curls
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Posts posted by curls
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1 hour ago, Smithy said:
The trivet has handles that I set upright before putting the egg bite tray in, like this:
When the cooking is done, I pull the trivet up with the bite pan cradled between the handles.
I don't think the handles are long enough to grab if I have 2 silicone pans stacked, though. I'll have to come up with something to grab them by. Maybe a couple of wire loops made from coat hangers, or picture wire, or even twist ties?
When I have the egg bite molds double stacked, I use a chopstick to raise one side, grab it with a potholder, and then repeat the process for the second side. Coat hangers would probably work quite well.
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14 minutes ago, oli said:
Looks wonderful. Would this be the recipe?
https://www.food.com/recipe/almond-cake-from-albufeira-portugal-170264
The recipe is on Ann_T's blog... https://thibeaultstable.com/2009/06/10/almond-cake-from-albufeira-portugal/
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I use the IP egg bites mold with this recipe from Instant Pot - https://recipes.instantpot.com/recipe/fluffy-egg-bites/.
Instead of using foil to cover the molds, I use the cover that comes with the IP egg bit mold. I have two molds and I stack them on their trivet and cook per the recipe -- steam for 8 minutes, wait 10 minutes, release pressure. I mix all of the egg custard ingredients in a blender.
IP has a few recipes that use their egg bites mold: https://recipes.instantpot.com/?coursefilter=&cuisinefilter=&dietfilter=&search=egg+bites&bsearch=Search. The corndog minis look like fun! https://recipes.instantpot.com/recipe/corndog-minis/
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If this isn’t the right place for this post, please move it. Found this interesting video about tea and dim sum in Hong Kong.
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13 hours ago, Jim D. said:
When I mentioned pistachio and cherry, I meant to say "pistachio praline gianduja." I use Morello cherry purée in the PdF (that was the only kind available from my supplier). To decrease the Aw of my PdFs, I supplement the purée with some dried fruit (if a dried fruit exists for the fruit in question). Adding those solids lowers the Aw significantly. For dried cherries I use some Montmorency ones from Michigan, which are quite tart. I am not sure how sweet amarena cherries are, but I don't see why they wouldn't work with pistachio. And i think raspberry and red currant would be fine. I have some red currant purée, so will give that try (though I doubt that I will find dried red currants for my Aw concerns). I also found that adding a significant amount of sea salt to the pistachio praline gianduja really brings out its flavor. What type of chocolate are you using with the pistachio? As I said, I mix the pistachio with white chocolate, but generally I make the shells with dark in my continuing efforts to reduce bonbon sweetness..
Not sure yet which chocolate I will use with the pistachio but I’ll be experimenting with thIs batch of pistachio praline and will report back.
Interesting that you add dried fruit to your pdf. I haven’t done that but am very happy with the shelf life on my pdfs. I do boil down the fruit purée to about half to concentrate it and eliminate some water.
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Thank you @Jim D.! Pistachio and cherry was my plan. I have some tart cherries that I thought might work well. Waiting for the batch to be done to do tastings with tart cherries vs. morello cherries. Also wondering if this would work well with glace amarena cherries.
Have you tried this with pistachio praline? I'm wondering if that would have more pistachio punch than pistachio gianduja.
Also considering combining with a raspberry or red currant pdf.
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On 2/26/2023 at 4:33 AM, Rajala said:
Yeah, no issues to change the ratio of sugar. More sugar = higher viscosity.
For pistachio praliné, I usually go 60% pistachio, 40% sugar, and I also add 10% of total weight in pistachio oil.
@Rajala and @Jim D. what have you made with your pistachio praliné? I'm starting a batch with your recommended 60% pistachio | 40% sugar with some of the pistachio flour that Kerry brought to the chocolate and confections workshop. Did either of you warm (or toast) the pistachios?
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1 hour ago, Jim D. said:
@curls wrote: "Got lots of good advice from the workshop attendees on how they made their cheesecake bon bons and cookie bases."
I am interested in learning if there was a consensus on the subject of using whole cookies (surrounded by some sort of moisture barrier) vs. crushing cookies, combining them with cocoa butter/chocolate, and then piping them as a cookie layer. I have always used whole cookies, but it is a pain to fit them into the molds and keep them below the top edge of each cavity. I took one of Kalle Jungstedt's online courses, and he always uses a cookie layer--which, of course, he makes look effortless. My experiments with doing it both ways suggest a whole cookie can be crisper than a layer of crushed cookies, but there is no question that a piped layer is easier. Nearly all of the ultra-neat halved bonbons one sees online (such as those from Jessica Washburn's Bliss Chocolatier) appear to have used a piped layer.
A lot of people at the workshop have taken some of Kalle Jungstedt's online courses and are using his piped crunchy layer or their variation on his recipes or recipes they created. Jim, I hope that they will reply to your query about cookie layers - pipeable and cut outs ( @Haley @Britney @YetiChocolates @Gwbyls @lironp). I found it very easy to pipe Jungstedt's crunchy layer (used the non-nut version) but I did not like it as the bottom layer of the bonbon -- it made for messy bottoms. When I try it again, I will leave room to pipe the crunchy layer and then add a thin layer of chocolate over that to cap the bonbon. I really don't want to bother with making and cutting out cookie centers and adding those to my bonbons.
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8 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:
They look like they will work well.
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2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:
I bought the GripStic clips specifically for that bag of Xochitl corn chips. For most bags I use clips I get from King Arthur.
I use binder clips for chip bags and other bags without zip tops. That should work for your Xochitl corn chips. The GripStics are nice for sealing the large end of pastry bags.
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Someone at the workshop sandwiched a red berry pdf in between two cookies and ran it thru the enrober. Just wanted to say that it is one of my favorite chocolates that I brought home from the workshop. I think @Choco Monsterand @tikidocmade these. Simple but very yummy!
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I also brought home a Premier melanger from last weekend's Chocolates & Confections workshop -- the 10-pound tilting model with the mico-batch bowl. After I got home, I cleaned both bowls by running them with sugar. The following day, I made a batch of hazelnut praline in the micro-batch bowl. Loved being able to tilt out the product. Two sealed containers of homemade hazelnut praline are now in the freezer, ready for use when I need them!
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Sorry it has taken me more time than I expected to get back to this topic with photos. To answer an earlier question, yes you can use longer bags and just tuck the extra material into the chamber prior to sealing.
So, none of the items that I recently sealed maxed out the size of the chamber.
A bag with 975 grams of hazelnuts -- pre and post seal. You can see that there is room for a lot more hazelnuts -- but this is all that I had available.
A steak, approximately 2 pounds. It was already sealed but I sealed it again to guard against possible leaks when cooking sous vide. Could fit a thicker steak or roast.
Canning jars. The two on the sides are Ball 4 ounce canning jars. The one in the center is a larger jam jar. I also have some other square glass containers that fit in the chamber that I use when pickling or infusing -- this tends to let me work with larger quantities than the canning jars.
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Getting some beef ready for fridge and freezer. Sous vide’d London Broil, sirloin steak, and rib steaks at 54.5 C for 2.5 hours.
Started a beef tongue at 70 C that I will pull from the bath tomorrow night.
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On 5/21/2023 at 8:10 PM, Kerry Beal said:
Hopefully as everyone gets home they put up their pictures.
Also as we have done in past years - if you could suggest one thing you learned from the workshop. That's my favorite part.
Many thanks to Kerry, Patty, Rodney, Ruth, and everyone else who helped organize and implement this workshop!
I learned that I need to think about and re-evaluate my workflows and figure out what I can improve and streamline. When Gaylene showed us how she makes her pipeable pdf, I realized that her process is much more efficient and uses a lot less dishes and equipment than my process. There are many ways to do the same things but some ways are far more efficient than others and it would be great for me to cut down on my dish washing.
Not too many more pictures for me to post but here are the last few.
Fruit chocolates in the melanger -- @patris made a banana chocolate & @Haley made a mango chocolate. Both used freeze dried fruits from Trader Joes.
Another day, another amazing breakfast from Rodney / @Alleguede
The caramel that was added to the hazelnuts to make a hazelnut praline in the melanger. This is a dry caramel made with glucose and sugar.
A bon bon with a red currant jelly base -- later topped with cheesecake and a piped graham cracker base. A great experiment but needs a lot more work before it is a sell-able piece. Got lots of good advice from the workshop attendees on how they made their cheesecake bon bons and cookie bases.
Sunday afternoon, an unplanned sightseeing trip to Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House.
On the drive back home, a stop at Penn State's Berkey Creamery. Enjoyed a serving of their Death by Chocolate ice cream and picked up some ice cream, cheese, and beef sticks to take home.
Added to my collection of dipping bowls made by @patris. Love her pottery!
The contents of our swag bags from the workshop sponsors!
The ThermoWorks IR Thermometer that I won as part of our workshop raffle.
Thank you to all our sponsors!!!
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Heading home from a wonderful workshop. Will include more details later. Took the opportunity to stop in State College Pennsylvania and visit the Berkey Creamery. I've heard so much about their ice cream program and this is my first visit.
Enjoyed their death by chocolate ice cream and sampled the peachy paterno ice cream. Both were delicious with a wonderful texture and flavor.
The store has various sizes of ice cream to go along with insulated bags and dry ice. I'm going to have a look and take a half gallon or two home.
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And ice cream for dessert -- black raspberry truffle & black sesame.
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Dinner at Home Taste
A wonderful recommendation from Brian of Tomric!
Served with rice.
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21 minutes ago, Jim D. said:
Glad you were able to benefit from Rodney's melanger expertise. So have you yourself succumbed to the melanger allure? It's difficult to resist.
A lovely tilting melanger and mini bowl are coming home with me. Looking forward to experimenting with it!
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5 hours ago, Jim D. said:
I notice that the additional part (what I referred to as a splash guard) is not installed on the melanger. Was there a reason for that?
I don't know why that part was not installed.
When I made a hazelnut praline today, the "splash guard" was in place. We used Rodney's recipe -- including his dry caramel with glucose.
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12 minutes ago, Smithy said:
I'm confused about the scale in the photos above. The airbrush masks look much larger than the finished confections. Is that simply the photographic angle, i.e. the camera was much closer to the mask than to the finished pieces?
The 3D printer masks are sized to fit the egg mould. I included a photo of the egg with the sprayed rabbit. I hope that helps.
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Decor tips and information were shared. @Haleyis using a 3D printer to create airbrush masks.
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Fruit purees in the walk in freezer! So many flavors to try!
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How to Fill Eclairs
in Pastry & Baking
Posted · Edited by curls (log)
Suggestions for your improvements...
- pastry cream instead of vanilla pudding
- chocolate glaze instead of cake frosting
- reading this choux paste topic, https://forums.egullet.org/topic/74731-pichet-ongs-pate-choux/
- reading Chef Eddy's eclair post, https://chefeddy.com/2010/03/choux-paste/