"Chocolate Desserts" by Pierre Herme (Part 1)

[kthull]

Hey, another note on the Nutella Tart recipe. There's a typo in the butter quantity if you're going by the gram weights (as I was at the time). It calls for 7 tablespoons of butter (3-1/2 oz, 200 g). It should be 100 grams.

I was still half asleep as I went through nearly two sticks of butter to get the 200 g and was thinking as I melted it that it was an awful lot of butter. Can't recall why I double checked it, but I cut off a 7 tablespoon chunk of butter and weighed it and thanked the kitchen gods that I wasn't too late.

[Patrick S]

As promised, here are some pictures of the chocolate-lemon caramels. They are very soft and very chocolatey. The lemon is nearly impossible to discern.

Edited December 10, 2004 by Patrick S (log)

[CanadianBakin']

I'm not participating in this thread due to time constraints but I wanted to let you all know how much I enjoy following it and seeing all your pictures. You guys amaze me!!

Edited December 10, 2004 by CanadianBakin' (log)

[kthull]

Way to go Patrick. I think you've convince me to make them.

What size pan did you use? I noticed the comment in the book about 8" square vs. 9" square. I'm pretty sure I have an 8" but haven't broken out the ruler yet. Yours look goodly sized.

Edit: keep it clean folks...I just got back from another forum where seriously off-topic comments would start from my post above.

Edited December 10, 2004 by kthull (log)

[SethG]

Nice caramels-- and nice photos, once again!

[Behemoth]

Oh man. So now y'all are making me want to take up baking?!

These pics are amazing.

[albiston]

Hey, another note on the Nutella Tart recipe. There's a typo in the butter quantity if you're going by the gram weights (as I was at the time). It calls for 7 tablespoons of butter (3-1/2 oz, 200 g). It should be 100 grams.

←

I noted the same thing a few posts back. What is it with not reading other people's post? Just kidding kthull. (insert favourite emoticon here)

I actually made the tart with the 200g butter months ago and, before finding out about the typo -I'm not too familiar with ounces and tablespoons-, and it actually was a success. A bit too buttery maybe but good .

[Patrick S]

Way to go Patrick. I think you've convince me to make them.

What size pan did you use?

←

I believe it was 8" but I'm not sure that it wasn't 9".

[kthull]

I noted the same thing a few posts back. What is it with not reading other people's post? Just kidding kthull. (insert favourite emoticon here)

←

Oops...Sorry!

[Richard Kilgore]

Everything looks fabulous on this thread. Thanks for starting it, Seth, and thanks everyone for posting the photos. I have been locating local chocolate sources, so I should be able to do something next week. The Vahlrona Guanaja that Herme calls for in so many of the recipes has been particularly hard to find here, but I finally found a source and will be picking some up soon.

[SethG]

I made the caramels tonight, and I'm afraid something may have gone wrong.

Mine are much darker than Patrick's-- they're basically the color of Valrhona Manjari, the chocolate I used. Patrick, did you use a milk chocolate? Yours don't look much like the ones in the book, but I'm not sure mine do either.

And it seemed like a long time before the mixture reached 243 degrees.

I'll let you guys know how they come out tomorrow. When I tasted from the pot, I got a good hit of caramel and even more of chocolate.

Edit: Here's an aritcle about some of Paris' best chocolate shops, including Pierre Herme's place near St. Sulpice. The article notes that Pierre Herme is "widely considered the greatest pastry chef in the world."

Edited December 12, 2004 by SethG (log)

[lemon curd]

I borrowed the Chocolate Dessert book from a coworker for the weekend and just finished a batch of the caramels.

Similar to Seth G, my caramels appear darker than Patrick S's. I let the sugar/corn syrup/lemon zest mixture get to what I thought matched the 'rusty mahogany' colour described in the recipe (but I guess that's pretty subjective...). I also found it took a while after adding the butter, w/cream and chocolate to get back up to 243 deg F.

I didn't use Valrohona Guanaja as I had Cocao Barry Guayaquil (64%) on hand. I can't remember if Guanaja is a lighter colour or not - I will check at work on Monday. If it is that could be another reason for my colour differences.

I'm looking forward to cutting and tasting them tomorrow. My first test off the spatula is good but as with Patrick S, I didn't discern much lemon flavour.

[SethG]

Oops, I'm sorry, Guanaja (70%) is what I used, not Manjari.

Here are my caramels:

They are really great. They are soft, but again, from appearances I think mine may not be quite as soft as Patrick's. I can't say I taste any lemon. The balance of caramel and chocolate is delicious.

These are really an easy candy to make. The whole process takes around half an hour or so. And it doesn't require any fussy caramel stuff (such as washing down the sides of the pot as the sugar cooks to avoid the formation of crystals).

[Patrick S]

Actually, the photos I posted the other night, using incandescent light, make the caramels look lighter in color than they appear to the eye. I took a few more shots this morning under natural light, at least as much as is available on this overcast day, and the color is darker. Also, I did not use Valrhona chocolate (I rarely do). I used what I had around the kitchen, which was my last 3ozs of Scharffen Berger 70%, and 1oz of Guittard L'Harmonie 64%, so my caramel would indeed have a slightly lower concentration of cocoa solids than if I'd used all 70% chocolate.

I think next time it may be better to add the zest right at the end. As you cook the caramel, you get a wonderful smell of lemon in the kitchen, but that means the lemon oils are aerosolizing or whatever and leaving the caramel. Maybe if you add it right at the end the loss of lemon oil would be much less.

Edited December 12, 2004 by Patrick S (log)

[Sobaicecream]

Patrick S, your caramels look so beautiful *and* scrumptious. I wish I could join in this very fun thread! Am thoroughly enjoying the pictures as well as everyone's enthusiasm.

My question to all of you is: what do you do with all this stuff you're baking?! Do you have nightly dinner parties or something, during which you unload all these baked goodies on your lucky friends?

[kthull]

My question to all of you is: what do you do with all this stuff you're baking?! Do you have nightly dinner parties or something, during which you unload all these baked goodies on your lucky friends?

←

My intentions are always to share with the neighbors. However...

[tan319]

The Valrhona Guanaja is going to be darker, for sure.

Also, if you're not taking your sugar far enough, you might get a lighter color.

Great idea/suggestion on Patricks part to add the lemon zest last, to get more of the flavor.

If you have a microplaner, and feel ballsy enough, zest your lemon right over the mix next time.

The oils that come off that lemon right at the moment of zesting will really get in there.

Maybe a small drop of lemon oil (Williams Sonoma, Linens & Things, those types of places) would be interesting.

Oh, I've also been wondering about where all of these goodies end up, almost as much as I'm curious about where everyone gets the time to make all of this fine food.

Great stuff!....

[lemon curd]

I've included a picture of my caramels (my very first time with IMG ). I'll be taking them to a Christmas party this afternoon, along with some cookies from the Vancouver eGullet cookie exchange. I like the idea of adding the lemon zest much closer to the end. Based on the posts previous to starting my caramels, I added the zest of a whole lemon (instead of 1/2 as per the recipe) and it made no difference, as the lemon flavour is not apparent. However, the aroma of the sugar/corn syrup/lemon zest while cooking was very nice!

By the way my coworker also lent me Pierre Herme's "La Patisserie de Pierre Hermes" which is an absolutely beautiful book. For home use, it's one of those books where you would tend to look at the pictures and read the recipes, as few of us would have the specialized equipment and ingredients at home (but you never know with eGulleters ).

[SethG]

I'm bringing my caramels (which, AHEM, look great, don't they, people?) to my in-laws today, and the remainder I'll bring to work tomorrow.

I brought my chocolate/hazelnut sables to work the day after Thanksgiving and they were gone, it seemed, in seconds.

The tart I made last week was intended to be shared with some friends of ours, but they canceled when their son got sick. Then my wife had to stay late at work and I was left to confront it alone! I managed.

Edit: Nice work, lemon curd! I didn't see your caramels before I posted.

Edited December 12, 2004 by SethG (log)

[tan319]

Those caramels look great, lemoncurd!

RE:La Patisserie de Pierre Hermes":

You guys should start saving the money (if you need to, that is) for THE BOOK , you know you want it!

No, really, everyone's work looks so good out of the "Chocolate Desserts" book that the pro book would probably really prove inspirational.

[Patrick S]

Seth G, of course your caramels look gorgeous. LemonCurd, yours look gorgeous as well.

Soubaicecream:

Patrick S, your caramels look so beautiful *and* scrumptious. I wish I could join in this very fun thread! Am thoroughly enjoying the pictures as well as everyone's enthusiasm.

My question to all of you is: what do you do with all this stuff you're baking?! Do you have nightly dinner parties or something, during which you unload all these baked goodies on your lucky friends?

Thanks so much for the compliment.

I usually am not able to unload everything I make, but I try. I take some to work with me to give away (my supervisor is a chocoholic, which works out well for me), and on saturday's I usually have a big lunch with my wife's family. I freeze what I can.

[lemon curd]

Those caramels look great, lemoncurd!

RE:La Patisserie de Pierre Hermes":

You guys should start saving the money (if you need to, that is) for THE BOOK , you know you want it!

No, really, everyone's work looks so good out of the "Chocolate Desserts" book that the pro book would probably really prove inspirational.

←

Oh yes I do want it! But at $275 CDN, I definately have to save my pennies (or better yet save my toonies!). A little off topic, but I've also borrowed "Oriol Balaguer Dessert Cuisine" which is another amazing professional book. sigh - someday!

[tan319]

Balaguers book is tremendous, right alongside P.H and Frederic Bau.

Money well spent.

Here's a site for him, in case you missed the thread with it from some months ago.

http://oriolbalaguer.com/

I wish PH had a site!

[Sobaicecream]

I'm bringing my caramels (which, AHEM, look great, don't they, people?) to my in-laws today, and the remainder I'll bring to work tomorrow.

←

SethG, your caramels look very pretty too.

Admittedly, I really liked the look of Patrick S's earlier caramel shots cause they reminded me of the fresh caramel sold at Grandville Island (anyone from Vancouver??) that I adored when I was a kid--and then I saw a later post explaining that the lighting had made the caramels appear much lighter than they really were...

But of course the darker ones look yummy too, in a different, less nostalgic way.

[FoodMan]

I love this thread as well, now I really need to get this Herme book. Keep up the good work folks.

Elie