The Quenelle

Beautiful bread. I've never had whole wheat sourdo...

2010-03-20T21:17:48.324-04:00

Beautiful bread. I've never had whole wheat sourdough and would love to try it.

Those are beautiful! Well done!

2010-03-19T00:25:44.466-04:00

Those are beautiful! Well done!

I actually just spray them with vegalene and they ...

2010-03-17T19:55:50.389-04:00

I actually just spray them with vegalene and they come out fine. Beeswax is a pain.

Chef, I have 8 of these molds, and made them once...

2010-03-17T17:44:08.854-04:00

Chef,

I have 8 of these molds, and made them once, poorly. I am going to try them with beeswax next. Do you make yours this way?

your killing me....:)

2010-03-17T17:31:16.957-04:00

your killing me....:)

thanks so much ! the "italian" way sounds safer bu...

2010-03-16T06:51:02.791-04:00

thanks so much !
the "italian" way sounds safer but i think i'll try the recipe from your book first.. keep up the good work ! :)

Stephano There are two ways to make macarons, one ...

2010-03-15T19:07:55.428-04:00

Stephano
There are two ways to make macarons, one is as in my book, with a simple or French meringue,and then there is a way to make them with an Italian meringue. The macarons with an Italian meringue are very stable and hardly ever come out wrong, but, they are so much more laborious. I prefer to use the simpler, easier recipe.
Thanks for buying the book!

hey chef ! i was reading your macaron recipe in t...

2010-03-15T09:47:09.212-04:00

hey chef !

i was reading your macaron recipe in the Modern Cafe (VERY good book ! :) and before i try it, i want to ask you why some othere recipes use italian meringue.. (one i've found uses plain eggwhites in the dry ingedients and then some italian meringue to finish the mixture)
does it make a differece ??

also: any ideas in achieving finely ground almonds in a Magimix ?

thanks! Stephano

Chef - j'aime bien les chaussons aux pommes! I to...

2010-03-12T14:01:06.140-05:00

Chef - j'aime bien les chaussons aux pommes! I totally hear you about the pastry to filling ratio... and would love one filled with your elderflower ganache RIGHT NOW! I hope you are well, Francisco!

Are you using a Valrohna product? They have a nice...

2010-03-09T11:42:31.590-05:00

Are you using a Valrohna product? They have a nice line of pearls of chocolat coated biscuit.

fruit for only six months of the year? i feel for ...

2010-03-08T13:53:03.805-05:00

fruit for only six months of the year? i feel for you!

Hello Francisco. I just read this post and it was...

2010-03-07T12:28:40.283-05:00

Hello Francisco.

I just read this post and it was very helpful. I started making my own raw chocolate and looking for ideas for the packaging. I want something that's eco-friendly and suitable for chocolate so it can be shipped without a problem. One idea I had was aluminum wrapping inside a sturdy box. I'm afraid that just paper wrapping won't be enough to prevent melting spots.

Also, I wanted to ask about your melanger. I've been on Chocolate Alchemy's web site and have read its info carefully. Right now I buy the ready cacao mass but my goal is to purchase a melanger and cacao beans to make it from scratch. Could you please tell me what brand melanger you bough and how do you like it? And does the chocolate comes out as smooth as if you work with cacao mass?

Thank you for your help!!! Your blog and creations look phenomenal! :-)

Zoe

Wow they look amazing! When I was a kid going on ...

2010-03-07T09:00:41.752-05:00

Wow they look amazing!

When I was a kid going on camping holidays to the west coast of France, it was my brothers and myselfs job to collect the pastries and bread every morning from the bakery.

Chausson au pomme was my dads order every day, my mothers a simple croissant, my brothers a pain au chocolate and for me a pain au raisin.

Simply bliss!!!

sooooooooo beautiful...do you need an apprentice?....

2010-03-07T07:30:24.602-05:00

sooooooooo beautiful...do you need an apprentice?..:)

wow u inspire me!

2010-03-07T01:56:52.756-05:00

wow u inspire me!

Stunning presentation.

2010-03-04T11:06:03.924-05:00

Stunning presentation.

Thank you so much for the tips! What a coincidence...

2010-03-03T13:57:43.910-05:00

Thank you so much for the tips! What a coincidence, I am currently writing up a post for my blog about puff pastry. Gluten free, of course; that we bought here in Spain. I started GF puff pastry formulation this past Monday at Alicia Fundacio. So far after only 3 prototypes I have amazing success w/ defined lamination and mechanical leavening. The dough I have formulated displays viscoelastic properties without the use of any texturas! Yay! The texture was surprisingly light & flaky. Inside, it is a bit chewy. After 2 months of GF research, I feel confident on the formulation modifications I need to made. I'll post again with the winning batch. Thanks again for the inspiration!

Chef, I was thinking. I've seen puff pastry made...

2010-02-25T14:55:29.772-05:00

Chef,

I was thinking. I've seen puff pastry made with shortening (100% fat) although greasy and flavorless, it has perfect separation and amazing lift. Which brings me to the notion that the moisture in the dough is what pushes up on each layer. If it were the moisture in the butter that was responsible for the leavening, then a pastry made with shortening would never rise. Correct me if I'm wrong.

-Bernie

True, even the best industry made puff pastry is w...

2010-02-23T03:23:11.241-05:00

True, even the best industry made puff pastry is worse than the worst handmade one. Question: do you use any special type of butter? My pastry teacher uses a high fat content butter, which remains soft even at cold temperatures.

What a wonderful, generous thing to do. Thank you....

2010-02-21T19:27:35.832-05:00

What a wonderful, generous thing to do. Thank you.

shine depends on how quickly the sugar dissolves i...

2010-02-21T19:16:08.404-05:00

shine depends on how quickly the sugar dissolves into the egg whites. The sooner the better (the shinier).
This is my basic recipe:
125 g almond flour (good quality)
225 g confectioner's sugar
Grind together in a robot coupe and pass through a sieve. Ideally leave out to dry overnight.
100g whites
5 g egg white powder
30 g sugar, superfine, grind in coffee grinder to a powder
Whip top stiff peaks, add food coloring.
Fold into almond and sugar mix until mixture is semi-loose (should puddle slightly in the bowl).
Pipe onto a sheet pan lined with a silpat or other non-stick rubber mat. Dry for 35 to 40 minutes. Bake at 300 F in a convection oven for 4 minutes on the lowest fan speed. Turn oven off and leave to bake 14 more minuites.
That'll do it.

What is your macaron recipe? Curious as how you g...

2010-02-21T14:35:21.390-05:00

What is your macaron recipe? Curious as how you get them SO shiny.

Hola Cristobal Si vi el video con la proyeccion so...

2010-02-17T19:56:11.227-05:00

Hola Cristobal
Si vi el video con la proyeccion sobre la torta; arriba puse el link a el video en youtube. Tu espanol esta bastante bien. gitano.

Hola Chef. Estaba mirando a través de su blog y se...

2010-02-17T10:55:56.667-05:00

Hola Chef. Estaba mirando a través de su blog y se dio cuenta que estaba hablando Escriba. así lo hizo hace mucho tiempo. ¿Llegó usted a ver el video de ellos cuando se hizo la boda de Alice in Wonderland? También el otro vídeo cuando tenía los pastel de boda blanco, y se proyecta el vídeo de la torta. Los dos videos me sorprendió. Por cierto ¿cómo es mi español, pensé que sería la práctica.

Wow.

2010-02-17T08:43:43.910-05:00

Wow.