garden shots

squash and blossoms, cherry tomatoes, first harvest of arugula and radishes.

blueberry jam

That was the fun project for today. I'm not sure whether it was so satisfying to make because the color is really gorgeous, or because the texture is fun or just because blueberries are sentimental to me, but there you go.

I also processed some black raspberries for candy making, made nectarine and pluot sauces, did a sponge cake, semifreddo, made a ganache

(and it broke, but i now know how to fix it, which is very rewarding)

everpresent chocolate cookies and pastry cream, and prepped and organized lots of fruit.

we have a lot of currants. I am not sure what to do with them, but they are really exciting to look at.

True to form, I got black raspberry puree all over my coat as I tried to get it through the strainer. But at least tomorrow I can go in, make candy, and not get messy. There will be ice cream stuff to do, another cake to make, custards to prepare.

I always try to spend some extra time doing inventory on my first day back after a couple days off. Going through the ice cream bases, chocolate stock, nuts, fruits and doughs, because I know by now it's best to have a clear idea of what the week will look like.

chocolate work has me up at night

when i am already tired. looking through my cookbooks for ideas, or possible answers to questions like why my hazelnut ganache broke today. or how to make a fruit flavored ganache that actually tastes like fruit. without setting it up with gelatin (and in that case is it still a ganache? what is it properly? trying to understand how, why, etc, remembering that sometimes chocolate breaks. and you can try it again. and you can put the pieces together. but in the meantime...fruit puree + ganache. nut paste + ganache. infusing a flavor into white ganache without having a carryover white chocolate taste, yet having it be stiff enough to set naturally. chocolate work is a headache. for me it isn't my favorite. but i would like to learn...if only to carry my own weight. i am given the opportunity to play around...but i do need the tools to get better, so what, who? who should i read? where should i search?

and how can you patent a fruit ganache?