DianaM

I have only used gold leaf so far, it has a lot of static, that's what makes it stick (to chocolate at least, that's where I used it). Not sure about the flakes, but the gold leaf would just stick to the bottom or sides of the grinder or mortar, and I believe it would be impossible to scrape off.

Holy cacao! I'd better place my order, then. Thanks!

They all look beautiful, great shine. And how do you like the Cacao Barry single origins?

Did you have a chance to use the book? How do you like it?

The chocolate squiggles are Viennese sablés, also from Pierre Hermé's book. They're my favourite cookie EVER! Recipe on its way via PM.

Made these for Christmas to give to friends. And I made Hermé's Black Forest cake from the chocolate book, for Christmas dinner. Didn't get a pic of the cake though, people demolished it (in the good sense ) before I had had a chance to.

Sounds great! Do you think 2 weeks is a reasonable time to keep them frozen?

Bumping up this thread with another SMBC question. I love using it for cakes, but have only made vanilla, and chocolate SMBC so far. Both delicious, but I do love variety. I understand it can be flavoured with coffee, lemon curd, fruit purees, praline paste, liqueurs etc. Does anyone have ratios for how much flavouring I can use, so that it does not change the fluffy texture of the BC, or make it "weep" or cause it to separate? I am using this recipe (Bo Friberg's, if I remember right): 240 ml egg whites 400 g granulated sugar 600 g butter vanilla and salt Thank you.

Pastrygirl, I am very interested in the results of your experiment. I am planning to make macs as favours for my son's baptism, and being able to make and freeze them ahead of time would save me from this last-minute baking frenzy. Especially since they are so temperamental. Also, if anyone has experience freezing the shells only, and cares to share what they know, I would greatly appreciate it.

Baselerd, where did you source the dry hibiscus? I know it is part of certain tea blends, but I don't believe I have ever seen it sold on its own. The colour of that sorbet is amazing, by the way.

Bojana, those look awesome, you had me drooling over your pics. I have a chocolate project to finish this week, but after that I am hoping for some ice-cream and pavlova action. Hopefully mine will look as good as yours and Leslie's.

My vote is for chewy centres, I myself don't like dry meringue. I believe the British are also fond of pavlovas, I own a couple of Nigella Lawson books, and there's a recipe in both of them (maybe the same recipe, lol). Usually I've had it topped with whipped cream (instead of mascarpone) and fruit, whatever's in season. Rhubarb, or berries are my first choices. Looking forward to the pics!

I hear ya! Those blasted ribbons are a killer on the knuckles, not to mention it always took me twice as much time as I'd have thought.

They both look beautiful! I think the colour of the hearts is right on, that's what I think "coral" should look like. I love that the splatter is different on the domes, looks really neat! How are you going to package them - can you use clear tops/boxes, to show off the colours and patterns?

Thank you, Jo. I will try to age the custard in the fridge next time, and also, will attempt either the plain vanilla, or an infusion like Chai tea, or Earl Grey. I was using a commercial hazelnut paste, and maybe they add some oil in, raising the fat content (as compared to the hazelnut paste Ruben was using). I am guessing this too might throw the formula off. Still have got a lot to learn about the ingredient ratios, but it sure is a delicious learning experience. :-)

I have a few questions for everyone who has tried the icecreamscience method. Yesterday I tried to make the roasted hazelnut ice-cream on Ruben's website, BUT I only cooked the custard for about 40 minutes (my patience ran out at this point, sorry). Also, I did NOT age it overnight in the fridge, just cooled it in the ice-bath, and started churning it when it got really cold. I have the Cuisinart ICE-20 (with the 2-quart bowl), and I used a hazelnut paste from Cacao Barry. The flavour is great, and in the mouth it melts smoothly, without leaving a heavy film on the palate, like some of Jeni's recipes do. However, when it was done churning, it looked... grainy, sandy?! Not even sure if this is the right word for it, as I have never experienced a texture like this, although I have made ice-cream many, many times using the custard method. So here is a pic I took today, after the ice-cream has had a night in my (-18C) freezer. Where I scoop, it looks smooth, but the top still has that grainy look. I know that when you don't follow a formula, you're asking for trouble, I just would like to know your thoughts on what may have caused this texture. Again, the taste is everything I like about ice-cream, but the look... not quite. Thanks in advance for any help!

Bojana, I am interested. If you could please post your formula, that would be great. Thanks!

I'm going to venture the guess that adding flour, then mixing on high speed would effectively "drag" all those flour particles through the foam, thereby popping the tiny bubbles. Like dragging a dry tennis ball through the foam in a bubble bath - would you expect that action to create or to destroy bubbles? This is just a theory. As far as folding goes, what tool do you use to fold the flour in? In most the recipes I've seen, it is said that folding should be done with a spatula. I prefer to use a balloon whisk to incorporate the flour, and have gotten great results this way.

There are few things in life as satisfying as watching rise a bread that you made yourself. When you use the fresh yeast, you may notice that your dough will rise more, and will be more airy than dough made with dried yeast. If you have the time and inclination, here's a blog post with a side-by-side comparison of a dough made with dried yeast and fresh, it's quite interesting: http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2006/07/11/arrested-and-kept-forever/

Firstly, I want to thank Kerry for all the work she put into organizing the workshop, and for providing such a great playground for us. It was so much fun to see everyone again, and also to make new friends. My phone camera doesn't really do it justice, but this is a selection of the ingredients we were able to play with: We had everything from gianduja, hazelnut paste, praline grains, almonds, pectin etc., to more unusual ingredients (hello peanut(butter) powder), not to mention a fridge and freezer full of fruit purees of all kinds, fresh citrus and herbs, and of course tons of cream and butter to make ganaches and caramel to our hearts' content. Some of the things I have learned or was inspired by: -using powdered colours to obtain coloured cocoa butters -by tasting ganache textures and mouthfeel comparatively, I learned what my preferences are -caramelized white chocolate -fixing a broken ganache -the splatter technique with cocoa butter -different applications for pate de fruit -Steve's dehydrator setup for cocoa butters -using a refractometer, not a thermometer to determine when pdf is cooked Like Willow, I also had some a-ha moments during discussions with my fellow attendees, from different techniques of making ganaches (tempered, yes or no) or pdf (acid, yes or no), business advice, chocolate brand preferences and pricing, equipment options, information about local suppliers, chocolate and pastry courses etc. Some of my biases were challenged, and it was very valuable to get different opinions on these topics. I also updated my ongoing wishlist with these two items that I now badly need: -a guitar (I have a feeling hubby might not be cool with this one... :-) ) -a refractometer Between the wonderful group of people, and the fabulous food, I had a fantastic time, and can hardly wait to see everyone again. (We'll just have to see how to work out some babysitting arrangements... :-).

I am not sure what you mean by "regular yeast," but here is a formula from Peter Reinhart: 100% fresh/cake yeast = 40-50% active dry yeast = 33% instant yeast This is the formula BY WEIGHT. So, if your recipe calls for 10 grams active dry yeast, you'd use 20 grams of cake yeast. If your recipe calls for instant yeast, then you roughly triple the quantity.

Thanks ... that's pretty much the advice I've received. There is a problem with this approach: if the recipe was written and tested by the author using the "dip and level" technique, you will be in trouble. I speak from experience. I attempted a genoise from a book, and spooned the flour into the measuring cup, instead of dipping and levelling. When everything was mixed in, the batter was a disaster, there wasn't enough starch to balance the moisture of the recipe, and the result was simply unusable. This was years ago, but I still remember that I wasted 12 eggs and 2 vanilla beans in that recipe - ugh!! I also have a major issue with measuring spoons, because you use them to measure leavening, and using the wrong quantity can ruin your cake. And this is why I avoid like the plague all recipes that don't give weights. If I find a recipe that uses volume measurements, and I am dead set on making it, I test it first. And when I test it, I take note of the weights of all ingredients (ideally), or at least the dry ones (if I'm in a hurry). Some authors will be nice enough to include at the beginning or end of their book a section wherein they will specify how to measure, Martha Stewart's cookie book has one, for example. But I fully agree with Lisa, a scale is your best assurance of consistent results in baking.

So far it looks like 6-ish.

Turns out we have feuilletine and praline paste thanks to callebaut - a couple less things you'll need to drag along! Ok, perfect! A lighter load sounds good, especially since I now have another kind of "luggage" to carry around. What room we are meeting in for the show and tell?

Kerry, I still have most of the sorbitol you gave me a year ago. I can bring it, it's about 200gr in powder.