minas6907

That sounds delicious

I'm pretty sure you should be able to double or triple the recipe no problem. In Chocolates and Confections, I'm pretty sure thats why there are the percentages included, you should be able to make a very large batch no problem, the only thing that is going to change is the cooking time, but that may not be such a huge factor if your using a bigger bowl and a bigger burner anyways. Your still cooking to a temperature, which means the same amount of water would have evaporated, no matter how large or small the batch.

Hey thanks! I love this nougat, I just hate the last step of additional cooking on a range, that seems to take forever, but it yields a good product. I have yet to try making a nougat that doesn't require the additional cooking to remove moisture, it seems that if you dont do that it wont come out very firm, but anyways, I have yet to try it.

Thats a screaming deal! I just ordered mine!

@ Lior Thats because Amazon isnt the seller, they dont have stockpiles of these books in a warehouse, the price is from in independent seller, and they basically can ask whatever price they want, just like any store, doesn't mean anyone will buy it.

I made a nougat today, it's almond, pistachio, and cherry, I also put a touch of grapefruit oil. This is the recipe from 'The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef.'

The $850 listing is not Amazons price, thats an independent seller. Thats very common to see a book sold for a totally outrageous price, you can basically see that with every book. Such as on this page: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0764588443/ref=olp_page_2?ie=UTF8&shipPromoFilter=0&startIndex=15&sort=sip&me=&condition=used If I wanted to, I could buy Chocolates and Confections for $999.00 + 3.99 shipping. Thats just the crazy way people list something I suppose, makes no sense to me, I always wondered if the seller is just hoping a poor individual clicks the 'buy with 1 click' button on accident.

Have you tried any of Grewelings recipes?

Just process the cookies in the food processor until fine, then add the butter. The mixture should be sort of crumbly, but say when you have some in your hand and you close your fist and compress it, they should stay together in one mass, not remain crumbly. I think in all likely hood, you just need more butter. When there's the proper amount of butter in the crust, it solidifies in the fridge, and you have a nice firm crust.

You know, this was something I was sort of wondering about. I've been making scones for some time now by making the dough, forming it into bars, and freezing. When I have over some company or want to bring someone a few fresh baked scones, I'll thaw them, brush with cream, and bake. Is there any reason I couldn't do this same thing with muffins? I mean make the batter, portion them into cups in the pan, freeze them, pop them out of the pan and just keep in the freezer, and when I want thaw a few in the muffin pan, and pop into the oven? I usually just like to bake and average of 4 scone type items at a time, I dont like doing large batches. On a separate note, what can I sub for buttermilk in a muffin recipe? I really never have buttermilk on hand, but almost always have heavy cream. I have a few muffin recipes that call for buttermilk, so I just dont make them, is there a something that will give me comparable results, perhaps 1/2 milk and 1/2 cream? I made the blueberry muffin recipe from On Cooking, which came out nicely, but the tops didnt really seem to brown, they were rather blond when they were fully baked. Anyways, just wondering about a substitution on the buttermilk. Thanks guys.

This is my first attempt at making anything from the Bread Bakers Apprentice. Previously, any baguette type bread I've made was from rather bad formulas from On Cooking or The Professional Chef, very disappointing with the results. But these puppies came out very nicely, I like the rather specific instructions for making the steam (where as the technique from The Professional Pastry Chef didn't seem to yield too good of results). There was a clear, very big difference with these loaves, I do think it's the first time I was able to get a crust I am happy with on a baguette. The recipe was the 'Pain a L'ancienne.'

Hmm, I wonder if this would be my solution, or at least help. Thanks for the tip.

I dont have any tips or anything to help, but out of my own curiosity, are these metal molds?

Hey, very nice work. Personally, I dont think those transfer sheets are all that bad, I think the horizontal lines look rather sharp. And I would think that dark chocolate would go better with the molasses caramel rather then the milk, given the deep flavors there. Where did you get the molasses caramel recipe? Nice dipping btw.

Those colors did come out well! So far I haven't dont any coloring on molded chocolates, but I do have some red powder, which was like $1.50 at the candy supply place, and the oil-based color was about $11. Those are some nice colors for powders, I'm encouraged, I wasnt sure how it would come out.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ateco-Round-Pastry-Cutter-Set/dp/B0013374XO/ref=sr_1_26?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1320103476&sr=1-26 These are the type of cutters you would want to use, one with a nice thin edge, you'll get a good cut that way.

Well thats actually pretty encouraging. Did you add straight water, or any milk/cream?

Yeah, I'm not sure, though, that its that simple with caramels. The sugar has already been taken to a higher temperature then it should have, and so if that did work, I would think that you would end up with a darker, more bitter tasting product. Melting and continuing the cooking process on caramels is not as easy as it sounds. I had a batch of chocolate caramel (using Grewelings recipe) that I wanted to cook a bit more to firm up slightly. Melting it in a pot on the range was not going to work practically, so I melted then in the pot in the oven, the only way to melt then relatively easily. Anyways, after cooking and testing by hand, the re poured then into a frame...and I was so thrilled when they crystallized 2 days later, what a waste. I think it would be easier to remove water from caramels rather then put it back in, I have scoured the internet to see someone who had success doing that, have yet to find one.

Yeah, I use a thermometer as a guide of when to put in the butter and such. Keep in mind when your cooking caramel, its very thick, so different parts of the pot are actually going to be different temperatures, thats why stirring is so important, and companies that produce large amounts of caramel cook the mixture in a fire mixer. But for the sake of consistency at home, you really do need to check it by hand. Check this link out, the videos there will show you basically what your looking for when testing your caramel by hand, and when you do it, you'll get the feel for it. http://www.instructables.com/id/Caramel-Apples-ole-timey-style/step3/The-Cold-Water-Test/ And for Grewelings recipe of caramels using fresh dairy, yes, about an hour is normal. You can only have the heat so high in the beginning of cooking to prevent foaming. The last few batches of caramel I've made I just went ahead and used evaporated milk, that does speed up the cooking, since the evaporated milk doesn't have nearly as much water as whole milk, and you dont really change the recipe. Compare the two recipes, one uses 48 oz of whole milk, the other used 24 oz evap milk, all other ingredients are the same, and I havent noticed much difference with taste.

If the caramel is too stiff, it was cooked longer then it should have been. Not that theres anything wrong with that, when that happened to me it reminded me sort of the See's lollipops or other old time candy, but I know you want a soft chewy candy, so it was cooked just a tad too long. Also, what type of thermometer were you using? I've seen that the probe type work very nicely for measuring the temp of caramels, but something like this : http://www.amazon.com/TCG400-Professional-Candy-Deep-Thermometer/dp/B000095RBW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319690804&sr=8-1 will not be the most accurate. If this is what you were using, then thats why it easily got over cooked, these arent very accurate with things like caramel, since as the mixture cooks down and gets thicker, the mixture cant get into those little holes and give an accurate reading for the whole batch. Also, on a note of the temperature with caramels, look on the recipe of the caramels and read the note on the bottom. You cant rely solely on a temperature reading to determine if the batch is ready, its more of a guide. You need to check the caramels by hand. You cant agitate caramel too much, the more the better. The more you stir the pot, the more even everything cooks. Your caramels are not crystallized, (again, in Grewelings book, caramels are listed under non-crystalline confections) If they were crystallized, they would have an ugly crust on them and sort of break apart easily and not be chewy. You caramels just spent a little bit longer on the flame then they should have. I wouldn't salvage the sheet or even try, I really doubt anything can be done to bring it back to where it should be. Just retry the recipe and test the caramels by hand in cold water, you'll get it.

I should have included 2 more pictures. There's no label on the back, just a sticker of a rather spiffy looking gentleman, and no barcode anywhere. And the other side of the label that is across the top of the cap has a number.

Hello! I usually just run around the pastry forum, but had a question for you all who have knowledge about spirits. A friend of mine gave me this bottle (along with a few other that dont look so old) he got it from a client of his who had quite the liquor cabinet. So I understand its an Italian liquor, but I'm wondering more about the age of the bottle. I included some pics, the label on a bottle of this stuff you would purchase now looks quite different, but the numbers on the side...that not a date is it? This thing cant really be from the 40's, right?

At 5.00 a piece, those had better be perfect spheres, I will not stand for anything less!

The one I like is from "The Professional Pastry Chef." They come out very very nicely, let me know if you want the recipe. The madeleine base is good to work from, but there are also recipes in the book for Gianduja, Lemon Verbena, and White Chocolate and Almond madeleines.

Thats amazing the similarities between edible and poisonous, especially the picture of the jack-o-lantern and the chantrelle's. Edit: Hey, thats neat, those jack-o-lantern mushrooms glow in the dark. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Omphalotus_olearius_33857.jpg Yummy.