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FWED

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Everything posted by FWED

  1. OH I see about the temp issue. Well how about molding the ganache and then coating it in a thin layer or layers of the appropriate chocolate like a coated truffle? I'm not totally sure about the shelf life there. Perhaps others may be able to help with that.
  2. A couple of things of note. I buy my almond flour from Bob's Red Mill in Oregon. They sell on the internet also. I have found that sometimes the almond flour and chopped hazelnuts from Trader Joe's to be on the stale and almost rancid side of old. Probably not big sellers. I keep the flour,double wrapped, in the freezer between uses and always check it by taste and smell at room temperature be for using it I can also recommend that, if you are letting the batter rest in the refer, it is best to let it come to room temp before baking. I have also talked with Nightscotsman and he told me to use pastry flour in his recipe. The type of flour is not indicated in the original recipe.
  3. I just got my Spring JB Prince catalog and it has a couple of pages with lots of photos of "universal modular molds" and "production modular molds". They look a lot like what is being talked about here. My pocket book is already whimpering.
  4. About a year ago Nightscotsman posted a recipe for Financiers. It came from his instructors at the French Pastry School. It uses browned butter, either almond or hazelnut flour, a small amount of baking powder, and trimoline (or honey). It's a very traditional French cake. I have used this recipe several times and have found the flavor delightful. I would not call it a light cake and yet it's not as heavy as a pound cake. The flavor comes from the browned butter and almond flour and it's long shelf life is due to the fact that air is not beaten into the butter or the egg whites. The only leavening is a small amount of baking powder. I think that the addition of chocolate, while tasty, would overpower the lighter flavors. Its also interesting to note that this recipe also calls for letting the batter rest overnight in the refer. Nightscotsman could give us the recipe again if it can't be found in a search.
  5. In stead of trying to make couverture chocolate softer by adding coconut oil, how about making the small hearts out of a very stiff ganache. You could use a 2 part chocolate to 1 part cream then add a little butter or flavoring. Put the ganache into the mold and chill until set. Once set, unmold and allow to come to room temp, then place in the larger molded chocolate item. As long as the room temp doesn't get to warm the ganache should hold its shape, like a stiff truffle. Just a thought. By the way I have found that coconut and palm oil get quite hard in my house which I keep at 69 degrees. You might want to try a flavorless vegetable or cooking oil that stays liquid at room temp.
  6. Hi All. I will be doing the Lemon-Cinnamon Flan. Looking forward to seeing everyone.
  7. I got my refractometer on ebay and there are several discussions about them here on eGullet. Just go to search and type in refractometer. I use mine for candy only so I got a model that only goes form 40 to 80 brix. It was cheaper that way. I get my purees and apple pectin from a small candy supply company here in town. To bad they doesn't do mail order. I do understand the Perfect Purees will sell in smaller quantities.
  8. Nightscotsman turned me on to pate de fruits a year ago at Christmas time and I have been making and enjoying them since. It took me a while to find a source of purees and apple pectin in small quantities. I highly recommend the apple pectin as other supermarket and candy pectins are made from citrus and don't have what it takes to do the job. My first few trials were just that. Trial and error. Once I got the Boiron purees and the apple pectin I was on my way. Last summer I bought a refractometer and, while it isn't absolutely necessary, I did find that when using it that the quality of my jellies was more consistent. I also found out that temp given on the Boiron direction sheet is just a guide. The hot jelly mixture can reach a brix of 75 a few degrees above or below the 225 temp given. It seems it all depends upon how fast or slow you reach the 225 temp and since all of our stoves and pots and pans cook differently the refractometer takes the guess work out of it for me. Before I got the refractometer I had some luck with jellies that seemed too soft and that weeped after being cut and sugared. I remelted them and brought them up to 225 degrees and poured them out again. I think the added sugar probably brought the brix up to 75 or better. I haven't had to do that lately. Thanks to Nightscotsman for introducing me to this delight.
  9. FWED will be able to come out and play. Right off the top of my head I can't think of any Spanish desserts but I will come up with something. Perhaps I will call Ferran Adria and see what he recommends. Just kidding. Ed ( Mr. Mac & Cheese) will be working that day but will join us about 6:30. Thanks Steve for hosting this. Fred
  10. You are so right. And it just might end up in the garden.
  11. I'm not sure if I was nice or not but I was blessed at Christmas. I not only received an infrared thermometer for use in chocolate work but I received an aw some glass cake plate and dome. Now I will have to make a really really really tall cake to fit into it. Edited to say that the pyrex is a 2 cuper and that I had to relearn how to add photos. Happy New Year to all. Fred
  12. A lot of what I might recommend will depend upon what type of kitchen you have at the cabin. Is their a decent oven, refrigerator, freezer, mixer, bowls, pots and pans, and sheet pans? Will you be making the dessert there or could you do parts of it ahead of time and take them with you? I know you are planning on doing ice cream one night but how about doing a cake and semifredo dessert. If you had a couple of nested bowls of say medium and small or large and medium you could make a frozen bomb of chocolate semifredo shell in the larger bowl and fill the interior (created by the smaller bowl) with layers of cake, chocolate ganache, nougat, and caramel bavarian cream or caramel pastry cream. Freeze the whole thing and place on a round of cake. I might suggest a layer of financier cake the thickness of about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch baked in a sheet pan then cut out the same size as the diameter of the largest bowl used. Or you could skip the chocolate ganache and coat the entire bomb with a chocolate glaze. When sliced it would show the layers. The cake and the semifredo could be made ahead of time and transported to the cabin and assembled there. Hope this helps.
  13. I am sorry to say that I spoke to early. It seems that neither of us will be able to attend. We are both working that night. Sorry for the inconvenience. Fwed and Ed
  14. I have a Krups and it makes good ice cream. My only criticism of it is that a sheet of hard ice/cream mixture forms on the bottom of the canister. I am not sure if this is because there is a space between the dasher and the bottom of the canister and/or the canister is too cold. I am planning on experimenting with the temp of the freezer and the placement of the unit in the freezer to see if I can avoid this layering.
  15. Hi Josh. Nice to see that you are still around. Chef Rubber does carry Colored Cocoa butter as well as warmers and airbrushes. They also carry edible pure gold and silver leaf, flakes, and dust, as well as powder colors and edible spray lacquer. Some of these were used in the sugar and chocolate showpiece classes at the World Pastry Forum in July. The Chef Rubber web site seems to be down right now but there is a toll free number 1 888 830 3088 and I know its working.
  16. I recently had dinner at the upstairs part of Il Fornaio and was very pleased. The food was tasty, the ambiance was great, and the noise level was at an ADULT level. I must admit that at times I like the loud bistro kind of place but that evening was not one of them. I wanted good food and quiet, comfortable, surroundings.
  17. Hi Deborah. To answer your question no I haven't used it for anything other than the molds and yes the chef rubber was easy to use. The product that Dawn has is self contained except for mixing tools and bowls. The only recommendation that I have is to mix the two components in a heavy paper cup/bowl so that clean us is simplified. Just throw the dirty cup/bowl away. Chef Rubber has several formulations and this is one of the softer ones. It would be good for very intricate items. The product does come with directions but does take some thinking about as to what to use to hold the setting rubber around the item to be duplicated. Chef Rubber also has a web site at Click here!. Hope this helps and don't hesitate to PM or email me with further questions. I am a self trained home baker and pastry junkie. Fred
  18. Abra and Debora. Thanks for the kind words. Yes the cakes taste as good as they look. It is due in great part to the products that Dawn orders in for me. Anne. The Molds are used to create a space in what is to be the top of the cake. This space can then be filled with what ever you would like. The cake is constructed upside down and when frozen and turned right side up the mold ends up on top and can be easily removed. I made the molds just recently but started with home made molds consisting of several layers of card board cut outs wrapped in plastic wrap. I decided that since this form of cake is one that I would like to do again and again that it was worth it to make the food grade silicone molds. Here is a picture of the molds and how they are placed in the ring. I know that Wendy has suggested using a cake pan, freezing the jelly and then placing the bavarian cream around it. Thus avoiding the mold altogether. This will work but does not allow me to spray the chocolate in a precise manner. The WOW factor of this cake is not only the taste but the look of the cake and so that is why I chose to spray the chocolate and place the jelly afterward. Spraying chocolate is really quite simple and I would be glad to share the little information that I have with you. Just PM me.
  19. I want to second the recommendation of Deborah for Dawn's Craft and Chocolate. As a Home baker and chocolatier I have been able to do a lot of things because Dawn has been able and willing to special order things that are not readily available. The Passion fruit and mango purees necessary for the Exotic Orange Cake are Examples as well as the molds that I made from the Chef Rubber products that she carries. I used the Chef Rubber to make molds for the Exotic Orange Cake and the Chocolate and Cherry Exotic Cake . She also has one of the largest selections of transfer sheets in this area.
  20. FWED

    Milk chocolate

    Wendy, Wendy, Wendy. You are a wonderful pastry chef. Trust your gut level feelings as to which milk chocolate you like and don’t like. I whole heartedly agree with Anne’s (chefpeon) sentiments. Don’t get hung up on brand names. Many companies can and do make several types of milk chocolate each with its own distinctive flavor profile. You might decide to use one brand for one project and another brand for a different project. What is also interesting about this thread is the question of what it is about the particular flavor profile that you do or don’t like. If you could answer that it might help you in selecting milk chocolate in the future regardless of brand. I personally don’t care for milk chocolates that are to milky. In other words I prefer milk chocolates that have very low or very subtle milk flavors. I have close friends that prefer just the opposite. So there you are. You might contact the egullet member Clay Gorden about the difference in flavor profiles of Valrona, Guittard, and Fechlin milk chocolate. He knows more about chocolate than all of us combined.
  21. Aidensnd You might make a mean apple pie but you forgot to tell us where you work so that we can come sample it.
  22. FWED

    Apple Cake

    You might PM eGullet member "Heyjude". She is a culinary historian and researcher, and has a recipe for a wonderful "Apple Cake". Her cake uses two varieties of apples, one for flavor and one for texture. It also calls for a small amount of Worchestershire. I have used it several times and it is always a hit. I must admit I use it more in the fall and early winter when really good apples are available. Perhaps we could entice her to post it here.
  23. There are several pictures of the cake. The original cake was not submitted for competition but was demonstrated as part of a class, on this style of cake, at the World Pastry Forum. There is a link in the #5 post in this thread to the original posting of pictures of the World Pastry Forum. Go to the #15 post there and the photos are # 7 and 8. In these photos its a square cake. In the #6 post in this thread there is a photo of the cake as I did it as a round cake. Just recently I did this cake and did it as a heart shaped cake.
  24. Billings was quite a let down. The town seems to be doing well but doesn’t have the visual excitement or sophistication of Bozeman’s downtown. We did find a large new and well-stocked kitchen store there called “The Copper Colander”. They plan on adding a cooking school but haven’t as of this date. So far it’s the only real kitchen store in Billings. We had to eat at the REX not because we really wanted to but because my relatives who we were entertaining don’t eat anything but meat (read that beef) and potatoes with ice cream for dessert. We did hear from the folks at the Copper Colander of several other places that we would have liked to visit but couldn’t due to time. ENZO’S looked good and menu was interesting(its Mediterranean in general) but when I suggested it to my relatives they stated that they had gone there but had not found anything that they could eat. To bad for them. The other two places that I would have liked to have tried were Q’s and Walkers. If anyone out there try’s them let us know. Our next stop was Cody Wyoming on the way to Yellowstone Park. We had lunch at IRMA’S . Its in the turn of the century Irma hotel built by Bill Cody. The food could best be described as Denny’s with attitude. It and the dinning room have definitely seen better days. If you get the chance skip it. We did find a Cajun place of all things on a back street that was very nice. Its called Tommy Jack’s Cajun Grill. Good food with a cajun flare in a comfortable western/New Orleans setting. Once in Yellowstone Park the food is I think all provided by the same concessionaire. We did have a late breakfast at the Old Faithful Inn. The Inn is not to be missed if you are there, its wonderful in its own unique way. The dinning room was the star of the food show. Its much as it was when it opened in 1904. The Food wasn’t bad it just plain, large, mid priced hotel food. Some Last Notes We started out this trip as a road trip in my somewhat new sports car and ended up with an Odyssey of majestic scenery, grand museums, good food, and egullet. The scenery and weather were wonderful. The Museums especially the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman and the Cody Museum in Cody Wyoming were both aw inspiring. The food along the way turned out to be better than I had remembered or expected and everyone who heard about egullet wanted to know more and to visit the site. I didn’t mean this to be a publicizing trip about egullet but it just happened and I am glad it did. Talking about food and restaurants and egullet with the many people we met gave special meaning to the trip.
  25. When we arrived in Bozeman I knew things had changed. There were spotlights out in front of the theater and a red carpet on the main street. Seriously there was a film festival happening the weekend we were there so there was plenty of activity in main part of town. It seems that several big name established movie stars live in the area and they decided to start a film festival. It seems that there is a lot of knew money in town because there are more restaurants, galleries, and expensive shops on Main Street. There is a new and well stocked kitchen store and cooking school. I looked at the schedule and several well-known and local chefs were scheduled to teach there. We ate at 4 restaurants there in 3 days. The first was THE SAVORY OLIVE a lovely medium size place owned and cheffed by Heather Hand and Eric Stenberg. Its in the restored ballroom of an old hotel that also been restored and turned in to apartments. The food was great and ran the gamete of House made soups and pastas to Tandoori Marinated and Grilled Rocky Mountain Lamb, Truffle Roasted Chicken, Coconut Crusted Halibut, and Grilled Bison Tenderloin served with a cherry and black pepper chutney. Oh yes the service was young but professional and friendly but not chummy. The second restaurant was called LOUIES DOWN UNDER and was indeed in the basement of the building. It’s a lovely place, sophisticated, and well designed and laid out. The staff was helpful and friendly but the food was only mediocre even if the portions were large like the Big Sky Country. The third place was called BOODLES. It was smaller than the other two but no less sophisticated in an elegant and grown up way. The food was also wonderful and the service attentive and friendly. The surprise of our stay in Bozeman was finding PLONK WINE. It’s a very upscale wine bar combining sleek modern design and furnishings housed in a turn of the century building with exposed brick walls, tin ceilings, and polished pine floors. The food also reflects a modern take on wines. There were at least 25 wines in all price ranges (most in the mid to lower price though) available by the glass. The food, which ranged from appetizers to small entrées was of the small plate variety that invites grazing. This is the only place in Bozeman that has its own pastry chef a Sara White. She bakes all their bread and makes all the components for the plated desserts. Yes We did have wine there (two delightful dessert wines) and we also had beautifully plated desserts that tasted and looked as good as many in Seattle and Portland. Plonk also has weekly flights, wine maker dinners, a wine school, a private cellar, wine tastings, guest chefs, and new wine release parties. More tomorrow.
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