Samurai Delicatessen

Monday, February 27, 2006

Crispy and Creamy Rice Treat

























Continuing down my list of desserts from the Greenspan/Herme books, I made the Crispy and Creamy Rice Treat, from the first Desserts book. This has a small cake base made from ladyfinger batter. The base is sprinkled with a layer of toasted hazelnuts and broken Nestle crunch bars. Above that is a layer of a creamy, cinnamony arborio rice mixed with creme anglaise and whipped cream, set with a little gelatin. On top is a layer of thick chocolate creme anglaise, and some caramelized rice crispies.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Faubourg Pave


















I decided to make the Faubourg Pave again, one of my favorites from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme. The recipe includes a cocoa loaf, which is split in thirds, brushed with a caramel syrup, and filled with a very butter-rich caramel ganache. This time I filled it with the caramel ganache, as usual, but finished it with the glaze, which I made according to Herme's recipe. Both the ganache and the glaze were made using Valrhona 61%, which is what I have at the moment. Luckily for me, I had some left-over chocolate sauce from making the glaze, and I found that it makes an amazing hot chocolate.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Golden Pearl Brownie Cake


























This was made from a recipe in Desserts by Pierre Herme. This has a brownie base made with (Valrhona) Le Noir Gastronomie, on top of which is a creamy layer similar to creme chiboust -- its vanilla pastry cream flavored with cognac, lightened with whipped cream, and set with a little bit of gelatin. On top of that is a thin layer of pastry cream (my deviation from the recipe) and a layer of vanilla bean clear glaze. Sprinkled in the middle and on top are some golden raisins soaked in a Cognac syrup.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Potstickers with Scallion Sauce

















I love potstickers, so I couldn't wait to try the recipe in the new Cook's Illustrated.

Friday, February 17, 2006

Mini Chocolate Cake


Chiffon cake, filled with whipped Nutella ganache and covered with ganache glaze.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Plasir Sucre


I finally got around to trying the Plasir. I need to work on getting the chocolate sheets thinner (I think they would be best almost paper-thin).

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Riviera


Caramel Custard Tart

Friday, February 03, 2006

Lemon Tart on Pine Nut Pate Sucre


Recipe from Thomas Keller's Bouchon.