SethG
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Everything posted by SethG
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Sorry about your cake, Richard. I decided to make the Grenobloise tomorrow. I'll make the Pave when I get the right pan.
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That "pineapple" looks INSANE. Before I read your post, Kevin, I assumed you'd made it. Can't wait to see yours. (Edit: I see the photo's gone-- anyway, it looked INSANE when I could see it.) Okay, so I'm undecided. No one seemed at all turned on by my savarin suggestion. I don't think I want to make the Black Forest Cake. We have some friends coming over Sunday, but the Black Forest Cake seems a bit too much of a production for a friendly visit on a Sunday afternoon. So I'm back to the Pave, or (and this just occurred to me) the Tarte Grenobloise. I'm now thinking I could divide the Pave dough among an 8 x 4 pan, and one or two little mini-loaf pans (little 5-inchers). That way my 8 x 4 Pave won't be too squat. I may have to bake it a touch longer, but everything else should work, right? Somebody decide for me, please.
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If you can't buy Herme's chocolate creations, you can at least make them yourself!
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Agreed. I'll put it even more plainly than I did above. I take it all back. I'm sorry. I wish the Doughnut Plant great success.
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Always a treat to see you stop by, Dorie.
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Let's see a pic, mom! (Edit: Thanks for the pics! Those look tasty.) I thought about making the Pave this weekend, too, but I don't have the right loaf pan and need to mail-order it. I might do it with an 8x4 pan and have a slightly squatter Pave. What do you pastry geniuses think? Will that work okay?
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I'm planning to make something this weekend, and I was toying with the Savarin, but then I was thinking about making something lemony from Sherry Yard instead. I could be convinced to go with Pierre, though. Anybody else?
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I've had second thoughts about this thread a few times since I started it more than a year ago. (First of all, I'd like to point out that I do know how to spell "artisanal.") To be clear, I never meant to say that we shouldn't expect to pay for premium ingredients. Or for artisanal, slow methods. A perfect croissant, for example, is a thing of beauty, and I'll pay whatever it costs. Same goes for cakes, chocolates, or even lemon squares. I just questioned whether the lowly donut was really worth such devotion or cost. Anyway, I had a Doughnut Plant jelly donut the other day. These were featured last week in Florence Fabricant's column in the NY Times Dining In/Dining Out Section. The donuts have jelly inside, but it's piped all the way around the donut, which still has a hole. And the jelly is imported from Italy. The Doughnut Plant guy reportedly spent years developing them. I was prepared to be underwhelmed, and to disapprove. (They can't find good jelly here in the U.S.A.? Wouldn't Alice Waters recommend a local, farmer's market jelly?) But the donut rocked my world. That was a fantastic frickin' donut. The dough was delicious. It somehow managed to be most definitely fried in taste, and greasy (in the best way), but still rather light for its size and not at all soggy. Was it worth $2.40? I dunno. But I no longer believe such a price exposes New Yorkers as fools.
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This article from Sunday's New York Times (free registration required) offers a guide to Paris chocolatiers. It is not exhaustive, but provides the author's "selection of those most worthy of your time." The shops on the list: Angelina (just for hot chocolate) La Charlotte de L'Isle (just for hot chocolate) Michel Chaudun Christian Constant Pierre Herme Jean-Paul Hevin La Maison du Chocolat A post about this article here in Pastry & Baking has resulted in no discussion. I have no expertise in this area, but I wonder if any of you do. Did this article include any unworthy choices? Are there other "must-see" chocolatiers left out?
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This all begs the question: so what the hell is in it, then? Looking around their website, I'm finding only doublespeak. Can't we just come full circle to lard?
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Forgive my ignorance, but what is this "new" Crisco?
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Suzanne, you might be thinking about this thread here, in which one of our young "idealist" members posted some rather naive questions about the fish market's demise. He seemed quite worked up about it, but didn't really have the goods. A rebel without a cause. I don't recall him ever checking with those fish vendors in Chinatown as he promised. Poseurs like him never follow through. Suzanne, seriosly, you think moving Les Halles was the right thing to do? Please tell me why.
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I'm bringing my caramels (which, AHEM, look great, don't they, people?) to my in-laws today, and the remainder I'll bring to work tomorrow. I brought my chocolate/hazelnut sables to work the day after Thanksgiving and they were gone, it seemed, in seconds. The tart I made last week was intended to be shared with some friends of ours, but they canceled when their son got sick. Then my wife had to stay late at work and I was left to confront it alone! I managed. Edit: Nice work, lemon curd! I didn't see your caramels before I posted.
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Oops, I'm sorry, Guanaja (70%) is what I used, not Manjari. Here are my caramels: They are really great. They are soft, but again, from appearances I think mine may not be quite as soft as Patrick's. I can't say I taste any lemon. The balance of caramel and chocolate is delicious. These are really an easy candy to make. The whole process takes around half an hour or so. And it doesn't require any fussy caramel stuff (such as washing down the sides of the pot as the sugar cooks to avoid the formation of crystals).
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I made the caramels tonight, and I'm afraid something may have gone wrong. Mine are much darker than Patrick's-- they're basically the color of Valrhona Manjari, the chocolate I used. Patrick, did you use a milk chocolate? Yours don't look much like the ones in the book, but I'm not sure mine do either. And it seemed like a long time before the mixture reached 243 degrees. I'll let you guys know how they come out tomorrow. When I tasted from the pot, I got a good hit of caramel and even more of chocolate. Edit: Here's an aritcle about some of Paris' best chocolate shops, including Pierre Herme's place near St. Sulpice. The article notes that Pierre Herme is "widely considered the greatest pastry chef in the world."
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It doesn't make any sense to use a pizza stone in a microwave-- it won't be preheated, and the heat doesn't radiate like it does in a conventional oven.... I just don't see any reason it would work. Plates get hot in the microwave, but not so as to have any browning effect on the food. And microwaves do horrible things to breads. Just say no.
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Nice caramels-- and nice photos, once again!
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Patrick, I'll be very interested to see your photo of the caramels. It's one of my favorite photos in the book, and I'm obviously not much of a photographer, but it looks like a challenging subject to me. Should a bunch of us make those caramels this weekend? I'm very tempted by that Tart Grenobloise, but it'd be nice to jump around the book and not do two tarts or cakes in a row. So I'd propose that one for next week, or in a couple weeks (given the approaching holidays). What do you think? Anyone is welcome to propose anything, by the way. I'll just be jumping in to propose something if no one does. And of course, people keep making whatever they want from the book and posting pictures, which I think is great too.
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I'm definitely the beginner in this crowd. Kevin, your stuff looks amazing. If I may say so myself, I purposely toasted the hazelnuts a few extra minutes before I used them in the Nutella tart, and I thought they came out beautifully browned. I toasted for 14-15 mins instead of 10-12. Gotta keep watch, though. Burnt nuts suck.
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Beautiful cookies, albiston.
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Love those tarts! I like the decoration around the border, lannie. I went the opposite route-- I omitted the optional decorations, and went for the austere non-fluted, non-piped look: This tart is super. I'll definitely make it again. The sweet tart dough is so tasty. I was rolling it out, thinking how easy it was to work with, when I suddenly ripped it into several pieces. I piled it all back into a disk and stuck it in the freezer for half an hour, then started rolling again, more carefully this time. This was my first time using a tart ring. (Why do I feel dirty when I say "tart ring?") It worked out really well. The ring came right off, at which point I slid the tart and parchment paper onto a rack. Then after it cooled I moved it to a cake round, slid out the paper, and felt like a pro. Edited for two reasons: 1) I looked back at the book, and clearly the person who made the tart for the picture in the book used many fewer hazelnuts than specified in the recipe. If you want your tart to look like that, cut back on the hazelnuts by half or prehaps even more. I didn't even use all the hazelnuts I toasted and mine was chock full of 'em (which I like, so it suits me fine). 2) What chocolate did you guys use? I used Scharffen Berger Semi-Sweet (62%), which I happened to have on hand, and I thought the balance with the Nutella was great. I wouldn't change it.
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Patrick, if this goes on much longer Dorie's going to hire you to photograph desserts for her next book. Beautiful work.
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Curses! I unexpectedly couldn't get on the web from work for most of the day today, so I hedged my bets and bought a pound each of the Manjari (64.5%) and the Guanaja (70.5%). I thought for sure it would be one of them-- most of Pierre's recipes seem to call for one or the other. Oh, well. More stash for the future.
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Hey, I forgot to check the book this morning. Can anyone tell me which chocolate is called for in the Nutella Tart (besides Nutella, obviously)? Five ounces, right?
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I'm kinda busy, but I'd like to make something this weekend, and I have Herme's sweet tart dough burning a hole in my freezer... if that's possible. Anyone wanna make the Nutella tart (p. 119)? It looks really simple, but it does involve ganache, so a bit more technique is required than was needed for the apricot/ginger cake.
