started to change

haven't had a long post in a long time. made tiramisu today with weiyang and jia en. (yiyan came for the dusting of the cocoa.)
the tiramisu mixture begins with a sabayon, cooked over simmering water, whipped till cool and mixed with mascarpone. a lot of mascarpone. the recipe requires meringue too, but it was an uncooked one, which i didn't want. so i adapted and made the meringue swiss.

(learnt something new today: swiss meringue mixes sugar with whites over heat before whipping; italian meringue boils the sugar and adds it to whipping whites.)
then the lady fingers are dipped in bitter coffee (we did without alcohol), and then layered with the delicious mascarpone mixture. and finally the cocoa powder coating.

then i spent three hours making chocolates.
setting up: i prepared the orange truffle filling first, and put it into the piping bag. arranged all the equipment out side by side.
tempering chocolate can be so tedious. but i realised that once we get it in temper, keeping it at working temperature is easy in a singapore kitchen because it is just that warm enough. (tonight was a cooler night though, so i had to keep the fire on.)
filled the molds with chocolate, then tapped out the excess, chilled them. then piped the truffle filling in, chilled them again. then sealed with the remaining chocolate.
such messy work. but half the time i'm licking my fingers. at the end, excess chocolate sets by itself. (because i tempered it well!) scraping it off the trays etc, they become shavings perfect for yet more eating. cook's treat.

one evening the setting sun cast a glow onto a building far away. and it shone like gold.