rickster
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Posts posted by rickster
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I've used the KA Italian flour for homemade ravioli and it makes a much more tender dough, as you might expect. I'm not an expert on Itlain cooking but I believe you would use the 00 for filled pastas, not so much fettucine, linguine, etc.
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I don't know if I have any advice, but I will say that I have been on the search for great croissant recipes for years. The Tartine one gave me terrific results. I only made it once so maybe it was luck but I wouldn't give up on it.
My only thoughts are: There shouldn't be lumps of butter, although I have seen a sort of fractured pattern in the lamination, and it does sound like the proofing might be too long or at too high a temperature. I vastly improved my breadmaking by proofing for 1-1 1/2 hrs. vs. the 2 normally recommended and I do not have a hot kitchen. While I do get some butter oozing out, it's not like the croissants are frying.
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started mine in the late fall, when the windows were shut and the furnace was on, and I'm curious whether it would have "taken" faster had it been summer and the windows open.
The instructions for revitalizing the starter I bought required keeping it at 85-90 degrees for 48 hours, which is a lot hotter than I usually would do. Also, I keep my house pretty cold, but I kept this starter in my dishwasher, which sits on a heating vent and gets pretty warm especially whne it has been down to zero here in Chicago in the last few weeks. That might be contributing to the success too.
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I've made starter a few times - using both the grapes method and the flour and water method. Both worked, but both were pretty feeble. I recently bought a couple of starters on line and the difference is like night and day in the strength of the starter and the quality of the bread. I would not go back to trying to raise my own from scratch.
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Whatever one thinks of Cantu's food, this was the most engaging Iron Chef's I've seen in a long time. I was facsinated by what they were doing.
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This isn't specifically devoted to tarts, but Simply Sensational Desserts by Francios Payard has a lot of great tart recipes in it. Highly recommended.
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My guess is that the butter is too cold?
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Napoleon cakes are pretty popular in the NY metro area. I haven't had one in a long time, but my recollection was that they were a giant napoleon - usually 3 puff pastry layers with pastry cream in between, fondant glaze or sometimes whipped cream on the top and whipped cream on the sides. The ones I had were rectangular in shape and the same height as a napoleon so that they could be more easily portioned into normal napoleon size. They were very messy to serve and I agree they'd be difficult to do in a wedding cake format
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FYI, as is implied in the link to the other thread, the term biscuits in the UK is used more broadly and also covers the range of what we call cookies in the US.
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Cocoa butter is an intriguing idea. I've used it in candy making, but never as a separate ingredient in baking. I'm thinking it could add flavor to many non-chocolate desserts. Thanks for the idea.
I think the cocoa butter is for texture or as a preservative, not for flavor. For anyone interested in the use of cocoa butter and sourdough in these types of breads, there is a very complete recipe for a Pandoro in Artisan Baking Across America that uses both. I've tried it twice with pretty decent results, but I have been unable to get the proper "shred" texture to the bread shown in the book.
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have gotten mine from the King Arthur catalog. Just google King Arthur baking and the URl should come up. It's in a can and it's much better than Odense! I'm a believer!
The KA stuff is great, but their shipping costs seem to have gotten outrageous over the past year or so. I've always ordered from them but will be looking for another source.
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Did they never bloom? If they did, I would assume you have to pollinate by hand to get fruit.
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King Arthur used to say that Fiori di Sicilia was a blend of orange and vanilla. They're now a bit vaguer about it:
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My recollection is that RLB suggests painting the interior of the tart shell with egg whites before blind baking to help provide a moisture barrier to wet fillings
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In everything I've seen, it's always almond meal and powdered sugar in equal quantities by weight.
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In cookbook photos of Tarte Tatins, I have always been critical of pale looking tarts -- I always thought they had been undercooked. Not so. I learned today that it all depends on the apple. Fascinating.
Are you sure it is the apples or is it the cooking technique (or maybe both)? I only ask because the few times I've made tarte tatin, I've found it hard to precisely control the caramelization when baked in the oven. I would think baking might yield a different result than stovetop cooking, even with the same apples.
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priority Mail is 2 days almost everywhre in the US--you can't beat it in terms of cost/time
This is what I used the last 2 Christmases and the time was more like 6 days. I agree it's 2-3 days most of the rest of the time.
Biscotti is also a good idea. I've also done cookies with a fig or jam filling.
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I've shipped panettonne, fruitcake, marshmallows and cookies without any quality problems. The cakes go in a twist tie bag and the cookies etc in tins sealed all around with tape. I line the box they go in with bubble wrap and some of those air pillows if needed.
However, I have had a terrible time the past 2 years with the Postal Service getting deliveries from Chicago to NY in time for Christmas - even being shipped priority. I tried to time it so they would arrive 2-3 days before Christmas and both times they arrived late. So give yourself a lot of leeway. My perception is that priority mail costs may have gone up in the past year, as I was surprised to see how expensive it was to ship a relatively light package to Boston via priority about a month ago. So you might want to check the costs in advance.
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I've made strudel dough based on recipes and techinques in Rick Rodgers Kaffeehaus book as well as Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pie and Pastry Bible. It's actually pretty easy as long as you have a decent sized table and are will to sacrifice a table cloth to be impregnated with flour - and to get flour on the floor, which is difficult to avoid.
The Kaffeehaus book is a good overall introduction to Viennese pastries.
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One baking book I own suggests using a processor, then putting the chopped almonds through a sieve, then rechopping the the pieces that did not go through. You repeat until the remaining pieces are too smal a batch to be effectively chopped. This method is obviously really good at getting a consistent particle size.
My recollection from some old posts here is that real almond flour is processed by an entirely different method in which the almonds are crushed and the oils eliminated, so no home method is going to be able to precisely reproduce this.
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Could this be similar to a hamentaschen dough? By biscuit, do you mean cookie-in US baking, biscuit is something different.
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The type of stone is Travertine. I bought it under the impression that any type of natural/unglazed stone is fine for oven use. Is there any reason why soapstone is the only suitable baking stone?
I wonder if the spotty burning would be due to uneven composition/coloration of the stone and different heat reflective/retention properties vs. say unglazed tile, which is uniform?
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Normally you bake the bread directly on the stone. I've also used parchment paper between the loaf and stone (which I learned from pizza making) which helps avoid any accidents when sliding the loaf into the oven - you put the loaf on the parchment and slide the lot onto the stone.
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The show is Check Please. I think that one is a repeat that's been on a few times - a best of Chicago Italian? - if I recall. I've been to Hole in the Wall a number of times. Usually jammed, no credit cards. I'd say the food is equivalent to your good neighborhood NY Italian restaurant. Not sure if that makes it a destination for you or not.
All About Cherry Pie Inside and Out
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
I don't think you usually have to add any liquid. The problem is usually the reverse, especially with frozen cherries.