pastrygirl

A month later, I finally posted some scenes on Instagram I admit that my effort was amateur in terms of sugar art - it was my first attempt after all - but I had fun and people were entertained. The sun came out and made quick work of the chocolate, yielding some cool patterns as the chocolate and colored cocoa butter melted and slid off the sugar panels. the whole thing collapsed right at 4 pm when the event was done, i wasn’t sure how the sugar would hold up in the sun but it softened and weakened dramatically

Here in WA they are extra strict about pasteurization of ice cream production so most shops use a pre-made base. But the previous tenant of my kitchen made scratch ice cream and was sharing with a craft soda maker and then me. (We had all met at a previous commissary that declined after a sale. Tried other kitchens then reunited). If you do make ice cream, be prepared to detail your pasteurization and cooling methods. If you’re doing low volume or significant wholesale you might be better off with department of agriculture food producer licensing. Does your state have a cottage food act? A WSDA cottage food license is under $100, I do a little higher volume so my food producer license was about $150, vs $900 a year when I was licensed as a caterer by the county health dept. $800 makes a difference to a small biz! One of my tenants is licensed under cottage food due to size even though it’s a commercial kitchen , so that’s not only for home cooking. Each company in a shared kitchen is licensed and inspected individually so unless you go with the gluten free space it shouldn’t matter what other tenants are doing. Licensing wise, that is. 🤪

I think so. I’m also not that concerned about whether the second kitchen was officially licensed. Assuming there was hot water, it’s not the space but what people are doing in it. I believe her that the pic with 3 spatulas and a ladle was the scraped off mold bucket because who uses 3 spatulas like that, but if they’re getting a full layer of mold that can be scraped off they’re definitely doing some things wrong. That being the mold scraped off the jam rather than the original bucket doesn’t make it better. I might scrape off a tiny spot around the edge, but it takes time for that much to grow.

Nasty. After the first batch or two went moldy they should have fixed the problem. More sugar, more acid, longer processing, smaller batches, store it in the freezer, etc, not just accept that oh its low sugar, mold is normal 🙄

As Jeanne said, much depends on the kitchen itself and who else is in it. Commissaries can be too much of a free-for all, see if they have set stations and set schedules or if anyone can come in and crank up all the ovens and a big pot of stock at any time. Refrigeration is a big concern, you probably don't want to share a walk-in cooler with someone else's salami, kimchi, gorgonzola, roasted garlic, etc. I have my own kitchen now and I love it but it's still not perfect. No AC and a west window means it sucks in the summer, I made a few chocolate bars the other day by putting them directly into the fridge at every stage but chocolate production season is otherwise over until September. I have two tenants, a baker and a personal chef. Since there are only 3 of us it's not too hard to coordinate who needs the oven but it's really best when only 2 of us are there at a time.

I would think silver is fine, it's only 2 TB and the subtle differences would be masked by all the sugar and lime juice anyway.

I don't know if Little Free Libraries are a thing in your area, but we have quite a few in Seattle and people have also been using them as a way to share food and other necessities with their neighborhoods. Better for less perishable items of course, but another way to share. Also dedicated Little Free Pantries. Or just leave them by the curb with a 'free' sign https://littlefreelibrary.org/ http://www.littlefreepantry.org/

How about a Ritz cracker or a pretzel for a bit of salt?

I did receive the People’s Pops book (Paletas was out of stock but thats ok). Haven’t tried any recipes but did throw together a few flavors to explore the balance of sugar, solids, and fat and how they affect texture through trial and error. In my restaurant days I’d make most sorbets by taste but I’m out of practice. So far I’ve made cherry-raspberry, coconut, lemon-tangerine, rhubarb, dark chocolate, and vanilla yogurt. Even sold a few yesterday!

Impulse stop at an estate sale this morning - 2 nice pedestal cake plates, 2 square cake pans, 1 small soufflé dish, large stainless bowl, vollrath stainless 12 qt pot w/lid, smells-like-new 48 qt ice chest, all for $40. Glad I took a detour!

It's good on kale chips, if kale chips aren't horrifying enough already These are local to me, I like their 'cheeze' flavor: https://livingprooffoods.com/pages/flavors

I just ordered used copies of that and the Fany Gerson Paletas book. There's a local company who makes really good fruit pops and sells at all the farmers markets but due to Covid-19 they've decided to take a year off. I was super close to buying 100 of their pops to re-sell out of my kitchen window before they shut down but came to my senses. I have the technology (a freezer), just need to put in a little effort and be patient with un-molding

Thanks for your detailed response, your pops look great so I can't blame the molds and have to admit to user error. I've already broken one of the lids and had that sticks askew problem yesterday, so good to know I can skip the lids. Maybe I should spend $20 on a tried and true recipe book before I spend $200 on fancy molds 😆 I got the plastic ones for a special order last summer, delivered the order but didn't exactly dive deep into pop perfection. Your pics have been inspiring!

@blue_dolphin can I ask what kind of molds you have? Has anyone used the more expensive metal ones? I have some plastic ones but they're kind of small, can't decide if I want to go metal. I have these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002IBJOG/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_SL.7EbS7CPEFK Are these worth the upgrade, or does the mold not matter, it's the recipe and timing to get them out cleanly? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07228L72B/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_nN.7EbCG1FNXT

Unless your work space is incredibly cold, like 60F/15C, there is no need to pre-warm your molds. Warm cocoa butter on a warm mold will just slide off. Warm CB on a cool mold will crystallize and stay put.

An idea struck last night to combine the chocolate and sugar ideas and make a giant "glass" candy dish to fill with the melting chocolate balloons. Execution and clean-up to be determined 🤣 Weather could still go either way, Seattle in June can be 60 or 80F.

social media is full of 'em 🤣

So you want a hard crack caramel, but only a very thin layer? I wonder if you could sprinkle the doughnut with sugar and caramelize it with a propane torch a la creme brulee ... without burning the pastry or lighting the residual fry oil on fire, that is

You could add the coffee flavor to the ladyfingers themselves and bake out any liquid.

Due to demonstrations & curfews in many cities, the organizers are postponing the Arts Drive for 2 weeks to the 20th of June, which is kind of good because it gives me time to develop ideas. Maybe something rainbow since it'll be close to Pride.

it would be built outside on the patio so no need to move it, but weight is a concern, I don’t know how strong hard crack sugar is as a building material. bread or dead dough is a good idea too. I don’t have a particular design in mind yet, just want to participate and play with something new for arts sake. Sugar could definitely end up as an unholy sticky mess!

@curls awesome, thanks. I had that book but sold it -oops! 🤪

I did a couple of quick experiments, about 1 kg sugar fills a ganache frame about 1/4” thick and the torch worked to glue things together. Everyone loves fire but I’ll probably need extra hands and some freeze spray. Could be fun to see what I can make with 100 lb of sugar. Should I add glucose/corn syrup or acid? I added 10% glucose because it seemed like the right thing to do ...

@minas6907 great input, thanks. Instead of pouring caramel into sheet pans, how about an oiled ganache frame on a silpat on my marble slab? The finished piece only needs to last for the afternoon - impermanence and all that - but I would want to make the pieces Thursday & Friday. Maybe me struggling to make something out of sugar panels will be performance art 😆 Or I could dress up as Marie Antoinette and pass out cupcakes ...