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"Chocolate Desserts" by Pierre Herme (Part 1)


SethG

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I disagree.. The look pretty damn good to me.

Thanks, man. Your mousse makes me want to whip up another batch, right now.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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Seth, you're right -- had the Korova cookies existed when I worked on CDPH, I certainly would have included them. In fact, I think they should be included in every book written by anyone -- they are my favorite cookies and the ones I get the most requests for. I'm thinking of including them in the book I'm working on now. I can't imagine anyone would complain about a repeat of something so good. Glad you loved them too.

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gallery_15057_181_1102665.jpgTonight we made the tart Grenobloise.. Had a long day so we got started with the it late after dinner.. We just finished it a little bit ago. It looks awesome.. I am so ready to eat this thing.. I have obviously tasted everything seperately and cant wait to try the whole thing.. Its gorgeous.. Here are some photos..

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I had the chocolate pave (made by lemoncurd) tonight at an Egullet potluck dinner. All I can say is that every potluck should be so lucky as to have this dessert rounding out the meal. :wub: I loved how rich the cake was, and the apricot/ginger was a really nice unexpected element (for me). You should have seen what an amazing job lemoncurd did on the cake decorations--I hope she will post pictures! :smile:

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Looks good, Daniel! I want to make that mousse again soon, but with coffee-infused milk. And I assure you that buying the book was a wise choice.

Patrick-

You are a genious, this has to make for a wonderful combo and I will do that next time I make the mousse. Judging by how these pics look, that might be very soon...

Elie

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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I do need to make that mousse. Looks good, Daniel.

If anyone in the US is still looking for the pans to do the fave cake in, you may want to check out the TJMaxx and Marshall's outlets if you have one nearby. I picked up two 18X9 cm Chicago Mettalic Commercial loaf pans that are marked as a Baker's Catalogue exclusive. So they must have discontinued them, or are no longer an exclusive, and are clearing them out through the discounters. They are mislabeled slightly as 7"X3"X2" (18X8X5 cm), but measure 7X 3 1/2 (18X9 cm) exterior bottom. These are not aluminum, rather aluminized steel.

Thanks for the tip.. Better then spending thirty bucks a piece for them at william sonoma.. My mom snagged one in jersey today.. Oh moms and egullet, how could one go wrong with both of these on your side.

Edited by Daniel (log)
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Everyone's mousse's and tarts look so great! I'm continually inspired to keep trying more recipes.

Here's my Pave - I was really pleased with how it turned out. I made the pave for an informal Vancouver eGullet gathering to watch ICA Morimoto vs Feenie.

I didn't have the right size pans so I made an 8x8 inch cake and kept it that size for applying the ganache/decorating. I had a bit of ganache left over but not too much. I also made a apricot/passion coulis to go with it and apricot/passion fruit pate as well.

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After SethG's comments on the Korova Cookies from Paris Sweet's, I think they will be my next project.

Edited by lemon curd (log)

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Has anyone tried the Chocolate Sparklers cookie recipe on pg. 67? I did and was underwhelmed. Not sweet enough. Pretty dry tasting. I was pretty good about following the directions, especially about not overworking the dough while mixing. Still the result was, in a word, yucky.

It's doubtful I will try this recipe again. It's frustrating because the photo looks so nice and the ingredients are usually in my cupboard.

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Has anyone tried the Chocolate Sparklers cookie recipe on pg. 67?  I did and was underwhelmed.  Not sweet enough.  Pretty dry tasting.  I was pretty good about following the directions, especially about not overworking the dough while mixing.  Still the result was, in a word, yucky. 

It's doubtful I will try this recipe again.  It's frustrating because the photo looks so nice and the ingredients are usually in my cupboard.

I tried them months ago, long before this thread had started. They were quite a success with the friends who tasted them an I liked them a lot as well. Having had to live with a brother who loves things that are, to me, overly sweet, I've long learned that sweetness is a very subjective matter. I simply adapt recipes depending on who I want to make happy: when he's around I just modify my recipes to include more sugar.

They're certainly not moist, but I would not call them dry by any means. I don't have the book with me, yet I seem to recall sand cookies mentioned in the introduction to the recipe. Like the best sand cookies I remember these sparklers as being so delicate they would practically melt and crumble on the tongue.

BTW, great work from everyone, it's torture reading this discussion before breakfast :laugh: . I haven't had a chance to bake in the past weeks, but I hope to jump into the thread again soon.

Il Forno: eating, drinking, baking... mostly side effect free. Italian food from an Italian kitchen.
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Here's my Pave - I was really pleased with how it turned out.  I made the pave for an informal Vancouver eGullet gathering to watch ICA Morimoto vs Feenie.

I can certainly attest that the Pave tasted just as wonderful as it looks! And the accompanying fruit gelee shown in the plating was also fantastic (when are you making more?! :rolleyes: ).

A standing dessert ovation from me!

Joie Alvaro Kent

"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2,000 of something." ~ Mitch Hedberg

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Sorry to go so far backwards on everyone but I just got this book recently. I made the chocolate caramels over the weekend and they're horrible! So bitter I threw them away. The only thing I can think of is that I overcooked the sugar. I have no idea what color "dark mahogany" is. I wish he'd given a temperature instead.

Would overcooking the sugar make it bitter?

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Would overcooking the sugar make it bitter?

It sure will. In fact, there is really a rather narrow window between dark and yummy and dark and nasty. I'd go to about 350-360F.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced" - Vincent Van Gogh
 

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Would overcooking the sugar make it bitter?

It sure will. In fact, there is really a rather narrow window between dark and yummy and dark and nasty. I'd go to about 350-360F.

Thanks Patrick. I don't work with boiled sugar much and had no idea. I'll try again in a few weeks.

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Lemoncurd- your desserts come out amazing! especially this Pave and your earlier Black Forest, they are just perfect.

Curlysue, I am pretty sure you burnt the sugar to get a nasty bitter caramel. Did you see ANY wisps (no matter how tiny) of smoke coming out of the sugar when it boiled? The only time I saw this was when I answered the damn phone while making caramel and I thought the sugar still LOOKED fine, but it was in fact pretty nasty when I tasted it.

Elie

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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I also made a apricot/passion coulis to go with it and apricot/passion fruit pate as well.

LOL! You're killing me, curd. Great work. Love the presentation.

"I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast;

but we like hot butter on our breakfast toast!"

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^I can attest that her creations are just as tasty as they look. (She also made a merlot/cassis/raspberry gelee for us, AND caramel-filled chocolates!  :wub: )

... which I still have in my fridge, along with two slices of the Pave. :biggrin:

A.

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^I can attest that her creations are just as tasty as they look. (She also made a merlot/cassis/raspberry gelee for us, AND caramel-filled chocolates!  :wub: )

... which I still have in my fridge, along with two slices of the Pave. :biggrin:

A.

Um...Hi Arne, remember me :biggrin: your friend that couldn't make it due to a pneumonia-ey thingy!

Truly, Lemoncurd WOW! that dessert looked spectacular, the presentation was gorgeous and I can only imagine that it tasted just as good as it looked, well I'm sure it tasted better than it looked. Can't wait for the next gathering.

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I really want to try the chocolate ice cream recipe, however it seems that all stores only carry non-fat dry milk (why is that BTW?). I cannot for the life of me find full fat versions. Has anyone who tried this recipe used the fat free dry milk or did you find the full fat version somehow?

Thanks

Elie

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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