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Fantasy 12/06/07 just one big disappointment...

rain_bowbrite

By rain_bowbrite,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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rain_bowbrite

rain_bowbrite

Posted
Posted

Just got off the Fantasy yesterday and had a wonderful time. As stated in my title I just have one major complaint from this cruise...the chocolate melting cake was horrible and I am not being sarcastic. I LOVE the chocolate melting cake and had been really looking forward to enjoying it as it is one of my favorites on Carnival. Not this time, it was undercooked everytime. It was basically warm cake batter/pudding. It is usually done around the edges, sides and top and you break into it's warm melting center. Instead it was soupy and you could have used it as a sauce for ice cream. We asked them to cook it longer but they never got it right:( .

 

However, the Bitter and Blanc was HEAVEN:D !

 

Has anyone else experienced the same problem with their warm chocolate melting cake?

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KroozFoolz

KroozFoolz

Posted
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Yes, this was our experience recently on Holiday. On Legend this past March, it was always a surprise - sometimes cooked more, sometimes undercooked and "soupy." I prefer it cooked more but managed to eat most of it undercooked. :eek: Our tablemates also commented on this.

I agree with you about the Bitter and Blanc. :D Very yummy.

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sea_u_onboard

sea_u_onboard

Posted
Posted

Has anyone else experienced the same problem with their warm chocolate melting cake?

I had it every night but one on our Alaska cruise. The second to the last night it was sort of soupy like you are describing and I got sick - are there eggs in it. I didn't risk it the next night.

 

All the other nights it had a great texture.

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cloverseeker

cloverseeker

Posted
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We had the same problem when we were on the Fantasy 8-30-07 too. It was just warm chocolate pudding. After hearing everybody describe what it was suppose to be I was disappointed too. Sorry to hear that it still is like that we are to sail in a month on her again.:(

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rain_bowbrite

rain_bowbrite

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Tragic....

 

Sorry I am not trying to sound whinny neither am I trying to start an anti Carnival rally. Maybe I should have titled my thread differently but it was a big big letdown considering I had talked up this desert to friends traveling with me who had never cruised before and then it was not edible. And as someone above stated we were afraid to eat it since it does contain eggs.

 

I mainly wanted to know if others had experienced the same on other Carnival ships? The chocolate melting cake gets lots discussion here on CC and it was wonderful and cooked perfectly on the Elation and on the Inspiration.:D

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rain_bowbrite

rain_bowbrite

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We had the same problem when we were on the Fantasy 8-30-07 too. It was just warm chocolate pudding. After hearing everybody describe what it was suppose to be I was disappointed too. Sorry to hear that it still is like that we are to sail in a month on her again.:(

 

Thanks for your response. I wondered if it was just an issue on the Fantasy since we spoke to several of the servers and they kept telling us it was supposed to be soupy like that and melty. We kept trying to tell them yes it is supposed to be melty in the middle but cooked around the edges. They seemed to have no idea what we were talking about so I assume that undercooking it is the norm on the Fantasy.

 

Enjoy your cruise on her next month!!!! The Bitter and Blanc and everything else in the dining room was great just be prepared for warm chocolate soup! LOL.

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ksat

ksat

Posted
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We were so looking forward to the chocolate melting cake on our 10/27 cruise on the Liberty. The first night we ordered it and it was way too gooey in the middle. We tried again the next night and the same thing. I quite ordering it after that.

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Jsme

Jsme

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Just got off the Fantasy yesterday and had a wonderful time. As stated in my title I just have one major complaint from this cruise...the chocolate melting cake was horrible and I am not being sarcastic. I LOVE the chocolate melting cake and had been really looking forward to enjoying it as it is one of my favorites on Carnival. Not this time, it was undercooked everytime. It was basically warm cake batter/pudding. It is usually done around the edges, sides and top and you break into it's warm melting center. Instead it was soupy and you could have used it as a sauce for ice cream. We asked them to cook it longer but they never got it right:( .

 

However, the Bitter and Blanc was HEAVEN:D !

 

Has anyone else experienced the same problem with their warm chocolate melting cake?

 

This is horrible!! I am going on the Fantasy in 17 days. I hope they have it right then. On the Celebration earlier this year they had it perfect.

 

Can you order the Bitter and Blanc any night or is it on a special night? I have been told it is a certain night. I am looking forward to trying it.

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KroozFoolz

KroozFoolz

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I found this recipe in a post from last year:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=6544017&postcount=67

Bitter & Blanc Chocolate Brioche pudding

 

 

 

 

 

Portions :700

 

Ingredients Quantity

 

Egg yolk 15 lb

Sugar 10 lb

Brioche bread 36 no. ( 9 four inch pans)

Heavy cream 14 ea

White chocolate 40 lbs

Butter 15 lbs

 

Meringue :

Egg whites 12 lb

Sugar 8 lb

 

For Vanilla sauce :

Milk 6 ltr

Sugar 1 kg

Corn flour 300 gms

Egg yolks 40 ea

Vanilla extract few drops

 

For greasing :

Butter solids 4 lbs

Sugar 6 lb

 

Ganache 8 lb

 

 

METHOD :

  • For Vanilla sauce, boil milk & sugar, cream yolks & cornflour & whisk in the milk,add vanilla extract & cook on slow heat till it reaches a coating consistency. Strain
  • Remove the sides of the brioche bread, cut into dices & soak in cream.
  • Melt the chocolate with butter & keep aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, cream sugar & yolk, add the melted chocolate on slow speed.
  • Add the bread & cream, mix well.
  • In a separate bowl, prepare meringue & fold into the bread mixture.
  • Grease the soufflé cup, put one spoon of ganache on the base, portion out the pudding mixture, keep aside.
  • Bake in the evening at 180 f for 45 mins. Remove, dust with powdered sugar & serve with vanilla sauce.

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KroozFoolz

KroozFoolz

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here is a version if you don't have 699 friends.

 

Here ya' go...

 

Bitter & Blanc Chocolate Brioche Pudding

serves 8

 

Ingredients / Quantity

 

For Vanilla Sauce:

Whole Milk / 6 ounces liquid

Sugar / 1 ounce (2 Tbsp)

Cornstarch / 1 Tbsp.

Egg yolks / 2 quantity

Vanilla Extract / 1 tsp.

 

For Pudding & Meringue Mixture:

 

 

PUDDING:

Brioche bread, crusts removed / 8 ounces

Egg yolk / 3 ounces

Sugar / 2 ounces (4 Tbsp)

Heavy cream / 5 ounces liquid

White chocolate / 8 ounces

Butter / 3 ounces (6 Tbsp)

 

MERINGUE:

Egg whites / 2 ounces or 1/4 cup (about 2-3 yolks)

Sugar / 1 1/2 ounces (3 Tbsp)

 

 

 

For Ganache:

 

Dark Chocolate / 6 ounces

Heavy Cream / 4 ounces liquid

 

 

For greasing :

Butter solids / 1-2 Tbsp to coat

Sugar / 1-2 tsp to coat

 

 

 

METHOD :

For Vanilla sauce, boil milk & sugar in small saucepan. In small bowl, cream yolks & cornstarch; whisk in the milk, add vanilla extract. Pour back into saucepan & cook on slow heat till it reaches a coating consistency. Strain lumps. (may add a few drops of milk if too thick).

For Ganache: In saucepan, heat heavy cream to simmer. Put dark chocolate into bowl and pour simmering cream over chocolate. Stir gently until smooth. Cool slightly.

For Pudding: Remove the crusts of the brioche bread, dice into squares. Put in large bowl and pour cream over bread; let soak in.

In saucepan, melt the white chocolate with 6 Tbsp. butter & set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream sugar & yolk, add the melted white chocolate/butter mixture on slow speed.

Add the cream-soaked bread, mix well.

In a separate bowl, prepare meringue by whipping room temperature egg whites and sugar til thickened; fold into the bread mixture.

Grease individual soufflé cups with butter and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Spoon a layer of ganache into the bottom of each cup. Top with bread pudding mixture.

Bake at 325 degrees F for 45 mins. Remove, cool slightly, dust with powdered sugar & serve with vanilla sauce.

 

NOTES; Brioche is a spongy textured, sweeter, egg bread. Whole Foods had it ($5.99 per loaf - NOT!!) Trader Joe's has brioche rolls (not a loaf) for $2.99 - I used 4 of the 6 rolls and had 2 left for sandwiches. You could substitute a combination of Kings Hawaiian sweet bread and yellow dinner rolls if you can't find brioche - my chef contact said don't do it - it wouldn't be the same.

 

Culinary bakers use scales for everything - hence the "3 ounces egg yolk, 2 ounces egg white, 8 ounces bread." I have a kitchen scale and weighed the eggs yolks and whites.

 

 

 

 

 

Extracted from this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=7099806&highlight=Bitter+Blanc#post7099806

 

Hope this works...

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snedecor

snedecor

Posted
Posted
yeah your title is a little drastic for talking about a piece of cake :rolleyes:

anyway, I can't stand that melting cake. And I'm a fan of chocolate.

 

There are two ways to take the title of this thread, which is:

 

Fantasy 12/06/07 just one big disappointment.

 

The first and most pessimistic reading of this is that the whole cruise was all just one big disappointment, from beginning to end.

 

The second, and I believe most accurate interpretation is that out of the whole cruise (which was wonderful), there was only one big disappointment.

 

Unfortunately, English is like that, and especially since you have only the words, not the inflection or word emphasis, nor the facial expression.

 

I choose the second interpretation.

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rain_bowbrite

rain_bowbrite

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There are two ways to take the title of this thread, which is:

 

Fantasy 12/06/07 just one big disappointment.

 

The first and most pessimistic reading of this is that the whole cruise was all just one big disappointment, from beginning to end.

 

The second, and I believe most accurate interpretation is that out of the whole cruise (which was wonderful), there was only one big disappointment.

 

Unfortunately, English is like that, and especially since you have only the words, not the inflection or word emphasis, nor the facial expression.

 

I choose the second interpretation.

 

snedecor you are correct and articulated what I meant to say perfectly. The cruise was wonderful just disappointed with the one thing, which was the chocolate melting cake.

 

I am definitely of the camp that a cruise is what you make of it and I certainly didn't let the fact that the cake was a big let down ruin my cruise. For the most part everything else was awesome. I did however want to find out from this thread if my experience with the Chocolate melting cake on the Fantasy was isolated? Or if others have experienced the same on the Fantasy or on other Carnival ships? It may be silly but I am a big supporter of the chocolate melting cake and Carnival's food in general and talk it up to a lot of people who use poor food quality as one of the reasons not to cruise on Carnival. Carnival has very good food imho and beats out all other lines I have sailed on thus far.:D

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