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Post by catherine on May 27, 2007 11:56:53 GMT -5
Hi all, Well I'm here in Paris right now, Sunday pm the 27th May. Weather is pretty bad but that was a good reason to sit in Laduree Champs Elysee this afternoon and introduce my Mother to the vrai chocolate chaud and we are now devotees . Now comes my problem . We have bought our lovely big Laduree tin of of poudre de cacao, but clearly Laduree makes it a bit differently to the way I would. Does one make it with cream do you think? Surely if I just add the powder to hot milk that wont resemble the Laduree consistency?? I'd be so grateful for advice! Catherine PS - In case you are tempted to be jealous that I'm here now, the apartment I've rented is a nightmare. Will post more of that shortly.
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Post by GitteK on May 27, 2007 13:19:30 GMT -5
I don't know what Ladurée does, but my guess is that they do NOT use cocoa powder, but real chocolate which is melted and then mixed with milk, sugar, maybe vanila - and a tiny bit of butter. When I make it with powder (Valrhona) I mix the cocoa powder with a little water in the casserole, plus sugar. Heat slowly while whipping.When mixed and shining, I add the fullfat milk and whip it thoroughly. DO take care that it doesn't burn - that ruins the taste. I don't think that cream would be nice - then rather a BIG lump of whipped cream on top of the cocoa when served ! These are with real chocolate - which is the best way of making a luxury hot chocolate, IMO www.recette-dessert.com/chocolat-chaud-r1.htmwww.mulhaupt.fr/html/recet6.html
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Post by Shoesy on May 27, 2007 14:04:02 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about your apt., catherine.
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Post by Ray(aka) tripnebraska on May 27, 2007 14:14:44 GMT -5
Catherine, I'm sorry to hear your apt. is not nice. What a better excuse to get out and Enjoy Paris!!! Get up early and stay out late. YOU ARE IN PARIS!!!!!! The rest of us will wait at home to hear about your trip. Go Have Fun.
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Post by annettecinca on May 27, 2007 14:39:46 GMT -5
I've had a similar problem trying to make really thick "Laduree"- or "Angelina"-style chocolate at home and haven't hit on the solution yet. I was kinda hoping if I bought the mix at one of these shops in Paris, it would make up the same as theirs once I'm at home. Catherine, I hope your apartment isn't TOO bad! Hope things improve before it's time to go home.
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Post by catherine on May 27, 2007 15:24:45 GMT -5
Gittek, I have bought the Laduree product itself, which is in fact powder! I wonder if they have a secret trick?? I tried to ask today but it was crowded and noisy and staff couldn't understand me. Maybe I'll have to go back mid week and ask again - as I sip another chocolate. Or, maybe Anneparis knows and will read this and help!? Disillusioned to hear Annettecina hasnt hit on the solution yet.
We live inhope.....!
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Post by catherine on May 27, 2007 15:36:12 GMT -5
Thks for the concern about the apt. It is pretty bad actually - and like you, for myself I wouldn't get too bothered but elderly parents get a bit bothered by it - and I was trying to organise a great trip for them. It didn't help that I told them not to bother going to a laundromat while in London - just bring it here - only to find WM doesn't work and we had mountains of laundry bewteen us. I had already thrown my load in and turned it on before seeing the dirlt sludgy water in bottom - hence washed my clothes in it. If appt manager was helpful one wouldn't mind - as appliances do break down at times. But I ring him at great expense on internatinal mobile to mobile call, have pleasant conversation re appointment time, then he neither turns up nor calls, then I call again on said expensive international mobile, and so it goes on....and on. Anyway, that's only the gist of it, I wont go into mould on the food scraps in the pots in the cupboard or the other broken appliances. His appt photos look GREAT on the internet though!! If I can't resolve it directly I'll let u know company name so you can avoid.
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Post by Truffaut on May 27, 2007 16:44:24 GMT -5
Catherine, I'm so sorry that you're apartment isn't living up to your expectations. Every time I hear a tale like this it bothers me, because it gives all of us rental apartment owners a bad name. Perhaps, you'll have a better experience next time.
Angélina uses pieces of solid chocolate, melted with milk and sugar to create their beverages. It's really not all that hard. One must use only the best quality chocolate, though, and that means it's impossible to make in the US, because we only get the Hershey's dreck. You can certainly bring back very dark chocolate (I'd recommend at least 80% cocoa) from France and try making it at home.
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Post by Shoesy on May 27, 2007 21:52:47 GMT -5
Truffaut - Why should Catherine's lousy apt. give your apt. or anyone else's a bad reputation? It's like saying that if someone has a bad experience in a hotel, then it makes other Paris hotels look bad, but we all know that ever place is different, right? Catherine - I DO feel bad for your eldery parents, though, which means that I feel twice as bad for you since you wanted everything to be perfect.
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Post by holger on May 27, 2007 22:21:26 GMT -5
So sorry about your apartment problems especially when you wanted everything to be right for your parents. Hope they are having a good time anyway. I don't know about paris but when we lived in London you could go to the local landromat and ge a service wash which meant they did it for you and you picked it up all nicely folded. It was a bit more than doing it yourself but meant you did not have to sit there.
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Post by Truffaut on May 28, 2007 8:24:27 GMT -5
Truffaut - Why should Catherine's lousy apt. give your apt. or anyone else's a bad reputation? It's like saying that if someone has a bad experience in a hotel, then it makes other Paris hotels look bad, but we all know that ever place is different, right? Because it requires a lot of trust for people to be willing to rent an apartment from an unknown individual rather than a hotel room from an unknown corporate entity. Whenever there's a snag with an unscrupulous owner, it reflects poorly on the rest of us.
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Post by Shoesy on May 28, 2007 9:26:01 GMT -5
Gotcha, Truffaut.
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diz
New Member
Posts: 9
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Post by diz on May 28, 2007 10:07:49 GMT -5
:-( Sorry to hear about the apartment - disappointing accommodation colours your memories of a place .... I've never been to Ladurée, but had similar queries a couple of years ago when we'd been in Spain. It was a really cold day and we ordered hot chocolate, which was wonderful, so I tried to buy some powder to bring home. It wasn't the same! Your post reminded me that I'd intended to do a bit of research into the difference between cocoa, powdered hot chocolate and *proper* gloopy hot chocolate. Intermediate technology's webpage has some info (better than watching the rain!). We live near Cadbury World, and one of the entertainments there is watching visitors tasting original Inca chocolate - makes you wonder how anyone ever thought you could make a good drink out of it! I'll edit this to add the link to the webpage I mentioned! www.itdg.org/docs/technical_information_service/cocoa_and_chocolate.pdf
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Post by holger on May 28, 2007 10:16:33 GMT -5
Catherine, If you haven't done so yet, why don't you try Angelina's for really thick and wonderful hot chocolate. I prefer it to Laduree's Truffaut, Anyone on this site would certainly trust you. Since we have an apartment thread, it will be useful to post people's experiences for future reference.
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Post by catherine on May 28, 2007 16:11:56 GMT -5
Phew!! Apartment issues resolved. Finally got manager here today and showed him the dirt. He was most embarassed and has been helpful now. He had been a bit slow to respond for a couple of days and then my main email listing all the problems had not delivered (which is probably true as my email started to muck up) so he had not woken up to the extent of my concern. Nor had he been inspecting the quality of the cleaning service. So this afternoon he cleaned the mould and food from cupboards while here, apologised profusely, fixed one appliance and organised maintenance for another, and best of all, recredited my card for a little more than the amount I suggested. Even better, we happened on a closer laundromat on way home from dinner tonight!! It wasn't on pagesjaunes so I had been hiking about 700m to the closest one on line but this one is spitting distance - yeah!
And no, I think I've learnt enough about apartments now that I don't transfer this bad experience on to others, Truffaut. And happily it was a combination of communication problems and innattention, rather than deliberately deceptive management - which somehow I feel better about.
It's a relief not to have to hassle about apartment problems for the rest of the week. Now we can get back to the big issue of replicating Laduree chocolate. Yes, I think a further investigatory taste test at Angelina's is required. We're going to try the Laduree powder with sugar and cream and milk. Will let you know result.
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Post by Shoesy on May 28, 2007 22:12:27 GMT -5
So glad to hear that things have finally worked out. Now THAT'S a nice birthday present, isn't it?
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Post by luvparee on May 29, 2007 16:36:43 GMT -5
I purchased the Angelina's cocoa powder last summer while in Paris and it is not even close to what they serve! When I asked the gals at the checkout, they said it was what they used! It is larger granules that are a lighter brown suggesting milk chocolate which I no longer like! And, the chocolat chaud l'Africain is certainly not made with milk chocolate!
However, when in Paris in 2002, I purchased Maxim's cacao poudre (or poudre de cacao!) at Bon Marche Epicerie and it is absolutely fabulous! I love a good cup of hot chocolate so was thrilled! When I ran out, I found a place online that sold it (can't remember the vendor!) and bought several more containers. Now, I am completely out so will have to make a return trip............
Glad the apartment problems worked out -- don't you just hate that! It just wastes so much precious Paris time!
If you live in an area where you can find Valrhona chocolate (various percentages of cocoa - I love the highest #), try that for chopping up, melting, and mixing with sugar and milk for chocolat chaud.
Enjoy!
joy/luvparee
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Post by annettecinca on May 29, 2007 19:02:15 GMT -5
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Post by luvparee on May 30, 2007 12:51:48 GMT -5
Annette~ YES, that is the tin!!! Thanks for the website. Later yesterday I remembered the name from where I ordered and it's either been bought out or closed. Merci, Merci, Merci!!! I have placed it in my "favorites" so I can order when needed. It is absolutely scrumptious!!
joy/luvparee
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