I am a huge fan of versatile recipes. I made that point in The Macaron Lesson. You need one good macaron recipe. Once you master the mixing, piping and baking of the macaron, you can color and flavor it in a myriad of ways. A good ice cream base is like that too. Just figure……...
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The Cocoa Butter Silk Lesson
Let’s get this out of the way immediately; tempering* chocolate is easy. People have heard that it is difficult and when it comes their turn to manually temper a batch of chocolate, it gets in their head. They create scenarios that only through magic tricks is it possible to temper chocolate. We all get anxiety……...
The Unusual Ice Cream Lesson
The title of this chapter is misleading. These aren’t unusual or weird ice creams and sorbets; they are just delicious rearrangements of other ingredients that you’d not expect in a frozen dessert. And these pair so well with other items, that nobody will think that you are weird in any way, shape or form. Frederic……...
The Vanilla Caramel Explosion Lesson
Yes, it is indeed an explosion of vanilla caramel. This caramel ganache is very different from the Fleur de Sel ganache that we made in our last lesson. That one is all about caramel and fleur de sel. You’d not want to sully it with too much elaboration. Even adding vanilla to that recipe would……...
The Gianduja Cremino Lesson
Due to the high amount of hazelnut fat in it, Gianduja isn’t really chocolate. It’s more like a chocolate novelty. But since it includes cocoa butter, it must be tempered if using it for confectionery sweets. It also may be the hardest word to pronounce in all of the culinary world. Repeat after me;……...
The Fleur de Sel Caramel Ganache Lesson
There are two types of bonbons in this world; coated bonbons and shelled bonbons. While they are all chocolate bonbons, they are as different personalities as Jekyll and Hyde. Coated bonbons can be pure ganaches that feature an elite chocolate such as a single origin varietal or one layered with praline or pâte de fruit……....
The Sorbet Lesson
When you want gelato, go directly to Italy. In particular, make your first stop in Bologna. But if you want the best sorbet, start and end your search in France. With all due respect to the Italians, sorbet is arguably one of the greatest things that the French have over the Italians in the food……...
The Linzer Cookie Lesson
I know what you’re thinking…why would a Linzer cookie require an entire chapter all to itself? For two massive reasons; I am a passionate cookie monster (and we are going to make a lot of cookies over the course of this book) and I love tradition. In particular, I love explaining tradition especially when a……...
The Lemon Tart Lesson
I could talk about tarts all day. Seriously. I love them and I love everything about them. They are amazingly versatile; lemon, lime, fruit with vanilla pastry cream, chocolate, caramel, any nut praline hiding under ganache, baked apple or pear, financier batter in a tart shell…on and on. I didn’t always love them. When I……...
The Nutella Lesson
In 1994, I was stuck in a blizzard in Washington D.C. Having only one snow plow operational, the nation’s capitol wasn’t prepared for the amount of snow dumped on to the city and the district came to a complete standstill. My goal was to stay inside and ride out the storm. Cabin fever set in……...