pastrygirl

An airy, damp, floury thing is a good medium for yeast and mold growth. You don't need to leave flour and water out too many days before it bubbles, so I think there is too much food for wild nasties in this recipe to keep it at room temp for more than a few days. Also, I'm not sure there is enough sugar to keep the dairy from getting weird after a while. You could try baking the cookie dough without the chips, then process it until it starts to stick back together, then add the chips. I'm thinking along the lines of liquid sable... Or what if you made a roux, then added valrhona Dulcey instead of brown sugar to make it closer to ganache? Damn, I might have to try that!

I've made both honey and maple caramels, and I simply replace the corn syrup with the other liquid sugar. Since maple syrup is a bit thinner, I use a little extra, figuring some of the water will boil off. Though it sounds like your recipe is either much larger or a different ratio than mine, you might want to experiment with a tiny batch to see if you want to replace more than half of the corn syrup. IIRC, I use something like 700g sugar, 600g cream, 170g liquid sugar (glucose, lyle's golden syrup or honey, 200g+ for maple), 150g butter for a 9" square pan, yield 90 caramels.

Thanks, Teo, that sounds like good advice. Luckily it is getting cooler so the chocolate will be happier setting at room temp, and I'll try not letting the first layer set fully. I can use the cracked bars for samples at an event next month, so all is not lost.

I like saffron in desserts, have made ice cream and poached pears with it. I especially like a little lemon or orange zest with it, or typical middle eastern flavors like like pistachio and honey. How about a saffron creme caramel with orange-pistachio cookies?

Kerry, I filled them, dumped 1/2 or 2/3 out (trying to leave a decent base layer), sprinkled with candied zest, let set, then added more chocolate to fill the mold and encase the bits, then a final beauty coat - the molds end up completely full, but they are small, only about 1/4" deep. Finished bars weigh around 35g. I refrigerated them 10-20 minutes until they released from the molds. I might just need to be more careful about keeping the bits away from the weak parts of the mold. Or did I chill them too long and make them brittle?

Not a huge disaster, but pretty annoying. I made some bars today, Felchlin Arriba 72% with bits of candied orange zest. Almost half of them cracked along the indents in the mold. I've had this happen before, with a different dark chocolate and a different inclusion. I like my inclusions in the middle of the bar rather than just sprinkled on the bottom, but that sure wasn't working in my favor today Any tips for better luck with this?

Did it seem like there were more shells than mussels? I would have assumed that the cook prepared a serving of mussels in a pan and poured the contents of the pan into the dish. Small stuff and sauce would fall to the bottom, leaving the shells on top. It does seem unusual that so many shells were empty, but aside from that, do you have other reasons to feel something screwy was going on in the kitchen?

How can you reap the wisdom of the crowd and not end up playing to the lowest common denominator? Otherwise, I could sort of see this as fun, if you had a SO or group of friends to go with and were into offbeat dining experiences. The price isn't bad for a tasting menu, and you have an added theater component. But I see this more as a novelty event than as a way to build restaurants. I'm just not convinced that crowd-sourcing a fine dining menu is going to result in the same kind of experience that having a skilled, visionary chef create it.

JohnT, nice work! I have actually had good luck without acetate strips, just using stainless steel rings sprayed inside with pan release and refrigerating the dessert several hours but not freezing. I've done no-bake cheesecake and mousse-ier things. I warm the ring with my hands for a few seconds then either let the food slide down to the plate or put it on something (like the top to the pan spray can) and push it up and out. Of course, the product is going to be a little more easily damaged if it is just set and not frozen, but it can be done, and you don't get the weeping that can happen with freezing and thawing. This worked for me in a restaurant setting, where I felt the desserts were better protected in the service fridge if left in the rings, but they needed to be useable at a moments notice. Your needs may vary.

The bottoms getting much darker than the tops is strange. Does this happen with other baked goods? I wonder if there is an issue with your top element. Double-panning is definitely worth a try.

Melissa, I would try two things. 1) use a much cooler oven. 400F for cheese crackers? Cheese burns too easily, I'd try 325F 2) separate the crackers by 1/2" or so on the baking pan. If you have a large offset icing spatula, you can pick up several pieces of dough and transfer them to the baking sheet, leaving a little space as you slide each piece off. The crackers will bake more evenly, and you won't end up with a mass of dough with dark edges and a blonde interior like the blog shows.

Anna and Elsie, those both look delicious. Now I'm craving pizza!

Sounds like the kind of thing for which you would charge by the piece, but let's flesh this out a little more. Sugar work is an impressive specialty that not a lot of people do. Would you be able to create showpieces for large hotel events? Or 100+ sugar baskets in which to serve a scoop of sorbet at a banquet? Are there obstacles to shipping or delivery? Would hot/humid summer weddings be a disaster for sugar pieces? The gum paste might be a harder sell in catering. I haven't played with it myself, but my impression is that while it takes practice and tools, it's not really that technically difficult. It seems like there is kind of a division in catering. You have wedding cake makers who could probably do the gum paste themselves, and caterers who don't do much pastry because most weddings have cake. You might be able to sell through the latter, like if a bride was having mini cupcakes and wanted a custom flower for each one. If gum paste will ship OK, you could have a website or etsy store if you don't already. Sell flowers by the dozen for cupcake toppers, and take custom orders for larger projects. There is competition, though - https://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?q=gum+paste+flowers&explicit_scope=1 I'm just having a hard time envisioning anyone needing a sugar & gum paste guy on salary. If you're hoping to retire sometime soon, you probably don't see yourself as executive pastry chef in a big hotel, and if you go to work for a caterer either in pastry or savory, I think you'd be better off keeping your business separate and charging by the piece.

They can be quite sweet - too sweet for me.

salty lassi for a break from sweet shakes & smoothies vichyssoise or other smooth cream soups congee/savory rice porridge - either cook the rice until it falls apart, or puree briefly in the blender with chicken stock and ginger, nice with a poached egg chocolate (if melting in your mouth is liquid enough)

Yup, it's true. http://www.thewasabistore.com/about-wasabi/ Apparently it is tricky to grow, prefers a continual source of cool running water. I've seen it at Uwajimaya (local Asian supermarket chain) for something like $45 a pound, and some sushi restaurants here offer "real wasabi" for a small upcharge.

I tried the cappuccino chips. Not horrible, but not something I wanted to eat very many of, or would bother to eat again. There was a definite milkiness and a cinnamon presence. Too sweet and cinnamony for me, I prefer nutmeg in my cappuccino and don't add sugar. The coffee and potato chip flavors did not elevate each other - you get one, then the other. The whole is not greater than the sum of its parts.

I don't think a QR code is as much of a shortcut as it seems. If you have a smartphone, you can just go directly to the store website or facebook page (whatever) instead of opening the QR scanning app, scanning, and then being re-directed. You said "I want to entice people with what we could POSSIBLY have." - This only makes sense in terms of special orders. If we are talking about lunch today, people only need to know what you ACTUALLY have to offer TODAY. I think you should start with a limited menu of what you know you can do well, and add a few weekly or monthly items to see how they work. Put the specials on your website, facebook page, etc, and be clear about their time frame so people aren't disappointed. Or, have a limited menu for individual lunches, plus another 'catering' section for larger quantities that must be ordered ahead. When I was doing catering we had 3 or 4 seasonal menus, with the usual subject to availability/change note. For you, that might mean you would offer BLTs and gazpacho in the summer and reubens and chili in the winter.

Are they browning differently? With apologies to your sous chef, it sounds like a mistake was made, either a mis-measurement on flour or switching baking powder and soda. I would give the mystery batter a rest overnight and see if it fries up right tomorrow. Meanwhile, make another batch that you know is right, and see how that fries without a rest.

Anyplace where the croissants are a proper "French Brown" David Lebovitz and Paris by Mouth are two good resources, Paris by Mouth kindly organizes by zip code When I was there a few months ago, my focus was more on chocolate shops, of which I'd say Pierre Herme, Patrick Roger, and Jacques Genin were my favorites. For pastry, L'Eclair du Genie and Des Gateaux et du Pain are worthy stops.

Nice work, RWood! Especially the hand-dipping, I can imagine how extra-tedious that was when already tired

Yay! Happy we could help!

Like Ashley said, you really need to let them form a skin. Then when you put them in the oven the soft batter underneath will expand and push the skin up as an intact layer, forming macaron feet at the bottom. How long it takes depends on your kitchen conditions, drying will take more time when humidity is higher. It sounds like the consistency of the batter is ok, just try letting them rest longer.

Powdered sugar does seem to dry things. Think of how a powdered sugar glaze on a cake sets up. Would macaron form a skin without powdered sugar? I don't know whether that is because of the starch, or something to do with particle size or shape, but powdered sugar does seem necessary. You definitely want to keep the almond flour from clumping. Also, almond flour has fairly high fat, and fat deflates meringue, so mixing with powdered sugar may absorb surface oil so it won't interfere. Just my theories, I'm curious to know more.

How long do you let them dry? Do they form a skin that you can touch? Does the batter almost hold a peak, or is it pretty runny?