"Chocolate Desserts" by Pierre Herme (Part 2)

[tan319]

If you get a chance, can you tell us some of the other chefs featured?

Re: Cooking skills: You would never know that people like you & Patrick, for instance, aren't pastry chefs OR Pro photogs!

Good stuff.

[filipe]

If you get a chance, can you tell us some of the other chefs featured?

Re: Cooking skills: You would never know that people like you & Patrick, for instance, aren't pastry chefs OR Pro photogs!

Good stuff.

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Once again thanks for the cumpliment Ted, that's great to read something like that. When you love the things you do, you'll do them well. And if you happened not to do them good at the first time (like me, with macarons for example) you start an interior fight against yourself (and the oven) to achieve perfection eheh Anyway, I'm pretty far from that stage.

As I am at work now I don't have the book nearby, but I promisse to start a new thread later on the Larousse du Chocolat. I'll then tell you the other chefs listed there.

[John DePaula]

Re: Cooking skills: You would never know that people like you & Patrick, for instance, aren't pastry chefs OR Pro photogs!

Good stuff.

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They're NOT ?!? Could have fooled me!

[filipe]

Re: Cooking skills: You would never know that people like you & Patrick, for instance, aren't pastry chefs OR Pro photogs!

Good stuff.

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They're NOT ?!? Could have fooled me!

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I don't know about Patrick, but I don't have any contact with the food industry besides being a costumer... I am architect, but I'm deeply thinking about a career change (but that would make another thread...) Anyway it's not easy when you've spent so many years in college and then five more years working (on something I really like, I'm not disapointed with architecture, but I really love cooking and pastry) and suddenly start a new life, going to school again (but now without parental support)...

[tan319]

Re: Cooking skills: You would never know that people like you & Patrick, for instance, aren't pastry chefs OR Pro photogs!

Good stuff.

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They're NOT ?!? Could have fooled me!

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I don't know about Patrick, but I don't have any contact with the food industry besides being a costumer... I am architect, but I'm deeply thinking about a career change (but that would make another thread...) Anyway it's not easy when you've spent so many years in college and then five more years working (on something I really like, I'm not disapointed with architecture, but I really love cooking and pastry) and suddenly start a new life, going to school again (but now without parental support)...

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If you were in cooking, you probably wouldn't be able to buy these boss books, for one thing, although in Europe it's probably better.

You guys are doing great stuff, keep it up!

[Rhea_S]

Anyway it's not easy when you've spent so many years in college and then five more years working (on something I really like, I'm not disapointed with architecture, but I really love cooking and pastry) and suddenly start a new life, going to school again (but now without parental support)...

Nightscotsman made that leap a few years back. I think there may be a few threads somewhere in eGullet that could provide you with more inspiration.

[SethG]

I thought I remembered jgarner having a baking blog while she was in pastry school but now I can't find it. Maybe it was her own site?

[filipe]

I did the chocolate mousse tonight. I was very impressed with the fact that in just about half an hour in the fridge it got the right consistency! This is how it turned out:

Everything is perfect with this recipe except for sugar (in my opinion, of course). Next time I'll add like 50% more...

[gfron1]

I made the Plaisir Sucre...

This was a lot of fun to make, but a bit too chocolatey for my guests. I had trouble with the whipped cream. I followed the directions very closely and kept the unwhipped cream in the fridge for 8 hours after I included the chocolate. When I removed the cream to whip it, it had become too hard to do anything with it. I gave it a light whipping, put it in my pastry bag and squirted away! Taste and texture were fine, but nothing like the pic in the book.

I also added the decorative touch of some finely crushed hazelnuts striped on the top and squirted the recipes sauce across the top.

I wanted to serve these on glass bricks - but couldn't find any in my little town.

[FoodMan]

Absolutly lovely gfron1! Any steps were particularly troublsome or challenging? How much time did you have to spend on it?

[gfron1]

Absolutly lovely gfron1! Any steps were particularly troublsome or challenging? How much time did you have to spend on it?

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Thanks! It really was a lot of fun to make, and easier than it may look. As I always do with new recipes, I spent about 2 weeks thinking about how I was going to mess it up and about 3-4 hours over two days actually making it. Each individual step was fast and easy (minus the cooling time).

The most problematic part for me was the whipped cream becoming hard. You're supposed to bring the cream to a boil, pour over the chocolate and smooth it. I did. Then, you put in the fridge to chill the cream again (covered). I did. It even said to chill overnight ideally. I removed the cream and it was the consistency of a ganache. I measured in grams v. cups so my measures were accurate, so I'm not quite sure what happened there. I tried whipping with an electric mixer which must have been my demise. It said to whisk by hand. I was careful not to over mix, but I never had the chance. My thick paste became chopped up thick paste.

Also, as mentioned, it was too chocolately for all of the guests (Ling would probably want to coat the whole thing in a ganache ), so I would have a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side, and/or make them a bit smaller.

[alanamoana]

gfron1, they are beautiful...with the whipped filling, you can just adjust the recipe by adding more cream to the mix. the chocolate is just a flavoring so you can add more or less to your taste.

also, i've made chocolate whipped cream/ganache the same day, just chill in an ice bath (stirring constantly) until cold and then refrigerate until ready to use...i think the cook book recommends longer because they'd rather err on the side of caution and don't want to have to explain the whole ice bath thing.

i love your little shell plates too! do you sell them in your store?

[gfron1]

gfron1, they are beautiful...with the whipped filling, you can just adjust the recipe by adding more cream to the mix.  the chocolate is just a flavoring so you can add more or less to your taste.

also, i've made chocolate whipped  cream/ganache the same day, just chill in an ice bath (stirring constantly) until cold and then refrigerate until ready to use...i think the cook book recommends longer because they'd rather err on the side of caution and don't want to have to explain the whole ice bath thing.

i love your little shell plates too!  do you sell them in your store?

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Thanks for the tip...sounds like the right adjustment.

I'm embarrassed to say where I got the plates - again, I wanted glass brick for the drama of it all, but I got these at the candle aisle of Wal Mart - one of the few that didn't have a warning against using with food.

[Thornado]

Absolutly lovely gfron1! Any steps were particularly troublsome or challenging? How much time did you have to spend on it?

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I've been away from eGullet for a while, but now that I come back here and read this thread and see all the nice pictures (especially of the Plaisir) I really feel I need to take out my PH books again (just need to find the time to bake....).

Anyway, about the Plaisir....

The good thing with it is that even though it looks very advanced, the recipe is very well divided into subtasks, and each of these subtasks are quite easy to do (I would say that, unless you've done it before, tempering the chocolate and creating the thin chocolate sheets is probably the most work intensive and tricky part). What makes it even better is that most of the parts can be made ahead of time, so you can spread the work over several days if you don't have time to do it all at once.

Good luck with your Plaisir.

[lexy]

The good thing with it is that even though it looks very advanced, the recipe is very well divided into subtasks, and each of these subtasks are quite easy to do

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I haven't made anything out of Chocolate Desserts, but I did have a look through one of his french cookbooks (sorry, can't remember which), and made a pie crust from it (very nice - quite easily the best I've ever made). Anyway, the same thing struck me - the desserts are often multi-layered and elaborate, but a lot of the complexity is in assembly. The components are often quite manageable for the home baker, and many can be made in advance. Somehow I found the recipes more admirable because of this - Herme struck me as an organised, efficient, and logical baker.

[Patrick S]

Good job, gfron1!

[foodie3]

hi, everyone!

just finished reading this whole thread (yes, all 30 pages), great pictures! i am ashamed to admit that i've had the book for a few years now, but only made a few simple things i. e. the chocolate mousse, the madeleines and the financiers - i must try the pave.

what are some reasonably priced sources for valrhona?

[Patrick S]

hi, everyone!

just finished reading this whole thread (yes, all 30 pages), great pictures! i am ashamed to admit that i've had the book for a few years now, but only made a few simple things i. e. the chocolate mousse, the madeleines and the financiers - i must try the pave.

what are some reasonably priced sources for valrhona?

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Chocosphere.com has OK prices. Of the online vendors I've seen, there doesn't seem to be too much difference in pricing. Which is to say, its all pricey.

[bibbotson]

Assouline and Ting in Philadelphia seems to have the best prices on Valrhona I've seen (about $7.90/lb), although it's still to much for me.

[Patrick S]

Assouline and Ting in Philadelphia seems to have the best prices on Valrhona I've seen (about $7.90/lb), although it's still to much for me.

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Wow, they're much cheaper than chocosphere! Like 30% cheaper on the few items I checked. For instance, Assouline and Ting has 3kg Valrhona Guanaja Feves for $54.96. Chocosphere sells the same thing for $79.95.

[laniloa]

I've read people's raves about the chocolate mousse but somehow never tied it. Until last night. I brought it to a friend's house as my contribution to dinner. The three of us fought over who got to lick the bowl. It somehow manages to be both light and airy and densely chocolate at the same time. I made it with Valrhona Gastronomie. This will become one of my go-to recipes. Ridiculously easy but truly delicious.

[Richard Kilgore]

Assouline and Ting in Philadelphia seems to have the best prices on Valrhona I've seen (about $7.90/lb), although it's still to much for me.

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Wow, they're much cheaper than chocosphere! Like 30% cheaper on the few items I checked. For instance, Assouline and Ting has 3kg Valrhona Guanaja Feves for $54.96. Chocosphere sells the same thing for $79.95.

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I can't find their chocolate products or chocolate prices on their site. Am I missing something obvious or did they remove it?

[John DePaula]

Assouline and Ting in Philadelphia seems to have the best prices on Valrhona I've seen (about $7.90/lb), although it's still to much for me.

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Wow, they're much cheaper than chocosphere! Like 30% cheaper on the few items I checked. For instance, Assouline and Ting has 3kg Valrhona Guanaja Feves for $54.96. Chocosphere sells the same thing for $79.95.

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I can't find their chocolate products or chocolate prices on their site. Am I missing something obvious or did they remove it?

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Here's a link straight to the good stuff: Bitter-Sweet Chocolates-Chocolate Amer

[FoodMan]

After the miserable failure with the Criollo recipe a while back, I gave the other cocnut dacquaise application a try this past weekend. I did that mainly because the coconut dacquaise are so damn good. So I made the "Chocolat Semifreddo with Coconut Dacquaise" and I am very pleased it was a success. Instead of making a round cake-like dessert I built mine in a loaf pan. I drew three retangles of different sizes and used them as a template to pipe and bake my layers of dacquaise. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly. I so wish Patrick took the pictures of this lovely heavenly dessert because mine do not do it justice

As you can see I think I did not whip the chocolate with the little bit of cream properly. That resulted in small pieces of solidified chocolate in the mousse, but they tasted very good, like little specks of chocolate chip. The flavor and texture were outstanding, with the layers of dacquaise remaining firm chewy and full of coconut flavor. This worked great with the rich frozen chocolaty mousse.

[gfron1]

Thanks Elie...this thread has been quiet for too long - I'll be opening my PH book again this week!