1754 replies to this topic

[apronstrings]

Hi all! Iam SOOOO pleased. I've just made nightscotsman's strawberry marshmallows, and they came out just beautifully. HUGE, fluffy, subtly flavored. Being one to gild the lily, I dipped half of them in chocolate. Will be trying new flavors--the curried ones sound great. And the ones wrapped in caramel.

I would like to try making the outrageous nougat in a couple of days. All my good ingredients and supplies are back in NewYork. I'll have to search around South Florida to find new ones...

I posted a picture of the marshmallows, but can't figure out how to send it. I'll try.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO BECOME ADDICTED TO eGULLET AFTER ONLY 4 DAYS????

[mikeycook]

IS IT POSSIBLE TO BECOME ADDICTED TO eGULLET AFTER ONLY 4 DAYS????

Umm.... yes.

[mikeycook]

Kerry - Have you made any other nougat versions (other than the Montelimar style with almonds and pistachios) using the same basic recipe that you've been happy with?

I have played around with a torrone version using almonds and hazelnuts and candied lemon and orange peel (came out good, but too sweet for my tastes, so I am considering zest instead of the candied peel for the next batch or maybe leaving the fruit out altogether). I was also planning to make a version with peanuts (like a more gourmet version of a Big Hunk) and have a few other types in mind (one with brazil nuts, one with macadamias). I'll be making them this week and early next and will post photos.

Excellent pictures and comments. Nice to know someone else is a nougat freak.

[RuthWells]

Kerry, I'd love to try the nougat recipe, thanks for posting it.  Question -- is there any substitute you can recommend for the edible rice paper?  Will heavy, coated parchment work, or will I be picking pieces of paper out of my candies?

I'd probably butter the parchment to make it easier to peel off. Let us know how it works.

Okey doke. My parchment is silicone-coated, and I'll give it a liberal greasing too boot. Will report back.

[apronstrings]

http://forums.egulle...3146_291978.jpg

Strawberry Marshmallows


Hope I Sent This Correctly!

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry - Have you made any other nougat versions (other than the Montelimar style with almonds and pistachios) using the same basic recipe that you've been happy with?

I have played around with a torrone version using almonds and hazelnuts and candied lemon and orange peel (came out good, but too sweet for my tastes, so I am considering zest instead of the candied peel for the next batch or maybe leaving the fruit out altogether).  I was also planning to make a version with peanuts (like a more gourmet version of a Big Hunk) and have a few other types in mind (one with brazil nuts, one with macadamias).  I'll be making them this week and early next and will post photos.

Excellent pictures and comments.  Nice to know someone else is a nougat freak. 

I have made it with candied peel, but I prefer the all nut version for day to day munching. One day I'll get around to the hazelnut version.

I'm not sure what a Big Hunk is, but I have played around with a home made snickers bar (we call it chuckles). Nougat with added peanut butter, caramel with roasted peanuts, dipped in a nice caramelly milk chocolate. Not a calorie in it.

I'm looking forward to your pictures of the various nougats - tasting notes too please!

[Kerry Beal]

http://forums.egulle...3146_291978.jpg

                      Strawberry Marshmallows


                              Hope I Sent This Correctly!

Those look marvelous!!

[Renee K]

Renee K, thanks! I'd heard of Sun Lik, but forgot completely about it until you mentioned it.

Yes, I just remembered - it is Sun Lik and not Sin Lit as I have told Lindal earlier.
Thanks ReneeK

May & Devagi, my pleasure

[mikeycook]

I'm not sure what a Big Hunk is, but I have played around with a home made snickers bar (we call it chuckles).  Nougat with added peanut butter, caramel with roasted peanuts, dipped in a nice caramelly milk chocolate.  Not a calorie in it. 

Big Hunk is a West Coast regional candy bar. It's basically a strip of white nougat (firmer than the nougat I generally make) with peanuts in it. See here.

I have thought of adding peanut butter as well as peanuts to one version. Do you have a specific brand you find works well?

[Kerry Beal]

I'm not sure what a Big Hunk is, but I have played around with a home made snickers bar (we call it chuckles).  Nougat with added peanut butter, caramel with roasted peanuts, dipped in a nice caramelly milk chocolate.  Not a calorie in it. 

Big Hunk is a West Coast regional candy bar. It's basically a strip of white nougat (firmer than the nougat I generally make) with peanuts in it. See here.

I have thought of adding peanut butter as well as peanuts to one version. Do you have a specific brand you find works well?

I think I may have used Kraft smooth or Reese. I have both in the house. I might also have used homemade. Last made about a year ago, memory fades.

[Kerry Beal]

Last night I made some mango pates de fruit. Valuable lesson learned, pour it out as soon as it is done. Don't let it cool down at all or it will start to set. A guitar cutter would make for much more even cuts.




Because I had let it cool a few minutes before pouring it in the frame the top was quite lumpy, so a bit of trimming was required to sqare it up, consequently the pieces are not equal depths. A few more scraps than usual for fruit jellies. Still very tasty.

[cookman]

Kerry, I'd love to try the nougat recipe, thanks for posting it.  Question -- is there any substitute you can recommend for the edible rice paper?  Will heavy, coated parchment work, or will I be picking pieces of paper out of my candies?

I'd probably butter the parchment to make it easier to peel off. Let us know how it works.

In my experience, the parchment has to be coated with something or it will stick terribly. Butter or canola oil or even (God forbid) Pam will do the trick.

Try brushing the parchment with cocoa butter.

[Kerry Beal]

I've lost track of the thread where we were discussing making silicone chocolate molds so I'll post my results here until I can find it again.

I ran down to Toronto and purchased some Smooth-On brand Smooth-sil 940 which is a food grade silicone for molding.

I took the little plaster groundhog (he used to be a beaver, but his owner lives in Wiarton and wants a Wiarton Willie chocolate mold, so he dremelled off his tail...voila...groundhog), attached him with a bit of sticktack to the bottom of a plastic container that had at least 1/2 an inch clearance all around. I mixed the silicone with the catalyst, then poured it in around him. I let it sit overnight and cut the container off in the morning. I then cut him out, placed the mold in the oven at 175 F for 4 hours and this evening I tried molding him for the first time. I painted the mold with milk chocolate, put the two sides together, poured in the milk chocolate, bound the whole thing up in guaze cling wrap (didn't have any rubber bands), banged it gently to get out the bubbles and put it in the fridge for 30 min or so. He unmolded very nicely.



Original plaster groundhog (beaver)



Silicone mold produced


Chocolate version

I think this is a nice workable solution to those one off molding jobs where you have an object that you want to copy in chocolate. My sister in law has a whole bunch of Royal Doulton figurines, think she'd let me play with them?

[gfron1]

Kerry, that is hilarious. Now we might have to create a thread for absurd desserts!

[alanamoana]

kerry, that's very cool. thanks for the demo on using that type of silicone!

nice "groundhog"!

[Desiderio]

Yes thank you Kerry , that is soo very cool and funny , the silicon molds idea is great I want to experiment with that soon.
Thank you for sharing and showing us all these neat things

[David J.]

There are many resources to help you create your first mold.

One place to start is:

http://www.hirstarts...moldmaking.html

Note the keyways molded in to the torch and door molds to ensure the two halves are lined up perfectly when put back together.

Here is a short video showing how to pour a simple silicon mold of a flat clay flower:

http://www.hobbycast.net/video.htm

It gives you a few tips such as not mixing in too much air, using a second cup to ensure all the rubber is mixed, securing the mold box with clay, and pouring the rubber in a thin stream. I would also use the same vibrating table you use for chocolate to get the air out of the mold rubber.

There are many other resources including books if you want to start molding intricate objects with numerous undercuts. Take a look at your local library.

With a little information mold making really is easy. With no formal training and only a copy of "The Prop Builder's Molding & Casting Handbook" I created a silicon mold of a whisky bottle that was then reinforced in a plaster mold for casting breakaway glass bottles for a play I was in.

[apronstrings]

Kerry-- I want to make your nougat, and have 2 questions. For how long will they keep, and what is the best way to store them? I am having trouble finding some of the ingredients here in South Florida, but know I will find everything when I go back to New York in 2 weeks. Thanks!!!

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry-- I want to make your nougat, and have 2 questions. For how long will they keep, and what is the best way to store them? I am having trouble finding some of the ingredients here in South Florida, but know I will find everything when I go back to New York in 2 weeks. Thanks!!!

Keep in an airtight container, vacuum sealed canister would be perfect if you have a foodsaver. They are basically good until the nuts go soft, I just tasted the ones I show at the beginning of this thread, so they were make June 22 and they are still fine. They are in a rubbermaid container,

Kerry

[apronstrings]

Kerry-- I want to make your nougat, and have 2 questions. For how long will they keep, and what is the best way to store them? I am having trouble finding some of the ingredients here in South Florida, but know I will find everything when I go back to New York in 2 weeks. Thanks!!!

Keep in an airtight container, vacuum sealed canister would be perfect if you have a foodsaver. They are basically good until the nuts go soft, I just tasted the ones I show at the beginning of this thread, so they were make June 22 and they are still fine. They are in a rubbermaid container,

Kerry

Thanks! I just happen to be getting a Food Saver when I return to New York, so this will be perfect!

[Kerry Beal]

I've been meaning to try the pates de fruit made with tomatoes from The Notebook of Michael Bras that nightscotsman posted here.

Yesterday I happened upon a can of crushed tomatoes at the supermarket and brought them home to try it. I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't prepared to use 90 grams of apple pectin, because the 1 lb container I have cost around $65, so using a quarter of it for one batch was out. I went back to the standard recipes for pates de fruit that Boiron publishes and did some adjusting. So the upshot of it was, I took a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, put it through the food mill with the finest plate to remove the seeds, added 30 grams of pectin, mixed with about 90 grams of sugar initially, boiled for 3 minutes added the remainder of 750 grams of sugar, plus 200 grams of glucose. I boiled it to 107 C, checked the brix to see if it was around 75 (which it was at 107), added 10 grams of lemon vodka and 15 grams of tartaric acid solution (equal parts tartaric acid and water by weight), along with 3 drops of a 10% dilution of anise oil (since I couldn't find any anise seed in the spice rack).

They taste very interesting, you don't really recognize the tomato as tomato, the licorice comes through nicely. Would I made them again? I don't know, I like to try things to prove I can do it, but I'm more thrilled by an intensely fruit flavoured jelly.

[alanamoana]

Kerry, it sounds interesting and they look really good.

If you check out the Manresa thread in the California forum, you'll see that they do parallel pate de fruit for amuse bouche and mignardise at the end of the meal: the meal starts with black olive madeleines and a roasted red pepper pate de fruit and the meal ends with chocolate medeleines and a red fruit pate de fruit (raspberry or strawberry). i liked the roasted red pepper flavor because it was a bit smokey and even a tiny bit of heat (that was probably added as bells don't have much heat). but i do think that they ended up being a bit too sweet for my taste as it is meant to be savory.

Anyway, good job experimenting. Do you have Paco Torreblanca's pastry book? He has a different method for making pate de fruit to get different results from the standard.

Thanks for keeping the thread alive!

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, it sounds interesting and they look really good.

If you check out the Manresa thread in the California forum, you'll see that they do parallel pate de fruit for amuse bouche and mignardise at the end of the meal:  the meal starts with black olive madeleines and a roasted red pepper pate de fruit and the meal ends with chocolate medeleines and  a red fruit pate de fruit (raspberry or strawberry).  i liked the roasted red pepper flavor because it was a bit smokey and even a tiny bit of heat (that was probably added as bells don't have much heat).  but i do think that they ended up being a bit too sweet for my taste as it is meant to be savory.

Anyway, good job experimenting.  Do you have Paco Torreblanca's pastry book?  He has a different method for making pate de fruit to get different results from the standard.

Thanks for keeping the thread alive!

I do not have that book. What does he do differently?

[Kerry Beal]

I have an upcoming wedding for my friend Rob and his partner Winston. The boys want individual chocolate bars for the guests rather than truffles or chocolates. I got started yesterday with a couple in white chocolate for the folks who won't eat milk chocolate. Of course you can't temper up chocolate and do just one thing. Now I've only got about 125 more milk chocolate bars to make.







White chocolate bars with butterscotch truffle filling





Mango mice



Freeze dried strawberry bark

[gfron1]

Those look great - especially the mice. I'm curious about the freeze dried bark - what are you going to do with that...and what does the freeze drying do to it?

[Kerry Beal]

Those look great - especially the mice.  I'm curious about the freeze dried bark - what are you going to do with that...and what does the freeze drying do to it?

I should have said bark with freeze dried strawberries. It is simply the leftover tempered chocolate with some sliced freeze dried strawberries mixed in. They provide a nice crunchy strawberry hit. Unfortunately they soften fairly quickly, particularly in white chocolate which has more moisture in it than dark.

What am I going to do with it? Probably just give it away. I don't eat a lot of chocolate myself.

[John DePaula]

I have an upcoming wedding for my friend Rob and his partner Winston.  The boys want individual chocolate bars for the guests rather than truffles or chocolates.  I got started yesterday with a couple in white chocolate for the folks who won't eat milk chocolate.  Of course you can't temper up chocolate and do just one thing.  Now I've only got about 125 more milk chocolate bars to make. 




 


White chocolate bars with butterscotch truffle filling
                       




Mango mice



Freeze dried strawberry bark

Wow, Kerry, I LOVE that! Those mice are great and the bars look very elegant.

[Kerry Beal]

Wow, Kerry, I LOVE that!  Those mice are great and the bars look very elegant.

Thanks John. Liking the new look of your website BTW. I really love that mold you use in your avatar.

If I never have to make the bar mold again it will be too soon before these wedding chocolate bars get done. I spent 3 hours at it this morning, whining child does slow you down. I got 21 perfect bars, 3 slightly scuffed and 3 FUBAR. Since I had the mice molds out anyway, I made some coconut mice and finished off with some almond bark, hubbies favorite.

[John DePaula]

Wow, Kerry, I LOVE that!  Those mice are great and the bars look very elegant.

Thanks John. Liking the new look of your website BTW. I really love that mold you use in your avatar.

Thanks!

If I never have to make the bar mold again it will be too soon before these wedding chocolate bars get done.  I spent 3 hours at it this morning, whining child does slow you down.  I got 21 perfect bars, 3 slightly scuffed and 3 FUBAR.  Since I had the mice molds out anyway, I made some coconut mice and finished off with some almond bark, hubbies favorite.

Kerry, are the bars difficult to use? Anyway, they came out lookin' great!

BTW, I'm a fan of the (almond) barks, too. Sometimes the simpler things are just what the doctor ordered!

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, are the bars difficult to use?  Anyway, they came out lookin' great!

BTW, I'm a fan of the (almond) barks, too.  Sometimes the simpler things are just what the doctor ordered!

No more difficult than a praline mold. They use a hell of a lot of chocolate though. This particular mold with it's 9 cavities requires piping a small amount of the filling into each cavity, so it slows you down a bit. If you like the mold it is from JKV in Holland. I think in the US you have a distributor, in Canada I have to order them direct from Holland.

One of my favorite barks is crushed up humbugs in milk or dark. Poprocks are great too.