Darienne
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Posts posted by Darienne
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I just read your original post about this in the chocolate ice cream thread...you gave the bit of information that you are missing in this query: you were cooking your custard and it separated. The separation didn't happen after the custard had set up, correct?
If this is the case, you (very likely) overcooked your custard and made scrambled eggs. So, while blending the mixture smoothed it out, it likely would not have had the same mouthfeel as custard which had been cooked to the proper consistency would have had. Egg proteins are pretty sensitive and when they are overcooked, they tighten up and squeeze liquid out, therefore looking separated. When a creme anglaise (or custard base) is cooked to the proper consistency, the egg proteins have expanded and have trapped liquid in their matrix, thus thickening the liquid. With ice cream bases, you can let them sit in the fridge overnight and you'll probably notice that it will be a little thicker after the aging. That's because the egg proteins continue to expand or absorb liquid for a little longer. That's one good reason to make an ice cream base ahead of when you need to freeze it. When making an anglaise it is also a good idea to have an ice bath as part of your mise en place, so you can cool your mixture down immediately after taking it off the heat. There's a fine line between done and overdone when working with custards. I usually strain through a chinois (very fine mesh strainer) directly into a clean container set into my ice bath) and stir frequently during the cooling process both to prevent a skin from forming (may happen with rich bases) and to help redistribute the heat during cooling. I never remember the actual temp, I go by feel and look, but it is somewhere around 170F. The sugar in the mixture allows the temp to go a little higher than you could with plain eggs.
Hi Alanamoana,
Thanks very much for your explanation. I do realize that I overcooked the custard. Now. Had no idea.
Almost everything I make, I make for the first time. An incredible level of novice. Funny, it is in one sense, one 'failure' after another as I learn how to make things. But then with the help of the good folks on this list, and an evergrowing selection of books, I am learning how to do it all. It's never too late.
Thanks again.
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Thanks for the answers to my questions.
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Both of these are really good. One of my tasters called the fig gelato "addictive". As for the burnt milk gelato, "burnt" is not a description I'm usually happy to see in a food context but I think this may be my new favorite flavor. An amazing, multi-layered depth of flavor that I intend to capture in other types of desserts as well.
Hi Tri2Cook,
Were you able to make the gelato in your Cuisinart Ice Cream maker? I seem to recall reading in a gelato recipe that you needed a special gelato maker to make gelato.
Thanks.
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Looked this one up but couldn't find anything.
My custard separated and I thought it might be because I had used previously frozen whipping cream...sorry
it is true.So I wandered around Google trying to find an answer and came up with this: "Sometimes, in spite of every precaution, the custard separates."
Fascinating. No possible precautions are listed and I am left wondering how to rectify my error.
BTW, the ice cream was fantastic anyway.
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Everything I've posted in the "Frozen Desserts" thread was done in my "frozen bowl" machine because I was doing really small test batches and it seemed silly to bother with anything larger.
Hi Tri2Cook,
I'm not very experienced in looking up things on this list, and I could not find a thread marked "Frozen Desserts". Could you please give more specific directions, should they exist.
I just 'came into' a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker and have made one batch to date, Rich Vanilla. No crystals. Maybe beginner's luck. Next I am going for Coconut Ice Cream and then Peach (my neighbor has some fresh-frozen peaches and is salivating.)
A whole new world opens up.....
Edit: Could it be the thread: Francisco Migoya's Frozen Desserts ? Thanks
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Today I made my very first ice cream ever in one of those Cuisinart Ice Cream makers which I came into just yesterday: Vanilla Bean, on the same page as the chocolate one made by Wannabechef.
The ice cream was a great success although I feared it would not be. I used previously frozen whipping cream and the cooking custard separated in the pot. I used the hand mixer on it and hoped for the best. And the best it was.
I am so grateful to have found this thread BEFORE I attempted the chocolate.
I am going to enjoy this little machine
and so will my DH. -
The awards announcement is here:
http://www.academyofchocolate.org.uk/acade...wards/2009.html
and our press release is here:
http://www.amanochocolate.com/press/releas...009_awards.html
Good one, but I have to tell you that my informant gets ksl.com in Utah!
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I have never tried Amano chocolate although I have now read good things about them. They are based in Orem UT...we are now in Moab, UT...and speak of the great low humidity as a factor in their success. The humidity is terrific for confection making!
A friend just sent me an article about Amano, that they have recently won awards for every bar they make at the Academy of Chocolate Awards in London!
Good going, Amano and congratulations! (I have tried for the last few days, over and over
, to post this news on 'Members News', but it will NOT recognize me.) -
The Cake Bible has info about the leavening. If I remember correctly, mostly in terms of scaling up. It doesn't increase proportionally. Something about internal structure and surface tension, I think. Sorry I don't remember more, but if you have the book, I found it easy to understand. (if not to remember)
I have not only the Cake Bible but also the Pie and Pastry Bible, ordered in a greedy 'throw caution to the winds moment' last month.
This morning, while waiting at the dentist's...FOR OVER AN HOUR...I dipped into the Cake book. It is wonderful! It explains so many things. I have fallen in love and shall wallow around in this book for months to come.
Thanks for writing.
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It's just that there are some physical concerns to address when you increase or decrease quantities.
This is true in all things, but cake recipes involve some of the most delicate balances that we work with, so small changes can sometimes break the final result. depends on the kind of cake, of course ... some are pretty robust.
Some things that are not addressed by simply changing quantities while keeping ratios constant:
-As quantities increase, volume increases at an exponentially higher rate than surface area. So you'll have less surface area exposed to the air, and proportionally less evaporation
-As quantities increase, volume increases at an exponentially lower rate than diameter. This can make changes in baking time tricky to calculate.
-Larger cakes get proportionally less support from the pan. A cake that has enough structure to support itself at one size might not have enough at double that size. Unless you address this by tweaking the recipe or changing pan shape (a tube pan, etc.) the whole thing might collapse.
I'm not familiar with the rule of thumb, "..a large cake needs a smaller proportion of leavening and a larger amount of liquid than a small cake." And I don't know why that would be. But there might be something to it!
I mess with most recipes with impunity, but am still pretty shy when it comes to cakes. They can be delicate creatures. And recipes written by people who lack the technical mastery of Rose Barenbaum and Shirley Coriher are often held together in the first place by little more than blind luck and good intentions.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. There is much in it for a novice to ponder. Thanks.
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I'm planning on baking Martha's chocolate macadamia nut tart this weekend:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/ideal-...rt&rsc=header_3
Stupidly, I bought salted nuts instead of the unsalted version the recipe called for. I've just read in Rose Levy Beranbaum's Christmas Cookie cookbook that you can de-salt macadamia nuts. She recommends rinsing them under hot water and then popping them in the oven at 350 degrees for 5-10mins (to "re-crisp"). I was wondering--before I go and experiment with $13 worth of nuts--if anyone has tried this before?
I haven't tried to 'desalt' nuts, but I have skinned hazelnuts now in hot water and then recrisped them in the oven and it worked perfectly.
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Berenbaum also discusses this issue in The Cake Bible.
Eileen
Thanks.
Just received that book last week and have scarcely opened the cover yet. I will look up the information. -
Different kinds of baked goods have different ratios: get Corriher's Cookwise to begin or her subsequent Bakewise if you really want to learn about the topic. Depending on the leavening (chemical, yeast) and the fats (oil, butter, shortening), and even the kind of sugar (corn syrup, granulated sugar, honey), the results will be different. You can generalize about pound cakes, butter/genoise, sponge cakes, angel food--in other words, within certain cake/baked good types.
Many recipes work as written, but may contain excess leavening, or sugar, or water, etc. When the recipe is halved or doubled, a small excess or insufficiency is magnified. It takes quite a bit of baking chemistry knowledge to eyeball a recipe and figure out whether it is efficiently written--you have to know all sorts of stuff about acidity (pH), temperature of ingredients, temp of baking, kind of leavening, kind of flour, how the fat is incorporated into the flour, and so on and so forth.
I think I will order the Corriher on ILL. Cookwise. Thanks for the information.
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I am not sure if this can be one of the reasons, are we talking about recipes that are I cups or grams? I think there was a similar thread with a bread issue and why they use baker's. % etc. I think recipes that are in cups are very hard to halve, I am used to grams and usually easier to halve. This is my experience though.
Good point, but I think that they are getting at something else which I don't understand. Thanks.
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Should be ok if you throw them in warmed at the end.
Good point!!!!
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Am I correct in assuming that it would be a mistake to use caramelized cacao nibs in a brittle because they are already cooked and would therefore burn in the process?
Greweling's Peanut Brittle calls for raw peanuts, with a variation of 'cocoa nibs' with no mention of raw, cooked or otherwise.
Thanks
edited for typos
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It was serendipity. I recently halved a recipe and was not pleased with the resulting creation and wondered why. The very next day, I read in a fairly recent Bon Appetit (sorry, I did not note the date) in answer to a question re making a particular cake and halving the recipe, and then having it not work out properly:
‘...but it's not all that unusual. According to food scientist Shirley O. Corriher, you should technically be able to halve a cake recipe that is "balanced"- -one in which the weights of the components (flour, milk, fat, and so forth) are in a standard ratio....
...a large cake needs a smaller proportion of leavening and a larger amount of liquid than a small cake. Using different sizes of cake pans with the same ratio of ingredients might produce different results. Dividing a recipe that isn't perfectly balanced can magnify any irregularities--even if they are intentional variations in the standard ratio.’
OK. First of all please, what is a ‘balanced’ or ‘standard’ ratio? What kind of cake would work that is not perfectly balanced? Are recipes often ‘unbalanced”?
Any and all comments gratefully received in the quest.
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hi everyone! first post, woohoo!
anyway, I just recently made candied orange peels, and used the extra syrup in my tea. I like it better than sugar now!
Congratulations, KristenLea, and welcome to the wonderful world of candying everything you can lay your hands on
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Thanks for the supplier answers.
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I was looking at the transfer sheets in the Tomric catalog. $40.00 for one set. Is there anywhere where you can buy a lesser amount to try them out? Or the same amount...$40...but a mixed package?
I am such a novice that I can't bring myself to pay that much for something which I may not be able to use at all.
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There was a baking competition on the Food Network last night and someone used it as one of the layers in an entremet, but they didn't explain what it was mixed with - it looked like just a crispy layer
I would have pronounced it pie - et fay uh teen. The first syllable is somewhere between pay and pie and Feuille is between fay and foy
I love it! You gave me the first good laugh of the day.
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Just for closing circles on my bars:
Oh my
! Those are lovely looking. Congratulations on a job so well done. Your work is beautiful. -
By the way, I used some of the syrup for making a sorbet / granita last night. I added water to bring the sugar content down to about 31 BRIX and then I put it in the ice cream machine. Results were mixed. Personally, I didn't care for it - very "flat" and too sweet, but my SO liked it a lot. Next time (if there is one) I'd add some lemon juice and/or reduce the sugar even further to, oh I dunno, 27 BRIX...
all this syrup talk got me interested
...is it hard to candy orange peel? does anyone have a great recipe/technique? i think it would be hard to get slices of peel? and then what do you do with the leftover oranges? Take a look at the following:
Andiesenji is the Ginger Lady and the best at candying everything. She has a recipe on Recipe Gullet which I have used.
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Upload them to your imagegullet page, hit the "view actual URL" link next to the uploaded image when you view it on your imagegullet page, copy that URL and paste it into the text box that comes up when you hit the "IMG" button on the post page. Or you can host it on any photo host site and just add a link to it using the "http://" button. It won't show up here but it will open in a new window when anyone clicks the link.
There may well be complications if you have pop-up protection on your computer. I have to do a couple of extra steps to get my photos onto eGullet. Wish I could spell them out, but I can't. I have to relearn it each time. I WILL
write the steps down next time.
Vanilla custard for ice cream
in Pastry & Baking
Posted
Thanks. Learn, learn, learn....