pastrygirl

Thanks for the encouragement, I'll keep trying. The apricots are in fairly light syrup, and the resulting puree does not taste super sweet, but maybe I do need to go back to the Boiron charts and see if I've deviated too far. I am happy with the flavor and texture, just not the burning! I had decided the induction burner was better than the gas ranges, where the flames go up the sides and scorch the sides, but if I think about it, maybe it does scorch more with induction in the long run. Hmmm. I thought PDF was supposed to cook as fast as possible which is why I've been cooking on high. I'll try a little lower. I have a very limited pot selection to use on the burner, but I did already come to the conclusion that two small batches are more likely to be successful than one big one. Pate de fruits are a weird animal, I have had a few batches that were just bizarre for no apparent reason, but usually they turn out OK.

I cannot seem to make pate de fruits without ending up with little scorched bits that make me think of bugs in amber, and am getting tired of it. I am using an induction burner on high (400F), stir constantly, use a heavy bottom pot, do my best to prevent scorching, but they still do. Is my formula off? Once i have added all of the sugar, the temp is about 215F, then it takes quite a while to get up to 225, I'd say at least 10 minutes, maybe more. Lately I've been pouring them out at 222 or 223 to prevent too much scorching and they set up fine - the texture is good and I do not need an extended shelf life as they are consumed within a week. Here is what I made today, both batches scorched a little, despite my best efforts: 925 g apricot puree (from canned apricots, some body but not thick) 200 g lime juice 150 g sugar + 30 g rapid pectin 1400 g sugar + 200 g glucose syrup 8 g tartaric acid dissolved in 25 g triple sec Would more or less sugar help? A thinner puree, more like a juice? ???

Could you base it on a marzipan recipe? I do have a coconut truffle filling that I like, but the recipe is at work. I will try to remember to find it tomorrow.

Guilty. I've been feeling lately like I need to focus more on fruits and vegetables in my diet. Its funny because I was vegetarian for 10 years (stopped 10 years ago). I buy vegetables but then just let them rot in the fridge, I am the worst with salad type things. I just threw away some baby arugula and romaine hearts that were liquifying, bought weeks ago and never touched. It's just laziness, pure and simple. Not like making salad dressing is that hard, but I can happily exist on bread and cheese and tacos and sushi for days.

Sugar, maybe some invert sugar so they don't get too sweet. Alcohol. Maybe a more liquid fat, oil instead of butter. Will oil freeze solid?

I like the way you think.

filling for small batches of macarons

Pretty. You can also use luster dust mixed with lemon extract (or something else high-alcohol and fast-evaporating) to paint the macarons any color you like. I am sure there is a macaron thread or two if you search, if you need general advise on making/troubleshooting.

Regular chocolate chips are 1000 count, so the 250 count should be equal to four regular chips.

I don't understand where the shame is in this. I once tried to eat Kraft Dinner at a friends house when I was six or so. Even with more ketchup than KD on my plate I couldn't eat it. I've never had it since either, even as a poor, poor student. And I'm not ashamed of that at all. Well its not shame exactly but it makes me feel like a freak. Mom never even made homemade mac & cheese, so I never understand the big deal about it. Made with good cheese it can be good, but can't relate to seemingly the rest of America on their nostalgia/cravings for Kraft. Also never had PB&J in my lunchbox.

I have never to my knowledge eaten Kraft macaroni and cheese. Maybe at a friends house growing up, but never at my parents house, never in my own house. There is still chocolate on my kitchen floor from making last year's Christmas treats.

I get superfine bakers sugar that is not that fine. I use C&H 'bakers special, definitely more granular than icing sugar, maybe a 4 or 6x. Maybe it is just one of those hazy terms with multiple applications. For grit, how about brown sugar in the frosting?

I would not worry about it. If there is enough sugar in them and they are stiff enough to dip, they should be fine for a few weeks. I would only worry if it was a runny center, like if I had a really soft ganache in a molded chocolate.

The caviar I've made with agar agar keeps for a few days. What are yours made with?

So the dough itself is sugared, not regular bagel dough with sweet bits mixed in? Gross.

I doubt you'd have enough fineness of control for tempering or keeping chocolate in temper. I have an induction burner at work that is handy for many things, but the lowest setting is 100F and the temperature increases are increments of 10 degrees, so not suitable for holding tempered chocolate. A different model with different increments or that went below 100 might be useful, but I have no idea if that exists.

At the market to eat at home I go for : salmon scallops manila clams oysters trout At sushi: salmon scallops sweet shrimp mackerel uni

I puree my berries in a blender then push the puree through a chinoise with a ladle. I cook my berries with a bit of sugar until they fall apart, and puree and strain while still warm.

Definitely plastic wrap. Half sheet pans, microplane, chinoise...I wouldn't mind a vitamix at home

Molds can be too clean?? Ya learn sump'in every day....

NOT that showroom finish: Orange cocoa butter painted in, white chocolate finger-swirled then molded in dark chocolate (filled with Greweling's white chocolate passion fruit ganache). I did four molds this way and a significant number of pieces have places where the orange stuck to the mold, as with the bottom piece in the picture. I had the same issue with some chocolates I had made around New Years: Clearly I am doing something wrong. Is the white chocolate not warm enough to adhere to the cocoa butter properly? Am I just out of temper somewhere? The ones today were in new molds, so the molds should not have been dirty. I am sure I have done a combo like this successfully before. Hmmm

Jacques and Francois, just a coupla downhome American guys...

It's cherry season here (I'm going picking on Thursday!), and I would love to have this recipe, if possible. Thank you, pastrygirl! For the cheesecake, I put 680 grams soft cream cheese, 400 grams soft fresh chevere, 100 g sugar, 1/4 tsp salt and the microplaned zest of one lemon in the food processor. Process until smooth then add in 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks. I bake individual cheesecakes in disposable aluminum cups - 13 per batch - or this would make one decent sized cheesecake. Bake in a water bath at 325 for an hour or until done. For the thyme-infused honey, heat honey and fresh time gently and keep warm for a while, until flavor is infused. Strain out thyme. For roasted cherries, pit fresh red (bing) cherries, toss with a little sugar and water, and bake in a convection oven at 325F , stirring every 15 minutes, until cherries are soft and syrup is reduced. Enjoy!

here's a recipe i've used before with a caramelized apple filling- it makes a fair amount if i recall, you may want to halve it 25 oz ap flour 1/2 c sugar 1 tsp salt 2 TB cinnamon 1 TB ginger 1 lb cold butter 2 eggs + 2 egg yolks 1/3 to 1/2 c orange juice mix dry. cut in butter. add eggs and liquid to form a dough. chill before rolling & filling

60 ml is a quarter of a cup. Dried shrink a little, so I'd use about half the volume if I were using dried.