Got any questions for Alice Medrich????

Here's a sincere one: how do I adjust a recipe depending on the "chocolate percentage"?

Say I want to make a recipe that calls for unsweetened chocolate. That recipe calls for "x" amount of unsweetened chocolate and "y" amount of sugar.

If I only have 55% semisweet chocolate or 70% bittersweet chocolate, how do I adjust the amount of chocolate AND sugar to make the recipe? I know the sugar amount has to go down. Does the fat (butter) amount change? Is there a basic rule of thumb?

I actually ran into this problem when I wanted to make chocolate fudge; the result was Dyslexic Chocolate Sauce. I had looked in both Alice's Cocolat and Fran Bigelow's Pure Chocolate books first to see if there was a chocolate conversion table.

 
Hmm, most times, I'm using pistoles from Guittard, the percentage varies by recipe...

It was weird. I used the Fine Cooking "The Chewy" recipe. It calls for melted unsweetened chocolate, as well as a little bit of cocoa. I used the Guittard unseetened pistoles (onyx bittersweet, I think it's called), and pernigotti cocoa.

I made them as mini-muffins. After I startedd baking the first batch, I realized I forgot to add the cocoa.

I already used half the batter, so I added half the amount called for in the remaining batter.

The first batch without the cocoa came out fine, the second batch with the cocoa separated, with the butter leakage.

But I've also had it happen in other recipes.

I guess I better start documenting which recipes it happens with, and what chocolate I've used, huh? They say that baking is a science - which means I have to scientifically document the results as well!

AS far as the chocolate chip cookie recipe,I used Ghirardelli 60% chocolate chips.

Probably Costco butter for both. And I usually freeze my butter, thawing it in the fridge before using it.

http://www.eat.at/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=12188

 
A science indeed, and definitely one I'm still learning about. Hopefully

Alice can shed some light on this for you, and for all of us. Thank you, Sandi, for posing the question.

 
Is she going to start adding weight measurements into her cookbooks?

I just love my scale, and wish more books had weights smileys/smile.gif

 
And, is she ever going to reprint Cocolat?? I'd love a copy, but don't want to pay the resellers...

They want $100 for a new one. Crazy!

 
Sandi, keep looking. I'm on the lookout for Pierre Herme's Patisserie. It started

at $300 and now I'm finding it around $175. I still won't pay more than $100, but eventually I'm hoping some pastry student will decide to sell it.

I made my very first buttercream using Alice's method. You never forget your first.

 
I have an extra copy, recently pulled to sell at a garage sale. Sending you a PM to see if you'd

like to have it. (My cookbook collection is going through a Fall housecleaning/clearing/downsizing...lol)

 
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