minas6907

Here's some blackberry berlingots I just did. Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

I'm using the "pate de fruit" apple pectin from chef rubber. Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks Darienne! Heres another one I got done with a few days ago, Peach Pate de Fruit.

I'd first advise getting some good text books. CIA's Baking and Pastry is good, as well as On Baking or Professional Baking. Make things your interested in, and try something that would be a challenge to you. With the books, when you think of something you want to make, it will be in one of them. I've found a surprising amount of items that are in one book and not the others. There's different ways of approaching learning pastry. Do you do it for a living, or is it just a hobby? When you try new things you not only attempt making a new item, but you'll learn different things in the process. Out of my own curiosity, whats so.drying that you would say is next on your list of items ti make? Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

I just did a batch of pate de fruit this morning, I wanted to get an accurate idea on the number of jellies as well as how many the platter would hold.

Those are beautiful. What is the "skin" made from? And what did you paint it with? Thanks! The skins are also an agar jellie, they contain a little bit less orange juice concentrate and also have frappe, which lightens the color. The outside was painted with a tiny bit of color paste (chef rubber) that was diluted with a little bit of vodka, these are just straight out of Grewelings book. Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

Heres my latest project, Agar Citrus Slices. One thing though, has anyone made these? I seem to have trouble making the 'skin' adhere to the main jellie, I thought agar agar jellies were suppossed to be very easy to stack, I've dont this twice now with the same result. Anyways, I want to try these with the pectin formula, I think I will have an easier time with them. Heres the pics:

Hey Curls Thanks alot for your input! That is an amazing chocolate display, I dont think I could pull anything off like that though! What I'm working is a 6ft table, thats what the bride told me we have, so anything that is flowing like the display of bonbons if out unfortunately. Truthfully, I'm very happy with what I came up with though, and I say that because I like to make the items that go on the plate, I dont like to arrange the table, this is my first time doing it. My coworker and his wife came over to give my a hand, since they will be helping me set up the table at the wedding, and she had very nice ideas. She wants the two silver (they will be painted white) pieces in the back along with the large glass jar to be elevated on a box, and she also came up with a very nice idea for making that glass jar more of a center piece then actually housing candy. Anyways, it seems like were getting this thing more squared away, so I'm glad! Truthfully though, symmetrical is something I like...and what do you mean by static? Thanks again for taking a look, I appreciate that!

I do tea anywhere from 7-11pm Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

Biscotti? Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

Hey thanks guys! I wanted to share this photo, just got done with it. I'm making a candy bar for a friend in March for her wedding, and just got dont doing a mock up. On the menu for items I'm making are pulled sugar lollis (gold and white, grande marnier flavor) Pillow Mints (white with gold stripes, flavored with peppermint, honey, and lemon) Pate de Fruit (Pear) Peppermint Patties, Gummies (various shades of yellow/gold, flavor to be decided) Caramels (1/2 plain, 1/2 sea salt) Cake Pops (a friend of mine is making these) and Taffy (light blue, purple, yellow, and pink, flavored with blueberry, lavender, lemon, and raspberry respectively. Of purchased items, there will be marshmallow, powdered and cinnamon donuts, and white and yellow m&m's.

Not sure if this belongs here, but I made a coco today and enjoyed some cinnamon nutmeg marshmallows I made earlier this week, those things are extra wonderful in the drink!

Heres some peppermint patties I just got done with.

Cinnamon Nutmeg Marshmallow

I would say for a certainty that I prefer Notters formula over Grewelings. Though I do like that fact that Grewelings formula is set up that you can just go ahead and use any fruit, Notters seems more straight forward. In Chocolates and Confections, you add the sugar and glucose each twice while cooking, while Notters instructs to mix the pectin with the entire quantity of sugar, boil that with the fruit puree, add glucose, boil, add acid, and your done. Another note, Greweling uses lemon juice as an acid at the end of cooking, and while I do like the taste of lemon and think it definitely enhances the flavor, I tasted the tartaric acid solutions Notter uses, and its incredibly sharp and sour, but mixed into the pate de fruit mixture, I thought it did a very nice job of enhancing the fruit flavors. All in all, I dont see myself making Grewelings formula anymore, perhaps I would if I actually did have some superpomme (I remember this stuff in the restaurant, it's good!) but since I dont, I really dont want to bother with cooking apples down into a paste just to have one ingredient in a recipe. Also, thanks for the compliment on the flower!

I know this isnt the best looking flower, I still have problem consistantly shaping pedals, but anywho, I made this after reading a thread about 'turned sugar' rather then pulled sugar. I had never heard of it, and found hardly any references to it, you pretty much prepare the sugar, cast it into a frame, and score it so it will break into small squares. Then you heat the pieces as you need them, and make what decorations you want, then after a day or so, the piece will crystallize, making it it more resistant to humidity. This flower was just left of some plastic wrap on my bookshelf, after one day, the flower had crystallized, not sticky what so ever. Anyways, I just thought it was interesting. Heres the thread and the only website I found on the subject. Also, the book "Petits Fours, Chocolate, Frozen Desserts, and Sugar Work" has a few pages on it. http://www.cheftalk.com/t/16256/turned-sugar-sucre-tourne http://cuisine.journaldesfemmes.com/recette/350331-les-fleurs-en-sucre-tourne

Here are some lollis I did for the kiddo's at an anniversary party, they are blackberry pear. The parties colors were white, silver, and turquoise.

Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey Bonbon

Certainly is! By far one of my favorites to enjoy! I love making hard candy from pulled sugar, but the torrone is something that I really enjoy eating with some coffee or tea, you can only have so much hard candies! Unless your using a beefy mixer, I would not make more then 1/3 of the recipe. All in all, making the hard nougat translates into whipping egg whites with a syrup that would otherwise form a hard candy. When all the syrup was added, my mixer went from whipping super crazy on high to sort of a medium speed, I almost feel like if I made this too often I'm going to break my machine! I understand now who Greweling says to use a 12qt. planetary mixer!

Here a nougat torrone I did from Grewelings formula. I did a 1/3 recipe which yielded an 8.5x11 sheet, nearly brought my kitchen aid to its knees!

Its raining here in San Diego, so some pate de fruit was my little project today. I just got some apple pectin last week, so I made some jellies using Grewelings formula. I wanted to try out Notters formula, and I really liked how it set up! And the added bonus for me is not having to have an apple puree on hand to make them, as Grewelings recipe states. Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

I second Notters book. Many texts on sugar work are out of print, and thus difficult to get without paying out more then the book is worth. Notters book is the most recently published and goes into great detail on the many many different things you can do with sugar, isomalt, and pastillage. If you have any interest in sugarwork, you'll love that book. Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

Nice work cookalong. What recipe are you using for your macarons? They look nice, and I love the idea of using beet as a flavoring, I love roasted beets simply because they are so sweet! Also, very nice Flödeboller, I've never hear of that, but great pics. Btw, I too have made so much pate de fruit that was all screwed up, and now I cant believe how easy it is with the right pectin, almost effortless!

Here's my second round of macaroon. They are filled with a dark chocolate ganache that has Cointreau and an oil of Bergamot. Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

Can you elaborate further? I've been treating caramel as per any other sugar operation wherby temperature matters and time is largely immaterial. In Chocolates and Confections, Greweling does a good job of explaining it. Theres a tiny note at the end of the caramel recipe that says anytime you cook a caramel, you should always check the consistency by hand, despite having a target temperature that your cooking to. I do use a thermometer when I cook caramels, but its only a guide. When I get close to 235f, I pull it out, and check the candy by hand every few minutes. I just keep a bowl of ice water next to me, drop a small amount of caramel into it, and depending on the firmness of it, that will tell me what the consistency will be when the caramel is pulled off the fire and cooled completely in the frame. Someone else can probably give a better word picture of describe it more clearly, but when I see the caramel dripping into the water in a steady stream and the stream solidifies almost immediately, that's when I pull it. I might take a little bit of my sweet time to mix in the salt and pour it out, but when that caramel is cool, it sets up very nicely. If your caramel liquifies after a few days, its definitely not cooked enough. I've made caramel slab at least a week ahead of time for a wedding, wrapped it when it cooled, and cut the day before, and it help up fine, caramel has a pretty decent shelf life. Just cook the caramel longer then you might think you have to, and it definitely will firm up.