OK - both my friend and I have tried to make desserts in Klosters - pavlova & souffle - however neither of us has been able to get these to work as no matter what the egg whites won't get fluffy... I take it this is to do with the altitude - is there anything you can do to get around this - appart from make flat cakes?

What else does altiude affect? I suppose I should be careful asking this question....

Opening carbonated beverages at altitude can be fun. Boom!

A really interesting question, and one I had never really thought about... but look here for some guidance.

dave

Oh well have to stick to wine then...

Hey, Sharon, thanks for bringing up this interesting & fascinating topic. Never knew this problem/challenge existed.

Thought I just felt a bit ill at high altitudes. Must've been my buns deflating.

Hi Argus

I saw that you have a cookery blog spot - do you have a good recipe for dhal using ingredients you can buy in Switzerland?

S

If you're trying to make souffles and pavlovas, and I assume both of the sweet variety then it's the egg white, which you only stand to over-beat at high altitude.

Try using Italian meringue, which is stable.

Yes - it was the egg white which wouldn't rise

how do I make Italian ones? How are they different to what I'd call normal ones?

S

Italian meringue is made by slowly pouring melted sugar (120 degrees Celsius) into whipping whites. This cooks the whites and creates a stable meringue that is nice and glossy. It is stable in that it can be kept in a container in the fridge and does not deflate the way regular meringue would.

Italian meringue is in the arsenal of every pastry chef, it's like cement. It can be baked like an armadillo (soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside) for lemon meringue pie, or crunchy meringues as in for a pavlova or poached. It's great in soufflés, creme pat's etc.

If you are into baking, I recommend learning how to make it.

When dealing with egg whites, use CLEAN and DRY utensils. Glass and metal bowls are preferable to plastic. Room temperature egg whites are better than cold egg whites, run them under tepid water for a few minutes if they are cold. Keep all impurities (like yolk) out of the whites.

Thanks - will get a thermometer when I'm out and try this - should you add it slowly while whisking the egg whites?

Hmm...engineer's perspective here (I don't cook much, but can offer some insight into the physics).

I would suggest beating the egg whites less.

Here's what I think is happening (I could be wrong, but it sounds reasonable physics-wise, so it doesn't hurt to try): When you beat the egg whites, you trap air in them. When you bake something with "fluffed" egg whites, you heat the air in the whites, causing it to expand, therefore causing the surrounding material (i.e. your souffle) to rise. As the surrounding material of your souffle cooks, it retains the "puffed up" shape.

At higher altitudes, there is lower air pressure, so it is easier for warm air to expand (i.e. it expands faster). What may be possibly happening is that your fluffy egg whites contain so much air, and the air bubbles expand so fast, that the air simply escapes (i.e. the air bubbles "burst") your souffle before the surrounding material can cook to trap the expanding air inside. Result: your souffle cooks but doesn't "rise".

If you beat your egg whites less, you trap less air in it, so that you have fewer expanding air bubbles to contend with, so that the surrounding material of souffle can do a better job of trapping the air that is trying to escape. In other words, "the batter wins the battle"! Result: your souffle "rises".

If you do try this experiment I would be extremely interested in the results. Scientific curiosity, you see.

Cooking? Engineers? http://www.cookingforengineers.com/

1-1/3 cups sugar + 1/2 cup water
bring to simmer and boil to soft-crack

whip 4-5 egg whites on medium speed until they begin to foam, add a pinch of salt and a 1/4 teaspoon on Cream of tartar. Turn to full speed and whip to soft peaks.

Turn to medium and slowly pour the syrup into the whites, in a steady stream (avoiding the whisks) - speed up to fast and whip out until glossy stiff peaks.

Thanks Uncle Max. this looks it has some great recipes. The chicken pot pie looks delicious.

Hi, Sharon. Thanks for taking a peek at it. It's not solely cookery; it's a mish-mash. I write about life in Switzerland, books, dogs, and lake bird watching as well.

When I needed a sort of dhal curry to go with roti canai (paratha) or basmati rice, I did the following:


Emergency Dhal Curry in der Schweiz

half cup of lentils, pre-soaked for half an hour in water
2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
half a sliced big onion
1 1/2 tsp curry powder (a bit more if you like it spicier)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (optional, not sure if it can be found here)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2cm of ginger, chopped finely (sub with ginger powder if you prefer)
1/4 tsp coriander powder (optional)
3/4 tsp parsley, chopped (fresh or dried)
a few pieces of star anise, cloves (sub with a small piece of cinnamon)
1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder (Gemuese Extrakt)
1 1/2 cups water
1 zucchini, cut into longish pieces about 0.5cm x 0.3cm x 3cm
3 tbs coconut cream (optional)
sea salt & pepper

Heat oil in a medium saucepan or pot till a small piece of onion sizzles in it. Stir-fry onion and garlic in the oil. Keep it on medium heat.
Add the curry powder, ginger, turmeric, coriander and pieces of spice. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.
Add lentils, water and veggie stock. Bring to boil and turn heat back to medium. Cook for 3 minutes.
Add zucchini and cook for another 3 minutes.
Add coconut cream and parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. One more minute and you're done.

So does anyone have any suggestions for brownie baking?

I tried baking a batch of chocolate brownies last week and I can't seem to get them to cook evenly. The outside bits were perfect but the middle was still runny OK i know brownies should be moist but there was def something amiss??

The recipe has worked before in England so I'm not sure where I went wrong. I followed recipe and cooking times and took them out of the oven when the top was cracked and firm but the middle was still slightly soft and for some reason they didn't seem to firm up and carry on cooking as they cooled. Am wondering if maybe its something to do with having a fan assisted oven and them baking too quickly around the edges?

I'd say you're right. Reduce the temperature by 20 C when using a fan-assited oven and see how they go then.

As with homemade Pizza, baste the edges with a little water to slow the baking process on the most exposed parts. Then bring me some

(Yes, 20 degrees C less -- if you're using the fan-assist mode.)

I adjusted a recipe from good ol' Mr Jamie Oliver and I've pictures and explanations here:

http://argusworld.blogspot.com/2007/...brilliant.html


A friend tried it out; she and her children loved it.

Not sure when I'll be baking the next batch so in the meantime heres the recipe kindly copied out from the Green and Blacks chocolate cookbook by my friend.

Celebration Brownies!

bits you need:

200g unsalted butter
100g dark choc -min 60% cocoa solids-broken up
350g dark soft brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (DONT USE FLAVOURING!!)
200g self raising flour (or make from 200g plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder)
pinch of salt
280g box of celebrations - or Malteasers or mint choc thins
baking tin 11x7inch/ 28x18cm


preheat oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4

brush tin with melted butter & line with greaseproof paper

melt butter & choc in "heatproof" bowl suspended over saucepan of barely simmering water (Don’t over heat chocolate - take your time & take it off the heat!) remove from heat & add sugar

beat eggs & vanilla essence & add to choc mix (make sure its cooled down else choc omelette!) sift the flour into the with the salt

unwrap chocs and pour half of mix into tin & position chocs so that at least one per portion once cut (just fit in as many as you can!) pour in remaining mix and ensure chocs are covered.

bake for approx 25-20 mins until top is crispy & inside soft (let it finish baking in the tin once you have that fab broken top! Don’t be tempted to cook more!)

leave to cool in tin before cutting

EAT!!!!

En Guete!