Due to the lack of space and the horrible heat and humidity (plus the fact it's taken me ages to get sushi boxes - they arrive next week) I've decided to experiment with fudge.
Quite a few failures but among them one success (yey!).
Today so far I've managed to make caramel and greasy fudge(not yey!) and am having a brief break before I soldier on, heartened by the successful dark chocolate fudge I made yesterday. Although not heartened by the 2kilos of fudge frosting I made the day before :(
I will report later....
Well, this is later.
One lot in the bin, and two vanilla caramels.
Not a roaring success.
Have made a chocolate mousse and ice cream to console myself.
Will continue tomorrow.
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
I Miss You
Tomorrow it will be seven years since my dad died. I still can't beleive he's gone, I miss him so much it hurts.
My dad was many things; to name just a few: he was a good man, he was kind, incredibly clever, wise and a bit of a nutter. In a good way.
He was also an inventor, he invented loads of stuff. He was like a combination of Albert Einstein (mainly in looks) and Maguiver.
Since I've started making my own chocolate I miss him even more, he'd be having a fantastic time thinking up recipes and how to do stuff.
I'm positive that with a paperclip, rubber band and a piece of string he could make me not only the best melter on earth but any peice of equipment I could want.
Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating.
He'd probably need two paperclips and some strong glue.
My dad was many things; to name just a few: he was a good man, he was kind, incredibly clever, wise and a bit of a nutter. In a good way.
He was also an inventor, he invented loads of stuff. He was like a combination of Albert Einstein (mainly in looks) and Maguiver.
Since I've started making my own chocolate I miss him even more, he'd be having a fantastic time thinking up recipes and how to do stuff.
I'm positive that with a paperclip, rubber band and a piece of string he could make me not only the best melter on earth but any peice of equipment I could want.
Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating.
He'd probably need two paperclips and some strong glue.
Monday, 14 June 2010
Update
I havn't posted recently because there isn't really much interesting to report.
Still working on the chocolate sushi, the sugar free chocolate and some other ideas I have.
The weather is hot and humid so not conducive to chocolate making and as I am still working in the house I'm limited by space and therefore the type of work I can do.
Sigh.
Hopefully in the not too distant future I'll be able to move into a little unit built on to the house and then be able to work properly.
Still working on the chocolate sushi, the sugar free chocolate and some other ideas I have.
The weather is hot and humid so not conducive to chocolate making and as I am still working in the house I'm limited by space and therefore the type of work I can do.
Sigh.
Hopefully in the not too distant future I'll be able to move into a little unit built on to the house and then be able to work properly.
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Mrs Beeton I am, I am
Today I've been baking. Lots.
The Husband can't have any carbohydrates apart from corn, which is a really big pain in the bum.
So today decided to spoil him and made gluten and sugar free cinammon biscuits (cookies if you are american) and almond and vanilla. They came out rather nice actually.
I also made cheese and olive muffins, they are still in the oven so don't know if they will be edible. Cross fingers etc etc.
Here is a picture of some gluten free tatlets I made him, they look rather 'rustic' but tasted great:
I'm still working on the sushi, it's coming along nicely and if all goes well should be finished this week.
The Husband can't have any carbohydrates apart from corn, which is a really big pain in the bum.
So today decided to spoil him and made gluten and sugar free cinammon biscuits (cookies if you are american) and almond and vanilla. They came out rather nice actually.
I also made cheese and olive muffins, they are still in the oven so don't know if they will be edible. Cross fingers etc etc.
Here is a picture of some gluten free tatlets I made him, they look rather 'rustic' but tasted great:
I'm still working on the sushi, it's coming along nicely and if all goes well should be finished this week.
Sunday, 30 May 2010
こんにちは、再び
Yet another frustrating busy day with little to show for my efforts.
Decided to continue with the sushi and so began with the easy task of making the chocolate clay for the nori. I've done it before so no probs and thus made a big batch of over a kilo. Except that because I am an utter idiot I did it form memory and therefore wrong and buggered it up. Took over an hour of struggling to try to fix it, don't know if I've managed, will find out tomorrow (it needs to rest in fridge 24 hours).
So after wallowing in misery and self pity for a while I pulled myself together and continued.
Am taking a little break from cutting sticky dried fruit for the salmon, messy business I can assure you, and trying to find something that would look like pickled ginger.
Tomorrow am hoping I'll be more successful, plan to roll out the clay and make the nori sheets; make pistachio gianduja for the avocado and the white chocolate rice as the, well, rice.
Oh, the dying spider tracks in the title means Hello Again in Japanese.
Decided to continue with the sushi and so began with the easy task of making the chocolate clay for the nori. I've done it before so no probs and thus made a big batch of over a kilo. Except that because I am an utter idiot I did it form memory and therefore wrong and buggered it up. Took over an hour of struggling to try to fix it, don't know if I've managed, will find out tomorrow (it needs to rest in fridge 24 hours).
So after wallowing in misery and self pity for a while I pulled myself together and continued.
Am taking a little break from cutting sticky dried fruit for the salmon, messy business I can assure you, and trying to find something that would look like pickled ginger.
Tomorrow am hoping I'll be more successful, plan to roll out the clay and make the nori sheets; make pistachio gianduja for the avocado and the white chocolate rice as the, well, rice.
Oh, the dying spider tracks in the title means Hello Again in Japanese.
Friday, 28 May 2010
The Wolfman Teaches A Valuable Lesson
Last night I decided to take the evening off and watch a film with The Husband.
Once I had rejected the cartoons and violent ones we were left with Wolfman.
It started off ok, if a bit slow but by the second hour of not a lot hapenning I was wishing someone would shoot me with a silver bullet.
I have decided that there is a lesson in this and that by neglecting my work I have been punished for my indolence.
No rest for the wicked....
Once I had rejected the cartoons and violent ones we were left with Wolfman.
It started off ok, if a bit slow but by the second hour of not a lot hapenning I was wishing someone would shoot me with a silver bullet.
I have decided that there is a lesson in this and that by neglecting my work I have been punished for my indolence.
No rest for the wicked....
Konnichiwa
It's been a very busy week. Busy and frustrating.
For most of the week I've had 9 hour long days with little to show for my efforts than a huge mess and a sore body. Experimenting with unfamiliar materials and methods can be a thankless, difficult and occasionally soul destroying task.
Still waiting for an ingredient I ordered for making the sugar free chocolate so havn't been able to make any which is very annoying.
I made sugar free pecan nut paste for gijanduya: too runny, and hazelnut gijanduya: not firm enough (will re melt it and add more chocolate in case you are interested).
The second part of the week I made 60+ marshmallow chocolate and sweets lollies for a bat mitzva gift (photos will hopefully be added later) and making chocolate sushi.
Yes, you read correctly, chocolate sushi. You can stop gagging, it is chocolate made to look like sushi, not chocolate and fish (bleuch).
This is something I started playing with about 2 years ago and have been thinking of a way to do it that it isn't too time consuming (and therefore too expensive for sale), doesn't look like a five year old made it, includes rice (crispy rice) and tastes good, even great.
I'm not there yet but have made a few different types and some are looking good (photos later). While working on it have some other ideas but of course they requier materials I don't have and will have to wait until they arrive (sometime next week I hope).
For now I'm feeling more positive which is a good thing.
Sayonara
For most of the week I've had 9 hour long days with little to show for my efforts than a huge mess and a sore body. Experimenting with unfamiliar materials and methods can be a thankless, difficult and occasionally soul destroying task.
Still waiting for an ingredient I ordered for making the sugar free chocolate so havn't been able to make any which is very annoying.
I made sugar free pecan nut paste for gijanduya: too runny, and hazelnut gijanduya: not firm enough (will re melt it and add more chocolate in case you are interested).
The second part of the week I made 60+ marshmallow chocolate and sweets lollies for a bat mitzva gift (photos will hopefully be added later) and making chocolate sushi.
Yes, you read correctly, chocolate sushi. You can stop gagging, it is chocolate made to look like sushi, not chocolate and fish (bleuch).
This is something I started playing with about 2 years ago and have been thinking of a way to do it that it isn't too time consuming (and therefore too expensive for sale), doesn't look like a five year old made it, includes rice (crispy rice) and tastes good, even great.
I'm not there yet but have made a few different types and some are looking good (photos later). While working on it have some other ideas but of course they requier materials I don't have and will have to wait until they arrive (sometime next week I hope).
For now I'm feeling more positive which is a good thing.
Sayonara
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