bripastryguy

use a thermometer to check your syrups temp

2 possible problems (also had them recently) Your syrup may not have been the right temperature which will allow excess moisture to leach from the egg whites or your powdered sugar mixture may be too moist. When I make my marshmallows, I cook the syrup to 260, is that what you do? Once the marshmallows have cooled slightly I put them in a shallow pan, sprayed with non-stick spray and dusted with confectioners sugar. Then I place a layer of confec sugar on top and allow it to sit for about 6 hours. Flip it out of the pan and coat the underside as well with confectioners sugar. I cut what I need and toss it in more confec sugar. I keep the remaining marshmallow wrapped in plastic wrap until needed in a cool dry area.

Just to drop in on this subject..... I use Callebaut (Belgian) for alot, unfortunately due to price. The Cocoa Barry which I have used for so long is $1.00 more a pound and when you own your own business that is alot. I am still sourcing for better prices. I agree with all the negative points on the product but I am in the business to make money and provide my customers with a tasty product. You will never catch me giving in to using brands like Merkens, hersheys etc..... So for my respect for my peers. I guess I'm selling out alittle.......

Thanx Wendy, I will give them all a shot. I have been using the chocolate glacage that Michael gave out...works great, looks great only draw back- TOO FRAGILE. I ship my desserts frozen and they need to be more durable....

Please share as I really dont want to purchase pre-made glaze

I would like to know what my peers prefer to glaze with..... Ganache: with the addition of butter, eggs or no eggs, no butter? trimolene, glucose, sugar????? Simple chocolate glaze, chocolate, cream, simple syrup? Glacage? Love it, but way to fragile...... I guess I'm searching for the perfect glaze.... One that shines, coats evenly, slighly resilliant, retains its luster and dear god, please no sweating......

To answer the questions: I was not planning on placing at all ( I know my desserts are good, but there are many who are better). I went with a positive attitude and the notion that I would have my goods tasted by 350 possible customers. So if I placed 1st or 18th I think my attitude would have been the same. I had a great time, many new friends and introduced my company. Paris Gourmet & Cacao Noel gave us nothing! We had to purchase the chocolate. It was fine, evrybody said the same thing, they all used what they had and used some of the chocolate from Cacao Noel. What they are doing is, "An Evening of Good Taste" (local event) www.eveningofgoodtaste.com is having a Chocolate Pavillion and Cacao Noel is donating 2 boxes of chocolate to every participant (not a competition, more like a massive tasting) Chefette's questions: 1-Promotion, testing my metal against my nearest competion. Networking, etc. 2-Competition held @ The Watermill caterers (they also participated and took 2nd?) 3-4 Juding was not professional, general public-people's choice (which to me and my business at this point is very important to know what potential customers think) The competion was some of the top pastry chefs from my area, some with far superior talent, marketing etc... and some with less

As someone who was never really into the competition scene, i have found new excitement in it. I recently under went entrance into a local competion (long island) sponsered by Paris Gourmet and Cacao Noel, it was to benefit the CODY foundation (a very worthwhile charity). The requirements: 1-showpiece comprizing of atleat 60% chocolate and the rest maybe completed with sugar work of any kind. 2-Plated Dessert 3-200 Tasting portions. *All with the Valentines Day Theme I had never really competed in anything like this before, I was apprehensive as to my skill level (as are most of us-tempermental unsure, some time cocky, but always passionate about what we do). My sales rep lead me down the path. I saught out a friend of mine who has really taken an interest in showpieces and with his aide we made a very nice showpiece, the plated dessert was my gig.I decided to do a tasting for 2 consisting of: Chocolate Passion Trio Semi-Frozen Chocolate Malted with Praline Crunch and Bananas Foster Passion Fruit Creme Brulee with apricot-passion Jam Illegal chocolate pudding (super rich) with homemade marshmallow (which i toasted for the guests and peanut butter biscotti. All my desserts had a great reception from all the guests. I came in 3rd, not too shabby for 18 contestants. Through this competition I have met many new collegues, vendors, friends and possibly even a distributor that wants to handle my dessrts. So, for me I think this competition had only positive effects and will continue to help my business grow and I have a really nice plaque and medal to decorate my new store with.

Jason, Along those lines I have thrown my hat into the competition arena. I dont expect to win but I hope to make a nice showing. I'm unfamiliar with many techniques but have enlisted the aide of one of my friends who has gotten a pretty good handle on chocolate showpiece work. The items we've done so far are pretty up to date and will look impressive when finished (not WPC caliber but still good in there own right.) Neil-Awesome stuff!!!! Jaquey is a great teacher, I followed him around for years and took every class he gave, he humorously refred to me as his own private stalker...... I call on him time to time and he is always there when needed. His wife is also very helpful and a good pastry chef on her own.... One word of advice-Just keep it up and keep learning.

The ricotta you are looking for is called Impastata, it is a low moisture ricotta. If you want 10 pounds, We can work out a way for you to get it. Call me @ 516-794-4478 Brian

Zilla, I had the chance to work with a very talented Chef, Jeffrey Buben at Vidalia. I wa sshort lived as the pastry chef but got some great pointers from an older southern lady. We had on the menu: Lemon Chess Pie with Stewed huckle berries and double cream Hazelnut shortcake with red berries (ye, I know) Chocolate Density with Nutella Ice cream Pecan Pie with Vanilla Ice cream (ye, i know) my contribution: Sweet Potato Brownie with Buttermilk Ice Cream, homemade marshmallows and molasses caramel The brownie is killer, want the recipe?

I just bought a case of Plugra for around $62.00 ($2.09 / pound) at Restaurant Depot, it only was 13 cents more a pound then regular unsalted no name butter....awesome buttercream

NY State Macoun, a mellow macintosch apple with awesome flavor!

JF, When spreading the ganache on the rugelach dough I seal it in with dry chocolate cake crumbs and you can also sprinkle in same chopped hazelnuts. I bought some nutella, I'm gonna try it tonight. I will let you know. Bri

As a former BR Guest Employee, I have to come to Steve Hansons defense. His philosophy has been one of feeding people food what they want to eat. I havent been able to make it to Fiamma. But I would like to say that they try their best to please everybody and in most cases they do. The bread is not made by Sullivan Street as said above, but made handcrafted in the artisan style by their baking facility in Long Island City. They have a very talented head baker named Ali Pandey. I ahd the pleasure of working with him (I was the assistant corporate pastry chef for BR Guest for 2 years) The bread is top notch. BR guest is trying to become a self sufficient entity and they have just recently began publicizing their Chefs. Elizabeth was the 2nd pastry chef to get any notice from the company, first was Joe Murphy...both very talented chefs. Has anyone tried Dos Caminos?

Steve, Your advice is always so damn solid. If anybody thinks he should finally open a pastry school say Ay! I would surely attend as so would many of our egullet peers. I will evaluate your advice. I think the "plus" size idea is a strong solution. I am getting larger molds (using pvc with acetate liner-most cost effective for me right now) I was also toying with the idea of selling "strips" Cut sheet pans of prepared cakes into equal strips, good for banquets, tasting plates and chefs who have their own notion of portion size.

All suggestions taken. I think for the time being I will coddle this guy, his referrel potential is huge for my business (he has alot of friends that he can "suggest" to buy my product, he was actually soliciting a possible account last night) So my temporary solution would be just to make his portion size alittle bigger (not much but enough to make him happy) even though only one guest complained about the size of the Tiramisu. I guess for alittle inconvenience to eventually get some more acconts out of him, I think its the "Attract more bees with honey" syndrome......

Michael, I'm not really understanding your reply. Zilla, I know, the spelling is horrible, he did the site bargain basement style. and my last name only has 1 n in it.

I'm in the process of setting up my brochure I will post pix asap. The problem with this guy is that he wants to spend $90.00 on jeans (we're friends, so I have spent time with him) then $20.00 on a silpat. I know that's his problem, but having him as a client seems to make it mine.

Richard, He is a whole new thread entirely. He is not a fine dining restaurant, he wants to be labeled as the neighborhood bistro Toque An American Bistro , so I think the "you portion it" may be the way I have to go with him. I know, Tiramisu is ho hum, but its still sells just like creme brulee I like the size of the 4 oz. deserts, but they may not be for him, I do have some pvc 3" that i will be forced to use. I dont want to have to alter my whole dessert line

thanks Wendy. We feel we (me and my partner) need to spread the word...............

Richard, I am behind you with the constructive thing but this guy doesnt want to do anything. He wants it all done for him. The guy that he has working the dessert/salad station is for lack of a better word-incapable (nice guy, but too slow and no memory retention), he burns tuiles, overcooks sauces(anglaise) and he even has him doing breads. So this dessert plater is spread thin and cant keep up with the production he has allready. One major problem with this client is his portion size on his appetizers and entrees, they are too big! When guests do order dessert ( I think he has a 10%) dessert sale, but he offers dessert included in his $23.95 3 course prix fixe. I have told him on numerous occasions that his portion size is killing his potential dessert sales.....how do I make him understand. I dont want to have to purchase new equipment just to make HIM happy, (I just spent alot of money on the equipment I have). I think my best bet is to sell him 10" cakes, terrines, and other similar items that he can decide on his own portion size.

Last night I got a call from that pain in the ass chef (the one that causes me all the headaches) I went from being his employee to his dessert supplier. 1 guest complained "How dare he charge $5.95 for 2 bites of tiramisu!" , I listened to him , but was cursing him in head. I use these rapid molds purshased from Kerekes they are 4 oz. individual round molds, pretty much standard in our realm. I have 3 sets (105 molds in all) as well I have other shapes. 4 oz. production molds My Tiramisu is flavored intense, so what do I do? change the size for this one guy (I'm only charging him $1.75 each). I have costed them out for this size. I really want to tell this guy that this is one customers opinion and that you cant expect to please everybody, no one else has complained except him and this customer. I feel the problem is he does nothing to the desserts, puts it on a plate with sauce and calls it a day. The real question-on both sides of the spectrum, as a pastry chef are these too small (or perfect) and to the consumers, would you make the same complaint? When is a dessert considered too small?

agreed, Michael well said. I think maybe that might be the reason why my business is called "Sweet Karma Baking Company"

I have a slap in the face for all the legitimate hard working pastry chefs out there............... I have worked for the majority of my adult life in NY starting as a cook and delivery person up to pastry chef, a title I feel that is earned not just given, a term of respect. I worked with a guy who claimed to be a pastry chef for some time. We decided to do a consulting project together for a new Belgian restaurant opening. The chef knew this guy (should I post his name and website?) and asked if he could help him get open. We agreed to the project, he knowing that he lacked the skill to pull it off , let me work out the details, menu and recipes. We went in do production, I gave him some recipes (basic almond tuile) and he proceeded to screw everything up... horribly. I had to fix everything he did-Molten cakes, cooked way too long, creme brulee still raw, almond tuile batter not mixed correctly (he threw everything in the mixer and hoped it would get smooth- oh God, this guy calls himself a pastry chef.... Needless to say I saved the day, but this was just the beginning. He got backing and asked me to open a store with him. He proceeded to walk around the store like a king, while I worked like a dog (I guess to make him look good). Eventually I caught him stealing money and the owners canned him. He is pretty resilient and a great fabricator of lies and truth manipulation. He is a media madman and has parlayed his lack of skill into a tv show deal, sauce and product endorsement and many media representations- he became his own PR. This kills me. I kind of shrug from the limelight, but I feel I have the skill (I dont know everything) to pull off the job. I have respect for thos ethat have superior skill and show them respect, he in turn hangs with them like an equal, taking pictures with Francois Payard like they are old buddies, hes got no real skill to speak of except his ability to bounce back. So how do we stop hacks and shoemakers from stealing our thunder? Do I sound bitter or angry? Hell Yes!!!!!!!!!! as should all us that have had their press and respect stolen by these phonies......