pastrygirl

Thanks, I just ordered a bag of Valrhona Abinao from Caputo's, I could special order a case from a more local distributor, but this will be faster and I don't need a whole case right now!

the 15 g of tartaric acid is pretty strong, that might contribute to a softer texture.

What kind of coating or breading are you using? Would it be possible to stuff the halves then coat and fry them as halves? Or would the filling fall apart or get too brown? The avocado flesh does seem like good insulation - too good!

If you've never tempered chocolate and you don't have a lot of extra money, start with the basics of tempering. Decorated molds can wait, the first expense is some decent chocolate, now start practicing your tempering. Dip various things in chocolate - cookies, pretzels, dried fruit, ganache - see how your finished product looks & get used to maintaining the temper.

Jim, thanks for the article. It is counter-intuitive to me that caramels absorbing extra moisture would crystallize rather than turn to syrup. Sugar works in mysterious ways, maybe as one molecule is pulling in water from ganache it is also pulling water away from it's neighboring sugar molecule, causing it (the neighbor) to crystallize? 🤔 And now I'm curious about Aw ... I have had marzipan and ganache go off, but shouldn't a fondant center with high Aw still be ok because the rest is sugar and nothing grows in sugar? I mean, what is the Aw of honey or jam? Or a Cadbury creme egg, that stuff is mostly sugar but flows at room temp ...

It’s been 7 years, but fondant is timeless ... Just for fun, and thinking about Easter egg fillings, I made a small batch of grewelings fondant. Yes, it was a good upper body workout but it seemed to set up. Then I started looking at other sources and found fondants with cream and butter in them, which sounds far better than just sugar. And maybe less sticky on the marble? Does the presence of fat derermine what you can do with it? Seems like a peppermint patty or cherry cordial would not have fat, but if I was adding pecans I sure wouldn’t mind a little butter. Can you layer fondants next to ganache or marzipan, or would weird things happen like the sugar in the fondant sucking the water out of ganache? Since it is mostly sugar, can I add liquid flavorings without worrying about shelf life? Like if I finally want to make that way-better creme egg, is a little passion fruit purée in the ‘yolk’ going to go off?

I think it's just more convenient. I don't want to have to micro-plane it to get it fine enough, and bigger chunks are always at risk of not melting. And I don't have an immersion circulator, so have never tried that method. There are many ways to temper chocolate, do whatever is easiest as long as you get the results you want.

If you're taking requests, I could use a zombie Jesus for Easter 🙃

An important difference is that the EZ Temper keeps the silk soft and ready to use, always at your fingertips. I wouldn't want to mess around with a wet jar, trying not to drip in the chocolate before the cocoa butter solidifies!

What is your goal here? Have fun and break even, part time job that makes a little money, support the family and pay the mortgage ... ? I would say don't spend too much until you figure out what actually sells and what actually makes a profit, then re-invest and grow the old fashioned way.

Fernet Branca instead of raspberry.

Is the change supposed to be intentional or a mistake?

2 liters won’t fit in the bowl? I know it’s smaller capacity than a regular 5 qt KA bowl, but if it holds at least 3 qts, that’s more than 2.1 liters. (1000 ml is about 4.25 US cups)

On the subject of keeping things warm, the oven on my commercial gas range maintains about 93F with just the pilot light on. I find it useful for keeping tempered chocolate warm between batches, or keeping things warm that I'm about to mix into tempered chocolate. Not just for proofing bread dough!

TJ does have freeze dried fruits!

Do you recall what temp that cabinet was at? On the rare occasions that it’s so cold in the kitchen that I want to warm my molds, I just wave a hair dryer over them for a few seconds.

Sure, but you could do that for real with valrhona strawberry inspiration. And it would be a beautiful red, not that (I find it ugly) pink. And actually taste like strawberry.

If there's no sign of a handle ever being on it, it was probably not meant for saute-ing ... cold it be an insert to something else, such as this bun-warmer? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wear-Ever-Monkey-Lidded-Bun-Warmer-Pot-With-Chimp-Handles-And-Oil-Heater-170/173779889594

Nah, it's only a one-star. Their tasting menus are 85 and 135 Euro, or about US$95-150. Maybe most of us can't afford to be regulars, but it's within reach for a special occasion or splurge. Mere mortals may be allowed. https://www.restaurante-riff.com/en/

I like an open kitchen or sushi bar and watching some other sucker sweat it out on the line.

I have a vague recollection from early in my career of needing some permit or license number for the very occasional liquor store runs. It was a coffee shop, so we didn't have a liquor license, any spirits would have been used in layer cakes. I worked in restaurants with full bars for so long it fell of my radar, and it's really not something that anybody talks about - the county health dept doesn't care, and the FDA food labeling guide doesn't mention alcohol. And yes, it seems ridiculous when I have vanilla extract at 35% alcohol and lemon extract that's much higher! I don't have the license now, but sounds like I should, especially if I can save on the sales tax!. I tried to buy a bottle of something at Restaurant Depot once and they wouldn't let me because I didn't have a license, being able to buy liquor at wholesale prices would be nice, i might use more Sounds like I should add a sticker saying 'contains less than 1% ABV' to my one product where it applies, or if I make boozy bonbons for Mothers' Day. I have all my food allergens labeled but didn't know I needed to call out alcohol. I have had a couple of people ask about alcohol at events, but far fewer than the vegans or any food allergy. I definitely agree with not poking the bear, but I think the bear is poking you. The license to produce goods with more than 1% alcohol might actually be worth it for you in the long term if you have a couple of good winery customers or want to go after all the craft distillers in the state and produce their custom whisky bonbons. You could corner the market - now we know why nobody else is doing it!

Agar, like pectin and gelatin, is also inhibited from setting by high acid.

Thanks for explaining, it's unfortunately not uncommon to have sudden staff changes that leave the remaining staff with a challenge. It's hard to give general rules for everything, we might be better at helping you with specific questions. Some of it depends on your equipment. Many things scale up just fine. With 200lb of bread, the bigger challenge might be shaping and baking it all without it over-proofing. But does your mixer fit 200 lb and can you wrestle it out of the bowl, or would it be better to mix 2 x 100 lb or 4 x 50 lb? What is the max capacity of your ovens, and do you have room to store bread in the walk-in of it needs to wait for oven space?? The leavening in cakes might need adjusting when you're going from a 8" round to a 12" round, but not if you're just making tons of 8" rounds. With cakes it's the pan size more than the batch size. If you're putting out a dessert buffet for 500 people, you don't need 500 of each item. If people eat 2 things each on average, 200 each of 5 different items should suffice.

With new orders, I hope!

The one we're using is very similar to this, with the roll of film below. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Down-Paper-Reel-Sticky-Loose-Product_60386176392.html?src=sem_ggl&mark=google_shopping&src=sem_ggl&mark=shopping&cmpgn=1675096474&adgrp=63830955303&locintrst=&locphyscl=9033538&ntwrk=s&device=c&dvcmdl=&position=1o3&pla_adtype=pla&pla_mrctid=129440162&pla_channel=online&pla_prdid=60386176392&pla_country=US&pla_lang=en&pla_group=293946777986&pla_localcode=&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2L7jBRCBARIsAPeAsaP-jkueAmAMph_oYgLslxn0zoHb4z03C9NtV7Ti6Evo-FHo6WnoViUaAoWYEALw_wcB#shopping-ads I don't know if the film in the pic is wrong or if that's just another way, but on ours the film goes all the way to the end of the left hand side then pulled back through a channel. The film is guided into a trough shape and you place the candy on top of the film at regular intervals. The edges of the film are pushed up and pass through one set of rollers to make the top seam then there is a set of heated crimpers that seal and cut the ends. I can only keep up with about 40 pieces a minute but others can go faster, and it can help to have someone at the end watching the finished product for quality control.