Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Went on Friday evening. No problem getting a table. Had two small pies: 1) napolitana (red sauce & fresh mozz) with pepperoni and roasted peppers 2) white (no sauce, fresh mozz, ricotta) with green pesto and wild mushrooms. Both were excellent. The crust had a good bit of salt but not too much and held its structure beneath the toppings, even when super hot out of the oven, without being tough. Wild mushrooms didn't really impart much flavor, but all other toppings were really good. Very pleased. And the whole shebang set us back about $20, with sodas (orange and Dr. Pepper - yeeeeah!). Me likey!

Yes, Girlcook, you should be able to substitute both by weight. Glucose is a little less sweet than corn syrup, but it should yield about the same results texturally.

Oh, to live in a country where sheet gelatin and glucose are more readily available than powdered gelatin and corn syrup....:o)

Sorry for these long-delayed responses. I don't seem to get notifications for the majority of new comments, so comments on older posts often slip through the cracks.

vernete: I'm not sure if it'd be worth going to the trouble of making peanut-butter marshmallows for the purpose of melting them down to make fudge. Peanut-butter marshmallows are, however, possible. I used them, coated in buttery toasted Japanese bread crumbs, as a restaurant petit four for a time - sort of a take on a fluffer-nutter sandwich.

As cyberroo pointed out, mixing fatty ingredients like peanut butter into a marshmallow batter can cause problems. So, to make my peanut-butter marshmallows, I began with a plain marshmallow base and gently folded in slightly warmed peanut butter just before spreading the marshmallow batter in a pan. Folding in the peanut butter, leaving it in well-distributed ribbons, rather than thoroughly mixing it in to the plain marshmallow, is crucial to maintaining a stable, light finished product.

frolis: I'm sure that there is some way to make marshmallows with agar, but I've never tried it. I'll tinker around with it soon, and write up a post if I end up with good results...

Harsh!

Kerry, if you have the chance while you're there, head over to the Spitalfields Market. There's a stand there (maybe only on Sundays, not sure) that sells several different flavors of Turkish delight by weight - cut into irregular cubes, all fresh and homemade and lovely.

Erinlovestoeat: I have refrigerated the dough overnight - patted out and wrapped tightly. While they weren't as lofty as when the dough was freshly made, they still got some rise, had a nice texture and had the same great flavor. I didn't pre-cut mine, but I'm not sure it would make much of a difference in the finished product if you did.

As for freezing, suschef, I really have no experience doing so with these biscuits. It seems like they'd be alright if they were frozen fully baked, thawed in the fridge or at room temp and then refreshed in the oven for a few minutes. I doubt they'd be as good as fresh, but I'm sure they'd still be enjoyable enough.

Chari: Red velvet cake is not really a chocolate cake. Though most recipes include a modicum of cocoa, I've rarely encountered a red velvet with a marked cocoa flavor.

Shunafish: To wit, there was no misinformation here. I made no claims anywhere in this article as to the origins of the red in the red velvet. In a follow-up article to address our readers' questions and comments (http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/02/red-velvet-cake-history.html), I did, however, address those origins. What I wrote in that second article seems largely in line with your own thoughts on the subject (re: old-fashioned, non-alkalized cocoa, etc., though I and my research tend to disagree with the claim that red velvet is a direct descendent or another form of Devil's food cake). Regardless, thank you for submitting the link and for your input.

Pjracz10: Unless there is something very unique about your brother's mother-in-law's recipe, I can't imagine why it would be such a challenge. Seems like you should definitely try it some time - the only thing you have to lose is some flour and time, but it seems that you stand to gain much more. :o)

kjgibson: Thanks for clearing up the question about the pan size (sorry I was a little slow in catching up on the comments, all). I actually used a half-sheet pan myself, so that'll work, too. You just end up with slightly thinner marshmallows.

etalanian: You're very welcome, and thanks so much for posting your link. The book is lovely - thank YOU!

Mallow Cups, Butterfingers, Twizzlers, Dots, Almond Joy, Take 5, Jujifruits, Hot Tamales, Safe-T Pops, Sunkist jellies, fruity Tootsie Rolls...Oh man, I miss dumping that sack out on the living-room carpet and diving in!

cook eat FRET: Eek! I'm so sorry that my recipe failed you and your friend, AND that it took me so long to respond to your query. Two quick suggestions come to mind:

1) Make sure that you're cooking the pudding thoroughly. It's very important to keep cooking for that full minute (you can even go two minutes for good measure), stirring constantly, after the mixture begins to bubble/boil. If the pudding is not cooked to a high enough temperature the cornstarch will not set completely and a compound in the egg yolk will break down the starch, hindering its thickening capacity.

2)Be sure to add the butter when the pudding is comfortably warm to the touch (I always use a knuckle to test, as the skin of the fingertips is less sensitive than the skin of the knuckle). There's a good bit of wiggle room here (I make massive quantities of a vanilla version of this pudding every day at the restaurant, and have had success working in the full range of "warm"), but if the pudding is super hot or cool/cold before the butter is added, you may not get the proper emulsion, which is key for the finished texture. After rereading my recipe, I think it should be revised a bit: instead of just setting the pudding aside for 10 minutes or so to cool, try setting the bowl of pudding into a bowl of ice and stirring occasionally until it reaches the right "warm" temperature.

I hope this helps. Good luck, and sorry again for the delay.

Thanks, guys!

Oatmeal Crumble:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (1/2# or 224g)
3/4 cup sugar (168g)
1/2 cup brown sugar (112g)
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (200g)
1/2 teaspoon salt
300g oatmeal, finely ground* (~1 3/4 cups steel-cut oats or 3-3/4 cups old-fashioned or quick oats)

Cream together butter and sugars until the consistency of wet sand. Add remaining ingredients and mix until mixture is crumbly. Bake at 325F, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned and crunchy, maybe 15 minutes.

*I've made this crumble with all three types of oatmeal, and it comes out more or less the same regardless of the type used. I think you could make the crumble without grinding (which I do in a food processor or spice grinder, depending on the quantity that I'm grinding) the oatmeal to get more of the oatmeal's texture, but I've never tried it.

HeartofGlass: I'm pretty sure the difference between Devil's food cake and chocolate cake is mainly one of semantics. Devil's food recipes are always for very dark, chocolatey, moist rich cakes, but they don't seem to follow any specific patterns that distinguishes them from any other dark, chocolatey, moist rich cake. I suspect the name came about as a way to convey and emphasize the "sinful" richness of the cake and as a sort of cutesy apposition to the somewhat earlier white, spongey light angel food cake. I certainly could have accurately called my cake "chocolate cake", but where's the fun in that? :o)