pastrygirl

ChrisZ, the high proof alcohol is used because it evaporates quickly leaving only the luster so you shouldn't worry about it soaking into your icing. Not sure how much to use, maybe start out not too concentrated and you can do multiple layers if needed, letting it dry in between.

Well not everyone wants to be an artist. There is a larger confectionery market than just us small producers using everything fresh and pure. If you want to get your product onto supermarket shelves, you're going to want it to have a good long shelf life - maybe why the artisan chocolates I see at my store are more often flavored solid bars than softer ganache pieces - Vosges and BT McElrath for example have retail bars but not bonbons for mass market, with more perishable stuff available online.

In my experience, it seems that when caramelizing sugar using the wet method crystallization issues tend to happen more frequently when there is too much water to be boiled off or when it is cooked too slowly. If all you are going to do is boil the water off anyway, start with as little as needed to moisten all the sugar.

You shouldn't need to wait 15 minutes to check for temper, you should be able to tell within 2 or 3 minutes. In this 15 minute wait, where was the chocolate? In a warmer/melter at stable temperature? Not familiar with inulin, but is it possible there is a crystalline structure to it that is inducing the chocolate to over crystallize somehow? A shot in the dark...

Not a reese's, but I've been making salted peanut milk chocolate gianduja with feuilletine, solves any peanut craving I might have.

I've done a few bacon things, and always end up concluding that they needed more bacon. I made a batch of bacon truffles recently that I thought had potential, but I am curious how adding cooked meat to a confection affects the shelf life. Would bacon bits in a cream or butter ganache be a problem? What about other animal fats? How could you use foie gras fat in a bonbon? I've also made foie gras and salmon ice creams, smoked tea creme brulee, curry caramel, pepper meringue, pear-shiso sorbet, tarragon granita, rosemary bonbons, and basil coulis for a strawberry and rhubarb dessert.

I am happy to report that both batches of pate de fruits turned out beautifully today. Cooked at 350F on the induction, no scorching at all, set up nicely after being cooked to about 222F. Pear-passion fruit pate de fruits 15mm frame 1 kg pear puree 200 g orange juice 150 g passion fruit concentrate - 150 g sugar 30 g pectin - 1200 g sugar 225 g glucose - 7 g tartaric acid 20 g hot water

My last two batches were much better. I cooked them at 350f and they didn't seem to take any longer to cook. Also reduced the sugar slightly - I had increased it with the idea that when cooking to a temperature you are cooking to a sugar concentration, so might as well start out with more sugar from the start, but maybe there is more to it than that when pectin is involved? A few dark bits, but not as bad. Even better, it did not splatter so violently, meaning no burns on my forearm. I make two or three batches a week and really do not need any more volcanic jelly burns

This is a fairly soft filling for a molded bonbon, but you could adjust the liquid and make a dip-able center. 300 g boiron coconut puree 25 g glucose syrup 490 g white chocolate couverture 60 g cocoa butter 25 g invert sugar 100 g unsweetened dessicated coconut, toast if desired Heat coconut puree and glucose, pour over white chocolate and cocoa butter. Add invert sugar and coconut.

Yes the enzyme breaks down when heated. Plenty of carrot cake recipes use canned pineapple in chunks or crushed, juice should be no problem.

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.