François Payard Chocolate Epiphany
Review by Chocolate-adorer and critic ('oh yes, please') J. Zimmerman

Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light by Mort Rosenblum. Includes the secrets of the food of the gods. Let him advise you what chocolate to try on your chocolate pilgrimages. See also our chocolate page and our Chocolate Taste Tests: Chocolate Taste Test method by Chantal Cody. Dolphin chocolate bars taste test. The Two Chloés: plain chocolate bars taste test. The Two Chloés: Vosges chocolate bars taste test. The Two Chloés: Zotter chocolate bars taste test. Real Chocolate : Sweet and Savory Recipes for Nature's Purest Form of Bliss by Chantal Coady. Includes 50 delicious recipes from a leading campaigner for REAL chocolate. Try her Chocolate bombe Chocolate nemesis revisited and Bad Girl's Trifle. Je'oan D'ark Limoncello Truffles. Alice Medrich on chocolate. Fran Bigelow on chocolate. François Payard on chocolate. Mort Rosenblum on chocolate.

Chocolate Epiphany

Reassuring and concise opening sections:

• "What I look for in chocolate."

• "A few tips before you begin." Hooray: she actually encourages use of the microwave to melt chocolate!

Main sections:

• "Breads and Brunch Dishes."

• "Cookies and Petits Fours." Check out the "Triple Chocolate Financiers":

  France's best-selling cookie with their soft, almost cake-like texture. ... I combine three different flavors and textures of chocolate -- cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and cocoa nibs -- for an intense chocolatey result.

• "Candies and chocolates." Check out the "Almond Rochers":

  Rocher is the French word for 'boulder', the shape of these simple chocolate-and-almond treats. ... I like their crunch and the combination of [milk] chocolate and [toasted slivered] almonds in every bite.

  The "Rum Truffles" also are terrific. See the book for how to make, but to encourage you, here are the ingredients (except I'm not a fan of corn syrup) for the core ganache which will be refrigerated (and stirred) to get to "the consistency of thick icing" so that it can be piped into mounds, then further refrigerated before dipping:

  • 8 oz. 61% chocolate
  • 4 tsp. light corn syrup
  • 1 C. heavy cream
  • 1.5 Tbsp. dark rum
  The enrobing coat is dark: 8 oz. 72% chocolate (tempered of course); plus 1 C. Dutch-processed cocoa powder (dip the enrobed truffles into this).

• "Custard, Mousse, Meringues, and Ice Cream." Check out the "Chocolate Popcorn"

• "Tarts."

• "Cakes." Check out the "Chocolate Yazu-Cream Cheese Layer Cake" (Yazu being a fragrant Japanese citrus fruit

• "Plated desserts."

• "The Basics." Mousses, pastes, creams, pastry, Sacher cake (almond-cocoa), etc

Helpful ending sections include:

• "Tempering chocolate." [She raises her dark chocolate to 122°-131° temperature to melt; cools to 82°-84°; then slightly heats to work it at 86°.]
• "Chocolate Decorations."
• "Equipment."
• "Ingredients."
• "Resources."

Books that use Chocolate

• Remember that the better DADA (Defense Against the Dark Arts) professors in The Harry Potter Books administer chocolate for recovery of strength.

• The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin (2002).
  See also our blog for The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
  More puns than Nostradamus Ate My Hamster and an even better plot than my previous favorite, The Fandom of the Operator. A serial killer is mowing down the famous elite of Toy Town (now grown into a Toy City) but thanks to a crack[ed] detective team of a 13-year-old boy and Ed, the teddy bear, ... Rankin's work is the love-child of Douglas Adams and Monty Python on a date with Kafka. A lot of fun and drama, thanks especially to Rankin's excellent CD reading.

Related pages: Books on Buddhism. Books on Learning Spanish. Poetry - Learn How to Write Your Own. Forests of California and Trees of the World.

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