My pastry stuff

[KungFooBob]

Is the bottom one not Wallace's dentures?

[Kneerly Down]

My son is down at Selfridges on the 26th this month showing off his chocolates.
I thought I'd try to get him and his good lady afternoon tea at your place (;)) but first availability was 11th Nov IIRC.
Still wondered if you might be able to meet up as he'd be very interested in what you do...you might be a bit interested in what he does, but can't speak for you!

[formula400]

PM sent

[Nordboy]

They both look bloody amazing, sure they taste damn good as well.

[Mr Moofo]

They do look really good - and precisely put together.
The polar opposite of Jamie Oliver

[formula400]

Not been on here for ages, work, life and kid all take up loads of time.

Here is a new dish that went in a few days ago

Wild strawberries
Lemon verbena and vanilla

[formula400]

Chocolate egg making.

we joined forces with the hotels florist to create an easter display. we had a huge 2m steel egg made to house our chocolate egg.

so below, we made a huge chocolate egg for an easter display, it was in the middle of the lobby as you walked in the main entrance of the hotel.

my self and 2 sous chefs made 2 large eggs (each weighted 21kg) we then hand smoothed them, cut the hole and sprayed them. there is also a smaller egg inside as well.

took a fair few hours but was loads of fun. only thing is we should of made the larger chocolate egg larger

[Mr. Dazzle]

So serious Q.

How/when does it get et? Do you have a ceremonial egg smashing and scoffing or what? I always wonder how it works with these giant chocolate sculptures.

[Kneerly Down]

Here is a new dish that went in a few days ago
Wild strawberries
Lemon verbena and vanilla

Absolutely love the look of that, and that it uses wild strawberries.
Hadn't come across lemon verbena before but might see if it's possible to get it to grow in the polytunnel up here.

I also wonder about the enormous chocolate displays. I appreciate the work and skill that goes into making it, but once it's all sprayed it does look rather like it could be made from anything...and that makes it feel a bit of a waste of (presumably) good chocolate.
Not meaning to take anything away from the display, that does look mighty impressive.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Bit of a tangent, but quite a few kids in Baby Ds class have had birthday cakes which are decorated polystyrene!

The real eating cake then appears from the background when it's time to cut it up.

[formula400]

So serious Q.

How/when does it get et? Do you have a ceremonial egg smashing and scoffing or what? I always wonder how it works with these giant chocolate sculptures.

It got smashed up and binned, we can’t re use the chocolate as it was it he lobby on display for 4 days with people touching it.

[formula400]

Here is a new dish that went in a few days ago
Wild strawberries
Lemon verbena and vanilla

Absolutely love the look of that, and that it uses wild strawberries.
Hadn't come across lemon verbena before but might see if it's possible to get it to grow in the polytunnel up here.

I also wonder about the enormous chocolate displays. I appreciate the work and skill that goes into making it, but once it's all sprayed it does look rather like it could be made from anything...and that makes it feel a bit of a waste of (presumably) good chocolate.
Not meaning to take anything away from the display, that does look mighty impressive.

Lemon verbena is brilliant, grows well in my garden, well it did a few years ago when I tried last time.
Put some leaf into boiling water for a fresh tea, quite tasty.

As for the display, yeah I agree with you a 100%, the people that do bigger and more elaborate stuff are artists rather than chefs, it’s just a medium to work with really.

[formula400]

Bit of a tangent, but quite a few kids in Baby Ds class have had birthday cakes which are decorated polystyrene!

The real eating cake then appears from the background when it's time to cut it up.

It’s because they are easier to decorate. You don’t have to worry about it getting too warm, or collapsing.

[Mr. Dazzle]

So serious Q.

How/when does it get et? Do you have a ceremonial egg smashing and scoffing or what? I always wonder how it works with these giant chocolate sculptures.

It got smashed up and binned, we can’t re use the chocolate as it was it he lobby on display for 4 days with people touching it.

Might as well use plaster of paris next time

[formula400]

So serious Q.

How/when does it get et? Do you have a ceremonial egg smashing and scoffing or what? I always wonder how it works with these giant chocolate sculptures.

It got smashed up and binned, we can’t re use the chocolate as it was it he lobby on display for 4 days with people touching it.

Might as well use plaster of paris next time

Can’t really lick your fingers whilst using that stuff

[Kneerly Down]

It got smashed up and binned, we can’t re use the chocolate as it was it he lobby on display for 4 days with people touching it.

Could have gone to our pigs...they've developed a bit of taste for good chocolate!

[Noggin]

It got smashed up and binned, we can’t re use the chocolate as it was it he lobby on display for 4 days with people touching it.

Could have gone to our pigs...they've developed a bit of taste for good chocolate!

I'd guess transport costs would be prohibitive?

Also - does the bacon end up sweet???

[Count Steer]

So serious Q.

How/when does it get et? Do you have a ceremonial egg smashing and scoffing or what? I always wonder how it works with these giant chocolate sculptures.

It got smashed up and binned, we can’t re use the chocolate as it was it he lobby on display for 4 days with people touching it.

Might as well use plaster of paris next time

I often think that about some of the amazing cake constructions that I've seen, they seem to use a basic sponge mix as a construction material and half the art is using a spray gun...I don't think I'd eat any and go yum yum! (Actually, given the ? about the colours they use, I don't think I'd eat any...full stop ).

[Mr. Dazzle]

I have a similar feeling towards giant Lego models, the best/worst example being a full scale McLaren supercar I saw in their foyer.

After a certain size point the model just becomes a 'pixelated' version of the real thing. Far more impressive to just built a tiny model with 9 bits which still manages to look like a car.

[Kneerly Down]

Also - does the bacon end up sweet???

Don't do bacon with our pork.
We mostly slow cook it in apple juice.
The taste is very much better than most commercial pork.