RuthWells
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Posts posted by RuthWells
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I have nowhere near the experience of the others here, but my one tip is related to scraping the chocolate off the bottom of a dipped confection. I used to try using the edge of the bowl, but the chocolate drips everywhere and makes a big mess, so I tried laying a wire cake slicer across my dipping bowl, like this:
That's a great tip, Chris -- I'm going to try it.
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And today I made the Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters, with the added suggestion of chopped peanuts and raisins. Kind of like a kitchen sink cookie, and a great way to clean out random amounts of things in the cupboard! This is a great cookie.
This cookie is an absolute winner -- I don't add the nuts and raisins, and it's always the most popular cookie I make.
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I'm feeling very glad that I received this book a few years ago as a birthday gift -- it's crazy how the prices get out of control!
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Has anyone made Grandma's All Occasion Sugar Cookie? If so, what were your thoughts & experiences in working with the dough and how did it taste? I am considering it for using cookie cutters on it. Thanks.
I make this dough, chill it, and scoop with a disher. The cookies are great, but tend to dry out quickly on me. I think it will be fine for cookie cutters as long as you chill the dough down when it softens on you.
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Hi guys. I just got Flo Braker's The Simple Art of Perfect Baking- i was lucky enough to have found a store that still had copies over the weekend- and i was wondering if anyone has ever tried anything from this book or her other book, Sweet Minatures?
I made the White Butter Cake this afternoon as i had a couple of egg whites to use up from a batch of vanilla ice cream. It was so good! It has a really tight, soft and incredibly fine crumb- other than the slightly pale colour, you could barely detect that no yolks were used.
I had two slices still warmish from the oven with a cup of tea- delish!
I use Sweet Miniatures quite a bit, but have had mixed results. The pistachio petits fours are a huge hit, though, and her sweet tartlet dough is a winner.
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New working list:
- pistachio petit fours
- s'mores squares with rosettes of Italian meringue instead of marshmallow as garnish (for Marcia, who doesn't care for marshmallows!)
- lemon tartlets (maybe garnished with diced candied ginger?)
- rasberry vacherins
- chocolate chip swirl cookies
- autumn acorn cookies
- cheddar pecan mini-gougerges
- herbed Tuck's crackers
Wine, (non-alcoholic) punch, water.
I think this balance works -- texturally, we've got creamy, cakey, meringue-y, flakey, and crunchy. Flavorwise, I've got 2 chocolatey, 2 fruity, 3 nutty, 1 cinnamon/spicey, and 2 savory. Much of this list can be done ahead and frozen, either complete or as components.
What think you all?
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I have done a lot of these events as a catering manager and definitely agree that you want to hit all the flavor profiles, but I think six selections are better than four. Also considerif some of the items, like the vacherins maybe considered "lighter" or more popular than others and thus get hit harder.
Another consideration is the size of the serving plates. People will fill up the size plate that you give them, so if you have control of that, smaller is better. Or even just cocktail napkins, if the items aren't too messy or crumbly.
Have you also considered something that can be served in bulk? We used to do a shallow, but large dish of creme brulee or a cream cheese custard with raspberry sauce, both of which could be scooped and served in a small bowl. People who took that also tended to take less of the other things.
One more thing, allow plenty of room for items on the buffet as the more items, the more people will take thier time to pick and choose what they want and will slow the buffet area down. If beverages can beserved at a nother table that is even better.
Wonderful suggestions, Liz! I'm trying to keep the guests' hands free so that they can sign up for the silent auction items <g>, so I was thinking cocktail napkins only. And definitely, beverages at a separate station. It's a small venue, so we're trying to maximize traffic flow.
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I haven't made mini angel cakes. By this do you mean angel food cake or a type of cookie? For citrus my go-to mini is lemon tarts with PH's Lemon Cream. You can have the tart shells and cream ready and even frozen if you want. Not too long before serving, dust all the shells with icing sugar so the exposed rims are white and then pipe them full. Easy, delicious and nice to look at.
The mini angel cakes are indeed mini angel food cakes, not cookies. I have a huuuuuuge surplus of egg whites in freezer (about 3 doz, god help me) that I'd like to use up. But the idea of making tartlet shells ahead and freezing has its appeal, as well. I adore a lemon tart. Yum.......
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i would limit yourself to 4 varieties...one chocolate, one red/berry/fruity, one citrus, and one nut (like coconut).
i usually do a mix of labor intensive and not so labor intensive tartlets (which are more work because of all the rolling) and big sheets that I slice and garnish
plan your labor time carefully as minis can be real time suckers...every time you move the desserts takes time...for example from sheet tray to box...if you can garnish in the box or on the platter, it will save tons of time. i budget about 1 hour per sheet for the cutting/garnishing part of the job.
I'm definitely thinking in terms of less labor-intensive (no pastry or tartlets) and things that have components that can be done ahead and held or frozen (like buttercreams).
Limiting myself to 4 varieties is going to be hard (psychologically). My current list has about 9-10 options on it. Want to help me pare it down? ; )
I'm currently thinking:
- pistachio petit fours (genoise w/pistachio buttercream, from Flo Braker)
- s'mores squares (cakey squares, again from Flo Braker -- crumb crust, chocolate, mini-marshmellow)
- mini lemon angel cakes (either baked and served in mini nut cups, or mini muffin tins)
- mini vacherins (from Gale Gand -- French meringue, dollop of cream, raspberry)
- chocolate chip swirl cookies (from Flo Braker)
- acorn cookies (small shaped butter cookies from Flo Braker, hazelnut & cinnamon)
- cheese straws
- caramel corn in paper cones
- chocolate mousse in mini-cups (I'm iffy on this one)
Thank you all for the thoughts and ideas!
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(If you're really interested, I had a whole thread running here a little over 3 years ago for my daughters Bat M where I solicited a ton of advice, shared my questions and prep, and culminating with pics of the whole thing. It was fun.)
I remember this project of yours, and will definitely seek out the thread for inspiration! I'm only expecting 50-75 people, so I think the numbers are going to be manageable.... I hope....
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One more thing to consider: as the variety/number of choices offered is increased, so is the number of pieces taken/consumed by the average guest.
Great point.
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Thank you ALL for the suggestions and feedback. Nothing will be passed; it will all be buffet/stationary and it's an early evening event. I'll shoot for 6 per person (of course, an accurate headcount is going to be hard to come by...).
Bri, watch your email, and thank you so much for the offer!
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I would do 4 small servings per person.
Eileen
All of my Jewish ancestors and sitting on my shoulder shouting, "Really, is that all? That won't be enough!"
I'm really doing miniatures -- small cookies, mini-cupcakes -- so I was thinking more like 6 per person. Am I nuts?
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Another ice cream recipe tried -- honey peach. This is a classic custard preparation, with peach puree mixed into the custard. Very delish.
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I'm doing the baking for a fundraising reception/silent auction this fall. The event will be about 2 hours long, and there won't be any other diversion beside the silent auction. Refreshments will be wines and dessert. I'm planning to do mostly, if not all, single-to-two-bite miniatures. How many should I plan per attendee?
TIA.
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I have just pulled a batch of molasses ginger cookies from the oven and instead of being nice and plump like the bakery cookies, they have really spread out. I portioned them out with an ice cream scoop, but they still spread.
If there is already a thread on this, I apologize, but I would love to hear how to fix this problem.
Thanks!
Patti
Baking at 375* instead of 350* can help -- the higher temp sets the edges of the cookies faster, curbing the tendency to spread.
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When I had my mail order/wholesale bakery I used to use high barrier bags. Doing a quick Google search for "high barrier cellophane bags" I found this and this and this.
Search around a little; what you want is a high barrier bag - one that keeps moisture from escaping or entering. If you look around you'll find some that are affordable.
You will need to heat seal the bag. You can use something like this.
It's a small investment, but well worth the effort. You can PM me about it if you like.
Good luck!
Eileen
Thanks, Eileen -- that's exactly the info I was after!
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I've been using flat cello bags to wrap my 3.5" cookies, but they're just not very airtight, even when I tape them closed. I love the presentation, but I'd love them to stay fresher longer even more. I'm a home baker without a lot of pro gear -- can anyone recommend a better packaging option for me, bearing in mind that I sell the cookies individually?
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I love pineapple sage. I like to infuse some leaves in a warm simple syrup, then use that to lightly sweeten a fruit salad. I add torn pineapple sage leaves to the salad, and sprinkle the beautiful flowers on top. It's a really summery treat.
I snapped up a sage called "golden delicious" at our local farm stand last week and did an infused syrup with it. It's quite heady -- other than to flavor drinks, I haven't decided how to use it.
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Over twenty years ago, I made rose geranium pound cake using a recipe from the Hilltop Herb Farm in Texas. It was, at that time, a truly unique dessert, and everyone loved the subtle rose flavor.
Since then, I have pondered other ways to use herbs in desserts; perhaps a lemon verbena panna cotta with blueberry couli or pineaple sage creme brulee.
I have tarragon, thyme, verbena, pineapple sage and rose geranium in my garden as well as the usual suspects (basil, sage..) Any ideas?
I adore basil ice cream.
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An abundance of fresh blueberries in our house led to blueberry sorbet. I used a mint-infused simple syrup for the sweetener. Fabulous flavor combination!
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this is a gateau chocolat with a brownie base, a layer of feuilletine chocolate, dense chocolate mousse, a very chocolatey miroir chocolat (made by fruibel, great product btw,) and a few raspberries filled with a little bit of raspberry jelly....
cheers
t.
Oh, yum! Stunning.
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A trip to our local pick-your-own farm and a bumper crop of fresh blueberries inspired me to pull out Dorie's Blueberry Sour Cream ice cream recipe. It is phenomenal -- I used the alternate lime for juice and zest (instead of lemon) and subbed half and half for the heavy cream, as my cream had gone wonky in the fridge.
The result is a tangy, zippy, deeply purple ice cream that actually stayed smooth in the freezer over several days. I have a deep dislike for the little fat clumps that result in ice creams made with egg yolks and heavy cream, so I am very inspired by the formulation of this recipe and am scheming variations. Banana sour cream, maybe?
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Brown butter shortbread...those are very brown. Are you playing with the title or did you really get your butter that dark?
I haven't been posting as much lately because I've been gearing up to sell (because now is a great time to be starting a bakery business - extreme sarcasm intended). I'm only doing small amounts and focusing on sure sales to pair with our lunch crowd.
Browned butter, chocolate chip cookies (Thanks to the CCC Bake-off)
A chocolate apricot tart (Thanks to Amernick who always leaves me with extra dough)
And a couple of baguettes and a boule from my juniper berry sourdough starter (Thanks Hummingbirdkiss)
Everything has sold out every day, so that's a good sign. I'd welcome feedback on the "packaging." Its a bit much, but I wanted to up the perceived value to match my store, and in fact, I'm using higher quality ingredients than anyone in town.
I'm very late to this party, but wanted to say congrats and express my jealousy!
Pre-baking Tartlet Shells --
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
I'm baking ahead for a fundraising event next Friday. I've got my lemon cream already produced and in the freezer. The damn tartlet shells are so time consuming; can I bake them and freeze prior to the event without too much loss of quality?