Back to Blogging

"You should really update your blog, just so everyone knows you're not dead," said my food-obsessed friend.  Inspired by her words of wisdom, I've finally managed to post an entry after months of neglect and false starts. 

I apologize to everyone I’ve ignored during the past few months.  The e-mails and comments have been piling up, and I’ve been awful at answering them.  It’s what I feel the most terrible about, since I really do appreciate everyone who visits my blog, and especially anyone who takes the time to write to me.  I should be caught up in a few days, and now I hope that I can make a new attempt at getting my blog back on track.   

I wish I could tell you that I’ve just arrived home after spending the past two months traveling around the world, but alas, I’ve been in Toronto all along, working on getting my business off the ground, and ignoring my food blog.  Getting more balance in my life is something I’ve been working on for a while, but have yet to achieve.  Ideally, I’d like to have the discipline to wake up early, exercise, work, cook, blog, and still have time to waste.  But more often than not, I’ll spend most of my day on one thing, and not leave enough time for much else.

A big thanks to Keiko, Cathy, Derrick, Alberto, and Barrett, who judged last month’s Does My Blog Look Good in This? competition.  I was very happy but surprised I won, as many of the other photos looked so professional and delicious.  Congratulations to Niki, Cenzina, and the Confabulist who also won.

Despite my lack of blogging, I’ve still managed to cook and experiment from time to time.  I have a few things I’ve been meaning to write about, and there are many dishes I’ve been meaning to try, most notably, macaron ice cream sandwiches! 

.....

My birthday, now exactly two months ago, gave me an excuse to cook.  Being on a Wednesday, I didn’t have the time or energy to invite my friends over for dinner.  But dessert, I could certainly manage.  I decided to make a few of my favourites from the past, and also try a dish that I’d seen and heard much about.

I started by serving my friends Ataulfo mango and Bosc pear sorbets, two of my favourite fruits.  The sweet, creamy, but slightly tart mango, paired nicely with the icy, mellow pear.  My mango sorbet always seems to have a slightly woody taste to it, as though I’d added some of the mango pit to the sorbet.  This doesn’t really bother me, but it was very apparent when I compared the flavour of my sorbet to that of fresh mango.

The second dessert I served was the White Chocolate and Rice Milk Flan with White Chocolate-Pistachio Emulsion that I made last October for SHF 1.  While I normally find white chocolate to be too sweet, rich, and creamy, the rice milk makes this flan incredibly light and delicate.  The white chocolate-pisatchio emulsion contrasts the flan with its rich, nutty flavour and colour, and the rice chips and noodles, which have been soaked in ginger syrup, add crisp and chewy textures to the dessert.

The Chocolate Caramel Egg Shell is a dessert that I wanted to make from the moment I first saw it.  It’s the signature dish of Michael Laiskonis, the pastry chef at New York’s Le Bernardin, and consists of 1-1.5 inches of milk chocolate crème brulée (without the brulée) covered with a thin spread of caramel, and topped with an inch or two of airy caramel foam.  The ‘egg’ is then garnished with a few drops of maple syrup and salt (I used Fleur de Sel, but Laiskonis recommends Maldon sea salt).

This really is quite an impressive dessert.  The intense Fleur de Sel contrasts beautifully with the sweet caramel foam, which in turn contrasts with the creamy and decadent crème brulée.  I made two versions of the egg, one containing a vanilla-infused crème brulee, and the other with milk chocolate.  Both were delicious.

I will post an adapted recipe with pictures soon.  But in the meantime, Michael Laiskonis’ recipe can be found here.

To end the night, I served macarons (of course!)  I’m addicted to the nutty aroma of sesame, so I made both white sesame and black sesame macarons sandwiched with their respective buttercreams.  I also made macarons sandwiched with black current and chokecherry jams, which my friend had brought me the day before.   All were delicious, and I was very glad to have my friends to share them with.

Comments

[Estelle]

This was well worth the wait, welcome back!

[Jeanne]

Welcome Back!

[Cathy]

Wow! And that was easier than serving dinner? What a spectacular array of desserts. The egg is gorgeous and sounds delicious. I love the plate it's on - is it intended as an eggcup?

[sam]

I confess - I thought you were so dead I took you off my blog roll. but if you are a very good boy and don't leave us waiting so long the next time, i'll put you right back on again!

Intrigued to find out about the business venture.
Does it include food?

good to have you back on board
sam

[molly]

I'm shocked! I've been coming back for an update for so long I didn't even think there would ever be one!

Welcome back.

[Jessica]

Welcome back! I agree that keeping a blog is hard! I feel like having a non-digital life, but I don't want to disappoint my readers.

[McAuliflower]

yea!

Your little macarons look like mini hamburgers :)

[Moira]

YAY! Welcome back!

[Oliver]

Hi Clement! Your macaron ice cream sandwiches look fantastic! But more importantly,'glad your back in the blogging world! Hope your business has gained the momentum needed, with all the work you put in. :)

[lyn]

Welcome Back. I a so pleased you are not incapacited somewhere remote. I love your photos and your cooking and am v. jealous that I did not get to eat one of thes amazing looking desserts!

[chika]

Welcome back and happy belated birthday, Clement!

Everything looks gorgeous as per usual, but the chocolate caramel egg shell must be the winner... I know a Tokyo shop sells creme caramel in egg shells, but have never even thought about making one myself, so I am simply so impressed.

Good luck with your new business!

[Chefdoc]

Welcome back. I, too, was beginning to worry about you.
Gorgeous photos as usual!

[Delph B.]

Good to have you back! As usual your photos/recipes look spectacular.
Interesting that you mention white chocolate as being too sweet. As a dark chocolate lover myself, I used to think I could never enjoy it in desserts...that is, until I experimented for a friend's birthday (who's crazy about it), white chocolate mousse with raspberry coulis : a divine combination!
I also have a question : is it the villeroy & bosch line "wave" that I am seeing under your chocolate caramel egg shell? (http://www.villeroy-boch.com/index.php?id=428&C=CA&L=en&user_ocrprefix=2484)
Finally, good luck for the balancing attempt. It is a daily challenge to have the discipline to "wake up early, exercise, work, cook, blog, and still have time to waste", but I think that trying it is already worth it!

[Cenzina]

Hi!! I'm glad you decided to come back after all!! I must say: I discouvered your blog while you were gone, and once in a while I came back to look at is because it really is a nice blog... Now it's got back to live, I'm really exited to finally get to read som fresh stuff!!
Anyway, maybe you can help me with this: I'm desperetely looking for a good macarons-receipe... And since your macarons look so perfect they almost seem unreal, I thought you'd be the best person to ask... :-))

[Ana]

Welcome back Clement. Beautiful desserts you have here!

[Reid]

Hi Clement,

Welcome back! Seems like everyone took a break for a while. It's nice to do that every now and then, especially to get the important things in life on track. As always, the desserts looks spectacular. I commend you on making these, I would never do so myself.

[Melissa]

Finally!!!!!! You were missed!
Melissa

[milsabores]

I was waiting for you... here in Caracas, Venezuela, I have a link to your blog.

[keiko]

I'm so happy you are back, Clement!

[Clement]

Estelle, Jeanne - thanks, it's great to be back!

Cathy - Yes, the plate is meant to be an egg cup, but since I rarely eat boiled eggs, I'm hoping to find another use for them. Maybe I could use them as appetizer dishes and fill the 'cup' with a sauce or dip.

Sam - I know… I keep on saying that I'm back, and then I disappear. I don't know how you're able to manage three blogs and still live such an interesting life! My business (unfortunately) is unrelated to food. I help technology developers explain the value of their products to their customers. Basically, I transform complex technical concepts into easy-to-understand Flash visualizations.

Molly - thanks so much for visiting. I wasn't sure if people would still visit my blog after such a long hiatus.. there are so many great food blogs out there now (including yours!)

Jessica - I know… just the fact that there are people out there who are willing to read what I write, makes me want to devote as much time as possible to my blog. Too bad it doesn't pay very well, otherwise I wouldn't mind doing it for a living!

McAuliflower - I suppose they do. How about a beef flavoured macaron then? I think that could be both cool and disgusting. Pierre Hermé once made ketchup macarons.. so hamburger macarons seem like the next logical step!

Hi Moira!

Oliver - Thanks. I just dropped by your blog and as usual I'm amazed at how professional and good everything looks. Your photos are so vibrant and beautiful.

Lyn - Good to be back. I didn't realize there were so many Canadian food bloggers until I saw the list on your site.

Chika - You should give the egg a try sometime. At some point I'd like to try using matcha crème brulée with chestnut foam (or vice versa). Or maybe even white chocolate crème brulée with matcha foam. mmm.

Chefdoc - Thanks. Your site and your cooking both look amazing!

Delph - I'll give the white chocolate and raspberry pairing a try sometime. At the very least, I can imagine the tart/sweet combination balancing out quite nicely. Yes, the egg cup is the one from Villeroy and Boch's New Wave collection. In Toronto, I've found them at Sears and the Bay. Thanks for the kind words!

Cenzina - Thanks for visiting. My macaron recipe can be found here. It might take a few trials to get everything perfect, but it's well worth it!

Ana - Thanks... I'm looking forward to Taste Canada!

Reid - I agree… it's nice to take a break once in a while, if only to come back with renewed energy to write and cook. Give the desserts a try, you might surprise yourself!

Melissa, Milsabore - Thanks, I'm glad you still visit my blog after such a long absence!

Keiko - It's great to be back. I hope you had a nice time in Paris! Oh btw, I met the Dubys on Tuesday. Will write more later…

[E Fung]

I've found that the mango flesh near the skin often gives unpleasant bitter flavours too. What else do you put in your sorbet?

[faith]

Great that you're back!!

Regarding mango, I often make mango lassi and a mango panna cotta, and I find that if you slice too close to the skin or to the pit, the flavor can get muddy. Also, the mango has to be very, very ripe, where it smells sweet and perfumed even through the skin. And I make sure to press the puree through a strainer to remove all the strings, which can also give that woody taste. But you probably know all that already!

I do add a little lemon juice, and sometimes cardamom too, to highlight mango flavor. I bet it is hard to find a good mango up there! I live in Florida, and we get some good ones - at least, more variety. The smaller yellow varieties, like champagne or honey mangoes, have a much less stringy texture than the large red and green ones. They ripen sweeter; the honey variety is amazingly sweet; I made panna cotta with a dozen of them, and didn't really need to add any sugar.

Anyway, enough rambling! You can tell I like a good mango?

[tara]

Welcome back Clement! And to return with such a gorgeous post, how lovely. I cannot wait for the next installment, but wholly understand the demands of "real life" getting in the way. All the best to you!

[Clement]

E Fung - Thanks for the tip. I think I may just be extracting flesh that's too close to the pit (since that's what it tastes like). My sorbet contains, water, sugar, and mango puree, and sometimes lemon juice.

Faith - Thanks for the suggestions. I also prefer to use Altaulfo (champagne) mangos for their sweetness and texture. I normally add a bit of lemon or lime juice, but I'll try adding cardamom. And next time, I'll just save the flesh around the pit for myself!

Tara - Thanks for visiting. You have a beautiful site. Your photos look so vibrant and professional!

[Amy]

Thank heaven for food porn watch! Just saw you had updated and quickly dashed over here to check it out. Welcome back to the blogosphere!