聚散分离

i just realised i left this post unedited and unpublished for a very long time.

so many many days ago i made a burnt sugar ice cream. basically, it's a caramel ice cream.

which turned out tasting like werther's original. which i don't like that much. so it's still stuck in the freezer. slow-moving inventory? inventory obsolescence expense?

and i made a chocolate cream tart again. with beranbaum's chocolate tart dough - it's simply the best i have come across so far, which is not many, but it bakes up fine each time.

the chocolate cream is greenspan's recipe, which has also started to take root in my go-to recipes. i made some tart shells in aluminium molds, but also made some free-form ones by draping them over small cake tins to create ragged-looking shells.

beranbaum also teaches us a few ways to waterproof blind-baked tart and pie crusts. you could use an egg white wash - brush a thin layer of egg white onto the crust when it comes out of the oven; this will harden into a shiny layer that waterproofs the crust. however, a better way is to brush the cooled shell with melted chocolate and stick it briefly in the refrigerator for the chocolate to harden. of course, use chocolate only if the filling is compatible. (and you could use white chocolate as well.)

so melted dark chocolate for chocolate tart shells, to be filled with chocolate pastry cream. and then dollop white, soft, whipped cream on it.

and for a certain movie in 3D, the plan was to potluck dinner and sneak the food in. so i packed a lunchdinnerbox with croque monsieur and chocolate tart.

it's still very interesting to think about how the french created all their sauces. from a roux to a bechamel, a family of white sauces, then a family of brown sauces. then oil-based sauces. and butter based sauces.