My annual holiday descent into candy hell began early this year, and things are really going much smoother than usual – all because of a present I got for my birthday in July. I’d seen the metal whisk with a thermometer in the handle in the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Catalogue (www.kingarthurflour.com) and put it on my birthday list along with a few other tools and gadgets that caught my eye. My sisters came through in a big way, and the shiny new whisk had been waiting patiently for the summer blast furnace to fade and candy-making weather (cool, dry days) to finally arrive. The news couldn’t be better: Being able to use one tool to both stir and check the temperature of melted chocolate while tempering made the always challenging process so much easier and more accurate. The first batches of toffee were topped in beautiful, thin layers of bittersweet chocolate: perfectly tempered, with just the right sheen and snap. The Cuisipro Balloon Thermowhisk is my absolute new favorite toy: not as precious and certainly not as expensive as the big French copper jam (candy) pot, but an important and indispensable addition to the annual holiday candy-making ritual. I’m sure it will come in handy with other temperature-sensitive concoctions as well. The good news is that it’s possible to buy the whisk-thermometers right here in town. They run about $25, and I’m assured they are in stock at Breed & Co (718 W. 29th, 474-6679; 3663 Bee Caves Rd., 328-3960). The manager at Faraday’s Kitchen Store (1501 RR 620 N. Ste. A, 266-5666) was looking to add them to her stock when we talked. Stuff one in the stocking of pastry chefs/passionate home bakers and confectioners on your Christmas list. Get moving Santa!… Hearty congratulations to Carmelo and Hilary Mauro, who recently celebrated 21 years of success at Carmelo’s Italian Restaurant (504 E. Fifth, 477-7497), their downtown mainstay located in the lovingly restored, historic Old Depot Hotel building… The original Central Market (4001 N. Lamar, 206-1000) has added longtime Austin chef Fred Geesin to the staff, where he will oversee operations in the busy cafe… Be sure to ask Hilton Austin (500 E. Fourth, 482-8000) Executive Chef Mark Dayanandan about his experience judging the culinary expertise of the chefs at New York’s prestigious private Knickerbocker Club at the 70th annual fall fundraising dinner of the Les Amis d’Escoffier Society in November. Chef Dayanandan has been the society’s resident critic for the past six years, and he held posts on hotels all over the world before relocating to Austin to open the downtown Hilton three years ago.
This article appears in December 1 • 2006.