So, 3 a.m. , Saturday morning, and it came to me; instead of putting cheese slices on your hamburger, why not put a slice of barbeque sauce on top instead?

I know.

In my defence, a bit of searching on Saturday morning showed me that at least one other person has thought of this before. So I'm not completely crazy. Or I have company in my insanity. Anyway, I had two choices: methocel or agar. Methocel would set as the sauce was heated and liquify as it cooled, so you'd have to make and use it straightaway. Agar would set hard, but it would melt if it was placed on something hot...just like a cheese slice! So agar it was. I stole the idea of the swiss holes from Playing With Fire And Water, and soon I had created bbq slices. FEAR ME!

After that, I decided I wanted to recreate Sam Mason's soft chocolate. It's a ganache that is set with gelling agents (either carrageen or agar & gelatin; I used the latter combination) and refrigerated. When it comes out of the fridge, it keeps its shape, yet tastes like, well, soft molten chocolate. It's pretty simple to make too: just make the ganache as usual, pour in a boiled sugar/corn syrup/agar mixture and a little gelatin, and finally put it in a mould and leave to set. The chocolate soil also worked out pretty well, though I think that I might add some nutella powder in next time too.

That was Saturday. Today?

Garam masala marshmallows. Pimm's and strawberry gummies. The marshmallows are based on the classic recipe for chocolate ones, but with garam masala switched for the cocoa powder. After whipping and leaving to set for nine hours, I coated the top of the mallow block with chocolate and cut into pieces with a pizza cutter coated with icing sugar. That was probably a mistake; I should have cut them into blocks first and then brushed chocolate onto the tops. The way I did it meant that the chocolate got coated with icing sugar while I was sealing the sides.

I made the gummies in two different ways because I wasn't sure how they'd turn out. I was surprised that the gelatin/agar combination was the least successful; for some reason the underside of the gelatin just wouldn't set (possibly interference from the Pimm's agar layer?). Next time, I'll try gelatin/gelatin. However, I made more of the gelatin solution than I needed, so I used the overflow to make sour gummy strips (dredging them in citric acid and granulated sugar). These are really good, and need to be made again in large quantities. Oh yes. The agar/agar batch set fine, but I forgot that the taste of agar gummies is a bit bizarre. Oh well.

Tomorrow? Absolutely nothing. I think I need a rest. Though I've just remembered the rice puree / egg white cracker idea from chadzilla…