aidensnd2

I'm a huge rhubarb fan but I rarely make anything other than cobbler/crumble/pie with it. I'm looking for ideas for a plated dessert featuring it. What are you guys doing with it? Thanks Dan

So I've been thinking about building a sugar warming box but I can't settle on a design so I was hoping to find inspiration here... Ideally I want something that fold flat or comes apart for easy storage as it won't be used too often. I was thinking about using hinged plexiglass for the 3 sides but I can't figure out how to make it fold flat. Any tips? Thanks in advance.

Lemon curd with fresh raspberries.

Mike should have won hands down. His matador was easily the most impressive creation there. Blew away Colette's cake...

Wow, impressive...

I have a quick question. How mnay desserts do you typically sell in a day and how many people are in the pastry department? Thanks

I think as long as you have a jacket and proper footwear you'll be fine.

I'm thinking perhaps you meant 40 oz?

I just tried out my standard gingerbread recipe and realized that I don't really like it that much. Anyone have one that is REALLY good? I'm planning on making gingerbread men, not a house or anything like that. Thanks in advance. Dan

Has anyone ever made or tried an egg nog creme brulee? If so, how was it? Thanks

I would enlist a friend to help and then have them place a uniform size/weight piece in your mouth so you can't see which one you are trying. Write down your thoughts on each one and have them give you each sample more than once in a different order so you get to taste each in context with the other chocolates. Then correlate your notes to the chocolates and see which one you liked best. This is always interesting because sometimes you end up with different impressions of the same chocolate, but you should come out with a clear favorite/favorites. As for making something with them I personally wouldn't bother. If you don't like the chocolate by itself then you aren't going to like it in something else. If you start with a chocolate that blows you away by itself then when you use it in a recipe it will have the same effect. As for liking different chocolates for different uses I think it has more to do with the consitency/fluidity of the chocolate than it does the taste. Some chocolates are better suited to enrobing than others. Some are better for ganache, etc... But yes you can find one chocolate that will do everything at least decently.

With the larger tempering machine, X 3210 right?, how many molds worth of chocolate can you temper at a time? I've been thinking about getting one but not sure if it has a large enough capacity.

What percentage of the covers typically order dessert? Thanks

Not true at all...

I would just melt the white chocolate and brush it into those little paper cup things used for chocolates or for mini cupcakes. Just brush some in put it in the fridge to harden and repeat a couple of times until you have a thick enough coating. The paper should just peel right off.

I've always found Valrhona to be one of the easiest to temper....

That's what I meant. If the batter is already messed up I wouldn't want to waste time and product in a blind attempt to make use of it. I've seen it too many times where someone makes a mistake and then spends an hour and uses a bunch more product trying to salvage it only to end up throwing it all away in the end when they could have cut their losses and made a new, correct batch in a couple of minutes. On the other hand If I knew that simply adding XYZ and whisking for 2 minutes would fix it then by all means I would, I just wouldn't start experimenting blindly...

Hmmmm....maybe some other brands do.....my Scharffenberger doesn't though..... ← According to the Scharffenberger website you should aim for 91-92 F.

Adding sugar will also give you a light, soft bread.

I would toss it. At work if someone makes a mistake like that and there isn't a way to fix it quickly and easily then we toss it and start over. Adding more ingredients to try to come up with something useable is a waste of money and time if you aren't sure that the 'fix' is going to work. Maybe people wouldn't notice the difference unless they tasted them side by side but if a new customer tries one of the substandard ones what are the chances of them continuing to be a customer? In my opinion losing one batch of batter is going to be cheaper than sending out substandard product and potentially losing customers.

Most large blocks (5kg) and boxes should have the "ideal" temp for that brand on it.

Anyone know of a good, affordable online source for cocoa butter? Thanks

Why not Harrison? Disclaimer: I work there.

We have private rooms at Harrison that sound like what you're looking for. I like to think the food is good also, especially the desserts. Disclaimer: I work there.

Ditto