ejw50

You probably have this book, but in "Desserts by Pierre Herme", Dorie Greenspan substitutes Oetker Glaze for Pierre's recipe in Patisserie of Pierre Herme (which has NH pectin, some other stuff I can't remember). So I would think those two are similar at least. Can't compare to Norman's glaze or the stuff in 15 lb pails myself, but maybe somebody else would know.

Thanks David and Ruth for answering those questions! One more question, of the chocolate decorations you learned, how would you rank them in order of difficulty? That is, which ones should I (or somebody like me) learn first?

Hi David A few questions (probably will have more later) 1. Are the techniques Chef showed for chocolate decorations similar to the ones in Wybauw's book? That is, are there any differences in technique or philosophy? 2. On the chocolate fans, does Chef warm up the countertop first? What is the waiting time between pouring chocolate and doing the fans? 3. Chef's praline, is it just hazelnuts + caramelized sugar in a 50/50 ratio or something different? 4. When Chef steeps the middle cake layers, how wet is it? How wet does he make the bottom layers? 5. In a couple of the photos, there is a 'bowing' of the middle cake layer. Is this what to expect or is this an artifact of the cutting? 6. A few pictures look like they are spray painted with cocoa butter and chocolate? Or is this just cocoa butter? All done with the tiny badger instead of a bigger airbrush? Looking to see how chef does the "velvet" look. 7. I am poor at glazing. What is the technique here, pouring then spatula around the sides or something different? I have read about using lazy susans, seen pictures of holding the cake by hand, so wondering what was done here. Thanks again for all the pictures and the report!!!

This is awesome!! I am sure I'll have questions later, but thanks so much. This is totally awesome post!!!!!!!!!!

Didn't somebody here go to Andrew Shotts's course? I thought he talked about freezing there.

I have a foodsaver vacuum sealer and I use that. I buy the bags off of ebay because they are cheaper. I find it most useful for keeping condensation off when I defrost. When there is air in the bag, I get some condensation and sugar bloom. With the bag, all the condensation is on the bag. After a few months, there is some degradation in flavor, but it is better than when I didn't vacuum seal. I am not professional so that is good enough for me. Maybe it would be better if I double sealed; never got around to trying that. I have also taken chocolates on the plane in vacuum sealed bags; no problems there.

Is the Goya brand pure passionfruit or is it fruit + sugar? How much do you adjust your recipes? I see passionfruit concentrate stuff in the Asian grocery stories, but don't know for sure how much to adjust the recipes and don't know how close the taste is to puree.

Your probably thought of this, but you could also just post a piece of paper with the conversions so you can look it up quickly. Though, if I remmeber, you have to increment temperature by 1 degree so that would make a difference if it is C or F.

I think if you just wanted lots of copies of one transfer it would be cheaper and easier to have them do it. Mostly because of the learning curve and costs associated with equipment etc. I just did it for fun and to prove I could do it. $215 for 100 sheets seems inexpensive in terms of the time and work involved. Of course doing it this way it's all by hand. ← thanks for that insight. Just disclaimer, I have never bought a transfer from that company or used them in any way, it was just something that came off of Google.

One overall question: http://www.americanchocolatedesigns.com/ These guys charge $100 to do a 1 color transfer sheet setup, then another $115 for 100 sheets minimum. Based on your experiences, would you do it yourself or would you just pay somebody to do it for you?

very nice and I would also be interested in your competition experiences

wow, v ery nice I've always wondered how this is done. Thanks!

awesome great report, thanks!

quick Q on your technique: you are buffing after it dries out, and the cocoa butter is some residual after you washed the mold with water?

very nice pics

just got my copy can't wait to try some out. Love the pics on this thread.

let us know how it goes!!!

If I read correctly, Patrick is just saying that you can still keep a warm-sealed cake in the freezer, just for not as long as a cool-sealed cake. Basically the same trade we make for everything else - can't freeze meat as long as nut paste for example. It seems the health hazard is only if the chef thinks he or she can keep the warm-sealed cake in the freezer as long as he or she keeps the cool-sealed cake. In that respect, the info from the food scientist is very useful.

The other thing is at what temperature are you letting it set? How is the ventilation?

Phillipe Padovani (one of the original 12 HRC Hawaiian Regional Chefs in Hawaii and owner of Padovani's wine and restaurant bar) told me he uses sun dried blueberries in his blueberry ganache. The blueberry ganache (along with every other ganache) tasted awesome. They did have a strong blueberry taste. So it seems that could work. On a related note, what type of luck have the rest of you had in making raspberry ganache? My experience with boiling raspberries is that it kills the flavor. But all of the recipes I see say to boil the raspberries with the cream.

I agree in theory, but it's hard to test without a Stephan mixer at your disposal. That said, I feel reasonably confident that it doesn't hurt the ganache. On my last trip to Hawaii, I had some chocolates from Padovani's chocolates. They were as good as any I've had. It was my lucky day and Padovani himself was in the store and talked to me for almost an hour on techniques and even his recipes! One of which is a vacuum mixer. Other comparisons can be found in products out there. A search on the web shows that the following also use vacuum: Vosges Chocolates and Torres. Pierre Herme has his Ispahan ganache recipe online http://www.starchefs.com/features/fly_on_t...o_p_herme.shtml which he uses a Stephan. I figure if Pierre Herme does it, it can't be that bad. Anyway, I am not a professional or anything, but at the least the point about shelf life seems to make sense.

wow, thanks for bringing that link to us

I found this old thread and asked Stephan USA about their mixer. Looks as you if you need to redo the wiring in your house to get one (see reply from Stephan USA below). I didn't even get to asking about the cost. Mr. ejw50, The VCM 5 w/ vacuum only comes in 208/220 V, single phase. The machine does not come with a plug, because there are to many different kinds to try and match. You could use this in your home, if you had another breaker put in. Thank you for the interest in Stephan Machinery. Regards, Eric ←

and how much did it cost?

I always love these "ebay" posts. I just discovered ebay myself and bought a dental vibrator (thanks to this forum's suggestions) as well as vanilla beans (again, another forum suggestion) and a dehumidifier so I can continue to practice during the summers. The one item I really wanted to try, but might not have enough $$ for, is a vacuum mixer. Of all the crazy ebay things to try, that is one I would like to try the most.