pastrygirl

http://marquefoods.com/products/patisfrance-powdered-pectin-green http://www.europeanfoodservice.com/patis-france-rapid-pectin-green/ This is what I use. It does seem expensive, especially if you have to double the price for shipping to AK (luckily I don't pay shipping so it is about $47/kg from my wholesaler). I use 30g per 15mm ganache frame (336mm square), so a 1kg pail lasts me at least a few months, even though I usually make 3 batches of PDF a week. If you are doing a thinner layer of PDF in combination with ganache you will use even less. I think if you cost out how much you actually will use you will get over the sticker shock.

I always add the sugar to the egg yolks (be sure to whisk thoroughly, immediately, or they will get lumpy and weird). Then when I add the hot cream/milk to the sugar/yolk mixture, I never have a problem with it scrambling or needing to temper it slowly. Of course, you can still overcook your custard when it's back on the stove, but the only time I have scrambled yolks with hot liquid was when they were not mixed with the sugar first.

I'm sorry, but that makes no sense. Why would you take the square root? You want the same thickness of cake batter covering a larger area. You can visualize that if a full sheet pan is 18 x 26, and you take a bit off the long end to make a square, you have an 18 x 18 square, which will fit four 9 x 9 squares. Then you still have that 18 x 8 piece, which is almost two more. 468/81 = 5.78. Multiply the 9x9 recipe by 5-3/4 or even 6 if that's easier.

Hmm, I dunno. I've definitely had things served in bowls that became unstable when you tried to cut the food in said bowl, but there I'd blame the choice of plate rather than the plating. Otherwise, it's OK to deconstruct, knock over, rearrange, etc the plating as needed. It is meant to be eaten, it is meant to be destroyed.

Some time, and sometimes some more time, in the freezer will usually help the more stubborn ones come out. Then even if they aren't pretty, they are more intact. A different kind of disappointment: happily made three molds of bonbons on Tuesday for a catering order I had next week. Checked the banquet menus today, and no more chocolates on that party. Oh well, guess we'll see how well they freeze, and if nothing else they can be part of the spread at my brother's wedding in 6 weeks. That's what I get for trying to stay ahead.

Pastrygirl and Curls, were you using cream with 35% fat? Not sure. Standard grocery store whipping cream (well, organic).

Just to corroborate cream weights, yesterday I was making caramel and found a pint of cream to be 465g (didn't scrape the container), which would confirm a cup of cream being about 235g rather than 260g (as the recipe apparently suggests).

Thanks Jeanne! The orange & yellow were AmeriColor gel, and the rest were Spectrum gel color, the purple being their 'regal purple'. I was least happy with the purple, it came out more lavender like in the top photo, not as saturated as the other colors. Plus, those got a little brown, I guess my oven was hotter than for the other colors. I don't cook my meringue, just do French, so I added the color towards the end of whipping the whites. It was pretty fun to do something so colorful, I gotta admit!

A brilliant rainbow of macarons for our catering co's propaganda booth at gay pride last weekend.

I believe it does have to be real chocolate with real cocoa butter to be labeled as such (despite much lobbying by Hershey's). If vegetable oils are subbed it gets labeled chocolate flavored. Most milk chocolate is below 50% anyway. Is that not considered chocolate in Ecuador?

I can't wait to see what kind of response I get when I go in asking for a praline stirrer They never seem to know where the chocolate scrapers and entremet molds are either...

That's interesting. I wonder if there is a way to get the same result with the Matisse, either by using more pectin or cooking it a little longer?

Bon bon suicides, so sad Do tell.... who doesn't love neurotic overly complicated confectionery? But I guess a sheet pan or something would save some losses...

Thanks. The splatter has its place, for sure. I used a pastry brush that I'd cut down so only about 1/2 inch of the stiff part near the ferrule is left. What seemed to work well was holding an icing spatula in my left hand and swiping the brush against it with my right, just have to get the angles and the amount of cocoa butter right. There were some 'seconds' with big drips, but friends and coworkers never seem to care about cosmetics.

First attempt at color...bright out of the mixer... ...rather muted after baking, but I do usually get some light browning on my non-food colored macaron, so I'll have to try turning the oven down or covering with a sheet pan for brighter colors. The fun part was that I used no almond flour! The green ones were made with graham cracker crumbs instead, I found the cookies too sweet but not bad with lime cream cheese filling. The orange ones were made with fine shred unsweetened coconut and filled with passion fruit curd. Oddly, I've made a few more batches with half coconut and half almond that I haven't been as pleased with (not great feet, texture) but I also had to use a different oven, which may have been a factor. My usual oven got repaired today, so my next batch will be a true test.

Passion fruit, filled with rejects from the last batch where the cocoa butter swirl stuck to the mold on about half of them. I don't love the color splatter as much as the swirl, but I like that they all came out and were all shiny. Ginger milk chocolate caramel, a sample wedding favor that I'm hoping our catering division can sell for me.

There always seems to be a piece or two that gets in the way of the mold when I'm banging the last few stuck ones out....also known as samples for the chef

Jen, Washington just passed a cottage foods law, sounds the same but I haven't looked into it much. Where do you sell if wholesale is not allowed? I'm also surprised jams made the list of low-hazard foods, with all the potential for improper canning and botulism. Are the rules on confections pretty specific about formulation (available water, sugar density) or do they just figure confections are all safe? Thanks.

That must be some acidic jam, surprising that the sugar wouldn't cancel out the effects of the acid. I don't see any reason to add the jam at the beginning, so might as well keep adding it at the end.

Great job, Jen!

Perhaps I was a bit harsh. I have no idea what his production schedule is like, I just have a hard time grasping how you could sell out a day's supply of pastry in an hour. Must be a real feeding frenzy. I definitely support the small batch high quality ideal, and can see how he might have wanted a cozy little pastry shop as a respite from years in the restaurant world. I have that fantasy myself. But it's still a bit silly, disingenuous even, to claim you just wanted a quiet little neighborhood place and not expect to be busy when you open in the most densely populated, hipster foodie infested neighborhood in the city. Best of luck to Neil.

For those of you who use food color in your macaron, any tips or preferences between brands, paste, or liquid? When to add? Bake as usual or...? I have an order for a rainbow assortment in a few weeks but have never tried coloring the batter, only au natural or chocolate so far.

Until now, your of idea of having a life was going out to enjoy his food. If that's not life enough for the chef, he doesn't want or deserve your business.

Cute spot, and finally some better pastry on Capitol Hill. I hope he gets his production schedule worked out. OTOH.....I believed the hype for about a minute, but now I'm over it, significantly because of the Economist article, and because of my pastry experience and the other bakers I know. What kind of business model is it to open a bakery, make one batch of everything, then go home? You start baking at 4:30am and close up at 5 or 6 hours later? WTF? James at Besalu had a line out the door all day weekends for years, maybe still does, and started with himself, a helper, and two ovens. I would rib him about working too hard, but he kept up with the demand by just making more. Sure, croissants are a lengthy process that can't be whipped up on the fly, but scones, brownies, cookies, tartlets, even macaron...what kind of baker stands there smugly thinking how great he is because he's selling out instead of getting another batch in the oven? I have no doubt that the guy has worked very hard throughout his career and is very talented, but this just rubs me the wrong way. How many times does he expect people to come by looking for food before they stop trying and go somewhere more reliable instead? As for the food - everything is small and cute and perfect looking. I had a kouign amann that was nice, but compared to the big, gooey, over the top kouign amann at Bakery Nouveau - well, something halfway in between would be ideal. Also a rhubarb financier. I don't know who his suppliers are, but I have returned 3 bags of almond flour to my supplier because I thought they tasted like play-doh. I tasted the same off note in C&F's financier and was stunned to consider that I may be even pickier than Neil (though admittedly, it did take me a few weeks of using it to get over my denial that it was bad and return the remainder). I'd say wait a few more weeks or months for the hype to die down and for Neil to decide whether he wants to run a real bakery with operating hours or just a vanity project. If you come anyway and he's closed, Besalu, Nouveau, and Honore will be open their regular hours and are sure to please.

You're fine. He has issues. And anyone who can't tell the difference between a fresh raw oyster and a canned one is awfully slow. How the heck are you supposed to eat them still attached to the shell? That's just BS. You go that often and he didn't recognize you? There is really no excuse for his behavior, but I'm guessing that he's under a lot of stress or has serious issues going on and you just happened to be someone there to lash out at.