bring good luck this time too! I'm asking just for singing "Living in Sardinia", not the full lyrics/song of course... Thanks a lot! Teo --------------------------------------- LIVING IN SARDINIA Ladling cocoa mold to mold just easy to pour anywhere World championship to be won; just carry over the pièce How does it feel when there's no destination that's too far And somewhere on the way you might find out who will win? Living in Sardinia, bean to bar, bonbon to bonbon Living in Sardinia, hand to hand across the region Living in Sardinia, got to have a celebration! I live in Sardinia I live in Sardinia You may not be looking for the tempered bar But you might find it anyway Under one of those old familiar names, like Selargius Elmas Domusnovas Quartucciu, CA Selargius Elmas Domusnovas Quartucciu, CA Tresnuraghes Arzana Calangianus Tresnuraghes Arzana Calangianus Seneghe and Elmas Living in Sardinia, bean to bar, bonbon to bonbon Living in Sardinia, hand to hand across the region Living in Sardinia, got to have a celebration!

I can think of 2 possible explanations on why it wasn't in temper with the method I suggested: - insufficient agitation (if the temper test fails, then agitate more); - wrong temperature (don't know how precise your machine is, maybe try to check with a thermometer that the chocolate really is at 31°C and not more). If you want to use the down-up method (go to the lower tempering window temperature then raise it to the high tempering window temperature) then I would suggest to go down to 29°C and not 27°C, since 27°C gives you a block of solid chocolate. Teo

Yup, that's how some tempering machines work. Teo

Dark chocolate has different working temperatures than milk chocolate or white chocolate. The classic simplified explanation is that the tempering window for dark chocolate is between 28°C and 32°C (what I'm writing in this post is not totally accurate, but being accurate would take a lot of words, you'll find them when your library will get the professional book by Greweling). If you go under 28°C then the chocolate start to crystallize, becoming solid. If you want that chocolate to remain in temper and get back in the fluid state then you can keep it between 30°C and 32°C, but it takes a lot of time (decades ago pastry chef used this method leaving the chocolate for the whole night). If you go over 32°C then the chocolate melts quicker, but you loose the temper (again, not accurate, this is the safe old explanation). Since this time you are working with dark chocolate, then I would suggest to melt the chocolate around 38°C-40°C (so you'll have to wait less time for it to cool), then cool it to 31°C, when it reaches 31°C agitate it (with the paddle attachment or a rubber spatula), then check if it's tempered. There's no need going under 31°C for your purposes. These are the temperatures for dark chocolate. For milk and white chocolate you need to lower them around 2°C (tempering window 26°C-30°C). Teo

Some other professional releases scheduled for next year: Nobuyuki Matsuhisa - "World of Nobu" mixed feelings about this Richard Bertinet - "Crumb: Show the dough who's boss" last years we've been overloaded with bread books, so I'll pass even if he is a good author Asaert + Declercq - "Roger & I: 42 chefs talk about their mentor Roger Souvereyns" Souvereyns made the history of fine dining in Belgium, I don't know what to expect from this book format Nathan Outlaw - "Restaurant Nathan Outlaw" English restaurant with 2 michelin stars, I wasn't that impressed with his previous books, but I'm curious about this one Teo

Some other titles for the next months: Albert Adrià - "Tapas. Tickets Cuisine" this is the English translation of the first Tickets book that came out in Spanish in 2013, not to be confused with the second book titled "Tickets Evolution" Juliette Nothomb - "Totally Godiva: Life Is a Praline" Godiva means chocolate history, but this book seems simplified for home use, so I'll pass Marc Lepine - "Atelier: The Cookbook" about time, Canadian fine dining restaurants need more book deals, I'm curious about this Day + Fauchald - "Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions" Muldoon + McGarry - "The Dead Rabbit Mixology & Mayhem" a couple releases for the cocktail aficionados Teo

Holy crap that's some precision there! Teo

Jason Atherton - Social Sweets Atherton is an English chef with a restaurant empire, a couple of his restaurants have a michelin star. This dessert book is aimed to the home cook, but it's a bit different than the usual stuff. Most of the time chefs pick some of the stuff they make at their restaurants and simplify them to the extreme. In this case Atherton chose the desserts that can be made at home, without dumbing them down. The book is divided in these sections: breads & muffins; biscuits; classics; restaurant desserts; ice cream & sorbets; cheese; basics. Breads & muffins and biscuits are relative simple sections, any casual home cook can approach them without much troubles. Classics is in the middle: some recipes are pretty straightforward, others require good skills. Restaurant desserts is the longest section, this is aimed to the advanced home cook or even the professionals.Recipes call for solid skills and are time consuming, since each dessert is composed of a lot of different components. Desserts are creative and with unusual pairings, one example: basil sorbet, strawberries, yuzu yoghurt and black pepper meringue. As a professional I really liked this section, you could make these desserts at a michelin star restaurant and no one would complain. I loved the cheese section too, since this subject is too often overlooked. This is less involved than the restaurant desserts, but there are a good amount of fine plates. If you are an advanced home cook looking for some new adventures in pastry, then it's a great book. If you are a casual home cook and want to stay there then you can find some good stuff, but it's the minority of the pages. If you are a professional then you can find many great plated desserts and something more. Teo

Tommy Banks - "Roots" This book has been a nice surprise. Banks is the chef of an English countryside pub with 1 michelin star. I would say his cooking style is influenced by the Nordic movement: big focus on local vegetables, similar plating style, modern techniques, while at the same time being close to his pub roots. The book is divided into 3 major seasons (intead of the usual 4). Each season has some pages dedicated on describing it, then a good amount of recipes. Dishes are grouped by the vegetable that stars in it, for example there are some dishes based on garlic, others on rhubarb and so on. The focus is on poor ingredients, not on the usual stars of fine dining. My favourite dishes are the desserts, they are on the "not so sweet" side, full of inventive and using many unusual ingredients (like blackcurrant leaves). Dishes (plateware) are wonderful too, there are some two colored dishes that have a great scenic impact. Don't judge this book from the photos on Amazon, they are the worst ones. @gfron1: this book is for you, there are acorns too! Teo

You just don't know it yet, but within a year you will be building dark chocolate lightsabers. Teo

You joined the side of dark chocolate, goooooooooood! Teo

My apologies for not specifying the version to get is the professional one. Teo

Did you get the professional version (first edition has a black cover, second edition has a red cover) or the "at home" version (this has some pretzels on the cover)? About the old milk chocolate, I would try to add some neutral vegetable oil to make it more fluid. Teo

I read this: just after this: and thought "only on eGullet!" Teo

Thanks for pointing this out. I must confess I'm totally ignorant on this kind of machines, I never used one in real life (I only worked with the tabling method or with a Selmi, from an extreme to the other). Teo