pastrygirl

Since this is the custom mold topic - I've gone through a couple of design stages with Tomric and have the pretty bar without too many corners I was looking for. I've been doing the cheaper thermo-formed molds instead of the injection polycarbonate that we are used to in professional molds because of price, but now I'm so torn. I've been trying to convince myself I can make them work, and I'm sure I can, but I also want durability and what can I say, I like nice toys. I usually hold molds in my left hand and scrape with my right. These feel unstable for that, I'll try a bar or rack over my melter to rest them on while scraping. If I stay with the cheap ones, total project is around $1800 for 60 molds. If I switch now, it's another $800. Which isn't that much if I sell tens of thousands of chocolate bars over the next few years, which of course is the plan. Will I be happier making them all with heavier molds? Hmmm. What would you do? Stay cheap or go big?

za'atar chevre log was a yay for me, nice savory combo

Thanks for the links, that guy is where I learned that splatter technique In the first video, I paused it when the brush gets close and you can see the two rings on the nozzle that denotes it is the 0.5. http://grexusa.com/grexairbrush/products.php5?id=TK-5 Martone looks to be getting a lot more CB into his molds, I think the 0.5 will be fine for now. I'll see how it works before upgrading the compressor. Flow rate is not linear - a 3/4" pipe will put through 3x the flow of a 1/2" pipe at the same psi even thought its only 1-1/2x diameter. You must really need more pressure for 1mm- is it the compressor that slows you down, struggling to keep up?

Hey, @Jim D. I had some time to re-read the instructions and play with my airbrush today. Turns out I have the TG3, so the 0.3 mm nozzle. I will be looking into a larger one soon. It is adjustable in that the farther back you pull the trigger, the wider the spray stream. There is a screw on the back end you adjust to stop the trigger being pulled past a certain point. If you want to keep a narrower line, tighten it. Since this is the smaller nozzle, I've been using it wide open for maximum coverage, which is about an inch wide. The instructions say lower the pressure or taking the tip off would lead to splattering, but I couldn't get the effect. At 30 psi, nothing came out. I'm thinking the larger nozzle would allow splatter - easier for the CB to move through at lower pressure? About 50-60 psi seems to work for regular spray. So I did the drip-and-blow splatter instead, works OK but not as precise: https://youtu.be/YpQzZg-wA7s Then for the cavities I have to get really up close & personal. Not unbearably slow, but if the larger nozzle goes faster, I'm in: https://youtu.be/WtoqXcZVugE Here's one more from the user viewpoint. I guess you might think the top gravity feed gets in the way, less so if you're holding the mold in your other hand and can adjust. And I assume hand-eye coordination will improve with practice. https://youtu.be/Tg2szyz6Kug The finished bonbons - The squared ones were sprayed white & black into opposite corners, both 60% dark shells. . So now I'm not sure if the 0.5 or the 0.7 would be better. They do warn that you need more compression capacity for the 0.7, but I wonder if the 0.5 will be enough to make a difference. What size is your airbrush?

It's not exactly tomato sauce with vegetables if you strain them out ...

I'm watching The Sweet Makers on BBC - four British pastry chefs & confectioners recreate Tudor, Georgian, and Victorian sweets with petiod ingredients and equipment. A little British Baking Show, a little Downton Abbey. Check it it out for a slice of pastry history. BBC viewer only available to the U.K., but on this side of the pond where there's a will, there's a way.

I think that is the holy grail, not being able to tell something made with alternative flours is GF. Maybe I'm a picky pastry chef, but the few things I've had from this bakery always make me want to go and offer consultation. I think there must be a better way, but if these bakers and their clientele are happy ... One of my SILs is GF, I'll have to find some of that cake flour so I can make something she can eat for holiday desserts. I don't mind a bran muffin, or cornmeal. I made some banana bread with 1/3 graham flour (relatively coarse WW) yesterday and it was still perfectly soft when baked. I wonder about the "more natural" theory - you may be correct, after all gritty, un-conched chocolate seems to have found a place in the less-processed foods market. Thanks for your input!

Thanks, @teonzo, sounds like it may be the sorghum adding coarseness in both flours I've tasted. That's what I was wondering, if some grains are just harder to mill to fine, soft flour. Usually when people order GF desserts I give them truffles, French macaron, or flourless chocolate cake to avoid disappointing flour substitutions.

I was cooking for a party last night at which a gluten free cake was served for dessert. I had a few bites and aside from the cake being dry and the frosting very sweet, there was that tell-tale grittiness that GF baked goods seem to have. This particular bakery uses a blend of millet, sorghum, tapioca and potato flours. I used some Bob's Red Mill GF flour to satisfy a customer request for GF shortbread and found the same grittiness - they use garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, whole grain white sorghum flour, tapioca flour and fava bean flour. Obviously some sacrifices of flavor and texture are made when trying to replicate the magic of gluten, but why can't these flour blends be softer? Can't they be milled more finely? Or is it just the way the particular starches or proteins in those other flours are felt on the tongue? It's like that chalky cold cooked rice texture, do you know what I mean? Why can't it be better? Almost every time I eat something made with substitute flours, it makes me sad and want to fix it.

How hot does it need to be to melt fat, though? 200F? Maybe gentler heat is worth considering.

D'oh! Even better!

But does it have thumbs to hold the spatula?

Hey Jim, I hadn't been using it much but decided to airbrush some things a few days ago. I think I'll be doing a lot more for the holidays - I hope I'm not jinxing myself by showing samples of airbrushed Santas and bonbons to potential customers! It's still slow going for large cavities, but the ability to do detail work on Santa might come in handy (if my control/skills are up to it). I'll be back in the kitchen on Tuesday, will check the details of the Grex then and get back to you.

I don't think it is fair to blame (or try to sue) the factory if Pyrex changed the formula and the factory was delivering product made to Pyrex's specifications. If someone at the factory independently substituted a different/cheaper ingredient or process without consulting the parent company, that's a different story than if Pyrex simply decided to change the formula and the new formula sucks.

Those thin, dry tortillas are perfect for frying and making tortilla chips - if you have leftover tortillas or ever want fresh tortilla chips. I think they are designed that way and made differently.

Can you be more specific - are you after ingredients, tools, cookware, or tableware? Pastry, savory, molecular? Are you familiar with JB Prince, Chef Rubber, L'epicerie (temporarily down) ...

They are perfect taco size - taco truck or street taco style.

Amy, that may not have been a proportion but shorthand - powdered sugar, icing sugar, confectioner's sugar, 10x sugar are all the same thing. Bijay, so milk products are OK, just not eggs? I thought "pure veg" was no milk either. Anyway, are you freezing and thawing cakes, or do they weep just sitting in the chiller? I have no experience with cooked flour frostings, but I've heard of them so hopefully someone has a better recipe they can share. Can you get American-style cream cheese or decent white chocolate? Cream cheese takes color very well. I make a cream cheese icing that is approximately equal parts by weight cream cheese, unsalted butter, and melted white chocolate, plus a little lemon or lime juice. This is less sweet than the usual cream cheese plus a ton of powdered sugar version.

@Duvel thanks for sharing a slice of life, this is making me want to travel. I swear, scents come to me while looking through the market photos, it's like being there. Not necessarily good scents, but Asian market scents Are there a lot of expats there?

Reporting back for future reference. I did use the La Lechera dulce de leche, added a little salt, vanilla extract, pecans and unsweetened coconut shred. The dulce de leche is super thick, would hold a swirl straight out of the can. I could have thinned it more, would also consider using half dulce de leche and half regular sweetened condensed milk next time for a runnier texture. So it might not be traditional, but it was easy and tastes good. Of course, then I put a glaze on top that is way less shelf stable, didn't really think that one through One of the finished cakes, wrapped in acetate, candied coconut shreds on top.

I get feuilletine through Peterson. They have warehouses here & NJ.

I can sell you some feiulletine if you need it - I just opened a new box. It's light and not a problem if it gets crushed going cross country

That does seem strange. @Porthos I don't think we can deduce a whole lot from a couple of unhappy customers from 18 months ago. Jim, what are you looking for? Maybe somebody has a source or extra. It's a total drag when those hard to find ingredients and supplies get even harder to find

You probably don't really NEED to do the nutritional info right now, it is only required when you're pretty big. If you sell less than $50k or 10k units per year, don't even worry about it. It'll be nice to have eventually, and some stores may want it, but it's not actually required until you're high volume. I'd say put that on the back burner for now, more important to have clear ingredients labels listing allergens. https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm053857.htm Would acetate strips wrapped around the outside of your cakes help with shipping? I like the idea of including the sugar separately for a fresher look.

@Tri2Cook I know, the traditional is probably just fine with the cooking and ton of sugar, Im sure I've left pecan pie out and not worried. Just being cautious because it's a warm weekend & not something I normally make Thanks!