Jump to content

Pete Fred

participating member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    552

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Pete Fred

  1. Pete Fred
    I could only find three people online who'd made it, commenting on the "natural gooey chocolate sauce", the "thin, shiny glaze" and a texture "half cake, half mousse". Either we're all doing it wrong or that's how it's supposed to be. When cooled (L) it went quite fudgy (and definitely needed cream or custard), but a quick nuking in the microwave brought the moussey-ness back (R, not that you can tell).
  2. Pete Fred
    One for us nostalgia freaks... Barbara Kafka's Microwave Chocolate Pudding. I think this came on my radar when reading her obituary in the New York Times back in the summer. I'm curious.... is it meant to be "self-saucing", or is mine just undercooked? The recipe makes no mention of this film of batter. The crumb might look a little dense in the picture but it was actually really light, and even if the "sauce" is technically incorrect it worked well. This was a pleasant surprise. Beautifully simple and just half an hour from opening the cupboard to doing the washing up. A good recipe to have tucked away in case of dessert related emergencies!
  3. Pete Fred
    Idly browsing the discount shelf at the supermarket last night, I was shocked and delighted to see them clearing out their stock of maple sugar. So I picked up ten 100g bags at 90% off! 😲 I made Pierre Herme's Financier Carré Blanc which are little maple and cranberry almond cakes. The traditionally shaped ones (L) were made in metal, the others (R) in silicone. I prefer traditional because the edges crisp up a touch more for a nice textural contrast. After getting all excited about the maple sugar, it wasn't a particularly forward flavour and was somewhat lost behind the brown butter. I like financiers, and these were good, but not worth the premium for speciality sugar. Just gotta find a way now to use up the remaining 934g of Canada's finest!
  4. Pete Fred
    It's not hollow. It's made just like a Swiss roll. 👍 Bake a flat sheet of meringue on a tray lined with parchment. Once cooled, place a tea towel on top, flip and remove parchment. Spread with a layer of whipped cream and cover with fruit. Then roll into a log using the tea towel to assist. As you roll, the meringue cracks into that crazy-paving effect. Place seam side down on a serving tray or plate. It's from this recipe by Ottolenghi. I thought the oven temperature was way too high so did my meringue at 130C/260F until pale beige and suitably cooked (crusty on top, marshmallowy inside).
  5. Pete Fred
    A batch of Thomas Keller's bouchons. These are excellent little cakes. I make them in Ø 45 mm (1¾") dariole moulds. Quite dinky and gone in two or three bites... They're a tiny bit crispy on top, and are like a cakey brownie. I find them best warm, when the chocolate chips are still gooey. Once cooled, they're a touch more dense (not that that's a bad thing!). Mr Keller certainly knows a thing or two about cookin'. 😀
  6. Pete Fred
    I know, I'm always complaining about lack of flavour and blaming it on the fruit. I didn't want to waste any rum or wine on what was just a test run so didn't do myself any favours. Come July, when I make another one, I'll no doubt be moaning about the strawberries or cherries. 😁😉
  7. Pete Fred
    A surfeit of egg whites was all the excuse I needed to have a go at pavlova for the first time. This was 'winter fruits'. A baked meringue, spread with vanilla whipped cream and poached, spiced apple and pear segments, a sprinkiing of blackberries, then rolled. Finally, more cream piped on top and a faintly ridiculous 'artful' placement of more fruit. It was a bit 'meh' in terms of flavour. But this was mainly an opportunity to practise technique and construction ahead of (hopefully) better fruit in the summer, and I was happy with the process and texture of it.
  8. Pete Fred
    Dunno if Bruno Albouze was one of your fails or not. Recipe and video here. I tried 55, 60, 70 and 85% cocoa solids, and all worked well... but I can't remember which I preferred. 🙄
  9. Pete Fred
    Thanks. Worth a lot more than two cents. I'll file these tips in my culinary mind palace. ☺️
  10. Pete Fred
    Halva babka, based on the one at Breads Bakery in New York. Their filling, but I swapped in a brioche feuilletée for the bread. Not much of a looker at first glance (that's a tahini glaze on top)... ...but more appealing once opened up... A bit disappointing, sadly. The flavour was quite muted. I much prefer their chocolate babka.
  11. Pete Fred
    I did not. I'll keep my ear to the ground for the digital edition. Thanks. 👍 I do like Mr Harvey; his focus and attention to detail are right up my street. He talked abour cannelés on npr a few years ago, if anyone's interested.
  12. Pete Fred
    Cannelé. Batter made with egg yolks, moulds coated with beeswax. The difference between the dark and light ones is just oven position. Vive la France!
  13. Pete Fred
    In Sweet, Ottolenghi has Vineyard Cake. It uses a bottle of Muscat (de Beaumes de Venise in this instance) and is based on a recipe from Gourmet magazine. If you search, you'll find several bloggers who've made it. Epicurious has a Beaumes-de-Venise Cake which seems to be the aforementioned original. Do have a look at the comments where it receives a largely positive response. I haven't made it myself so can't add anything beyond that.
  14. Pete Fred
    The one above is the original recipe that Ducasse liked. Hopkinson did tweak it later on, though. I've made both but can't remember if the revision was a game changer or not. Surely a good excuse to make two?!?
  15. Pete Fred
    Here's a good, old fashioned English steamed pudding made with beef suet. It's the ginger pudding that Simon Hopkinson served at Bibendum in the 90s. Alain Ducasse thought it "one of the best things he'd ever eaten". The pressure of that evening's service caused Mr Hopkinson to suffer what he described as a "mini-breakdown" and shortly afterwards he left the world of professional kitchens, never to return. So it's a pudding with quite a tale. I had mine with thick cream, but props to the fearless amongst us who went all-in and had custard too. Mentalists!
  16. Pete Fred
    Another custard tart. This time it's the salted caramel one that Phil Howard served a few years back at his two Michelin star joint in Mayfair. (The UK guide certainly seemed enamoured with uncomplicated desserts back then!) I like to take my caramel quite far - in this instance over 190°C (375°F). And I was quite bold with the salt. Oh, and I brûléed the top for giggles coz, well, what's the point of having a torch if you're not gonna use it? 😉 It didn't add much to the party, other than a pleasingly delicate snap when digging in. And I always look forward to freezing the leftovers, which magically transform into a kind of biscuity, ice cream fudge. Yum.
  17. Pete Fred
    I have an aunt who lives in Mississauga. Sadly, the last time I visited was in the 80s, with no future plans to return; otherwise I'd be requisitioning her kitchen and dropping by with a slice or three.
  18. Pete Fred
    My first bake of the year was a classic English-style egg custard tart. It's from a recipe by Marcus Wareing who served it in his two Michelin star restaurant in London. That makes it sound a little more grand than it actually is: after all, it's just a custard tart. Having said that, it did win the first series of Great British Menu and he subsequently made it for The Queen. Unfortunately, royal protocol dictates that we'll never know whether she liked it or not. However, I can tell you that mine was very nice. 😜
  19. Pete Fred
    Stella Parks' Pumpkin Skillet 'Thing'. Underwhelming. It took much longer than indicated (internal temp 96°C) which accounts for the overcooked edges. The streusel topping was dry and powdery. I used Ovaltine for the malted milk powder, so it's darker than her version. Several commenters had similar problems so I'm not sure what to make of it. Even if the texture would've been better, the flavour was decidedly 'meh'. It just seemed an expensive way to waste some quality white chocolate. I enjoy reading Ms Parks' articles and have picked up some valuable tips but this isn't the first time I've been disappointed with the results, whether technical or taste. So no hard feelings - no doubt operator error is partly to blame - but her bakes are seemingly not for me.
  20. Pete Fred
    Another take on Flan Parisien. I've only ever made ones containing eggs (whole or just yolks) so I was intrigued to see it done without them. Not quite as smooth and creamy as my regular recipe but still a superior tart. Should Arm-egg-eddon wipe out the world's chickens, it's comforting to know there will still be flan.
  21. Pete Fred
    Coffee Cake from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery book. It's an excellent cake, flavoured with vanilla, cocoa and cinnamon. The almond streusel topping has a nice texture. The crumb is a little less airy than I would like, but that's down to using a hand mixer rather than the brute force of a stand mixer for the creaming.
  22. Pete Fred
    Beetroot, Ginger and Soured Cream Cake from Ottolenghi 'Sweet'. Here it is before and after icing... It contains beetroot, walnuts and stem ginger (preserved ginger). The topping is cream cheese and double (heavy) cream. Ottolenghi uses a vitamin C tablet to preserve and 'set' the colour of the beetroot, resulting in quite a striking visual when sliced... This was a very good cake.
  23. Pete Fred
    Pistachio and Rose Water Semolina Cake from Ottolenghi 'Sweet'. A bit of a curious one, this. I had high expectations that, sadly, didn't quite deliver. I think I may have contributed to my own disappointment by roasting the almonds (with skins, my choice) and pistachios that went into the cake batter. They were then blitzed in the food processor but not as finely as commercial ground nuts. This meant their flavour and texture was a little more "wholemeal" in the finished cake. Even the generous amount of soaking syrup (lemon, rose water, sugar) didn't really brighten things up much. I was hoping the accompanying cream (Greek yoghurt, crème fraîche, rose water) would come to the rescue but that turned out to be surprisingly anodyne. Not sure I'll be revisiting this one any time soon.
  24. Pete Fred
    Another day, another bit of brown; this time in the form of the Courgette (Zucchini) & Pistachio (Pistachio) Cake from Honey & Co. I didn't have any olive oil so subbed in regular vegetable oil (rapeseed). Next time I'll chuck in another handful of (roasted) nuts. I enjoyed this. It was a fine cake.
  25. Pete Fred
    After the unrestrained hedonism of pink icing and glacé cherries, it's back to boring brown cakes for me. This is parkin, a traditional cake from the north of England. It's kind of a dense gingerbread made with black treacle (molasses) and oats. This is the Yorkshire type of parkin and bakes quite dry. But it's so hygroscopic from the ridiculous amount of sugar that, after a few weeks in a cupboard, it softens nicely and turns pleasingly sticky. It's a popular treat at this time of year with Halloween and Bonfire Night just around the corner.
×
×
  • Create New...