-
Posts
1,511 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Everything posted by John DePaula
-
Ah cepes... wonderful veloute'.
-
Cooking with "Chocolates and Confections" by Peter Greweling (Part 1)
John DePaula replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Those of us who are not so adept at dipping and/or piping chocolate with a cornet are bowing at the altar of Alana: We're not worthy! We're not worthy!- 537 replies
-
- Confections
- Chocolate
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Cooking with "Chocolates and Confections" by Peter Greweling (Part 1)
John DePaula replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Excellent!- 537 replies
-
- Confections
- Chocolate
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Wow! I think you hit the nail on the head; Impressive! Vessel is right where I need to be. Thanks! Anyone want to come with?
-
I find that I’m going to be in Seattle on Friday attending a dinner near Pine St. and 7th Ave. My preference would be to park close-by and walk to a nice venue for happy hour, but many of the threads on eGullet seem to indicate that “you won’t want to go to any of the places you can walk to.” Licorous looks good but not that close. What would you recommend?
-
Cooking with "Chocolates and Confections" by Peter Greweling (Part 1)
John DePaula replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Thanks! Though I should say that there were many others that weren't quite so presentable... I'm using the dipping technique that we were shown in JP Wybauw's class at the French Pastry School. Basically, you drop the bonbon top-side down into the pool of melted chocolate, then use the dipping fork to right the bonbon and as you're hovering over the pool of melted chocolate, tap-tap-tap lightly on the surface of the chocolate. Then I usually lightly swipe the underside of the fork on the edge of the bowl as I'm heading for my parchment covered tray. As I coax the bonbon onto the paper, I ever so slightly encourage it to slide forward before removing the fork. I think this is also described in the Greweling book.- 537 replies
-
- Confections
- Chocolate
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Cooking with "Chocolates and Confections" by Peter Greweling (Part 1)
John DePaula replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
gold leaf is pretty available on-line. the stuff that comes in little booklets is the most expensive. in the jars you can get "crumbs" or something like that...much harder to apply to the top of chocolates and not as even looking. you can also get gold transfer sheets that look like a dab of gold leaf made specifically for palet d'or. of course, this isn't real gold like the leaf but just gold colored cocoa butter transfer. don't know which one would be cheaper in the long run. ← Yes, that's true; I should have mentioned that. The stuff I used was pretty irregular. I think that either of the other two suggestions that Alana has made would work better.- 537 replies
-
- Confections
- Chocolate
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Cooking with "Chocolates and Confections" by Peter Greweling (Part 1)
John DePaula replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Your dipping is still heads and tails above mine. Alana's suggestion re viscocity is bang on - try warmer or a bit of added cocoa butter. ← Thanks to everyone for the encouragement! Regarding viscosity, I did add quite a bit of cocoa butter to start but was thinking that it could have used even more. It might take a while for me to develop a sense of the right amount. When I first started making chocolates, I remember a batch of white chocolate to which I had added too much cocoa butter - wasn't a pretty sight!- 537 replies
-
- Confections
- Chocolate
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Cooking with "Chocolates and Confections" by Peter Greweling (Part 1)
John DePaula replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Yes, please tell us a bit more about your course in Belgium. The gold leaf I used (since the Poodle Curls didn't come out all that well) is called Edible Gold Flake. I got it at a restaurant supply store in Vancouver, BC. I'm sure you can mail order this kind of stuff but it's not cheap...- 537 replies
-
- Confections
- Chocolate
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Here's a link to the containers: Fish Fillet Containers at Packaging Products Corp.
-
Cooking with "Chocolates and Confections" by Peter Greweling (Part 1)
John DePaula replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
I tried the Hot Chocolates recipe this weekend. I thought it was fairly successful - though you can see that my hand dipping technique needs a lot of work!- 537 replies
-
- Confections
- Chocolate
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Wow! Thanks for the report. Beautiful pix - I know how much work that is to get those images up there! And some truly beautiful work! Bravo!
-
Spraying Chocolate: Equipment, Materials, and Techniques
John DePaula replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
Thanks John for the complements and tips. The hand cream seemed safe (and 2 days later no one that I know of ended up in the hospital). I read the label very carefully and it contained nothing but cocoa butter - no preservatives, no colors, no fragrances. So, my assumption is still that the "external use" was because the factory isn't food certified. Which, I acknowledge, is reason enough to not use it in a commerical setting...which I'm not. ← Ok, whoa... (backing up now...) let me get a clarification here. Sorry if I'm a little dense. Are you saying that the cocoa butter you used was marked "external use only?" -
Well, I certainly wasn't recommending that everyone run out and buy a blast chiller. I'd love to have one, though not for the reasons (both real and "attitudinal") you suggest. A blast chiller is useful to the pastry chef because the temperature is lowered so very quickly that ice crystal formation is minimized thus keeping texture intact. So when you say that you're subjecting a piece of chocolate to "that harsh a temperature," in actuality you're being more gentle. I don't freeze my chocolates but I'm happy to know that it's possible without loss of quality. During crunch times during the holiday season, it could surely help out.
-
← Interesting! I considered Bovril as the ingredient and then discarded the idea. I thought I had checked out the Encyclopedia site, but obviously missed this! It will be a while before the book is available - the manuscript is not due for 12 months yet. I have selected (and keep re-selecting!) 365 historic menus (one for each day of the year, for an event on the actual day) - each will have a commentary and 1-3 recipes. I am having great fun with it. I'll certainly be asking for assistance round here from time to time I expect - thanks for the proof-reading offer. Janet ← Your book idea is really intriguing. Best of Luck, Janet!
-
Interesting, I was just thinking of starting the exact thread. Lately, it has become a habit to stop for fried chicken to bring along on a hike. The last two times, we got a) Popeyes and b) KFC. I gotta say, Popeyes wins hands down. The chicken had a much better flavor and wasn't too greasy. I sure couldn't say that about KFC - some of the pieces were literally dripping in grease. Gross! Also, the sides were much better at Popeyes. The biscuits were really tasty and the spicy rice/jambalaya was surprisingly good. Not so with KFC. The BBQ beans were like pork & beans from a can - clearly, no thought went into seasoning this. And the biscuits were "cakey" and not very biscuit-like. Though in all fairness, I should say that the fries were good at KFC. And I'll end on that positive note...
-
Yes you can, Alana. On my version, the Pro III model, you just hit the Manual Seal button and it stops vacuuming and seals immediately. When I first started making chocolates, I played around with freezing them in tupperware, observing the proper defrosting techniques. I found that even without a vacuum, they froze well with no cosmetic damage at all. I did, however, detect a very slight textural change but still perfectly fine for home use.
-
Spraying Chocolate: Equipment, Materials, and Techniques
John DePaula replied to a topic in Pastry & Baking
First of all, I have to say that the pieces turned out absolutely gorgeous! Love the effect you get with the spraying. Next, I wanted to ask more about the "hand cream." I've heard that cosmetic grade hand cream is probably ok to use EXCEPT if they put preservatives in that are "external use only..." P.S. If you're going to do a lot of spraying, then it may be helpful to setup a spray box. Just a large box that has the side facing you cut out. Then you can fold it for easy storage and not worry at all about cleanup. -
I know that in France, vacuum sealing chocolates is not uncommon. As Mary has said, you need to use a rigid box to hold the chocolates and you need to stop the vacuum BEFORE it crushes the chocolates ........ obviously. But in France they're using these blast chiller units that drop the temp rapidly to, I don't know, around -44C. Using standard US chillers, your mileage may vary. Mary, could you comment on how the freezing affects your chocolates? e.g. shelf-life (how long can they stay frozen), once you thaw, how is the taste & texture. I assume you've had good success? TIA
-
Probably not. The window of temper is pretty small*. If you can't keep your full chocolate mass in temper during your work session, you'll need to retemper as needed. ← That's correct. *emphasis added
-
If I'm not mistaken, I don't think you can freeze the containers. Luis ← I did not know that. Perhaps the cold air makes the seal fail? ← That makes sense. I suppose it's possible that this type of plastic will crack at low temperatures...
-
Is that in the 13th, Abra? Tang Freres might be a good place to start, I think. If you're going to be eating Thai food in France, and if you enjoy spicy Thai food as I do, then memorize the following phrase: "plus de piments, si vous plait." The French, I found, do not love the same intensity of hot/spicy that we enjoy in the US. When you have visitors, always get them to bring a little care pkg. Alka-seltzer and chipotle chile peppers were useful, as I recall. If someone sends you something, might want to read some amusing stories at David Lebovitz' site: No Man Is As Island. Except Me. And don't skip the Comments... Apparently, the package should be marked "Unsolicited Gift" to avoid excessive tariffs.
-
Cute (ahem) play on words! But seriously, do you use wondra in the same quantities as AP flour? (Maybe it has to be weighed instead of measured?) Or do you just wing it looking for the same consistency as AP crepes? TIA. ← I've only ever used Julia Child's recipe for crepes in The Way to Cook and she specifies by volume (1 cup). She mentions that the instant blend flour produces the best and fastest result (10 minute rest) but if it isn't available, you can use all-purpose; you just have a longer rest time (1 hour or so).
-
Wondra is also wondraful (ahem...) for crepes.