Sugar Cane syrup

[Ed Hamilton]

I've been looking, unsuccessfully, for sugar cane syrup made from fresh sugar cane juice. The one I presently use is made in Martinique or Guadeloupe.

Unlike rock candy syrup used in most cocktail recipes, real sugar cane syrup is made by cooking sugar cane juice to remove the water. All of the sugar syrups are just sugar and water and lack the taste of the sugar cane.

I've tried a couple of sugar cane products but most tasted more like molasses instead of sugar cane juice.

[Suzanne F]

Have you tried Steen's 100% Pure Cane Syrup? If not:

The C. S. Steen Syrup Mill Inc

P.O. Box 339

119 N. Main Street

Abbeville, LA 70510

(318) 893-1654

They have a website, but I've lost the link. Sorry.

[Saffy]

steens will do mail orders, even overseas :))!!

[stellabella]

steen's sounds good, but my husband found another one that we both think is the best we've ever tasted:

country made ribbon cane syrup

douglas syrup farm

rt 2 box 186

dekalb, ms 39328

601-677-9700

at the bottom of the label, in tiny letters: "we were here first"

but it's darn good can esyrup.

[Ed Hamilton]

I've had Steen's and it was more like molasses than cane syrup. After talking to them on the phone, they admitted that they buy their syrup from the mill and then package it. I'd hoped they were still cooking the cane juice. I'll contact country made.

Thanks and I'll let you know.

[stellabella]

Ed, I found another jar of cane syrup in the pantry and tried it against the other for comparison. it's:

old south kettle cooked

pure georgia cane syrup

grown and produced by ronny l. herring

ochlocknee, ga 31773

912-574-5151

old south is darker and thinner and less sweet, to me much more like molasses. but i am a cane syrup fool and generally like them all, depending on whether i'm in the mood for more or less sweet. i love fresh hot cornbread smeared with a little butter and soaked in cane syrup.

i got some Cajun Crystals cane syrup sugar--it pours well and has a nice flavor. this morning i had it on my oatmeal--very nice.

[Fat Guy]

Ed are you familiar with the product from Monin? Scroll down and look towards the right on this page:

http://www.moninathome.com/new.php

[Bond Girl]

While watching my friend's six and eight year old today, I had the bright idea to make sugar cookies. Hey, it's christmas, and I've got plenty of color sugar on hand. The fact that I've never made them myself was a minor point. I had a vision of beautifully decorated cookies for the girls to take home. Anyway, six hours later, my entire apartment is now coated with color sugar, flour and butter bits. While the cookies taste delicious, they look like it has war paint on it. Can anyone offer me some tricks or advice for the future as to how those things are decorated? I've seen eight year olds being able to turn out beautifully decorated santas, while I can fill in the green for a christmas tree.

[JSD]

My recipe is from Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls which I've had since the Kennedy administration. You roll the dough into little balls between your palms, then flatten them with a drinking glass that has been greased and dipped in the colored sugar. After flattening, I usually sprinkle extra sugar on them. They're not really spectacular looking, but they are delicious with the lemon zest and nutmeg.

[snowangel]

While watching my friend's six and eight year old today, I had the bright idea to make sugar cookies.  Hey, it's christmas, and I've got plenty of color sugar on hand.

Note: Those beautiful Martha Stewart decorated sugar cookies were not accomplished with a 6 and 8 year old in tow.

As mother to three, I can safely say that baking and decorated cookies with kids = sugar and flour everywhere. It will make for fond memories next summer when you are still finding remants of your fun day.

Advice. Vaccuum up the debris. Add water to flour and you've got glue/paste. Add water to sugar and you've got something akin to varnish.

[Bond Girl]

Wait, so how does Martha Stewart come up her gorgeous looking batch with patterns and designs on micro-sized cookies? I can tackle complex desserts such as opera cakes and burnt sugar floss, but this sugar cookie thing has got me....Are there any tricks to them. Thanks for the cleaning tip Snowangel, currently the apartment is till in post-war assessment stage.

[chefette]

Hmmm - could it be her staff of designers and in-house artists?????????

[kitwilliams]

My recipe is from Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls which I've had since the Kennedy administration.  You roll the dough into little balls between your palms, then flatten them with a drinking glass that has been greased and dipped in the colored sugar.  After flattening, I usually sprinkle extra sugar on them.  They're not really spectacular looking, but they are delicious with the lemon zest and nutmeg.

Such fun to find someone else who has the Betty Crocker Boys' and Girls' cookbook! I adore those lemony sugar cookies HOWEVER I want you to go back and look at your copy and tell me if there truly is nutmeg listed as one of the ingredients.... it is not in mine. Or is it something that you yourself added? I don't think I've ever used lemon and nutmeg together... should I try it? Have I been missing something extraordinary?

As for advice on decorating holiday sugar cookies, Bond Girl, I have none. I hate doing it and simply put different colored royal icing in squeeze bottles and do zig-zags over the cookies: red and white on the candy canes, green and white on the trees, blue and white on the stars....and if you want to use up all that colored sugar of yours, sprinkle it on the icing before it dries!

[JSD]

Such fun to find someone else who has the Betty Crocker Boys' and Girls' cookbook!  I adore those lemony sugar cookies HOWEVER I want you to go back and look at your copy and tell me if there truly is nutmeg listed as one of the ingredients.... it is not in mine.  Or is it something that you yourself added?  I don't think I've ever used lemon and nutmeg together... should I try it?  Have I been missing something extraordinary?

Well, now, this is very interesting - nutmeg is NOT listed as an ingredient, but right before baking, it says to sprinkle cookies with nutmeg. My copy is the 6th printing. I usually make these at Christmas time, and make half with green sugar, and half with red sugar.

The other cookie recipe I love is the Molasses Crinkles. We always used this recipe, but this year my son wanted to use the Molasses cookie recipe with black pepper in them, and I finally found it in Cooks Illustrated. He loves asking people if they can figure out the secret ingredient (they can't).

[laura]

I would like to make a sabayon sauce for dessert using champagne. Does

anyone have any recipes, also could the champagne be used after opening

for this , the next day. forinstance? I looked at the recipe in Simca's Cuisine,

Written by Simone Beck, but it includes potato starch and I'm not sure that would be necessary.Also Julia Child includes cornstarch. Now I'm wondering if

a Zabaglione would be simpler? Any suggestions?

[nightscotsman]

I just checked and none of the recipes I could find include any kind of starch, though a couple that are meant to be used cold include gelatine. As far as I can tell, sabayon is just the French name for zabaglione. same basic ingredients (though zabaglione is traditionally made with marsala) and technique. Since the mixture is heated and most of the bubble will be cooked and whisked out, I doubt it would make much difference if you used fresh or day-old champagne.

Here is the basic recipe from "The Professional Pastry Chef" (makes 4 cups)

6 egg yolks

6 oz (170g) sugar

1 1/2 c white wine or champagne

beat egg yolks and sugar in stainless bowl until light and fluffy. Add wine and place over simmering water. Whip until hot and mixture is thick enough to coat a spoon. Serve hot.

[Steve Klc]

Laura--I wouldn't look to Julia or Simone for much of anything as far as pastry is concerned.

Most pastry chefs just use yolks, sugar and an "alcohol" component--champagne, a sparkling wine like Prosecco would be fine, Port and dessert wines as well. Just don't take it over 185 F as you whisk and than whip. If you plan to serve it warm--a la minute--you don't need to add gelatin either. Another way to "hold" a sabayon--or to serve a cold sabayon--is to fold some softly whipped cream into it as you cool it down slightly over an ice bath.

Try 4 yolks, 40 g sugar, 70 g champagne--but that's variable depending on how sweet the rest of your dessert is. I tend to keep things less sweet.

[kitwilliams]

Thanks for putting sabayon in my head, Laura. I've been wondering what to do for New Year's Eve and think I'll do warm gingerbread with cider sabayon. And hope there will be leftovers for breakfast.

[Stargryphon]

I have to admit that I take the easy way out when I make sugar cookies. My best friend the cookie press.

I tend to have too heavy a hand with the flour and rolling pin, so my cookies tend to come out a little "tough" when I make them them the old fashioned way. The press shaves a little bit of time and produces some attractive little morsels.

[elyse]

I am sorry to make my introduction as a lame person, but I attended the International Hotel/Motel Restaurant Supply Show in November, and was told I would be able to find recipes from the demonstrations/competitions here. I checked too soon and found nothing. I checked recently (too late?) and found nothing. Am I really too late, or is it hidden here somewhere?

Thanks for the info.

Elyse

[Steve Klc]

Hi Elyse--forgive me, but you're less lame than I am, because I was the person who promised they'd be posted on the site. Meredith and Colleen have already posted some of their recipes from the demonstrations on the IHMRS thread and I've received the recipes from Michael and Patrice--and will post them right now. I've just been too lazy to cut and paste them from my iBook. Here they are:

This is courtesy of Patrice Demers of Les Chevres in Montreal:

APPLE, BUTTERNUT SQUASH,MAPLE with GOAT YOGURT AND NUTMEG PANNA COTTA

2 Cups of goat yogourt

300 g cream

150g maple sirup

3 sheets gelatine, softened

fresh nutmeg

Reduce the maple sirup until it turn to a light caramel

Add the cream and some freshly grated nutmeg

Take out from the fire

Add the gelatine

Wisk in the goat milk yogourt and pour into small glasses

Let set in the fridge for at least 3 hours

BUTTERNUT SQUASH PULP

1 butternut squash

250g maple sirup

Peel and diced the squash

Cook the squash with the maple sirup on top of the stove for about 20 minutesm until the squash is tender.

Let cool and reduce into a purée.

Pass throught a small sieve.

GREEN APPLE FOAM

6 green apples

500 ml fresh apple juice

juice of 2 lemons

100 g sugar

4 sheets gelatine

Cut the apples into big pieces, leaving the peel on them.

Put the apples with the leon juice, sugar and apple juice in a pot and cook until the apple a very soft, for about 30 minutes.

Reduce the apple into a very smooth purée

For each liter of apple purée, add 4 sheets of gelatine

Pour into a container and let cool in the frindge for one night.

Pass the foam throught a fine sieve and pour into your foam canister.

Macaron:

150 g egg whites

260 g confectionners sugar

25g confectionner sugar

180g almond flour

Whip slowly the egg whites

when they begun to make peaks, add the 25g of sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks.

With a spatula, fold in the almond powder and the remaining sugar

With a pipping bag, on a silpat, pippe your macaron

Let them sit for about 20 minutes before you cook them to let them crust a little bit on top

Cook them at 350 for about 10 minutes

To serve:

Pour some butternut purée on your panna cotta;

Add some small dices of fresh apple on top;

Finish the dessert with some green apple foam.

Serve with the macarons

[Steve Klc]

And here courtesy of Michael Laiskonis, who is the pastry chef of Tribute in Farmington Hills, Michigan is his:

Vanilla-Sweet Potato Sorbet

Hazelnut Biscuit, Star Anise-Milk Chocolate “Emulsion”

Cider-Beurre Noisette Caramel, Milk “Jam”

Maldon Sea Salt

Sweet Potato Sorbet

YIELD: approx. 1.5 liter

500g water

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped  

50g granulated sugar

5g sorbet stabilizer

200g granulated sugar

50g glucose powder

400g sweet potato, roasted, peeled, puréed, and sieved

1. Place water and vanilla in a non-reactive saucepan and heat to 50ºC/122ºF.

2. Meanwhile, combine first measurement of sugar and stabilizer and whisk into the water.

3. Add remaining sugar and glucose and bring to a boil. Boil for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and chill, allowing mixture to mature for minimum 4 hours.

4. Remove vanilla bean and combine with sweet potato.

5. Process in batch freezer.

For processing in a Pacojet, reduce sugar by 50g and remove sorbet stabilizer, if desired. Distribute base into two beakers, freeze, and process according to manufacturer’s instructions

Milk Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscuit

YIELD: one half-sheet pan/625g

35g granulated sugar

60g cake flour

150g milk chocolate, melted

125g unsalted butter, softened

75g pasteurized egg yolks

25g trimoline

125g pasteurized egg whites

30g granulated sugar

80g chopped hazelnuts

1. Sift together first measurement of sugar and cake flour. Reserve.

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine chocolate and butter thoroughly with a rubber spatula. Stir in egg yolks and trimoline. Reserve.

3. Prepare a meringue with egg whites and remaining sugar, whipping to soft peaks.

Carefully fold sifted sugar-flour mixture into meringue, then fold chocolate base into meringue.

4. Spread evenly into a sprayed and parchment lined half-sheet pan. Liberally sprinkle chopped hazelnuts over the biscuit. Bake 16 minutes at 205ºC/400ºF, turning once. Remove from oven and allow to cool before use.

Beurre Noisette

500 g heavy cream

1. Place cream in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until solids and butterfat begin to separate. Allow solids to brown slightly. Remove from heat and strain through a chinois or fine mesh sieve.

2. Transfer browned milk solids to a paper towel, allowing the removal of excess fat.

Cider-Beurre Noisette Caramel

YIELD: approx. 1.5 cups/350g

250g granulated sugar

400 ml apple cider

25g beurre noisette solids

1. Combine sugar, and water to moisten in a non-reactive saucepan, and cook to a dark caramel.

2. Meanwhile, in a second pan, place cider over medium heat and simmer, reducing by about one third.

3.When sugar has reached correct color, remove from heat and slowly add reduced cider. Return to heat and cook to dissolve any bits of hardened caramel. Continue cooking until desired consistency is achieved (To test, spoon some caramel onto a cold plate and allow to cool. Generally, sauce should still be fluid cold or at room temperature).

4. Whisk in beurre noisette solids. Strain through a chinois. Chill.

Star Anise-Milk Chocolate “Emulsion”

YIELD: approx. 1.5 pint/645g

500g ‘half and half’

10g star anise

10g cocoa powder

120g milk chocolate couverture

1. Place ‘half and half’ in a non reactive saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add star anise, remove from heat, cover, and allow to steep for ten minutes.

2. Return to a boil, reduce heat and whisk in cocoa and milk chocolate, stirring to thoroughly melt. Allow to simmer for one minute.

3. Remove from heat, strain through a chinois or fine mesh sieve. Reserve warm.

4. To serve, blend with an immersion blender until frothy.

Milk “Jam”

Yield: approx. one pint

1000g whole milk

300g granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

2g sheet gelatin, bloomed

1. In a non-reactive saucepan, combine milk, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

2. Reduce heat and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has slightly thickened, or until it has reduced by half.

3. Remove from heat, add gelatin, stirring to dissolve. Strain through a chinois or fine mesh sieve. Chill.

Tuile Craquante

YIELD: 1.6#/ 750g    

300g confectioner’s sugar

5g pectin NH

15g all purpose flour

240g unsalted butter

100g glucose

100g water

1. Sift together sugar, pectin, and flour.

2. In a non-reactive saucepan, combine butter and glucose and melt over low heat. Whisk in sifted ingredients, then liquid. Increase heat to medium.

3. Bring just to a boil. Remove from heat. Allow to cool and rest at least one hour.

4. Spread very thin onto silpat lined sheet pan and bake in a convection oven at 205ºC/400ºF until golden brown.

[chefette]

Cornucopia - from Colleen Apte, Pastryarts.com

Creamed Corn Custard

350g Heavy Cream

14 oz can creamstyle corn (pureed)

1 T sugar (perhaps 2 would bring more zing)

pinch salt

5 Eggs yolks (size large - I originally said 3 and use gelatin - decided against it)

- Combine cream, corn, sugar and salt and bring to a boil

- Whisk yolks in a separate bowl and slowly pour in about half the boiling cream while whisking constantly

- Pour everything back in the pan over the heat stirring briefly until the mixture reaches 80 degrees Centigrade (about 8 stirs usually)

- Strain and pour into custard cups to about half full

- Chill (the custard) until set

Beet Jus (With Cranberry and Pomegranate)

250g Red Beets, peeled & chopped (Might consider using canned to speed this up and save your hands from the stain)

100g fresh cranberries

40g sugar

200g water

crushed peppercorns (about 1 tsp)

2 Bay leaves

50g Pomegranate Juice concentrate

50 g water

- put everything in a saucepan and simmer til the beets are tender (about 45 minutes)

- puree, strain through double layer of cheesecloth lining a fine mesh sieve, cool

Corn Foam with Guinness

500g sweet golden corn (I used canned)

75g sugar

150g water

1/2 tsp salt

1 vanilla bean (scraped) (you certainly could use extract or do without)

200g Guinness Draught (canned)

400g Heavy Cream

3 sheets gelatine (or 1 envelope powdered)

- combine sugar, water, vanilla, salt, and corn bring to a boil and simmer 5 or so minutes

- puree and strain

- bloom the gelatin and stir into the warm puree

- add heavy cream

- add Guinness (to taste)

- fill foamers small iSi PROFI Whippers about 2/3 to 3/4 full and charge once

- shake and chill upside down several hours prior to use

- shake slightly before using

Caramel Popped Corn

300g sugar

150g water

1/3 cup popping corn

- place sugar in a large saucepan (that has a good fitting lid) and gently pour the water in over it

- cover the pan and heat several minutes until the sugar mixture is boiling rapidly (I wait til the soft ball stage but it doesn't really matter)

- Add the popping corn and monitor it carefully - it will start to pop just as the sugar reaches pale light golden/clear caramel (the first few kernels will be very cute and innocent as the blossom but as it picks up you should cover the pan to protect yourself)

- cover the pan and shake it vigorously as the corn starts popping

- once the popping noise quiets down open the pan, and stir the corn until the caramel develops a little

- pour the popped caramel corn out on a silpat or baking sheet and move it around with a wooden spoon to keep it from clumping up

- store in a closed container until ready to use

Corn Flake Crisps

200g Corn Flakes (I used some really healthy ones from Whole Foods)

300g sugar

- Cook the sugar to caramel in a small heavy pan by heating the pan and slowly sprinkling in the sugar adding more sugar as it melts

- As soon as all the sugar is cooked to caramel (dark amber color) remove it from the heat and pour it out onto a silpat

- grind the cooled caramel into a powder with the corn flakes in a food processor

- sprinkle the powdered mixture onto a silpat and score with the back of a knife into rectangles

- bake at 350 until the caramel melts (about 5 minutes)

- cool and use (If not using immediately store flat on silpats in an airtight container

Preserved Sweet Onion recipe from Michel Bras (takes 3 days so plan ahead)

600 g simple syrup (300g sugar cooked to a boil with 300g water)

1 sweet onion sliced

- peel, wash, and slice the onion into 1/3" slices

- blanch (dump them into boiling water for a few seconds, strain and dunk in ice water)onions in salted water and place in boiling syrup

- remove from syrup and chill overnight

Bras' recipe has you remove the onions and reduce the syrup by half each day for two days following this. I decided that to reduce the pungency of the onion I would make a new progressively stronger syrup each time (300g sugar with 150 g water then 300g sugar with 75 g water)

- spread the onion slices out onto silpats and dry overnight at 150 degrees in the oven (flip them half way through)

To serve:

Spoon about 1 T beet jus over each custard;

Top with light sprinkling of chopped cilantro leaves (fresh);

Add foam and top with a handful of caramel popped corn;

I placed a rectangle of corn flake crisp into the glass and slung a sweet onion ring over it.

Serve immediately

[wgallois]

In the past year or so I have changed the way in which I pick puddings in restaurants, and thought I would share my method and ask others' views.

I used to simply pick the chocolate pudding because I like chocolate a great deal and also because I felt that such a dish would make absolutely sure that they I felt satisfyingly full at the end of the meal. My one variation was to sometimes choose a plate of cheese.

Great though chocolate and cheese are, I began to get somewhat bored with this routine and rather envious of the more exotic puddings I saw being enjoyed by my wife. This led me to my great pudding discovery which is that it can become the best course in a meal so long as you choose the dish which you think that you would like least, or the dish that you think is the wildest flight of fancy. In my case this means avoiding chocolate, any kind of gooey pudding, caramel, tarts, other cakes or cheese, and instead embracing lemon-grass creme brulee, nougat with passion fruit, or banana sabayon with liquorice ice cream.

Even if this approach leads one to some duds, the highs more than make up for it, and I think that this is partly because wild desserts simply seem to be more creative exercises for good chefs than more standard puddings. In general one also feels less belt-bustingly full when taking the counter-intuitive pudding route.

[Winot]

Interesting idea. I must admit to being in the chocolate or cheese camp too. Often the sweet/savoury choice depends on what I want to drink with it, sad alcy that I am. I'll try your method next time I eat out.