alanamoana
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Posts posted by alanamoana
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I have and thought the same thing. I think that technique provides a bit more control over the shape of the butter as you begin rolling it. Not necessary, but I see the usefulness.
it seems like it would help to control the gluten formation in the dough as well. while i don't have the book, i'm sort of picturing the technique in my head. do you roll the dough out into a rectangle and fold it over the "sheets" of butter that you've created? then you continue to make your folds?
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I just commented to my wife how I'm happy this thread was started, hoping I can pick up some recipes. She looked at me and said, "You of all people... croquettes are just diner food." I'm speechless. C'mon guys, prove her wrong.
I can see how she might think that...but I know of a lot of restaurants that have elevated the lowly croquette with the proper ingredients:
lobster
foie gras
truffles
potato stuffed with braised short ribs
i mean, the possibilities are endless, aren't they?
and what's not to like about something deep-fried?
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Just got an e-mail from C.H.I.P.S. notifying me of another $100+ book that I'm sure I can't live without.
I really just love Jean-Pierre Wybauw, so I guess I have to buy this book...
It looks like it focuses on ganaches.
Great technical sections covering emulsifying ingredients, fat mixtures, precrystallizing, homogenizing, curdling, ganaches created under vacuum, shelf life, preservatives, flavor combinations, making ganaches lighter, and much moreThe above is from C.H.I.P.S.
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Thanks for the post and pictures Ling. Were all of the recipes from Alice Medrich's new book "Pure Desserts"? I have all of her other books...just trying to justify getting another!
Everything looks great!
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from the appearance, you could call your bread ciabatta!
when proofing, don't worry about how long it takes, just let it get to the proper size. i think sometimes we worry about following directions in a recipe (times, temps, etc) too closely without considering the differences in our equipment, room temp, etc.
go with your gut and play some more. you're off to a good start!
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i really love the roasting bag idea! we use plastic wrap (the industrial/restaurant kind) and it works very well also. you do have to be careful that it doesn't touch any metal, but it works very well. i've always been a little leery of dioxins though (that is the term, right? for the chemicals that get released when you heat up plastic?).
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the thing about black cocoa powder is that it doesn't have much flavor...i think it is because of the processing it goes through. it does make for very dark dough though (think oreos).
i don't think you can get whole cocoa pods. you can get whole cocoa beans. the process that the cocoa goes through before the beans are usable includes fermentation time. so i think the pod and the pulp that surround the cocoa beans sort of dissolve or rot off and any residue is washed away. there are companies that make cute cocoa pod chocolate molds, though.
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i never make a special egg wash...(please see edited post above), but i think it is better if you have a thicker one that is mostly yolks. don't worry about adding cream or anything. that won't really make too much of a difference.
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egg wash
oops...
i just read your post a little more closely...you are using egg wash...
well, here's my tip anyway:
when you use the egg wash, use it kind of like epoxy. in other words, brush the entire bottom with egg wash and let it sort of dry/get tacky while you're spreading the frangipane. in the mean time, brush the top piece of puff with egg wash (on the side that will seal the edges) and allow that to get tacky as well. when you stick the two pieces together, they will form a better seal than if you just use egg wash and right away stick the top piece on the bottom piece.
a nice high temp oven to start also helps. it helps to set up the frangipane and helps to create a nice dramatic rise in the puff. you can always turn the oven down to finish the baking.
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I'm not a CMC, but I work with one. I've asked him about the test and he gives some interesting responses. From what I can tell, there are a lot of chefs out there who are CMC who are complete a$$holes because they feel they know everything. This chef that I work with is the most ridiculously nice guy you could ever hope to meet or work in a kitchen with.
At any rate, on nugget I gleaned from him (he took the test in the late nineties when he was already probably in his late fifties...I'm not too sure how old he is):
He mentioned that there are people who are exec chefs who feel that they already know everything and don't need to "study" for this exam. Remember that this exam is something like 10 days long and each day is around 12-16 hours long. There is a lot of mystery basket stuff as well as written and of course a pastry component as well.
After working in the industry for at least several decades, my colleague said that he didn't take any of his knowledge for granted and he studied up on everything. He still does! I just have a soft spot for old guys like this. Humble and talented!
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I was thinking about a reverse truffle. Like making peanut butter flavored marshmallows and when smoothing them into the pan, quickly shoving a dark chocolate kiss or chunk down in a grid pattern.
Hopefully (!!?) when they are cut later there will be a marshmallow encased chocolate.
To deviate a bit. How would you coat marshmellows with caramel? Do you just dip them?
I think Kerry Beal did a demo of this on a thread somewhere...she basically made a layer of caramel and a layer of marshmallow and either rolled them together (like a sticky bun) or she rolled the marshmallow up in the layer of caramel and then cello wrapped the pieces.
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silly question, did you wash the pans first? if they are the standard industrial aluminum cake pans, then this is totally normal. probably part of the machining process. happens with sheet pans as well.
edited to add: why are you buttering them? a piece of parchment on the bottom should be sufficient. if you're concerned about the edges (depending on what kind of cake you're baking) you can butter the sides, but it really isn't necessary and is sort of a time waster
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^I've also had acrylic frames made for my ganaches, caramels, pate de fruit, etc.. just calculated a recipe to fit exactly inside (flush with top). works well and you don't have to worry about separate pieces slipping and sliding. pour your product in and let it set up. unmold and you have the perfect shape to cut and finish.
Alanamoana, are your frames cut from a solid piece of acrylic, or made from 4 pieces glued together at the corners?
a solid sheet. i think it ends up being a bit more expensive as they end up with more waste. but in chinatown in nyc it was definitely cheaper than here in the suburbs of northern california!
edited to add: also, in nyc, they were able to make the corners completely 90 degrees, whereas here they had rounded edges, so i had four pieces of "waste".
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I am hosting our annual cookie baking extravagana this year. It involves children with parental supervision. This event tends to be chaotic and messy. Because of that, I am going to make sugar cookie dough ahead of time, ready to cut, bake, and frost. My frustration comes with the icing. Invariably, after 4-5 cookies the icing gets discolored from spoon mixing. My idea is to make tons of icing ahead of time then put it into squeeze bottles in various colors. Can I do this the night before? Any ideas here would be appreciated.
you might want to consider using disposable plastic piping bags rather than squeeze bottles. depending on how fluid the icing is, the squeeze bottles might not be able to handle the load and will blow out. with the bags, you can also control the size of the opening a bit better. you can close the backs of the bags with rubber bands or string. you don't even need to use piping tips if you're concerned about simplicity.
either way (bottles or bags), all of this can be done ahead of time, at least the night before if not longer. if you're using a royal icing type of icing, make sure to use egg white powder instead of raw egg white for safety's sake.
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CKatCook, it is good to go into this with open eyes, as you are doing...but if your ultimate goal is to open your own restaurant, you should be doing more than researching the career and school aspect of the business.
i'm sure, as an adult you understand the risks and costs of opening your own business...also that you are sacrificing your entire life 24/7/365 to this venture...at an age when a lot of people are starting to consider early retirement (after you go to school and get some experience under your belt).
i teach at a culinary school now and i'm pretty amazed at the naivete of many of my students when it comes to understanding the business aspect of running a restaurant. not that i assume you have the same naivete, but just to put it out there for someone else reading this thread.
there's nothing wrong with being poor and happy. i fully understand the desire to follow one's passions, but i am in the same boat as chefpeon and can rely on my husband to afford my career choice (granted, this was later in life). i did fine before i met him (no debt, etc), but there is no way that i would have been able to save any money for retirement, etc. had i stayed in new york.
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^I've also had acrylic frames made for my ganaches, caramels, pate de fruit, etc.. just calculated a recipe to fit exactly inside (flush with top). works well and you don't have to worry about separate pieces slipping and sliding. pour your product in and let it set up. unmold and you have the perfect shape to cut and finish.
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shortening does behave differently in baked goods. sometimes, the texture you get with shortening really is very different than butter (no water in shortening)...so while some people poo-poo shortening, you have to see if changing it to butter affects the recipe balance positively or negatively. sometimes it is very subjective
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while all this talk of "pastry chef" salary is nice one should really consider that walking out of school you will probably be looking in the ballpark of $10/hr possibly plus benefits but likely without. it would most likely be several years before you would advance to a sous chef position and then after that to become an outright chef, well one could certainly die of sadness for the lack of guccis and manolos a pastry career is guaranteed to bring.
definitely a point well taken nicole. you're looking at the investment in time and money in school and then at least five years of "drudgery" before becoming a pastry chef. while i do think people in pastry tend to be promoted quickly (for lack of qualified applicants), i don't think it is always wise to move up too quickly because you then lack a good solid foundation. i know that i moved up very quickly, but stepped back early on because i knew that i needed more time to develop my skills and palate.
ckatcook, i wasn't implying that you and your husband were a team in the pastry kitchen, i've read your other threads...i'm just saying that if you want to work in the same place at the same time, that is something you'll have to take into consideration. a lot of places don't want to hire couples because if they get screwed by one, they're likely to have to get rid of the other. not saying you'd do that, but it isn't an ideal situation in every case. it will likely take your husband even longer to get his footing in the business (promotions, etc) because there are many more savory cooks out there who are 18 years old and full of spit and vinegar. while there are advantages to age (being older and more mature), the energy it takes to work 12-16 hour shifts isn't always there in the older and more mature body. there are lots of cooks waiting in the wings.
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so you're talking like pate de fruit?
there is definitely a thread on that as well...
edited to add: check also the thread on peter greweling's book "chocolate and confections" because he does have pate de fruit in there as well.
also possibly the thread on andrew schott's book, there are a lot of discussion about pectin and its uses in that thread
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while i agree with most of what chefpeon states above, so much depends on venue/geography/experience that the range you've discovered is very close to the reality:
if you're working at the french laundry in yountville, you can probably expect to make $75K + benefits
if you're working at a small home style restaurant in a small town, you can expect to earn an hourly wage that might end up around $25K...might or might not include benefits
i've worked in san francisco and made $42K + benefits (8 years ago)
i've worked in new york city and made $55K + benefits (5 years ago)
(due to my experience, i know i was making far less than someone else with more experience and bargaining power could earn, so take that into consideration with my numbers)
but if you factor in the cost of living in those cities, it still doesn't add up to much money
i think if you become a corporate pastry chef for a large hotel chain (ritz carlton, etc.), you can hope to earn somewhere in the six digits plus amazing benefits...but that would be far down the road with regard to experience and the kind of work/hours you're able to put into it. as you're a husband/wife team, you might have problems with a situation like that.
there are other options like country clubs, private cheffing, catering, etc. where you can control how much you work and how much money you make but again, it comes down to where you are willing to live, what venue in which you're willing to work, etc.
there's no easy or right answer to your question, unfortunately.
edited to add: the definition of a "pastry chef" is also very loosely used. some places want to hire a "pastry chef" and only pay them a paltry hourly wage. while you might get some good experience starting out at a place like this, you'll probably suffer under some crappy conditions with crappy equipment, long hours, no staff, etc.
this doesn't mean that at a higher end place with a staff, etc. that you'll be better off, but you might earn more money and get a little more respect (your name on the menu, etc) or PR which can mean more to a career than money when you're starting out.
often though, you as a "pastry chef" are required to run a department, cost out your food/menu, do the ordering of your product, hire and fire staff, maintain all standards, show up when anyone else calls in sick, etc. etc. etc. and with all of that, you are still answerable to the executive chef. you might have a bit of independence depending on how the restaurant is run, but this is pretty standard.
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are you sure you aren't thinking of chocolate dipped candied orange peel? if so, there should be a thread somewhere here about the process.
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amazon is having a special right now with the 6qt Kitchen Aid Pro on sale (with a rebate) for $210...that seems like a pretty good price...so much so that I'm tempted even though I already have two Kitchen Aid stand mixers.
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and if you need a recipe and some photo ideas, check out
this lovely 27 page thread on marshmallows
good luck!
you can also pipe the marshmallow before it sets up too much and then dip those shapes too...might be fun...but messy!
edited to add: i thought, by the title of the thread, that you were looking for something like a ganache swirled with marshmallow...then scooped and dipped. that might be something to investigate as it sounds pretty easy and tasty with an interesting textural contrast.
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Tomorrow I'm making a hazelnut baklava with a coffee syrup. Anyone ever made it with hazelnuts before and was it any good? I'm only really using them because i have a large pile that i need to use up.
i think this sounds like a nice combination. i've used hazelnuts and gianduja for an untraditional cigar shaped baklava.
Pithiviers
in Pastry & Baking
Posted · Edited by alanamoana (log)
That's a beautiful Pithiviers fooey...but I will offer this:
you can over-fold your puff pastry. this will destroy layers, rather than add more layers, you sort of have to read your dough. you said you did seven turns. it does depend on what kind of turn you're doing (letter=thirds=single turn or book=fourths=double turn). usually, four double turns is sufficient.
also, just noting the sides, while you did get good rise, i remember you saying you used a tart pan to cut the edges. the tart pan probably isn't too sharp (at least not as sharp as a good knife), so you're probably sealing some of the layers together during this process. this will prevent you from getting a nice full and even rise all around.
i would chill very well (partially freeze?) and then use a very sharp knife to cut the fluted edges to make sure to get that nice rise on the edges.
edited to add: another thing i think you did very well was to bake it long enough. i think very few people (americans) would have taken it to the color that you did. it is really important so that all of the dough is baked through and it looks like you did a fine job. covering with foil is a great idea and you can also double pan the pithivier so that you insulate the bottom a bit while it is finishing as well.