WhiteTruffleGirl
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Just to report back... I ground my fleur de sel slightly in my mortar and pestle slightly to reduce the grain size and added it to my caramel. Like Wendy, I found that it had a tendency to sink in the pot. (I suspect that Michael has the same issue.) But I did continue to stir, and I could detect a slight taste of it in the final product. I sprinkled a touch of salt in each shell finished the chocolates off. They turned out beautifully...quite a lovely flavor.
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In my experience you want stainess steel, but as TweetyBird points out, they only need to be sturdy enough to hold their shape over time. The ones I use in high volume production kitchens (which got a lot of abuse) are probably about 30% thinner than the Mafter. (That's a guess.) But they hold up just fine. Don't spend a fortune. It's just not necessary.
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Where's John Waters when you need him? I'm very much looking forward to this demo Alan!
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That's why I am using Recchiuti's recipe for Rose Caramel filling...because it was intended for a molded chocolate. I like the idea of simply sprinkling the fleur de sel in the shell prior to adding the caramel...think I'll do that. Thanks.
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Here's a question...particularly for Trish and Wendy, both of whom have made the Fleur de Sel caramels. I want to make the flavor of these, but in a molded chocolate. (I am waiting to make them as a cut caramel until my husband finishes making my guitar...lucky girl that I am having a husband who designs and builds custom machinery for a living.) I was planning on using Recchiuti's base recipe from the Rose Caramel filling (sans the rose oil of course) and adding my Fleur de Sel to that, but am a little concerned given Wendy's experience of sinkage of her salt in the thicker, slab form. What do you think? Am I inviting similar problems?
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Cake flour and pastry flour are not the same. Pastry flour has slightly more protein than cake flour and the ratio of mix nightsctosman uses is standard when trying to substitute for it.
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Sebastian, You're right, I had forgotten the laws were harmonized. Thank you for correcting me.
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I have heard of it and coveted it, but alas, at that price it has not made it to the top of the list to buy yet.
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Alan, Don't know if you're familiar with it, but there is a book entitled "The Science of Chocolate" by Stephen Beckett that goes into some detail on the scientific principles behind chocolate processing. It's worth checking out if you haven't. Might be quite useful to your endeavors.
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Alan, There are no laws that govern the amount of cocoa butter in chocolate. The laws only govern the amount of cocoa mass. Hence why some chocolate manufacturers can (and do) use products other than cocoa butter in their manufacturing process. And the laws and general practice have absolute no relationship to each other. For example, US law says that any dark chocolate (what they refer to as 'sweet' chocolate) must contain 15% chocolate liquor. The EU requires a minimum of 35% for dark chocolate. In practice, chocolate manufacturers use far higher percentages of cocoa mass. And, the laws make no distinctions made between your run-of-the-mill mass market chocolate and couverture.
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I do not know whose recipe you are following that says to cook it to that temperature, but pastry cream requires to be boiled in order to a) thicken it, and b) cook the starch out. I wouldn't bother with a thermometer. Let your eyes and the feel of the cream guide you on the thickening, and your tongue guide you as to whether the starch is cooked out or not.
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In the event an English translation of the Torreblanca book isn't forthcoming I'd like to add my two cents about buying the Spanish edition. About two years ago I attended school in Italy. Everything was in Italian...the lectures, the recipes, you name it. (Although I know our Chefs understood English...you could tell by the smirks on their faces whenever someone cracked a particularly good joke in English.) I spoke not one word of Italian, yet I did just fine. As already pointed out, the list of ingredients we tend to use is fairly repetitive, so you get to know the names of them very quickly. And by virtue of simultaneous translation I was able to take notes on all the methods to make sense of all instructions. I can now "read" most Italian recipes and muddle through them pretty well. And when I can't, a quick trip to a phrase translation book (or a phone call to my fluent friend) does the trick. Depending upon where you live, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone who speaks fluent Spanish. Sitting down with them and translating some sample recipes would take an afternoon's worth of work, and would probably be enough to allow you to work your way through most recipes in the book. There are so many fantastic recipes that never find themselves translated into English. I've never seen anything like the ones I worked with in Italy and I treasure them. Look at it this way...what's the worst that could happen? You make a mistake in a recipe because of improper translation and learn from it, or you make a mistake and create something wonderfully new. Just my thoughts.
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For your very basic pound cake, I like Bo Friberg's recipe a lot. He keeps it extraordinarily simple as a good pound cake should be.
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David, Part of the difference between the various Chef Rubber lines is the amount of luster in the colors. For example, the Jewel line has a lot of iridescence in it. The Decor colors are flat. The Pearl collection also has a lot of iridescence, but I can't really tell you the difference between it and the Jewel...perhaps someone else could comment on that. As for luster dusts, I have only used gold with my chocolates so others may have better advice for you.
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Sebastian, I'm using a Rev2 to temper my chocolate (wish I had a bigger model, but alas I'm making due with the baby model at home) so I'm limited to tempering 1.5# at a time. I went to ChocoateSource.com since they always seem to provide the percentages for cocoa mass/cocoa butter, etc. and they indicated that the cocoa butter percentage for bittersweet is 26%. Tell me if you think the following makes sense... The overall amount of cocoa butter in 1.5# of semi-sweet (at 32% cocoa butter) is 7.7 ounces. The overall amount of cocoa butter in 1.5# of bittersweet (at 26% cocoa butter) is 6.2 ounces. If I therefore substitute 1.5 ounces of chocolate with cocoa butter (the difference between the two) I am basically ending up with a product that contains the same amount of cocoa butter and hence about the same viscosity. Sound like that will work?
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I have been using Callebaut semi-sweet chocolate to make my shells for molded chocolates. I believe the cocoa butter percentage is about 32%. The viscosity is perfect for making nice thin shells. I've just about run out of it and still have quite a few chocolates left to make. I have a whack of Callebaut bittersweet on hand, but know it is not good for shells as it is too thick. (I don't know the cocoa butter percentage.) I've got quite a bit of cocoa butter on hand and thought I might simply try thinning the bittersweet down to make it more viscous, and hence a little more appropriate for shells. Is this a recipe for disaster? Or will it work just fine? If it will work just fine, what is the proportion of cocoa butter I should add (by weight) to my chocolate? Any guidance anyone could provide would be helpful.
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Thanks for the suggestions. I decided to stock up on a bunch of stuff from Chef Rubber which made the $23 (gulp) two-day shipping charge somewhat more palatable. I'm just more familiar with the end result using air brushed cocoa butters, so didn't want to switch horses mid stream as they say. Thanks again for the suggestions. But I do have another question...see my new thread.
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I'm behind the eight ball trying to get ready for Christmas and need to make a ton of molded chocolates. I need to get a some colored cocoa butters and don't want to have to pay expidited shipping charges for Chef Rubber to send them FedEx. Is there anyplace in NYC where I can just go and buy them? I know Chef Rubber doesn't sell retail anywhere, but does PCB or anyone else?
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I was browsing the B&P forum looking for something specific and stumbled on this thread. I don't have the patience to read through eleven pages of posts, so forgive me if this has already been covered. If you haven't tried Reinhart's Sticky Buns (Cinnamon Buns w/Sticky Bun frosting variation), you should. They are sublime. They would be wonderful on Christmas morning. They retard beautifully in the fridge for up to three days, so you can make them a few days ahead and simply final proof and bake Christmas morning. Also, I am not a fan of his ciabatta recipe. I much prefer Ponsford's which can be found in Artisan Baking Across America. My $.02.
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As pointed out, this is not a new idea, but I would only make it with homemade mayo using a neutral oil such as canola. My $.02.
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Interesting sidebar in the NYT today about Mexican style corn...http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/dining/24corn.html?pagewanted=all Edit: Sorry...don't know why this isn't linking.
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I thrice the ricer recommendation. It works BY FAR the best.
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My guess is you haven't read McGee cover-to-cover twice either, right? JK...
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Personally, I think it's excellent. It's not just a collection of recipes (which are great), but also provides some wonderful scientific information on chocolate.
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SPECIAL REPORT: 3-day sugar class w/ Anil Rohira
WhiteTruffleGirl replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Lee, I've thought about taking Anil's class. I had the good fortune to take a Sugar Showpiece class with him last month at the World Pastry Forum, and I've got to say, he is a FANTASTIC teacher. (And, a really nice guy.) His ability to break down the concepts of showpiece design make it so approachable.