The Sharp & the Broad

Reader Frank writes:

You mentioned that more cocoa butter causes a chocolate to melt faster. Can you explain why?

I would love to do that, Frank! You’ve of course heard the term “melting point”, a temperature at which a substance changes from solid to liquid. A melting point can be “sharp” or “broad.” A substance with a sharp melting point changes from solid to liquid very suddenly. A substance with a broad melting point changes “phases” only very slowly. In general it’s purer, more homogenous substances that have sharper melting points.

READ ON

Brunch with Paula

I know there are a lot of Paula Deen fans out there. Heck my father is one of them and he can barely boil water. I guess it’s that kooky charisma of hers, plus the way she cheerfully ignores every dietary restriction ever conceived by man. Part of the pleasure of her show is imagining the reaction of the food scolds of the world: red-faced and hooked to a blood pressure gauge that’s steadily rising.

That alone makes me want to enter this contest, so I can express my gratitude. You may have a different reason for wanting to fly to Savannah for brunch. But do me a favor if you win: tell her Joe says thanks.

READ ON

So what are we going to do this week?

Play with chocolate. At least that’s the plan. I get a steady stream of emails from readers interested in candy making and/or molded chocolate pieces and garnishes for plated desserts. In general I put these requests off because a) I usually have a long list of baked items on my list, but more importantly: b) […]

READ ON

Back…and beat.

It seems like I’ve lived an age since I last saw you. So much has transpired it’s hard to know where to start. What did I do? I drove, drove, drove and drove some more. I consoled two friends whose son was killed in a car crash. I walked a creek bed in the shimmering light of dawn. I caught crayfish and turtles by hand. I baked a hundred cakes with a woman named Betty. I spun a giant roulette wheel until midnight. I made squash blossom pizza. I dabbed my wife’s forehead with a cool cloth after she fainted. I bought my first pink shirt (it’s actually light red). I visited a graveyard that has five generation of my ancestors in it. I listened to a new record by The Cars. I swam, I fished, I climbed, I ran, I sat in traffic, I went to meetings, I cooked outdoors…and now I’m completely exhausted.

But it’s great to be back!

READ ON

Writing is hard.

NOT writing is harder. I’m looking forward to getting back to it soon!

READ ON

June/July Excuses List

It’s going to be a week or more until the next project. The hectic summer I referenced in the below post is in full swing. I’m traveling on business for the next two days, then on my return I’ll be volunteering as a camp counselor, teaching the youth how to shoot arrows, fish and tie knots. I’ll miss the baking but I confess — given I’m surrounded by females day-to-day — I’m really looking forward to a little boy time. After that it’s more business travel, then more volunteering, though this time I’ll be baking cakes and pies by the truck load for our parish fair. That takes me through the end of next week…but since I can’t imagine a full two weeks without at least a little blogging, I’ll probably find a way to work at least some small something-or-other in. I’m planning a new regularly-occurring feature on the blog called Stupid Chocolate Tricks. I’ll try to get the first one going in the near future. See you soon, campers!

READ ON

Alaska by any other name…

Baked Alaska has been variously known as a “Norwegian omelette” and a “Swedish Omelette”, mostly on the Continent. The dessert has as much to do with Scandinavia as it does Alaska, but then they’re both pretty cold, also.

READ ON

What’s the science behind baked Alaska?

As you’ve no doubt guessed already, meringue is a terrific insulator. It’s made of thousands upon thousands of tiny bubbles, and each one of them works like a little air gap, slowing down the transfer of heat from the oven to the ice cream. Still air, you see, doesn’t move heat very well.

Thus meringue is great at putting the hammer down on convective heat transfer, i.e. movement of heat via air flows (or liquid flows). It’s not so good at preventing the other two major modes of heat transfer: conductive (objects of different temperatures in physical contact with one another) or radiant (electromagnetic radiation). The good news there is that most of the heat transfer that occurs in a home oven is of the convective kind. Clever fellow, that Rumford guy.

READ ON