The Elegance of European Desserts

There is just something elegant about European desserts. Flavors of rich chocolate, decadent cream and fresh fruit are just some of the key elements you may find in these delicious treats. From the simple, yet elegant chocolate mousse to the richly layered tiramisu, European desserts tempt you like no other.

Desserts can be served as an ending to a wonderful dinner party or you can have an entire party centered around the desserts themselves. This is definitely the way to go if you are having trouble deciding which dessert to serve. Desserts go well with wine, so it is simple to plan an evening of culinary decadence.

A fun way to serve mousse or other creamy desserts is to put them in a wine or champagne glass. This novel way of serving dessert adds instant elegance to your European desserts (as if they needed any help).

Tortes, chocolate souffles, eclairs, cannoli, or creme brulee are perfect examples of simple, elegant desserts you can serve at a dessert party. Use fresh, seasonal fruit to highlight your desserts. The fruit adds color, it freshens the palate between rich desserts, and it makes everyone feel they are still eating healthy.

Think about your presentation. Use candles and lace tablecloths to add that vintage touch of class. European desserts deserve all the hype they get, so play it up. Add a bouquet of fresh flowers on the table and use elegant china and silverware. Enjoy the rich theme.

Recipe for Creme Brulee

This simple yet decadent custard is known for its hard candy top.

What You Need

1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 cup vanilla sugar, divided
6 large egg yolks
2 quarts hot water

How to Make It

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put the cream, vanilla bean and the pulp into a medium sized saucepan. Turn the heat on medium-high and bring to a careful boil. Remove the pan from the heat, cover it, and let it sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean. You may be able to save it for another use.

Put 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks in a medium bowl and blend them well until they begin to lighten in color. Add the cream slowly, stirring continually. Pour the mixture into 6 ramekins. Place the ramekins in a large deep cake pan or roaster. Pour hot water in the pan until it reaches halfway up the ramekin sides. Bake until the creme brulee is just set, but trembles in the center. This will take about 40 to 45 minutes. When done, remove the ramekins and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. They will keep up to 3 days.

Take the creme brulee from the refrigerator at least half an hour before browning the top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar between the ramekins, spreading it evenly across the top. Use a torch to melt the sugar until it forms a crisp candy top. Allow the dessert to rest for around 5 minutes before serving.

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European Plumbing Secret

Need to do a bit of plumbing around your house? If you called a plumber or two you have probably heard the same things, basically that it is very expensive and it could be several days before he can show up. This is not ideal if water is pouring out of a broken pipe. What the homeowner should know is that basic plumbing repairs are quite simple for even the first time amateur plumber. Best of all, the cost to acquire all the tools and supplies will be cheaper than what you would pay a licensed plumber for just a single hour of work. Keep reading to learn how to make perfect connections every time.

Tools For The Job

For copper pipe repair you need 5 tools:

Pipe Cutter - a small tool that clamps around pipe. You tighten the screw as you turn the clamp around the pipe, this cleanly cuts the pipe
Sand Paper - any grit is fine, it is used to clean the areas two pipes meet.
Flux - an acidic paste that allows the connection to seal together.
Solder - get lead free, flux core. When melted bonds two pipes together.
Propane Torch - used to heat up the connection and melt the solder.

You will also of course need copper pipe and fittings to make your repairs.

Directions To Repair Copper Pipe

Turn off the main water line coming into your house. This is probably in the basement attached to your water meter.
Open every single tap in the house and lets the water drain out. Do not forget bathtubs. This will depressurize the water pipes.
Use the pipe cutter to cut all the pipe and mock up the repair. Put all the pieces in place but DO NOT solder them yet. You are just making sure that all the pieces fit.
Lightly sand the ends of the pipes until they are shiny. Do the same for inside the fittings.
Put a thin coating of flux on the pipe ends and inside the fittings. Do this for all fittings.
Push all your pipes together and solder it up.

How To Solder.

The key to soldering is to heat the pipe and NOT the solder directly. Hold your torch on the bottom of the pipe and press your solder on the top of the pipe. When the pipe heats up the solder will melt and be sucked into the space where the two pipes meet.

The Secret

Now for the 'secret'. There are new fittings on the market in North America that have been used in Europe for years that make this very easy. They have solder embedded at the contact point. You can identify them by the raised ring at both ends of the fitting. Simply follow steps 1-5 above then hold the flame directly on the fitting and in about 20 seconds you will see a bit of solder ooze out of the joint. You are done. A perfect, water tight connection every time. Wait 20 minutes for all the joints to cool down, close all your taps, and turn your water back on.

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