alanamoana

based on the season: some sort of cider (mulled? hot toddy-like? buttered-rum?)based soup, poached pear soup...either of these can be served hot or cold again, seasonal, something citrus-y served cold with a bracing granita and citrus segments i agree with carolyn that something cold might be a nice ending to an evening of warm/hot soups i also like the addition of alcohol to any and all soups as well as possibly a gelatinized element. like a white wine/champagne gelee added to the citrus soup.

if it is necessary, which just about any reference will advise, to boil a cornstarch based pastry cream...how can you do this over a bain marie?

Cornstarch is widely used because it is inexpensive and readily available. Cornstarch weeps because of the shape of the molecules of glucose within the starch. The glucose units in the starch molecules form straight chains (high amylose) as opposed to jagged chains (high amylopectin). Cornstarch is a 'high amylose' starch, some characteristics of which are: cloudy when cooled, forms a firm gel when cooled, tightens and weeps over time, not freezer-stable and it is much thicker cold than hot. And while schneich is correct to some extent, you can overcook cornstarch. The starch cells will swell to absorb moisture up to a certain point and after that, with more time and heat, they will burst and degrade which isn't desirable. Cornstarch tends to be moderately able to withstand high heat for certain lengths of time. Other factors which affect thickening are the amount of sugar in a recipe (sugar is hygroscopic and thus takes away some of the moisture that could be absorbed by the starch) as well as amount of acid in a recipe which can reduce the thickening power of a starch. Most of this was paraphrased from Paula Figoni's book "How Baking Works" which is a great reference for the science behind most baking. This information is also available in McGee's "On Food and Cooking", but not as in depth with regard to cornstarch. Anectodal evidence is great, but it is also really good to have a fundamental grasp of the science behind why ingredients work the way they do. This way, you can adjust how you work in the kitchen without being a slave to recipes.

that's why, along with the confectionery, you have to start baking...making your own graham crackers to fit your homemade marshmallows!

and remember to stir the chocolate occasionally while you're dipping. i think your dipping looks great!

i thought the dedy base was standard (the width between cuts) to allow for all the different frames that you'd use...

i think there are some independent restaurants that aren't necessarily high end, but that might give your resume a boost: pizzeria mozza and anything else run by nancy silverton might be a good thing, anywhere run by wolfgang puck still has some cachet. i do think you're on the right track by wanting to work in a hotel as well which offers you a completely different perspective in the food industry. while i understand that Providence might not be your preference due to its perceived molecular gastronomy leanings...it might still be somewhere you can learn quite a bit. i don't know the chef but check his background to see if you can reconcile his education and experience with what he is doing now...that might help you make a decision because high-end dining is definitely another important area to excel in.

^^so now you can change your username to "cookiewalk"! everything looks really nice

sounds good, but how would you cut it? is the praline like a southern praline that is soft?

with cakes in general, the differences you'll notice will be more with mixing technique more than anything else. often, this is accompanied by certain ingredients, for example: warm egg foam method: can either be whole eggs warmed and whisked with sugar until volume increases and then dry ingredients and melted fat (butter) added at the end. this is close to a genoise which will give you a drier crumb and more delicate cake. not necessarily very chocolatey in flavor variant on egg foam: separated eggs, yolks whisked with some of the sugar and whites whisked with rest of sugar everything delicately folded together. similar in texture and other qualities to what is mentioned above chiffon: dry ingredients are stirred together, oil and other liquid ingredients are added, egg whites and sugar whipped and folded into the rest of the ingredients. two stage: dry ingredients mixed together, softened fat added, liquids added in two stages (eggs added in second stage), everything beaten to aerate. high-ratio cakes. i think these cakes are closer to what americans are used to calling a layer type cake...certainly closer to what comes out of a boxed mix. probably denser in crumb and more chocolatey if that's what you're looking for. this is just a basic overview. edited to add: the two stage and chiffon method will give you something like devils food cake type cake. chiffon a bit lighter in texture. genoise (egg foam) type cakes will give you layers that are delicate and not too chocolatey...good for soaking with a flavored syrup. deep/dark (at least in my opinion) implies something like a decadence or ganache style cake which doesn't fall into any of these categories. they are just baked ganache set with some eggs. of course, i think a lot of these designations are subjective. you can probably adjust some of the quantities of cocoa powder and such with the recipes to make the cake more flavorful, dense, rich, etc. but because of the reactions of cocoa powder with leaveners you'll need to understand that balance as well.

Doh! Why didn't I think of that? I hate to waste leftover chocolate, but I have been just pouring it onto a sheet of parchment and spreading it thin, then breaking it up and returning it to the box! Using it to make something like mendiants (or maybe rochers) is a great idea - thanks! ← bark is even easier than mendiants! spread thin, sprinkle all kinds of goodies on top and break up into smaller pieces. sometimes, i crush pretzel sticks and stir them into the tempered chocolate before spreading out and then top with all kinds of dried fruits and nuts. the saltiness of the pretzels makes for a trail-mix kind of bark. but what you're doing is fine too! you can always re-use the chocolate

from Wikipedia, and I do believe that it is correct as I have heard this definition before. Of course, nowadays, I make mendiants with whatever I have on hand! but they're a great way to use tempered chocolate that you have around after molding and dipping!

another reason i'm sad we left new york...i miss those little holiday origami kits!

the more surface area you expose, the faster the nuts will go rancid (so whole nuts last longer than sliced, etc.). also, once toasted, they break down even more quickly, so store them raw if possible. refrigerator or freezer is best.

you do have to be a little careful because you can denature the corn starch after a certain amount of time at high heat...i think it is something like three minutes...but i'm not sure. i'll take a look in one of my references.

I'll second that! A pastry chef credo: Creating desserts....good Creating dishes......bad ← I'm always trying to explain that to my students...maybe once they get out into the industry, they'll figure it out! nice if someone else is doing your dishes...but most of the time with pastry stuff, we're hand washing it so our equipment doesn't 'disappear'...

my recipe is exactly like yours, only i use 4 eggs or 6 yolks (depending on how rich wan t it to be. i generally cook mine until the first two bubbles pop the surface, and then i strain it into a bowl, whisk in my butter and cool it over a ice bath. if i use it the next day, i make sure to whisk it for a minute or two and it should be good as new. i know some people that throw it in the blender or food processor too. good luck. ← one should really bring the pastry cream up to a full boil for at least a few seconds to both activate the corn starch and to cook out the raw starch taste. if whisking rigorously when it comes up, you shouldn't need to strain (which just makes more dishes).

just in case you're wondering...the Bouchon recipe calls for 2 cups of milk with 1/2 cup of 'loosely packed' cornstarch. that's a ton of cornstarch for 2 cups of milk!

a) doesn't look like the puff is burnt. i have a feeling you're one of those people who think 'baked through' is too baked... b) pastry cream can set up pretty firm. a brisk stir before using usually brings it to a creamier texture. you can use less corn starch if you prefer it to be 'smoother', or you can whip some cream and fold it into your pastry cream to lighten the texture a little bit. it is supposed to boil and you are supposed to stir rapidly when it comes to a boil to avoid lumps so it sounds like you did everything correctly. c) now that i've taken a look at the recipe (happen to have checked the book out of the library), it seems like an awful lot of cornstarch for that small amount of milk...also, very rich with four yolks and only one whole egg...here's my standby 2 C milk, 1 oz cornstarch, 4 oz sugar, pinch salt, 2 ea eggs, 2 oz butter (flavor however you like)

was your pectin fully combined with the sugar before you added it? did you whisk rapidly when adding the pectin/sugar combo? the pectin will tend to lump up, you might not be able to avoid all lumps, but being extra careful when adding the pectin should reduce the lumping. straining isn't a bad idea to do, regardless.

Hey Serj, dough dividers are imperfect. from my experience, you will have to reshape once they come out of the divider. they are also a bit rough on dough. depending on the hydration of your dough, you might have problems using the divider for certain open crumbed doughs. i'd experiment, if possible, just to see how some of your doughs work out using the machine. see what is practical in your production setting. i worked at a bakery in germany and they used the divider for small wheat/seeded rolls, but they didn't use the rounding function...so all the machine did was cut the dough (already proofed, etc) into the proper shape which they then took and coated with seeds, etc. that might be something you can do as well.

the bulk box that i have (3x1kilo bags), which is just labeled "cocoa powder" (Valrhona) is listed on one company's website as dutched. worldwidechocolate from what i understand, most cocoa powder is dutched, so if it is natural, it would probably say so on the label as that is a minority.

dystopiandreamgirl, just beautiful! the attention to detail is amazing and i love, love, love that all your garnishes are references to the filling in each of the buches. what a way to end the year... can't wait to see what you're serving for new year's eve! can you top the quartet?

there shouldn't be a problem baking with raw crust. i would, however, try to get a reasonable amount of bottom heat to make sure that the bottom crust is as baked as the top edges. also, sometimes, a thin layer of jam is needed between the frangipane and the dough in order to keep the dough from becoming greasy (if you're using pate sucree/short dough).

Looks like the shipping is about $23CND, which ends up being about...$24USD! Yeah, perspective is key. Remember the old days when you were asking me to order you a sausage stuffer? Pretty soon, I'll be begging you to send me chocolate!