alanamoana
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Posts posted by alanamoana
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cocoa nibs are unsweetened.
i don't think they've gotten so specialized that they have single origin cocoa nibs out there yet. so, i don't think you can do a search based on variety or plantation.
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thanks torsten. that's exactly the information i was looking for.
cheers,
alana
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I don't know about the oil. I know what once everything reaches room temperature that it will be solid when you use cocoa butter, but I'm not sure if that would be the case with oil in chocolate.
What happens when you take the oil laced chocolate back out of a fountain? Does it solidify?
if you're using coating compound, not chocolate/couverture, it will solidify. but that's because there's no cocoa butter to worry about.
i'm just wondering if it will work for this situation because the item is being sprayed frozen and meant to be kept chilled/refrigerated until service. it wouldn't really matter if it melted/liquified a bit if it sat on a plate for a couple of hours.
just seemed like it might be a good idea if you didn't have cocoa butter. i'll ask my colleague about it, he's got a lot of info on this.
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I'm just curious for my own sake...can you use vegetable oil for this? That was one of my suggestions and nobody responded in the negative...but that doesn't mean anything...
gfron1, i usually cover the ground with parchment (or newspaper) and have my items to be sprayed on a cooling rack. i put the rack on the ground over the parchment and stand above the items with the sprayer. you want the sprayer to be a couple of feet away from the items. you also want to make sure to get good coverage by being able to sweep back and forth rather than focusing on one item at a time. turn the rack 90 or 180 degrees and finish the other side. test the spray before directing it on your items so that you don't get clogs or glops of spray.
by doing it on the ground, i can also control the mess from the sprayer. if done on a counter or table top, it is best to have some sort of three sided cardboard blockade made to avoid spraying your entire house with chocolate...which isn't fun to clean up.
yes, warmer than temper is fine. because you're spraying on a frozen item and you're forcing the chocolate through a small opening and then atomizing it, and you're keeping the item refrigerated, temper doesn't matter.
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Now, who wants to try it first? Where would you get a 'food safe' bellows?
you could probably use a sugar blowing kit. but it is only like a pump attached to a rubber tube with a wooden piece at the end to attach the sugar. the pump is the one-way kind that is attached to the old school blood pressure cuff (that they don't use anymore as they have computerized automatic ones).
kerry, you're a doctor, you probably have a bunch of those cuffs laying around!
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docsconz, i am waiting with bated breath for your photos and commentary. sounds like there was quite a crowd there.
alex and aki of Ideas in Food mentioned your presence on their blog, so hopefully you'll post some photos of the pacojet competition as well.
thanks for the time and effort you're spending on all of this. we live vicariously through your experiences.
best,
alana
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While I have to agree that chef wear isn't very flattering to women, the goal surely isn't to look sexy in the kitchen, is it? The uniform was designed for practical reasons...
long sleeves to keep you from burning yourself
a double breasted front so that you could conceal stains if necessary
I've never had a problem wearing a uniform. It thankfully keeps me from worrying about what to wear at work (and it saves me $$$). Then again, I've never understood women who wear makeup in a kitchen either.
I think the only time I would ever be concerned with how the jacket looked is if I were to be included in some sort of photo shoot. To me, the uniform is part and parcel of the job. The respect that you get from people who see you in a chef jacket is pretty universal. When I see people in novelty chef wear (baggy pants with peppers on them - apologies to FG, multi-colored or denim chef jackets), I automatically question their qualifications/intentions. But that's my own prejudice.
Knocked up????!!!!!! Wow! congrats....
secondly, sexy in the kitchen is gross. I mean if youre naturally sexy, go with it, but if you need a push up and heels..c'mon...
I hate the pepper pants and stuff...wear whatever you want in your home (I cook in sundressed all year long...but in the professional kitchen the clothes (help) make the wo(man).
Thanks Emma. And you know first hand that I'm no girly-girl in the kitchen!
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good help is hard to find, male or female. if you're a good worker, you shouldn't have any worries. it wouldn't hurt to be as strong as the cow in your avatar!
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Please do a search as well, this topic has been covered at least 20 times in the past two years with all kinds of very good advice from professionals (who are both self-taught and culinary grads).
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Qui, you have the right idea about writing a professional cover letter expressing your desires. A resume will also help. Since you live overseas, calling can be cost prohibitive, but I would also recommend attempting to speak to someone in person. Many years ago (1999) I was on vacation in New York City and was able to stage at about five restaurants with pastry chefs that I admired. Luckily, I'm in the business and a friend/mentor of mine helped me out with a couple of them. For the other ones, I just cold-called on my own and it was never a problem. Pastry chefs are always happy to have free (good help is hard to find) labor.
With regard to what is expected of you: you'll have to read the situation when you get there. Sometimes, they want/expect you to just jump right in and get to work with everyone else. There will probably be little explanation of what is going on. Also, expect that you're in their way (not part of their routine to have time to 'train' someone who is only going to be there for a day or a week at the longest) and try to be professional and get out of the way when possible. Sometimes, they expect you to just stand around and watch from the sidelines. Most of the chefs I've staged for will expect that you have some restaurant experience, so you should be fine. It is unlikely that they will accept a stage who isn't already in the industry (sorry gfron1)...unless they're feeling particularly charitable.
I recommend keeping your eyes open and your mouth shut. Get to know the work area without having to ask a ton of questions as this will only annoy. Ask smart questions when you do open your mouth. I know it sounds harsh, but they are in a high pressure environment to get their work done in a quick and efficient manner and any interruption can mean throwing off a production schedule.
Qui, I also realize that English isn't your native language. While you post in fairly passable English, please make sure that your cover letter and resume are edited by an English speaker if possible. How is your conversational English? I assume it is pretty good as you seem to not have a problem understanding responses to your posts. That is good. If you have a hard time, brush up a bit before you go on your trip. But of course, kitchen language is sort of universal
.Good luck!
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Qui, the link is the entire and correct address. It is only in Spanish and you have to negotiate the site using the menu items across the top which are in red.
mrose, when you say that your friend has seen the English version, is that in print or on line? I'm interested and I don't really need to see anything in English, I mostly love pictures and can figure out most things without the translation. I know that most of the higher end books that I have which have English translations along with the original language suck (the translations, that is). You're right though, for that price (about $100USD for a 'subscription') I expect something decent!
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i think it would work, but the texture of the dissolved cocoa might be a problem. sometimes it is gritty. of course, with all that butter and sugar in a buttercream...
i'll let someone else chime in
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david j,
i've used the wagner with great success...the model i have is: model #120 which cost around $70 when i bought it four years ago in new york city at a local hardware store.
edited to add: there are probably a lot of specialty chocolate sprayers on the market from chefrubber, pastry chef central and their ilk, but they are very expensive. it also depends on what specifically you're using the sprayer for. this one isn't good for detailed colored cocoa butter applications in molds, etc. this is for bulk spraying of showpieces and individual desserts. especially things that you want to have a "velvety" surface.
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if you can make the sprayed layer thin enough (viscosity and coverage combined), then it will be a nice thin shell, barely noticeable except for a slight texture differential between the shell and your cheesecake.
if you spray too heavily, then it can become obtrusive.
it should still be finger food regardless.
if you have inexpensive white chocolate, i would do a small test with the vegetable oil. i mean, that's what they use to thin out the "chocolate" in fountains, right?
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torsten,
thanks for pointing out this resource. when you say you've been digging through back issues, did you mean the pdfs? my spanish isn't that great, is that the only language their offering? it seems that it is entirely on-line, is this correct? do you just register the one time for the 85 euros or whatever it costs and then you always have access?
sorry so many questions, but i'm interested in the "magazine" but it is a bit of money to spend without fully understanding the website.
thanks again,
alana
p.s. do you also have the "chocolate" book by morato? what do you think of it? comparable to torreblanca and balageur?
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you could probably thin it with vegetable oil if absolutely necessary. usually for spraying it is 1:1 with cocoa butter. probably wouldn't want to put that much vegetable oil in it, but then again, that's what coating compound is.
edited to add: make sure your product is frozen and very cold when you spray, that way, you'll get a nice velvety effect. if your product is only just cold from the fridge, the spray won't set up enough and you'll probably get uneven coverage that won't be velvety.
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if you're making either a buttercream or a ganache based frosting for the cake, neither one really needs to be refrigerated overnight.
Even a whipped ganache, as the OP is referring to? I am under the impression that a whipped ganache should be refrigerated for storage, which I always do.
Also, I haven't found that whipped ganache (made with bittersweet chocolate) is "too adult" for kids. I've never had that feedback and I've baked for preschoolers, not just my own kids. If it's a question of sweetness, you can simply add more sugar to the ganache. When I use milk chocolate in my whipped ganache, it's to achieve a different flavor.
depending on what your ratio of cream is to chocolate, i would say you don't have to refrigerate. whipped and butter ganaches are often used for chocolate fillings (bonbons) and those do not have to be refrigerated...particularly if the cake is being made the night before and being served the next day. if you're making your ganache several days before assembly, then i might recommend fridging. if you're making all your components fresh, then i wouldn't bother.
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milk solids also add flavor.
without milk solids, there'd be no such thing as beurre noisette, right?
edited to add: but this not related to commercial food production
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if you're making either a buttercream or a ganache based frosting for the cake, neither one really needs to be refrigerated overnight. if you're making them the night before, the flavors will marry better if left out (covered, of course) at room temp (as long as your kitchen isn't 90F). just make sure that all components are room temp safe.
for 12 inch cakes, depending on your oven, you shouldn't need a heating core or nail. some people really recommend magic-strips which will help keep the cake from doming.
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I'm bumping this topic because I'm making 100 mini cheesecakes for a fundraiser this weekend. I am going to use a 2" cone silicone mold for the shape (like what bripastryguy suggests). My concern is that cheesecake batter puffs and falls often times. Does anyone have a recipe that is more stable, or suggestions for preventing this problem? I like Craig Claiborne's recipe typically but I've never used it for minis. I don't want to give them nuggets because of a fallen cake.
Thanks
cheesecake puffs and falls usually because it is overbaked (it is the eggs that cause it to souffle). the idea is to pull them out of the oven when they still jiggle in the middle slightly (like a creme brulee). as a cheesecake is merely a baked custard, it will continue to set up out of the oven. this is harder when you're baking something so small. because it is in a silicone mold, you might be able to bake them in a water bath. but they definitely need to be frozen to unmold from the pan.
good luck!
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The Shakers, according to one source I read, allowed their bread to "season" for 24 hours after baking before eating it. No fresh hot bread for them. (They were strict believers in celibacy, also.)
there's a reason there aren't any more shakers...no hot bread!
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real bread-heads tell us that bread is best appreciated after it's cooled. but i remain a philistine and love nothing more than hot, fresh-baked bread ... cool enough to be done cooking in the middle, warm enough to melt butter. never had a belly ache, but might be able to blame a violent crime or two on it.
any thoughts on why bread is supposedly better cool?
to allow for final evaporation of moisture
finishing of starch gelatinization and protein coagulation...notice when you slice warm bread that it is a bit gummy? that's the starch and moisture.
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not too much help but:
one large egg is usually anywhere from 1.67 to 1.75 oz by weight (this is excluding the shell)
one dozen jumbo eggs is a minimum of 30 ounces. this is including the shell. so, if you divide 30 by 12 you get 2.5 ounces and subtracting about 11% of the weight for the shell...2.22 ounces for one jumbo egg.
you can figure out the difference and just whisk some eggs together and weigh out the extra amount you need to make it up.
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i would have to say that layer cakes are a pretty traditional american dessert. chiffon, butter and most recently in history high-ratio cakes abound across the united states.
in france, the cakes they make are more what they would call "entremets"...they start with a sponge or meringue base and layer with mousses, curds, jams, etc. there isn't the same tradition that we have with just cake and frosting. while i would think that there are some french bakers who might experiment with american style cakes, it just isn't in their everyday repertoire.
so, the need for cake flour in europe and more particularly in france isn't really strong. that being said, flours in europe tend to be lower in protein than flours in the united states to begin with.
edited to add: and if you're talking about something like "quatre quarts" or what we would call pound cake, there's so much butter and sugar and egg that the type of flour used almost doesn't make a difference. cake flour is intrinsic in the making of high-ratio cakes.
Fall Desserts
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
you can bake them in those italian paper cups that look like they're miniature pannetone molds. i think those are attractive enough to put into a case.