RWood
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Posts posted by RWood
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Not the best photo, but I made Tiramisu for my cousins birthday dessert (don't think he's ever had it-but he really liked it).
Family members beg for it, and I'm like "yeah, whatever". But I tend to forget how good it is
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On 9/8/2017 at 6:26 AM, curls said:
Interesting! I did not know about Valrhona's passion fruit and strawberry varieties -- will have to check them out.
I do like their hazelnut chocolate, Azelia, but haven't found it to add much more havelnut flavor to my gianduja & feuilltine bon bon -- maybe because I am already adding additional hazelnut paste. The Azelia is wonderful for munching & would be very nice as a bar with hazelnut inclusions.
Azelia is tasty by itself
. I've only used it in ice cream and in buttercream. But, I've added additional chopped hazelnuts to both.
I wouldn't mind trying to new fruit flavored, my passion fruit bon bon is one of the most popular, to my surprise.
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My step-sister's wedding cake. Her theme was Mediterreanean (she's Greek), so olive branches for most of the decorations.
Took two years, but I'm glad its over and done. Cake is almond with ganache and raspberries.
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15 hours ago, Patrick S said:
I admit that I'm a sucker for new chocolate varieties, being a novelty-seeking type in general. I'm looking forward to at least trying the new Orelys from Valrhona, for instance. I'm interested to see what Callebaut's Ruby really brings to the table. If it's just a novel color, I'm not particularly interested. But if it hits some kind of new note in the flavor department, I'd be happy to give it a spin!
Haven't tried the Orelys yet, but I've been using the Opalys (33% white) a lot, and I have a bag of the Waina (35% white) that is different. Very vanilla-y.
The one on the left is Opalys, and the right is Waina. Very different.
I was looking on Valrhonas website, and they also have passion fruit and strawberry chocolate. Getting a little crazy.
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4 hours ago, pastrygirl said:23 hours ago, RWood said:
Authentic Foods makes a GF cake flour and a regular baking blend that I have found work best. I've used them in a few wedding cakes and I've been really happy with how they turned out. I leave the cake trimmings out for they guys in the kitchen and everyone loved the chocolate cake and had no idea it was GF.
I think that is the holy grail, not being able to tell something made with alternative flours is GF. Maybe I'm a picky pastry chef, but the few things I've had from this bakery always make me want to go and offer consultation. I think there must be a better way, but if these bakers and their clientele are happy ... One of my SILs is GF, I'll have to find some of that cake flour so I can make something she can eat for holiday desserts.
I know what you mean.
I think the blend is easier to find, maybe some supermarkets. I like it because it doesn't require the addition of xanthum gum. The cake flour does. You can order directly from them, but the shipping is outrageous. I think I found the cake flour from a site called Vita-cost. Much better shipping costs.
Theres a cookbook called Patisserie Gluten Free that's really nice. Authentic Foods is the recommended flour in the book. Fortunately I don't get a lot of GF requests, but I feel OK with cakes I can offer now after trying so many other flours.
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Authentic Foods makes a GF cake flour and a regular baking blend that I have found work best. I've used them in a few wedding cakes and I've been really happy with how they turned out.
I leave the cake trimmings out for they guys in the kitchen and everyone loved the chocolate cake and had no idea it was GF.
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15 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:
I have a wedding order next weekend with multiple cakes and one of the flavors they want is German chocolate. I don't believe I've ever actually made one before!
A lot of recipes use egg yolks. Is the goo still safe at room temp with the cooking and all that sugar? They are picking up the night before and heading to the woods with limited refrigeration. Would it be better to leave out the yolks and make a thicker caramel or substitute gelatin?
I love coconut so ill so I'll be happy to experiment, but any pro tips on shelf stable GCC fillings would be appreciated. My plan is to do naked cakes with acetate wrapped around so they'll travel well.
Thanks!
It would need refrigeration, I wouldn't trust it. But, the recipe mentioned above for inside out German chocolate from Epicurious would work. It's made with dulce de leche, nuts and coconut, so no eggs to worry about.
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36 minutes ago, teonzo said:
@Jim D.: thanks for the nice words!
@RWood: I would definetely avoid white chocolate with olive oil.
Here are some recipes I have in my books (I multiplied/divided the quantities and rephrased the instructions to avoid legal troubles).
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ROSEMARY AND OLIVE OIL GANACHE
(slabbed and cut with guitar, from "Couture Chocolate" by William Curley)
800 g cream (35%)
8 g rosemary sprigs
120 g invert sugar
4 g salt
900 g dark chocolate (66%)
30 g butter
135 g olive oil
Boil cream, add rosemary, cover and infuse for 2 hours.
Strain the cream, add invert sugar and salt, boil again.
Make ganache with cream and dark chocolate.
Add butter and olive oil.
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CARDAMOM - OLIVE OIL - HONEY TRUFFLES
(truffle ganache to be piped into hollow shells, from "Fine Chocolates Great Experience 3" by Jean-Pierre Wybauw)
200 g cream
200 g honey
100 g glucose
160 g maltodextrin
2 g salt
8 g ground cardamom
160 g glycerol
680 g milk chocolate60 g olive oil
Mix cream, honey, glucose, maltodextrin, salt, ground cardamom and glycerol. Bring to boil.
Make ganache with previously boiled ingredients and milk chocolate.
Add olive oil.
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TUSCAN EXTRAVIRGIN OLIVE OIL GANACHE
(slabbed and cut with guitar, from "Come Musica" by Luca Mannori, winner of the 1997 Coupe du Monde)
1600 g dark chocolate (64%)
800 g hazelnut paste
160 g Tuscan extravirgin olive oil
2 g salt
Melt dark chocolate.
Add hazelnut paste, olive oil and salt.
Temper ganache.
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Teo
Those all sound great. I'll check them out when I get around to chocolates again. I have my step sisters wedding coming up, and she wants chocolates, so would be nice to use the family oil in one. Thanks!
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I tried an olive oil bon bon a while back, and wasn't pleased with it. I used white chocolate for the filling. I think I just tried a regular ganache with the addition of the oil at the end. Just seemed too greasy.
I wanted to make one because every year we get a supply of oil from Greece from some property that belongs to my step dad and his brother. It's got great flavor and I thought it would be fun using that oil. Haven't tried again. I wonder if dark chocolate would be better?
When I get a chance I might attempt again with some of the suggestions here.
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I've been working on a better way to offer my cake tastings. It's hard for me because I don't have random cake available, and I don't get a lot of cakes outside of work right now.
But, when I do get one, I want it to have a nice presentation and be easy to transport. They are usually just taken to go so they can try them at home. So, I got small 3" cake pans and decided on this.
It was a lot faster to assemble them, and they are sturdy. These were for four people to taste, but I might change the size. I ordered updated stickers since all I had were my old chocolate ones.
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16 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:
That's very inventive, using the fresh, looks like gold dusted raspberries as the center for the roses. Beautiful! I can't recall seeing that done before, and it is a brilliant idea.
You have some very lucky relatives.
As for your Greek writing, you are brave to even attempt it. I opened one of my Greek father-in-law's books and closed it after marveling at all of the unfamiliar characters. There is a reason for the old aphorism, "It's Greek to me".
Thanks, but I can't take full credit for it :). I saw the technique from Joshua John Russell using blackberries. I love it though, it makes flowers really quickly.
I did better on my Greek writing for the 70th Birthday :). I think it was a bigger area that helped since it was a sheet cake.
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16 hours ago, RobertM said:
RWood....beautiful work!! Beautiful
Thanks! They loved them.
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So, as well as Mother's Day, it was also my step-father's 80th birthday. They each got a cake.
His favorite, German chocolate with an airbrushed Greek key (my Greek writing needs practice
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And for my mom, raspberry Pinot noir cake with fresh raspberries.
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2 hours ago, ElsieD said:
@RWood that is beautiful.
Thanks, she had really nice flowers to work with. It's iffy sometimes :).
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Mickey themed wedding cake. Apparently the bride is diehard Mickey & Minnie :). Cake is red velvet.
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I've found what best works for me is to warm the bottle of cocoa butter in a bowl of hot tap water. I shake every so often, and add more hot water as needed. Then just keep the bottles in warm water as I'm working. I tried microwaving, but it was always off and I had a lot of wasted pieces. May not be the most scientific, but I it works.
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Really fast little Harry Potter cake for a friend's birthday. I had more details I wanted to add, but I was so behind I threw this together the day before. She loved it though.
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Macarons, little monsters
. Bourbon pecan, pistachio, raspberry and espresso.
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9 minutes ago, rajoress said:
@RWood those sables looks beautiful! And perfectly round! Did you roll them into a log and slice? I've been making sables from Dorie Greenspan's new cookie book and the method in her book is great - you refrigerate/freeze the dough, cut out in rounds and drop into muffin tins and bake - no more lopsided cookies for me - they come out perfectly round (although you can't get sugar on the edge, she shows most of hers with decos on top).
Thanks. Yeah, these are log and slice. This recipe was actually the lemon sable from Dorie's Paris Sweets. I just rolled these in parchment and sliced them chilled. Held the round shape very nicely. I used egg yolk wash on the log then rolled in sugar.
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When I lived in Seattle, I was two blocks away from Le Panier in the market, and I love their hazelnut sable. I was just there on New Year's and bought a couple, but unfortunately had help eating them
. So I made some myself. These are really good, not as hard and crunchy as their's, but more of a sandy texture.
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Is it over yet
. I'm so behind this year. But the chocolates are done. I did a lot of painting with a gloved finger, transfer sheets and a paper cone. Couldn't deal with setting up the airbrush.
Top going across:
Valrhona Dulcey, Passion Fruit, soft Rolo type caramel
Absinthe, Coffee, Peanut Butter
Peppermint, White Chocolate Coconut, Black Raspberry
Honey Caramel with Maldon
I think the red transfers are too old. Only a few were decent, the rest seem faded.
I really like the silver and copper I got on my last visit to Chef Rubber.
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7 minutes ago, cakewalk said:
RWood, how far in advance to you start an order of that size? Do you mix and freeze the dough in advance? Do you cut them out and freeze? I'm curious about methods people use for such large orders. They look beautiful.
Thanks!
I made the dough, cut them out and froze them a couple of weeks ahead. Then baked them 3 days before. It took that much time to ice that many (letting bases dry then adding details). I've found once a base icing is on them, they hold well. I've used the No Fail Sugar Cookie recipe for years, and they always hold their shape and can be flavored many ways.
Now, according to my aunt (who hid this type cookie in her car trunk to keep my uncle from eating them), said she forgot and then found them two months later and, "oh they were still fine." I don't know if I believe that or not
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Twenty dozen decorated cookies for the tree lighting in Capitola Village. Plus 200 truffles, I have to do these every year. At least while I'm at this job
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Well, I'm not a Scotch drinker, but the last time I made Butterscotch Pudding, I think I used Glenlivit. I mainly just picked one in the bar at work
. I liked the flavor it had. I have used Jack Daniels too, which isn't Scotch, but I like the flavor it adds.
Even those Scotch isn't technically in butterscotch, I find it a little flat without some kind of alcohol added.
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GF flours - why so gritty?
in Pastry & Baking
Posted