One of the most time consuming and frustrating tasks facing pastry chefs is tempering chocolate.  Chocolate is a finnicky ingredient that has a complex chemichal structure which needs to be handled just right.  Improperly tempered chocolate is streaked with gray, and lacks that characteristic “snap” we all love.  You see, cocoa butter, the fat in chocolate, asorbs heat at a different rate than the other ingredients (cocoa, sugar, etc.) so it can seperate and “float” to the top.  The chocolate needs to be melted to a certain temperature (110-115 F,) cooled to another (80-82) and then rewarmed to yet another (87-91) to work with it.  This process insures the the fat molecules are melted homogenously, and that its structure in relation to the other ingredients creates that perfect gloss, hardness, and shrinkage that makes a good chocolate candy, truffle, garnish or whatever.   There are several methods for tempering; seeding, marbling, in the microwave, or my personal favorite, by robot.  Pictured above is the Chocovision Revolation X3210 4.8.  It takes all the guess work out of the tricky tempering process, and looks dead sexy while doing it.  I’ve been using it to make candies and truffles for mignardes at the restaurant.  Flavors so far include brown butter, white chocolate basil, butterscotch, orange, vanilla cream.  All yummy, all the time.  Interested in experimenting with chocolate?  Don’t have a $1500 dollar robot? Check out this site.

Faithful readers, it’s time to change ‘em up a little bit, we’ve gotta keep it exciting, right?  The Rosemary and Pinenut Tartlette  is coming off.  I can’t give that thing away.  Also bye-bye is the Cheesecake Three  Ways, because its too much work.  I’m bustin’ my ass over a mediocre dessert, when I should have been making Chocolate Flourless , Passionfruit, and Creme Fraiche Sherbet, pictured above.   Sauced it with Valrhona, ’cause it’s good  Also we have Poached Pear, Olive Oil beignet, and Valrhona milk chocolate.  Take a look below.  We poached the pears in a bag for six hours in Jake’s thermal bath.  This is attempting that “in the woods” feeling that I was trying to capture with the Pinenut Tart.  Maybe this time the clarified butter and chocolate will make it happen.  That’s right, we got Valrhona on both, peeps.  You’ve tried it , right?   Also revised was The Irish Car Bomb, which is now Gunniess stout brownie, Bailey’s anglaise, and Jameson’s salted whiskey caramel ice cream.  And don’t forget to check Elvis’s out  new bacon cookie!!! 

This here is Jen.  She and I are pastry assistants at Fenouil.  I don’t often get to work with her because we cover one anothers off-days, and shifts over-lap infrequently.  I always look forward to seeing her, we have such fun in the kitchen together, and a like-mindedness about pastry.  Her chocolate work is some of the best I have seen in my career, the snap on her temper is spot on every time, and she comes up with some interesting flavor combinations for her truffles and candies.  Chef Pascal recently asked her to start selling her chocolates retail through the restaurant.  I hope they get that going.  When Jen and I work together, the tasks become backround to the banter, which is more often than not conveyed in a brittish accent.  So Happy Birthday Jen, you are so much more than a crazy-cat lady…you rock!! More Blood for the Master!!

Its a sad state of affairs when I have to event desserts in Photoshop, but right now, breathing is cost-prohibitive,  never mind ingredient shopping.  Anyway, here’s a plated dessert version of an Irish Car Bomb.  I found all the recipes on the web fairly easily, so I’m surprised that this hasn’t apparently been done before.  Learning the term New American Cuisine inspired me to look to what Americans love, which is of course, gluttony.  And drinking.  So why not use the flavors of your favorite party drink to create a truly decadent delight?  Hopefully I’ll get to make this soon. Guiness Stout Brownie, Bailey’s Ice Cream, and Jameson’s Caramel Sauce can all be found on the recipe page here.   I got the idea for the presentation from Charlie Trotter’s Dessert Book, which I fall asleep reading most nights.  I recommend serving this with an ice cold Gewürztraminer, just to add a refreshing element, form of, more alcohol!! YAY Gluttony!! 

If I can make a custard with one arm, then I can make bread pudding.  If I can make bread pudding, then I can deep fry it.  Jaybill came up with idea as a joke, but I really liked the idea of taking old croissants, soaking them in custard, baking them in a waterbath, breading them with panko, and then deep frying them.  Anyway here’s Panko-Fried Chocolate Bread Pudding.  PFBP for short.  Check out how to make it in my new Recipes section.