Joe Pastry – Page 127 – Baking Techniques, History, & Science

Next Up: British Cream Scones

I know, I’ve done scones before, but they were American scones. Those aren’t really scones in the British sense. Oh right, then I did those Aussie pumpkin scones, but those aren’t British scones either. More like American biscuits. Which I should probably point out aren’t like either Australian or British biscuits. Those are more like American cookies. Which is not to say that no one makes cookies in Britain, they…

Hang on, I’m getting all confused now. This is going to be a short week for me, I’d better not get my little brainpan smoking already. I’m just going to put up a recipe…

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Making a Frozen Bombe

A classic bombe is made from ~~pig iron and gunpowder~~ ice cream and sponge cake. However the filling need not be ice cream to still qualify as a frozen bombe. Here I’m using frozen mousse for the interior which is an easier thing for the home cook to produce, even though it is a little extra rich. (Not always a bad thing).

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Sticks to the Roof of Your Mouth

Reader Susan writes:

I can’t decide whether I like white chocolate or not. I like the very first taste of white chocolate when it hits my tongue and it’s initial flavor is sensed…then it’s all down hill from there. White chocolate does (to me) what milk chocolate seems to do to me; it’s components coat the tongue and the sensation of it’s flavor goes into overload that cannot be washed away! Is that sensation because of the amount of fat in the cocoa butter? What’s the deal with white chocolate?

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What’s “Chocolate” About White Chocolate?

Good question, reader Leeza. Pretty much nothin’. White chocolate has zero cocoa solids, which are the essence of chocolate flavor. The only thing that comes from the cocoa pod that’s found in white chocolate is cocoa butter, which has no flavor of its own (sometimes it does have a residual chocolate smell, though the type you find in most bars has been deodorized).

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Making a Chocolate “Mirror Glaze”

This is a nice technique to have in your trick bag for those times when you want to add a little glitz and glamor to a cake, torte or bombe. It’s a soft coating, but the trick of added gelatin gives it a shine other simple chocolate glazes don’t have. Begin by adding the two teaspoons gelatin to half of the water.

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Strange Effects

Is my Derby hangover still with me, or are there weird things happening around the perimeters of the blog? Please bear with me as I try to get all this straightened out. It seems pretty clear it’s ad related.

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Making White Chocolate Mousse

I think of white chocolate mousse a medium for another flavor versus an end in itself. I mean honestly…is there anyone out there who’s really that into white chocolate? However we can use the cocoa butter that white chocolate contains to give an ethereal herbal flavor like mint a form and a texture. Since we only need the white chocolate for its foam-reinforcing cocoa butter, not its flavor, we can go lighter than we would with a chocolate mousse. I make mine with:

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On the James Beard Awards

I only just got around to checking the list of winners for the 2012 James Beard Awards (thanks to reader Mic for reminding me that they were even happening!). Congratulations to Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni’s on her book award for Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home. I confess I haven’t seen it yet, the fall of the big box bookstores has made browsing the year’s cookbook titles a whole lot more difficult. But I can see it’s a book Mrs. Pastry will want to get her mits on and soon!

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Reasons to Be Cheerful

Summer, Buddy Holly, Good Golly Miss Molly and boats. Once I start listening to Ian Dury I find it very hard to stop. He may have been small, he may have had polio, he may have been a little too into disco…but he was a force, and one funny song writer. This will shake off your blues.

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What’s the relationship between bombes and pâte à bombe?

VERY perceptive question, reader Camille. Pâte à bombe is of course the delicious base of whipped egg yolks and sugar syrup that’s often used to make chocolate mousse. “Pâte” is variously translated as “dough”, “paste” or “mix.” And “bombe” as we’ve established pretty much just means bomb. I think the only possible explanation is that pâte à bombe is/was a base that’s employed in the making of dessert bombes.

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