Most larger buildings in Paris have a concierge. But before you think that I live somewhere that’s all fancy and stuff, it’s basically another name for the gardienne, normally a woman who takes care of things like delivering the mail and making sure repairs get handled. But even more importantly, she ensures that not even the slightest infraction of the rules or smallest detail of…
…and just in case you want to know what happens if you leave a chocolate birthday cake you made in the sun by accident…
One baking question that I’m frequently asked—“Is sifting really necessary?” I hope that answers the question… Related Posts and Links Tips to Keep Cookies from Spreading When to Use (and not Use) Corn Syrup How to Make the Perfect Caramel Why You Should Use Aluminum-Free Baking Powder American Baking Ingredients in Paris
First I came up with the title for this post, since I thought it would be a fun jeu de mots. But then I realized I had to figure out what the heck I was going write about. So I put on my long-neglected thinking cap, scrolled through the email addresses of my last few remaining friends, and scanned my agenda, desperately searching for inspiration….
People have been making ice cream far longer than the invention of electricity so there’s no reason you can’t make ice cream and sorbets at home without a machine! The advantage to using an electric or hand-cranked machine is that the final result will be smoother and creamier. Freezing anything from liquid-to-solid means you’re creating hard ice crystals, so if you’re making it by hand,…
Required reading from Mort Rosenblum: A New France, Sixth Republic—or Sarkostan? Let’s all wish Chef Grant Achatz well, and a speedy and successful recovery. Don’t tell me anyone actually likes the pigeons in Paris? No danger of a chocolate meltdown where you live? Stock up for your fix at Chocosphere in the US, and Seventy Percent, in the UK. …and where you’ll find others like…
In my never-ending quest to improve my French, I had some friends over for dinner last night and was asking them what the word ‘grue‘ meant. After consulting le dictionnaire français (aka: mon ma bible), the only definition we came across was that a grue was a ‘crane’—as in the long-limbed bird. Curiously, it’s sometimes used a slang for a ‘working woman’, if you know…
Each spring, as the temperature starts to gently climb in Paris day-by-day, most normal people spend their time figuring out how to maximize their time outdoors basking in the gloriously warm Parisian air. Around here, though, spring means only one thing: Eat all the chocolate I’ve got on hand because my apartment turns into the world’s largest bain marie, a sizzling oven capable of melting…
A reader recently wrote to ask, “How long does ice cream last in the freezer?” Oddly, I never gave it much thought since it doesn’t seem to linger too long around here. So I looked around and found the answer at the FDA website: 2-4 months. The most common problem when ice creams and other frozen desserts spend too long in the freezer is the…
Join me on my Spring 2026 book tour for my latest book, The Great Book of Chocolate
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