pastryani

Hi Franci - yes you can whip powdered egg whites (just reconstitute the powder with water). I've done it a handful of times for a variety of things (like buttercream and meringue cookies), but the consistency of the finished product (particularly with the cookies) was off. For example the meringue cookies were cracked on the outside and had liquid on the inside seeping out. Either I haven't figured out the correct proportion of egg white powder to liquid yet (highly likely), OR powdered egg whites just play very differently than their fresh white counterparts (or both).

Can powdered egg whites be used to make nougat/torrone? Has anyone had experience with this and been successful? I tried it once with a "3 musketeers" recipe and it was extremely chewy (you could've used it as a doggie pull toy). I'd prefer to use powdered whites but am hesitant to try unless there's a good (and tested) recipe out there (would hate to toss out all that honey, nuts, and fruit if it doesn't turn out well).

Very nice @keychris! SO shiny, and it looks like you used that swirling technique too.

@Bentley what happened to you? I guess I'm the only one posting here now. Most of the squares are filled with rose ganache (very runny - had the consistency of a caramel), the others with a rose jelly.

Caramel/milk chocolate filling in a dark chocolate shell.

@ChocoMom thanks for your nice words!! When will your shop be done? You must post pics and then we'll be the ones drooling!

Lol Bentley I felt the same way so decided to not post, but now that you've paved the way, here goes! Strawberry cream bonbons.

Aww man I wish I had a recipe. It's just habaneros, sugar, and vinegar. I think the original ratio of vinegar to sugar was 1:3, but unfortunately I didn't measure or weigh anything (plus since I didn't add any other fruit to it, I kept having to add more sugar to 'dilute' it out and I just did that to taste). I didn't use pectin or anything to set it - it's just kind of fluid and syrupy. I know you can add red peppers/peaches/pineapple/etc. to it to cut the heat. At this point I think I should make a fruit jam separately and then combine the two since this stuff is SO potent. A word of caution: Don't smell the mixture while it's heating - the capsaicin-laden steam is tough on the lungs (seems like this would be obvious, but as foodies we tend to want to smell and taste everything). Edit: Also remember to wear GLOVES!!

Lol "evil beasties"!!! Thanks all - I melted it down and everything dissolved. I didnt see the post about the water earlier so I didn't add any extra water, so I'm guessing it'll develop crystals sooner this time. Once I transferred it to a clean jar I made the mistake of licking the spoon. man that stuff is hot. Sweet, but dang hot.

It's gritty... when I heat it up it melts out, but I'm guessing spores would melt away too?! Do you know why this happens? How to prevent it? Add glucose to the mix?!

I made a habanero jam (has sugar and vinegar) ~2 yrs ago and stuck it in the fridge. It's not cut with anything like fruit, so it's SUPER SPICY. Needless to say, I don't use a lot of it. The other day I was digging around in the back of the fridge and found this. Is this bad/harmful sporific growth or just sugar crystallizing?

@Tere that is so sweet of you - thanks for such a nice thought! It turns out they're available through Amazon if the hankering gets really strong.

Thanks @rajoress I was experimenting around - it was a bit of powdered sugar, a few drops of water, and peppermint extract (sorry I don't have measurements, I only made enough for 3 squares). I chilled it in the fridge until there was a slight skin on top and then lightly nudged some chocolate over it.

Over dinner the other night some folks and I were reminiscing about "After Eight" thin mints and how we haven't had them in ages (they're not readily available here). Here's my attempt at making them. They're not as thin as the real thing, but somewhat thinner than Ghirardelli squares.

Just realized there are baking books on all shelves. . Here they are:

Yes Indeed, @Okanagancook I'll take some more close-up pics and post - any shelf in particular? I know @blue_dolphin... it's all I can do to not get anymore (mind you, this does not include the stacks of cookie magazines that come out at Christmas and call my name from the stands). There's something in particular that draws me to cookies - likely it's the quick bake time, the bite-sized bliss, and the variety of possible textures.

Thanks Kerry, I'll check it out!

So here's my collection. It's (somewhat) organized by food type/category: salads, chocolate, ice cream, cookies, cakes, desserts, breads/pizza, etc. Like so many of you here, looking at pics of food is a super-fun pastime for me, so I love getting new cookbooks and flagging recipes that I want to make as I go through them. The problem is that even though they're flagged, I haven't used more than 5% of my cookbooks, so getting more cookbooks (while still fun to look at), makes me feel like I can't keep my head above water. Hence... I've reinstated the "self-imposed cookbook ban of 2016", renewed again for another year. That said, I have to say that my guilt for my unused cookbooks is somewhat subdued by mrdecoy's totally impressive collection. I wish I had that much space!

Kerry what is the mastic called at the Indian market? Is it white or yellowish in color? What recipe do you use it in, and how do you use it (ie-do you dissolve it, powder it, etc)?

While surfing around I came across this treat that looks delightful called "malban". I thought it might just be another name for Turkish delight but it seems that malban is chewier and has a firmer consistency. It looks like this: http://www.patchi.us/malbane-pistachio-gourmandines.html It's made with something called "mastic" - has anyone used this in cooking/baking before? Apparently it's an acquired taste.

Haha I guess there's always more space if you look hard enough!!

Awesome, great start @Alex! Wow @Okanagancook - you weren't kidding about quantity! Are they kept in any particular order? I'll take a pic of mine tomorrow and post. @Anna N you're right - this could end up being a costly thread haha! Lucky for me I'm totally out of shelf space!

Is there an existing thread for sharing drool-worthy pics of cookbook collections of fellow eGulleters?? You know, somewhere that people can ooo and ahh over things like custom shelving, rare editions, and/or just sheer QUANTITY. Thought it might be fun.

Thanks Jim and Tri2cook. I was playing with gold luster dust but it proved to be a bit tricky - next time I'll probably just use gold cocoa butter. Re: the shine, I don't think I did anything different - I really think it's just the mold being shiny on the inside (and well-tempered chocolate - thx EZ!!).

Playing with colors and luster dusts, peanut butter ganache inside. (sorry I don't know how to make the image smaller).