Sam: What is “tiramisu”? Jay: You’ll find out. Sam: Well, what is it? Jay: You’ll see! Sam: Some woman is gonna want me to do it to her and I’m not gonna know what it is! That brief exchange from the 1993 movie Sleepless in Seattle put tiramisu on the cultural map. Sure, it was […]
READ ONOr at least that’s the scuttlebut in some mascarpone-making circles. So it’s been claimed, lemon juice is the authentic way to go. I beg to differ about that. Mascarpone, as far as I understand it, was traditionally a summer cheese in Northern Italy. Lemons don’t ripen until autumn. Tartaric acid, on the other hand, would […]
READ ONTime and temperature are the secrets to a successful batch of mascarpone. Other than that all you have to work with are cream, some acid, a thermometer and a pan. Simple, right? Right… The formula is one pint of heavy cream and one pint of half-and-half (all of it un-homogenized and un-stabilized if at all […]
READ ONThat question from reader Amory. The answer is no — however that’s good initiative! Fermentation always provides more complex flavor, especially where dairy is concerned. The problem with using sour cream in a mascarpone recipe is that bacteria will already have begun producing lactic acid before you heat your cream. That means that proteins in […]
READ ONMost mascarpone recipes you find will warn against using ultra-pasteurized cream. So the recipes say, it gives the finished product an “off” flavor. That’s not true any more than ultra-pasteurized milk has an “off” flavor relative to plain ol’ pasteurized milk. Does better, fresher low-heat-pasteurized cream make better mascarpone than the ultra-pasteurized equivalent? No question. […]
READ ONBecause of the way it’s made, mascarpone is considered by some to be more like yogurt than a real cheese. These folks have sort of a point, since the process for making mascarpone is nearly identical, save for the fact that mascarpone doesn’t need to be fermented after it’s been heated. It thickens up all […]
READ ONBeing from the Chicago area, I had the luxury of growing up amongst Italians. Italian grandmothers, in fact, are part of the reason I had a weight problem as a boy. Because let’s face it, Italian-American food is what every kid loves to eat. It’s flavorful, it’s fatty, it’s starchy, it’s consumed with joyous abandon, […]
READ ONSo why have I resisted doing tiramisu for so long? Its popularity of course. I remember a time, not so long ago, when you couldn’t swing a dirty apron without hitting a serving of tiramisu. However it isn’t the popularity itself that’s put me off — otherwise I would never have done chocolate chip cookies […]
READ ONFruit poaching is a simple process, and, at least for a fruit as delicate as peach, a quick one as well. Start by making your poaching syrup, a mixture of two parts water and one part sugar by weight. Here I have a pint (pound) of water and 8 ounces of sugar. Bring it to […]
READ ON…what’s up with those peaches?…is a question I’ve heard a lot lately. Specifically, the peaches on top of the charlotte down below. They don’t look like normal poached peaches in that they have pink highlights around the edges. How does that work? The answer is that I simply poached white peaches with their skins on, […]
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