SethG

If Cole Porter is to be believed, in the winter it drizzles.

Cuisinart seems to be the way to go. I checked around the web and it appears the Krups machine is being phased out. Many shops have none in stock. If you go to the Krups site, they have a new model but there's not much descriptive info about it and no one seems to be carrying it yet.

I'm bumping this because I'm thinking about getting a $50 ice cream machine. Many like the Cuisinart. Alton Brown says the Krups is the best, and that it can stay cold enough to make two btaches in a row. Any current opinions on these or other models?

Well perhaps, but apparently I actually have one of the rare 7 1/2 by 3 1/2 loaf pans and the ginger apricot batter did not fit in this size pan hahahahyahnotfunny. I didn't realize I didn't have the requisite size. ← I just did a search and it looks like 7.5x3.5 pans can be easily mail-ordered. I just haven't seen any in the shops. Looks like you're all set for the Pave! Sorry you had that problem with the apricot/ginger cake.

I think I'll be using it for everything too. As a by-product of the cookies I have two disks of the sweet tart dough in the freezer. I thought everything went pretty smoothly-- I think the only caution I'd offer is to avoid rolling out the tart dough too far. It is very easy to roll. I got carried away and mine was a rolled out a little too thin. Also, I used the alternate method for peeling hazelnuts (blanching them in boiling water with baking soda), and I thought it worked very well. Last thing: the recipe says you'll get about 150 cookies, but I was unable to cut the dough thin enough to get that many. I got something like 110. I don't think my cookies suffered for it. And they were done within the specified period of time despite their (rather slight) overthickness. The longer you refrigerate the block, the easier it will be to cut the dough as you please. I was a little pressed for time, and my first wave of cookies was cut about three hours after the block of dough went into the fridge. The second batch was at about four hours, and it was easier to cut. Edit: By the way, today I stopped into one of my favorite places, New York Cake & Baking Distibutors (on West 22nd between 5th & 6th), and I bought myself a savarin mold. So I'm good to go for the Cinnamon Savarin Au Rhum (p.26) at some point in the future. I also looked for 7 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch loaf pans (for the Faubourg Pave (p. 17)), but I don't think such pans are easily found in the United States (I've looked around and haven't seen any). If I ever make the Pave, I think I'll just use eight by four pans. Don't you think Dorie ought to have adapted that one to a more commonly-used size?

I think I will make them again. I prefer cookies like this-- made into a slab and sliced into pieces for baking. I get really bored with cookies that require a lot of individual shaping or fussing. The sweet tart dough that sandwiches the chocolate, by the way, is incredibly good. I had a bunch of raw scraps left over (because I rolled the pieces out a little too thin) and man, were they delicious. The cookies look as if they might have the texture of a brownie, but they're actually firm and crispy.

I lived on the UWS for five years, and it was always a restaurant wasteland (although it did begin to improve a lot by the time I left in July 1999). But I could never figure out why the Chinese restaurants in particular were in general so god-awful. The fact the Ollies was always packed spoke volumes, since it capital-s SUCKED. I've seen a lot of comments on eGullet about why the UWS is bad for restaurants in general-- but I would've thought that the UWS, with its large population of Jews and takeout regulars, would be a great place for Chinese food. Why is it not the case?

I'm still cranking out some pies, but here's my Herme cookies: These cookies are great. Sorry for the blurry pic. More later.

Okay, so I've been charged with bread/dessert duty for Thanksgiving, and I feel like I need to do some traditional items. So I'm making a pumpkin pie and an apple pie. And I think I'm going to make Steve Sullivan's pumpkin/cranberry/walnut bread, which is in Baking With Julia. Having got that stuff out of the way, I'll make Pierre Herme's Hazelnut Chocolate Sables (p. 69). And I hope to post a pic. Anyone else want to make them? They may not be a traditional Thanksgiving item, but the chocolate part and the sweet dough can be made days ahead, so they might be a good choice for the holiday.

Bread Books for the Home Baker.

We went to Babbo last night for my wife's birthday, and had a wonderful time. We were twenty minutes late because of a subway snafu, but they sat us anyway. We felt very lucky. It seemed pretty sleepy for a Saturday. We had the pasta tasting menu-- and the server allowed us to sub the beef cheek ravioli for Mario's pyramids. The pasta is so fantastic at Babbo, I can understand why people prefer it to the mains. But I don't buy the idea that the mains are subpar or out of keeping with the restaurant's 3-star rating. The special entree I had a few months ago was wondefrul. The whole experience struck just the right note for us. The service was informal but extremely knowledgeable. The meal was well-paced, unhurried. And the mix of dishes and tastes was perfect. (Of course we messed up the balance of the tasting menu by having beef cheek ravioli right before the Bolognese. But so what.) Music was muted upstairs, but it included Bob Marley, AC/DC, and the Beastie Boys.

You're talking about this cocoa, right? $26! That is truly amazing. I paid $11. How did Suzie's cake come out, Albiston? I want to make that one too. I'm glad you posted a photo. My cake is essentially the shape of yours, but the color of the one in the book. And it's good to see you guys here, Heather and brngckn

I had the same experience with the food processor-- my almond paste wasn't breaking up, so I gave the food processor a whir. Then my mixture was already like mayo by the time I finished adding the eggs. I kept mixing anyway, however, just to see if it got thicker. I don't thnk it made much of a difference. About the sinking, If you look at the picture in the book it seems like the example cake also had all the fruit sink to the bottom. In my cake, though, that didn't happen. My fruit stayed pretty evenly spread throughout, although I can't tell you why.

Oh I know it should be easy. But the two supermarkets by my apartment are often out of the strangest things. Last week I couldn't find blanched slivered almonds. As it happened, I got everything and made the cake. I got Valrhona cocoa. I was sure that it wasn't Dutch processed because it said only "unsweetened" on the label. Then when I got home I looked at Medrich's section on cocoa in Bittersweet, and saw that the Valrhona cocoa is Dutch processed, but the retail packaging for it doesn't say so (apparently the wholesale stuff is labeled more clearly). The cake came out great-- I'd post a pic, but my camera's on the fritz. It looks pretty much just like the one in the book, except it's more rectangular owing to the shape of my pan. The ginger and apricot add nice sophistication to the basic cake-- I think there could be more of both. I think this cake would be pretty hard to mess up. It's a world away from the Carioca in the dessert book that I made last week. It also doesn't deliver the same kind of shock and awe. But it's a tasty little cake.

Thank you for those photos. I can't wait to see the desserts.

K8, if I may call you K8, I got so caught up in your enthusiasm that I decided definitely to make the Apricot & Ginger cake this weekend! Surely there must be another good cocoa besides Valrhona, so you don't have to wait? You got the ginger, which must have been the greater challenge. (I actually trooped to whole foods this evening, only to arrive ten minutes after closing. But I already have the ginger, and expect no trouble in obtaining cocoa/chocolate... I'm more worried that tomorrow I'll fail to find almond paste.)

So, dude, what neighborhood did you buy into? Your kitchen plan is making me jealous. I have no advice for you. P.S. I'm in Prospect Heights.

The book lists the percentages of all the recommended Valrhonas on p. 268. I think I'm unlikely to use Valrhona much because it's so dear-- at least in the one shop where I've seen it sold in NYC. I might look into internet ordering for future baking, though. Don't go with Baker's-- if a dessert is really a showcase for chocolate then Baker's really isn't good enough. Many of the premium brands list percentages now, so you can sub any brand for Valrhona using percentage as a guide.

So my copy of Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme, written by Dorie Greenspan, finally arrived. I'd like to work through the book (and maybe throw in some stuff from his other book with Dorie Greenspan). And it would be great to have some eGullet bakers along for the ride. Anybody want to make something this weekend? I'm thinking a cake or tart to start with? Maybe the Apricot & Ginger Chocolate Loaf Cake (p. 3) or the Chocolate & Raspberry Tart (p. 97) (if raspberries don't cost $5.00 a half-pint)? I'm totally open to other ideas. I'm also thinking about making something in the middle of next week to bring to my sister-in-law's house for Thanksgiving, maybe the Moist and Nutty Brownies (p. 61), or the Hazelnut Chocolate Sables (p. 69)?

Jack, I don't think I'm following you. You seem to be saying that you put your starter back in the fridge unfed. If you just take out a tablespoon at a time, won't it take a while to empty the jar? And, more to the point, won't the starter over time become a little sluggish, and in need of more than one feed before you can bake from it?

I made a Herme mousse yesterday that involved uncooked eggs, but it also called for adding syrup that was 257 degrees to the eggs. I figured the syrup was intended to get the eggs warm enough to kill any salmonella. Was I wrong?

Look, I don't think I made my profession or economic situation an issue here. And to the extent that you seem to suggest that I'm too rich to understand how most people struggle, I think you are "fussing" with me in particular. But I assure you that you're wrong in many of your assumptions. I am very fortunate (we can afford for the moment to live in Brooklyn, which I guess makes us rich compared to most of the world)-- but my wife and I work very long work weeks, and I still bake bread at least three times a week and cook dinner most nights. I do this because I want to, and I enjoy it. If I didn't love it, I wouldn't do it. It's no sacrifice. You obviously don't love to cook that much. You love food, and you express it in other ways. But other people may have different priorities than you do. And if you value good home cooking, rich or poor you can do it if you want to. You seem to be saying that continuing the tradition of cooking "from scratch" requires either a trust fund or the subjugation of one of the genders. And it isn't so. It isn't so for rich people, and it isn't so for many of the poor immigrant populations I have some contact with in New York. If anything, the poor immigrants, working their asses off, have much greater familiarity with traditional cooking than any group of rich people I've ever seen.

In other words, you look askance at most great food traditions. It is undeniable that women, who were once relegated to the kitchen, are in general to be credited with the survival of home cooking until recent times. It does not follow that a current call to preserve or restore home cooking is a call for the subjugation of women. Far from it.

Well, I made the 1-2-3-4 cake for my son's first birthday party yesterday, and it came out great. But now that I've made it, I'm rather amused to report that it appears the 1-2-3-4 cake is also the foundation of the entire business of a popular cake/cupcake shop in Manhattan called the Magnolia Bakery.

Your 1-2-3-4 cake recipe is essentially identical to the one on the Swans Down Cake Flour box, by the way.