While I was gone, a reader by the name of Jim Chevalier chimed in on an old post about the history of croissants. The email went like this: Congratulations! You’re the first (other) person I’ve seen so far who bothered to check just WHO was besieger and besieged in Budapest (you would think the person […]
READ ONI cut a giant swathe through the lower Midwest last week, pitching business and eating just about everything in sight. Now I’m back home with a glass of alka seltzer by my bed, wondering what the heck happened. It was one of those rambling trips that featured all sorts of reality check moments. Tuesday night […]
READ ONSudden business opportunities necessitated that I pack up and hit the road with scarcely a moment’s notice. And since Monday evening, I’ve barely had access to the internet. So…please forgive the disappearance. I’ll do my best to get after it again tomorrow!
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This is a serious dessert mousse, friends. A chocolate experience so rich, velvety and decadent, a few tablespoons is really all that any one person needs. I usually chuckle when I watch Mrs. Pastry eat chocolate bars, because she nibbles them like a mouse, savoring every tiny morsel. However even I — a man known to wolf chocolate bars down by the handful — eat this only incrementally, off the tip of a spoon.
READ ONLord, my weekend numbers were abysmal. I haven’t had so little traffic in close to a year! I tried to rationalize it…that everybody was just watching the Kentucky Derby this weekend. But the race is only two minutes long! I’m losing my fan base! I need a ratings gimmick! Kill off a cast member maybe? […]
READ ONThis stuff is so good you’ll want to eat it with a spoon. It’s thick but light, firm but flowing…trust me, you’ll love it. Start by putting your yolks in the bowl of your mixer… And whip for several minutes on medium high until they’re light and frothy. Meanwhile heat your sugar syrup over a […]
READ ONIt’s an interesting question. “Pâte” means “dough” (or a mixture of a semi-solid consistency), and “bombe” pretty much just means “bomb”. So then “pâte à bombe” means “explosive dough” then, Joe? Eh, not quite. For in the world of French pastry a “bombe” is a round sweet thing, filled with spongecake and mousse. Which is […]
READ ONThere are so many terrific names in this year’s Derby: Summer Bird, Dunkirk, and what about I Want Revenge? I should have named one of my daughters that! However, given what I’ve been blogging about these past two weeks, how can I not go with Chocolate Candy? At 20-1 he’s by no means the most […]
READ ONSo what the heck is pâte à bombe, anyway? Pâte à bombe is aptly named, for it is, not to put too fine a point on it, the bomb. It’s a rich concoction of cooked sugar syrup and egg yolks, whipped up into a light, creamy consistency. Oh come on, Joe! Don’t make me learn […]
READ ONFor quite a while now I’ve looked forward to the day when I’d do a little actual journalism on this silly site…interview some working bakers and get some real-world perspectives on what’s happening in the trade. Today, my friends, is that day. And I’m off to a great start — especially given my topic for […]
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