jmacnaughtan

Is that 1:1? I always do mine by weight. Try measuring 4 ounces of cream next time

Just bake it for longer.

I made a Mont Blanc for dessert yesterday. It was nice, but I couldn't help monkeying around with the flavours (adding ginger and lemon) so it didn't really taste like a Mont Blanc. Still tasty, though. Mont Blanc Speculoos, ginger and chestnut base Chestnut and brandy buttercream Lemon chantilly French meringue batons

Try a straight 1:1 ratio of dark chocolate to cream. That's not too thin, and if you need it thicker you can let it set a little.

Hmmm. I should probably start paying attention to hashtags. But I do like his work - I'd particularly like to try his fresh almond one. But that means waiting until they're back in season

Very cute Have you been browsing Cédric Grolet's new book?

Or you could go in a completely different direction, and do it with potatoes and smoked sausage, Savoyard style. It's what I do with baked Mont d'Or and it always goes over well Although if you can find Mont d'Or, I strongly recommend getting some and baking it. Not for the party though- you don't want to share it with too many people.

Heh. I do occasionally put unneeded equipment under the bed, but something prevents me from keeping actual ingredients in there. Probably the fear I'll forget them and cultivate a vigorous insect/rodent/vagrant population directly underneath where I sleep.

Probably better not to ask what the flour was doing in the bedroom.

Butter. Admittedly less practical as a gym snack, but it will give you the calories you need.

Haha, there's nothing wrong with baking equipment that has character I think the key is just to use as much butter as possible. Then a little more.

I only line tins that might overflow - that way I can put a collar on them. For loaf tins, I just generously butter and coat in flour. Even for really wet batters like pain d'épices, it never sticks.

You're welcome. INA put a load of excellent vintage videos on YouTube; you should check them out.

Plain old blown sugar should work. You can stretch that extremely thinly, but it requires a lot more sugarwork skill than I have...

They look good! Pommes soufflées aren't something I've attempted myself, but I found that Raymond Oliver seems to give a good idea of how it's done. With lot's of hot oil shaking, etc. (It's in French - if you want to get straight to the blanching part, it's at the 10 minute mark or thereabouts)

Thanks I was running short on time, so I had to make do with standard Nestlé white from the local supermarket. I do enjoy Opalys though, and it would certainly be a better fit for the dessert. My problem with it is that it's too dangerous having big bags of white chocolate lying around...

No, not the Hervé This version. This one was white chocolate and double cream, at 100:180, but I suppose at this ratio it's almost a whipped ganache (with dark chocolate I do 150:400). I needed something that I could make quickly and still be able to pipe.

More fun playing around with piping tips, this time with the wide fluted "Chantilly" tip. White chocolate tart Sablé breton, hazelnut and ginger base White chocolate and clementine chantilly Hazelnuts, candied orange and ginger Still a work in progress. I can handle a big sugar hit from white chocolate, but it seems other people can't, so there's a big pinch of Maldon salt in both the base and the chantilly. It probably needs something sharp to balance it out; diners still commented on the sweetness... Pretty, though. Also, I can't I've never done a white chocolate chantilly before. It's so easy, the texture is wonderful, it holds its shape beautifully and it's so damn quick to make.

I occasionally like to add black pudding to my bolognese. It makes it really rich It's also good to cook the meat as a whole piece in the sauce, then shred it and stir it back in. The texture's different from a standard sauce, but I like it.

Truer words were never spoken.

I can imagine that working. But surely, that's a dangerous thing to bring into the office...

Why is it called a love cake? Even with me at the table, that's a lot of cake for two people...

I've realised that, while I've got a decent set, I only ever really use my trusty 10mm plain piping tip. So yesterday I broke out the St Honoré. Chocolate tart Sablé breton, cedar pine nut, orange and chocolate base. Chocolate chantilly Candied orange Toasted cedar pine nuts

It's in the Japanese district, not far from the Opéra Garnier: a place called Naritake ramen, on the rue des Petits Champs. There are a few nearby, but this does the proper heavy Hokkaido style ramen with (allegedly) hand-pulled noodles. It's like a hug in a bowl.

Ah, I see. Have you checked around the Chinese quarter in (I think) the 13th? It's near metro Maison Blanche, where the big avenues form a triangle. There's also a few big Chinese supermarkets there, which are always fun to visit