chefette

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Just to add another simple recipe for sugar work sugar 1000g sugar 2T white vinegar 175g water cook to 160 C good recipe for pulling, blowing, casting

Can't help myself - I'm back - again! Just a note to say that in my experience many many of the things that come of the so called 'creative' field are just bad - and they get smoothed over and glossed off by being called creative 0 therefore it is just an 'attempt. Not real - so you should not be held strictly accountable. Then, on the other hand, most silly things seem to be delightful and good, and just gone too soon.

Of course I guess no one has addressed the creative or just silly question - which in and of itself is an interesting question. You can certainly be creative and silly, or creative, or silly but not creative. There is really no telling at all about this particular dessert you mention. But by silly - you probably mean bad or silly stupid and not silly-fun or silly-amusing - right? So silly is a euphamism here. Sorry - I didn't catch that at first. Did YOU find it creative? or Silly? In what way? The plating? The concept? the flavors, testures? My first thought is that it might be interesting, or immovative. It could still be silly. It could be plain bad or unpleasant (which would not actually prevent it from being creative OR mean that it was silly) Did it make sense in the context of the meal? Was it out of place in the restaurant? Was it a successful dish or at best an 'interesting' experiment? Seems to me its all about context and execution. If it fits AND its well executed then you have a shot at something good. Because even bad food is creative - right? Nothing says that creativity is equal to well done or good.

Well - my question is Did you actually have this dessert? How was it? Good? Bad? Indifferent? Would you have it again? Were other peole getting it? Did they like it? Is it possible to love it? What would you neeed to change to enjoy it? My thought is - it sounds strange and if I saw it explained on a menu I probably would not be that interested in it - but then again - I think about how I actually like to eat and I don't have the slightest hesitation mixing things up: For instance; interspering bites of hot dog with mustard with bites of vanilla ice cream cone. Here I realize that I am basically having a course or a meal that is not dissimilar to the one you describe. I like Hawaiian punch and fried chicken Peanut butter and fluff sandwiches with chicken soup I like chocolate chip cookies and ham sandwiches And - I bet most of us here love a good wine with dinner - that's mixing fruity, intense, lucious flavors with savory. True - these are all really lame bad examples of horrible eating but the issue is true So - I think that in my unmonitored eating habits I actually end up eating to interspere, mix, balance salty and sweet, hot, cold, all the classics. After reading this thread this morning I thought to myself that we probably discipline ourselves as a society to put off for last the things that we like the most in a meal - the things that we would have the hardest time controlling ourselves with so that you contain your intake of decadence. I think that people actually get way too tied up in what is savory vs. not. Where do you draw the line? and why? Why would anyone feel that excluding sugar made something savory? If I put pepper in a dessert does it make it any less of a dessert?

Lee, is this your first sugar class, or have you taken any sugar classes in the past? What are your expecations going into the class?

I had a thought on this - well - maybe a couple of thoughts. First of all there are minis (petit fours) and minis - small pastries that would be trayed up but larger that petit fours, and minis (single portions). Depending on what you are doing/where you work you may produce all these types and produce them in different ways/for different reasons. the main point that I had on my mind was the naming. I think that Wendy's device to get people thinking is great and has produced great results. I think that her point is ultimately that most people make something - frequently based on what they have around, the amount of time available, storage, needs, etc and then look at it and give it a name (if necessary). So when someone created a mini banana tatin (for instance) they might have thrown together something crisp - wafers of caramelized filo, cookies, shortbread rounds, caramelized puff, whatever with some caramel, and banana and someone said what is that and they said "Its a mini Banana Tatin" Just like someone someplace came up with Sloppy Joes or all those hamburger and tuna pasta entrees. This is why What Wendy is trying to convey in this thread is such a useful tool to you. She is saying - Don't get all wrapped up in what something is called and what it has been in the past - assuming it has ever existed at all. You are God here and you brought together certain elements. You tasted it and liked it. You give it a name to keep it in your file so you can create it again when your memory fails you. Now it exists! All because of you, and those extra bananas and those Nilla wafers that were sitting around and a dollop of caramel sauce from the speed bottle and your mental dexterity and imagingation. Or it all goes back to that pesky cat - -- there are a million ways to skin it.

Last summer they published a nice recipe in Gourmet or Bon appetit that I yried out with good results. I have since modified it to suite my needs. It molds well and is tasty. You can use Light Brown Sugar instead of Moscavado, or try dark brown for something diffrent, or experiment with powdered sugar as well... Depending on the use and how long you need it to hold a structure you may want to add some gelatine (added to the cream). You can also add melted cooled chocolate Moscavado no-bake cheese cake filling 4 servings 260g cream cheese 80g light moscavado sugar 120g heavy cream (whipped) beat cheese and sugar til light fold in whipped cream

sorry - the format was all messed up - see post below for revised

From Wendy: "#4. Banana Tart Tatin. Tell me how your going to make this? Many people can post how they'd make this...........perhaps it will spark ideas. Or post how you would have made one of the previous items I made from Brians list in my mind. " One way for bitelets Start with Choux balls dip in caramel & stick to a banana chip Cut off the non-dipped top so you have a little caramel choux cup pop slice of banana into each cup top with caramel sauce finish with swirl of lightrened pastry cream

Yes Doc - Philippe really is one of the most interesting chef/pastry chefs around IMHO. His approach to his work and food is really interesting and his work tastes as great as it looks. A few years ago when he was at Petrossian he did a demo at the Salon Culinaire of his chocolate moulleux - of course this was prior to the rest of the world discovering the joys of liquid center chocolate cake.

Another memory *ping* From the France Forum – compliments of Tan http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...28&hl=conticini Petrossian was the restaurant/shop Philippe was at PELTIER – Phillipe Conticini (66 rue de Sèvres) I am suprised that you guys act like you never heard of Phippe before since BOTH you doc and Tan have discussed him before Tan - you must be really Really tired! get some sleep. Some other references for your reading enjoyment: Quate Fat Guy June 2005 #25 ” If you look at teams of chefs and pastry chefs, Ferran and Alberto Adria have got to come out on top. I don't know the pastry world well enough to rank Alberto Adria against Pierre Herme, Philippe Conticini and the other top guns (though I think Herme is more of a confectioner/patissier type than a pastry chef in the restaurant sense), but I know for sure that pastry chefs all over the world are watching Alberto Adria's work very closely.” Quote Tan March 2005 #29 “Something that is going to be added to the Chocolate parfait was also suggested by a book, rather, a magazine that I WAS looking at, a mini molten chocolate cake that will be buried under the frothy curry espuma is not unlike a "teaser", or a sundae of sorts of Phillipe Conticini that is in an article and series of recipes in an old Thuries mag from France” Quote Tan: #8 “I use it in a flourless chocolate brownie I do, based on the Conticini recipe. I use 2/3rds 58% and 1/3 Tanzania, the 75% Origine Cocoa Barry chocolate, just for some added depth and complexity, otherwise I still feel it's too sweet.” Quote Steve Klc: #2 “Philippe Conticini just shared the recipe for his most excellent "White Chocolate Moelleux" cake that has a liquid center of blueberries--it's on page 40 of the August 2001 issue of Pastry Art & Design, the one that has Philippe on the cover holding a salmon--and it's right out of his Petrossian boutique in NYC. This cake might be a good starting point for the dessert you're trying to create. (Another might be a white chocolate brownie recipe, but that might make your dessert heavier than you intend.) Of course, Food Arts had already introduced Philippe to American foodies long before, profiling him in their July 2000 issue. And as long as we're on the subject, the current issue of Thuries magazine, in French only--#132 September 2001--has an amazing 28 page array of Philippe's current exciting work as both chef and pastry chef--with recipes and beautiful, inspiring photography. (Single issues of Thuries--a little known secret in this country and the way many culinary francophiles keep up with who's doing what back in France--can be purchased from JB Prince, 36 E. 31st Street, 800.473.0577) Thuries magazine goes along way to explain why certain presentation styles and concepts show up on the plates of New York restaurants.”

Tan........ Please refer to this previous discussion http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=68251&hl= Quote Tan;"I love this guy" *memory ping* He's one of our all time Favs here - long admired and Doc - he WAS in NYC just a couple of years ago - French Russian place and I am blanking on the name momentarily - also in Paris - way way cool.

As a chocolholic - I can assure you that as long as it definitely reads as being a chocolate dessert it does not require any stupid name. If you call it chocolate spear through the cranium all I know is that maybe you have a chocolate spear involved in some sort of soft mush encased in a shell but if you say its a meringe shell with vanilla creme brulee, ice cream, a hot liquid center chocolate cake aall bathing in wam fudge sauce - I am totally getting that. But I think that the funky naming conventions are sort of drifting dwon to the TGIF level - are they not? Where does the incentive to come up with wierd names come from? Is it a way to make your recipe seem more exciting that a zillion others almost exactly like it? But I guess the popularity of brownies and chocolate chip cookies would prove this wrong. 10 years from now - what are you gonna go to - a recipe fot hot agonizing burn in hell chocolate cake - or liquid ceneter chocolate cke? What's it going to show up as in the index? Maybe its an '80s thing...

Hi MP - I have admired your cool sticks and flowers cakes before. hmmmm - no reapeats at all - ever? Is that possible? How literally are you taking that? If you are being very literal - you might have to broaden (or is it narrow) your definition of 'repeats'. same falvors - different composition new flavors - same composition tweak add new elements Do 'studies' in flavors, ingredients, textures, temperatures, and colors how many ways can you serve egg in a single dessert.. like anglaise with a lady finger cake, creme brulee, meringe (2 ways)... Do ethinic studies - drift from authentic to interpretive to fusion You could even work historically - pick a time period and go wild. I think that adding interpretive steps into the progression elongates and excites things. Do design studies - working in completely different artistic or compositional styles will force you to change Pick artists and interpret their philosophy, painting style subject matter in desserts You could make this a sort of crazy game - start a month or a week with simple - elemental things and make them more complex each day So mabe you start with red berries and a liquid element add a cake element add a cold element - granite, sorbet, ice cream... freeze it flambee it make it into an alaska add a textural element - an espuma, an air, a mouse or bavarian add a crunch element - make it into a napoleon add a crazy decorative element - like a sugar twist make it into a sauce and drizzle it over something else its like soup - one thing just sort of drifts into another I think that Lewis Carroll did something like this with words and that's how he got "The Walrus and the Carpenter" somehow walrus drifts into carpenter and all their adventures on the beach At some places 'no repeats' can be as simple as changing from a square presentation to a round. Of course - you might need to have 32 or three things in each category that you just start setting in motion so that it takes 3 days to implement a change in any one item. You can also start introducing unconventional elements into old standbys. Things that got served in a glass might seem different on a plate things that were on a plate might seem way cooler served in a block of ice get creative with your presentations. Focus on the work of a different chefs or pastry chefs or even books moving from things they say to do to innovative interpretations of what they did. Start experimenting ala those Amazing Adrias Make yourself plans and schedules and document your paths It sounds like it could be tiring - but its also a cool opportunity. Without knowing where you have been and how strict or how long the rule apply - its hard to give you a recipe or anything but I think that the best approach is to adopt new conceptual approaches to planning and executing your work. It helps keep you fresh and excited! Make it interesting for yourself since you don't have to watch your costs or stick to a menu - but think about how you can use all the cool stuff you have created and learned as a next step.

You can actually freeze it. I recently did and it worked out fine. It was a standard batch with no gelatine and responded just fine - perhaps a little thinner but overall OK. I would add a little gelatine next time. Maybe just a sheet or two to an 8 egg batch.

So... I was wondering if any of the people following this thread - like Desertm - had proceeded with some pastillage work of their own. What have you done? how has it worked out? Any questions raised?

I actually wonder what the lie is in this story..... An accomplished - famous french pastry chef with a pastry shop in LA - catering the food and cake for a wedding?????? An accomplished famous french pastry chef blowing only two measly freaking sugar doves for the top of a cake? An accomplished pompous french pastry chef putting sugar doves on a buttercream cake in a box in the back seat of a car in California and driving fast taking sharp turns? An accomplished famous french pastry chef putting a cake with blown sugar into a fridge - ney - jamming the cake into the fridge? Not just doing the right thing even once in this journey amazing astonishing incredible and the audacity to accept their money, blame their dogs - involve their dogs, throw whipped cream and mint onto the whole mess .....freedom fries please! Hopefully most of us would be responsible enough that our asses never got in such a ridiculous mess.

Connecticut to Oklahoma appears to be 1570 plus a few hundred miles depending on specific location - about 25 hour drive.

bric makes great little cones. You can combine corn syrup with just a little water to thin it out brush onto the bric round cut into quarters roll around those metal cone forms brushed side OUT - make sure you spray with oil bake until golden ease off the cones store like tuiles Normally just use a single sheet or leaf of bric, it's much sturdier and less fragile than phyllo Michael Laiskonis did a nice dessert with them at the Javits Center demo two years ago. Rolled the bric around a filling like a thai spring roll and pan browned them.

Since you are in Connecticut - you might want to start with the Salon Culinaire at the Javitts center in NYC in November. They always have quite a turn out of wedding cakes in the competition. The Salon of Culinary Art The Annual Salon of Culinary Art, presented by the Societe Culinaire Philanthropique features intricately sculptured and artistically prepared foods created by master chefs, pastry chefs, butchers, culinarians and apprentices from around the world. The display includes elaborate buffet tables, decorated fish and poultry, pastry works, spun sugar, cocoa painting, wedding cakes and centerpieces. Participants have the opportunity to compete for prizes, including the Medal of the French Government and the Marc L. Sarazin Trophy. For further information, contact the office of the Societe Culinaire Philanthropique at (212) 308-0628, or e-mail: salon@societeculinaire.com. http://societeculinaire.com./salon.html This is in realistic driving distance for you and can give you some real experience in moving a showpiece for competition. Regarding the Oklahoma Sugar Arts event - I would plan on one of the following: 1- Send cake dummies with hardened fondant covering - well protected in bubble wrap and double boxed then travel to the event by air hand carry all delicate work sugar, etc. Plan on renting a good vehicle there and doing final assembly on site or at your hotel. Bring extra parts. Send via Fedex to your hotel 2 days ahead and confirm ots arrival. Be prepared to pack and carry a backup or send a replacement overnight. 2- Packing cake with sturdy decor in a well padded box secured in your vehicle - drive. Pack all sugar flowers and delicate parts carefully. bring spares. Do final assembly on site. 3- Bring all your supplies - do the work in Oklahoma. Sending the cake requires that you have someone to send it to. If you are not planning to be there physically - then it requires that you have a trusted 3rd party to assemble the decor and set up at the show according to your plan. In the Cakewalk event cake artists sent their cakes and decor along with photos and instructions to Maria's trusted and experienced staff. Even then if you recall from the cakewalk discussion there was stuff that got broken and improvided and not included.

So - it was geared more towards people who don't really temper chocolate?

You tell us that Wybauw had you clear your head of all you knew about chocolate tempering to think about it in a new way - so - what is this new way? what did he put inside the space in your head about chocolate that he had made you clear out? Inquiring minds want to know?

Thanks Desertm. There is cornstarch in the Confectioners Sugar/Icing Sugar/Powdered sugar/10X here as well. Its just how its done. I am very proud of your accomplishment. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. I hope that this will expand your decorating horizons. Wendy - Regarding how well pastillage holds up in the cooler. I put several pieces of pastillage in the cooler this morning and just pulled them out (9 hours later) and they seem just fine. The pastillage was simply uncovered on a plate. Now what I have not tested is if you have a construct of pastillage - held together by royal icing - will it be OK for several hours in the fride or will the joins weaken. Will weight bearing pieces start to buckle? THAT I cannot guarantee. On weight bearing pieces - like a cake stand or petit fours stand I would tend to encourage people to design so that this portion could be held seperately and not go in the cooler. If you have a large topper of pastillage I would also urge you to keep it out of the cooler - just to avoid the additional risks of going in and out and being handled by people other than you. But certainly you cannot always be there to handle stuff at the time of service so some things are just outside your control.

Desertm Great job! Thanks for posting. How was your experience? What recipe did you use? Did you create a form for shaping or use an actual shoe? On the two color ribbons - did you end up rolling two colors together - or making the peach color pastillage and dusting the darker color on one side? For the heel - did you roll that? What next? Who's next? I am anxiously awaiting creations from all 5 of you following this demo I think that I am all out of space in the image thing so probably cannot post any more pics in the near future. Wendy - I have not actually put pastillage in the cooler = but I will leave some in there today to see how it goes and get back to you on how it behaves = I know that overall - it is much more durable than gumpaste though.