Two days of decadent dessert making at the Lindt Chocolate Studio in Greenpoint and the circumference at the bellybutton is challenging the tape measure. Shannon and I recently spent two days quaffing impressive quantities of couverture under the expert gaze of Lindt pastry chef Dimo Simatos.
Besides having a host of heavenly chocolate themed recipes ferreted away in my bookshelf and on my hips, I now know how to temper chocolate – the lazy way. This is fantastic, because there is no way I would ever have hauled out the thermometer and done all that finicky temp control, heating, cooling, skip three times claptrap. All you do is:
1. Get your couverture (fancy chocolate containing snobbish amounts of cocoa solids) – how you get hold of it is your problem. The good stuff is best – you can get it from Lindt, but you need an order number. I plan to invent an imaginary confectionary deli, cum bookshop, cum gallery, cum massage parlour to secure my supply.
2. Once you have the couverture, put it in a microwaveable bowl and blitz it in the microwave (I know it goes against every purist grain, but it works!) until HALF the chocolate is melted. DON’T OVERBLITZ.
3. Now beat the half melted mixture with an electric beater until smooth and viola. There you have it – smooth and glorious, spreadable chocolate.
Spread onto cold granite, allow to cool and make chocolate curls or spread onto wax paper, cut out patterns, fold, cool and your wildest chocolate dreams come true.
For more about the Chocolate Studio and courses visit: http://www.chocolatestudio.co.za/courses.php
1 comment:
This wonderful :-) It is a great way to keep up to date with people without having to see them regularly. As you can see I am also a late bloomer to the blog world. I am not even a member of face book - I know, I know terrible.
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