pastrygirl

Thanks! I put the dough in a ganache frame between two sheets of parchment, rolled smooth, then chilled before cutting. The dough needs to be pretty solid before you can pick it up. I made lemon-lime polvorones the same way. my guitar.

Little chocolate cookies. Cocoa sable - these have chipotle and smoked salt - cut on the guitar and rolled in sugar before baking. I'm thinking 8 in a bag for the street food festival next month.

Thanks, Jeanne! I'll try just starch next time, or shake the excess off better tomorrow and see how they toast. I like a dark marshmallow, but I also want them to toast up evenly like a commercial marshmallow.

Some friends have been bugging me to make artisan s'more kits, so today I made graham crackers, limoncello marshmallows, and tempered some 60-70% dark chocolate scraps and cut them to size. Delicious gooey mess! For those of you who make marshmallows, do you dust them in straight cornstarch, or powdered sugar, or a mix? I did a mix, but the powdered sugar seemed to burn before the whole thing was toasted. Toasting over a gas burner rather than hot coals may have contributed

I have recycled ugly bonbons into more ganache by melting them with a little extra cream and flavoring to compensate for the additional chocolate from the shells. If the percentages of the filling and shells aren't too far off, I'd go for it, but mixing white and dark might be odd. I know I've seen the 'ganache graveyard' recipe you mention, I think it is in Peter Greweling's Chocolates & Confections. I'll try to remember to look tomorrow if no one answers before then. It was something like everything except mint and marzipan, cooked into fudge. edited to add: I think you're looking for Wybauw's recipe for 'black devils' in Fine Chocolates Great Experience. You cook the chocolates with water, sugar, corn syrup, baking soda, and butter to about 230F. It's a little unclear how to determine how much sugar and butter to add, but I can PM you the recipe if you like.

Would barley malt syrup work? I've used it in baking, it is sweet and malty. http://www.edenfoods.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=104050

NewFoodie, you say you don't cook, but do you shop? Go to the grocery store and just check everything out. Go to both the fancy gourmet shops and the Asian and Hispanic Markets. Try a new chocolate bar, note what meats are available and ask your friend if she knows how to cook them. Have you tried rabbit, quail, wild boar, lamb? Is there a good cheese shop in your area? You can often get just a few ounces of cheese, so if you try it and it's too strong, not much wasted. Have you tried tamarind or fresh passion fruit? Try new restaurants in your area. I think you just have to start with what is available to you, and gift your friend some cookbooks if you find a cuisine you both want to explore. Go to Philly for a weekend and explore eater.com's essential 38 and heatmaps for the city. Look at menus online. If something sounds interesting, eat it. If it's really too weird, stop eating it I've given natto and durian a few tries and am now comfortable avoiding them, its OK to have limits. But I will tell you that a nicely cooked sweetbread is like the best chicken nugget ever, you should try them!

Cremodan 30 and 64 are reputable ice cream and sorbet stabilizers, each being a blend of gums. You can make your own blend, but Cremodan is handy and works. http://www.pastrychef.com/ICE-CREAM-SORBET-STABILIZERS_p_761.html

Maybe, or use less fat. Sounds like it was just starting to break and turn to butter. Those machines do spin very quickly, I used one in CA that spun 3 quarts in 7 minutes. You have to be vigilant.

Coffee wine + chocolate chip cookie sparkling water = mocha wine cookie spritzer!!! Since when is coffee a sweet flavor? Is this Starbucks' contribution to the culinary apocalypse? I'm not saying that not-sweet coffee flavored wine would be good, but maybe slightly less horrible sounding.

That's a sign that you got lots of nice distinct layers and loft, be proud! Would a recipe with less butter rise less and not come apart? Thinner layers of butter, less powerful rise?

Definitely, thanks!

I'd also add Pierre Herme Pastries, it's a good overview of his style, some simpler pastries, some elaborate gateaux.

yum!

350F should be fine, just let them rise more. The light ring around the center comes from the dough being light and full of air and floating on the oil.

Alain Ducasse's Grand Livre de Cuisine: Desserts and Pastries. Francisco Migoya's Elements of Dessert Bouchon Bakery cookbook

But less dense cakes like most butter cakes and sponge cakes may suffer from too much compression in the vacuum. A strong vacuum will pull all the air out of the cake. I would just wrap well and skip the vacuum.

I'm happy to report my last batches of coated nuts turned out much rounder and smoother than the last. I'm not entirely sure what I did differently, maybe just let them tumble longer. The nuts were cold, the chocolate was mid 90s. One of the batches used warmer chocolate and a few pieces of dry ice. Fascinating how chocolate doesn't stick to dry ice. Can anyone explain how/why the dry ice bits repel chocolate and don't get coated?

NO2 has smaller bubbles and less flavor than CO2. CO2 carbonates whatever you add it to. It will make a foam in an isi canister, but it will be rougher on the palate, less stable, and have the taste & sensation of carbonation. Unless you want carbonation, use NO2. I've had line cooks mistakenly charge sweet mousses with CO2 and I could immediately taste the mistake. Not good. You want your foam base chilled, and you want to charge the canister at least 1/2 an hour before you need to use it to let the gas diffuse. If you charge a canister and try to use it right away, it just squirts all over instead of making a nice foam. After that, it should keep for a few days, or until most of the contents are used up. But if you start a busy night with a partial container, or need more than one per night, best to have a back-up already charged so you don't have to deal with charging and waiting during service. It's not really that expensive, 2 NO2 charges for a quart of foam base is maybe $2 (not sure), but considering how much it expands, you get maybe a gallon of foam. And William is right, many savory foams, especially the ones with larger more distinct bubbles (of the sort that haters call spit) are made with lecithin and an immersion blender.

I only cover my custards if my only option is to bake them in a convection oven, to protect them from the hot wind. I bake them low enough (275F) that browning isn't a problem. I suppose covering the hotel pan with foil even in a still oven would help make a more uniformly moist environment and reduce the chance of a dry skin forming on top. Covering them individually seems like a pain. How are you going to check for done-ness? More trouble than its worth, IMO.

It IS a yogurt maker, and cheaper on amazon! http://www.amazon.com/Dash-DSY007CM-STAINLESS-Yogurt-Maker/dp/B00AWDTISK It looks like there is a timer but not a temp adjustment, so I wonder if CR has added something to adjust the temp?

http://everettfarmersmarket.net/meet-our-vendors/farmers/ I have no idea if the honey producer at this market sells raw, if not, maybe they would be able to recommend someone. Also, it seems like honey is usually sold by weight, not volume. I'm guessing a gallon would be at least 15, maybe 20 pounds?

I have to agree with Anna N. Trying to adapt your existing recipes to suit vegans may well be more trouble than it is worth. If you yourself have an interest in developing a vegan line and think it would be profitable, go for it. But if its just a few people you are considering humoring, all that R&D is not going to be worth the time or expense. If you do want some vegan offerings, I'd stay away from trying to make vegan puff pastry and creme brulee, and look for things that can be made with 'normal' ingredients (ingredients you would already use - I refuse to use margarine, for anybody!). Vegan chocolate mousse a la Herve This' chocolate + water mousse, truffles made with coconut milk, fillo cups with tapioca pudding and fruit compote, 'lemon curd' made with pectin. Or make pate de fruits and dip various things in dark chocolate. But messing around with egg substitutes to try to make cream puffs? I would not bother. You should be able to offer a few things that are up to your standards, and vegan, but they may not be vegan versions of your regular offerings. Here's a vegan lemon curd I developed for a wedding cake a few years ago: Vegan Lemon Curd - makes about 1 c lemon zest 1/2 lemon lemon juice 100 g water 25 g sugar 160 g cornstarch 10 g pectin 6 g cocoa butter 45 g Bring juice, zest, and water to a boil. Mix sugar, starch, and pectin and whisk it slowly into the boiling juice. Boil 1 minute, whisking, until it looks thick. Remove from heat and stir in cocoa butter. Strain and chill before using.

Would you be able to hydrate the gum in a small amount of milk at the higher temp then add it to your ice cream base after cooling slightly? Not sure how these things work, just an idea.

You could try not trying: http://nyti.ms/1kNQQls