"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Friday, March 2, 2012

Battle for Steve's Evil Kitchen

I'm still not sure what to do with this blog.

For those following my culinary exploits, I'm still trying to move from dilettante status in confectionery. There've been some major difficulties recently and I have no photos to share of the failures.

So... here's the local competition.



Sure, I can do that.

Chocolates I'm working on:
1) Mint meltaway with a liquid cherry center.
2) Mochi (glutinous rice) with cardamom and ginger.
3) Mexican: vanilla, cinnamon, chiles and pignons.
4) Mascarpone, perhaps with maple, pistachio and dates.
5) Orange marmalade with star anise and hazelnuts.
Plus about six others with even less thought behind them.

6 comments:

pensive pumpkin said...

I make one go-to confection. A dark chocolate truffle. It is ugly, so you have to be brave to taste it. But it is just insanely good chocolate and organic cream, rolled in cocoa powder. So it is divine if you are brave enough.

But obviously I like the cheap stuff too. Give it to Mikey. LOL

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

When making some tasty confections
It helps if you follow directions
Cos then all your finished selections
Will make tasters pert-near pop ... aneurysms.

(Bet you thought I was gonna say "erections". But I wasn't. I was gonna say "boners".)

wildknits said...

I find your culinary posts intriguing - and mouth-watering (well, sometimes).

Too bad I am too far away to taste test for you ;->

Diana said...

Some of those sound absolutely divine. I'm not so sure about #4, but perhaps it's because I've never really loved dates. I wonder if the combination of maple and dates would be too cloyingly sweet.
I would love to try #2 and #3, though. I bought some cardamom recently just to make cookies. I love that spice!

SteveQ said...

@Diana: One of the things missing from chocolates is saltiness, which is why fleur de sel caramels became a fad; I thought the salt of a soft cheese would be a good idea. As for the rest... there's an old dessert of dates stuffed with mascarpone that I had in mind.

It's the techniques that intrigue me. The cherry/mint combination is not the most interesting of flavors, but it would have unique texture sensations - and would be a bear to make.

Lisa said...

If you love chocolate, you should try Guylian! I work with for the chocolatier and can speak from personal experience.