Matthew Kirshner

Have you thought about truffle molds? I use the truffle flexi molds and it really helped out with my production. Once done you can pop them out and dip and ready to sell.

What Temperature are you baking the baguettes? Also please correct me if i am wrong from anyone but why is there sugar in the formula? I agree with Dave W, King Aurthur has a really good baguette recipe using a poolish which you should try. Adding steam to the oven also helps with adding a good crust to the bread.

Hey Everyone, I want to make Marshmallow Fondant at work but from previous posts, i am not allowed to use anything that contains gelatin(animal not fish) I know there is gelatin free marshmallows on the market, but i would like to make my own from scratch. Has anyone made marshmallows using agar-agar with success? Also if anyone has made this type of fondant with success any pointers. Thanks in advance!! Matt

Honestly it really depends on what you are doing with the brioche. If you are just making loafs or rolls, Ciril Hitz has a really great formula. If you want to deep fry for donuts, i suggest Michel Suas formula with a sponge.

A Couple Things I did over the last Two Days. From Left to Right: Tiramisu, Carrot Cake, Vanilla w/ Blueberry Frosting and dizzle, Chocolate w/ Vanilla and Stewed Cherry dizzle, Chocolate w/ Mocha Frosting and Chocolate Dizzle Communion Cake. Vanilla Cake with Rich Chocolate Pudding Filling, Vanilla Buttercream, Fondant Cover

Thank You everyone for the insight. Where i do my work(BTW, I'm located in Connecticut) i am in my basement where i i do have three separate outlets. I was always concern about the output of the machines. There are a few mixers on Webstaurant that mention the footage of wiring with a orange cord. They explain on the site its to show the inspectors its not a household machine. Any reason for the length and coloring?

Hi All, I was not sure if this would be the appropriate forum for this question(if not i am really sorry) but if i were to upgrade my home mixer to a 10qt mixer or even an 8qt mixer is it possible without calling an electrician to my home to rewire my own? From what i gathered from the specs on the mixers i was looking at from webstaurantstore, 110v ranging from 400-600wts. I will not be installing anything else in the outlet where i will be plugging in. If anyone could help me with any info or if anyone has installed a mixer for their home like the ones i am thinking of purchasing and has advise. Thank You, Matt

I have Guittard in the past for both molding and ganaches, i have no complaints about the chocolate itself. I myself love Valhrona, but between the both i feel both prices have gone up a lot in the past two years. I know there is a cocoa bean shortage which i understand the increase. I recently got samples from Dezaan Chocolates and i have to say i like it and the price is pretty good. For the Guittard I use a lot of the 61% Dark for molding and and their 72% for most ganaches. Just my two cents

Jim, awesome chocolates!! I especially love the splash design on the banana passion one. I use to have some flavor problems in the past with rhubarb myself. I always wanted to bring out the flavor more. My chef at the time suggested roasting the the stalks with 10% of sugar and one vanilla bean per 1000g of rhubarb. After roasting i should puree and use for whatever i needed it for. Over time i started mixing it into caramel slabs. Just my tow cents. Again awesome chocolate work

Because of my production schedule and what i have to maintain, nothing goes to waste. The yolks i save for pate-a-bombe, brulee's, ect... Same goes for the whites, usually for buttercreams, meringue's, ect..

Thanks Shalmanese, and yes i did mean 16 cents. I do have a few chickens so my cost for eggs for expreimenting is very low per egg, but for my business i have to buy the eggs. As much as i want to get more chickens and elminate my egg cost as a whole, i do not want to clean a bigger chicken coop. Thanks again for helping me out. PM me with your mailing address and i will send a little treat for you(Using my chicken eggs of course!!)

Hi Everyone, I am driving myself insane right with one product cost. I am trying to figure out the cost of eggs being separated into yolks and whites. I know the cost of one egg as a whole is .16 cents. With a waste % of 10%(shell) On average each egg weighs 55grams, so when split I have 20grams yolks to 35grams whites. When I do my calculations on both, it is not adding up to the original 16 cents. I am using a new program to figure out recipe cost but I am still in the process of updating all ingredients into the database. I don’t know if I am inputting the wrong formulas calculations to for each bi-product If anyone can help me out with this , I will treat you to Macarons or Macaroons in the mail. Matt

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think for the next menu ideas i am going to split the dishs with 3 cookie tuile decor and 2-3 sugar type decor. If i start making different sugar pieces i know its something i will regret.

Hey everyone, I have been wondering about this topic for a while now. Years ago i use to use isomalt and other forms of sugar decor for a platted desserts, and i always wondering why some chefs use it. I know yes isomalt and other types of pulled sugar are edible but when I see plates come back into the kitchen, half ate the décor while rest didn’t bother. I am curious to know if anyone does explain to waitstaff or to the customer themselves to say “Yes you can eat that”. I only ask because I do remember for certain plates it help “jazzed” it up, and I would like to get back into it. Any thoughts?

I do agree about the gluten development for the dough, i have also seen to much grease around the ring causing the dough to slip down from the sides because of the added fat/oil baking into the walls. I usually freeze the shells before baking, 98% of the time i dont' have problems with shrinkage.

Hey Kim, I used a M1 tip and the buttercream I use at work is a American B.C I do thin it out with slightly warm milk to make it a little more pipable. Love the banana bread. My wife and I always buy two bunchs of bananas just so we can make it.

I was trying out this cake design that i have had customers asked about, Rosette Cake: Chocolate cake, Vanilla buttercream in three different shades of pink. Not too bad for the first time. Like my chefs before use to tell me, pratice make you better

Two books i refer to for restaurant plating is: The Dessert Architect-Robert Wemischner. Interesting plating designs and components Grand Livre de Cuisine- Alain Ducasse. Some recipes may seem a little unusal, but the end results are fantastic. lots of petit four ideas as well. Both can be found on amazon

Chocomom- the transfer sheets were bought(i believe i recieved them from Chefrubber) but thank you for the kind words. My wife was mad i didnt bring her any, but valentines day is only 5 days away, she can wait, lol The heart to tell you the truth, i was hoping to spray, but the gun was not working. There is a clog in the in the intake tube that i just can not get out, so the next best option was to smear the cocoa butter

Hey everyone, figure i could share whats on the valentine's menu. I must say Chocomom and Jim, beautiful chocolates!! From the back: Dark Mousse Cup, Chocolate Macaron w/ rasp. jam filling Middle: Dark chocolate Truffle, Starwberry Macaron and Purple Almond Macaron, both w/ ganache piping Front: Caramel bonbon cast in dark chocolate, Milk cherry ganache cast in white chocolate heart, Irish cream cast in dark chocolate(the circuit pattern transfer sheet), and Raspberry Lime filling cast in dark chocolate

Alysa, how far in advance are you making these treats. Marshmallows normally do not have a long shelf life(at least in my opinion). If so i would make your normal batch and after you have form the squares, just wrapped individual. I hope this helps. Matt

Unfortantly no, she did tell me the cake was gone in two seconds. I usually dont take pictures of slices. Dont know why!

Made a birthday cake last weekend for a client. Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Mousse Filling, Ganache Coating, Fondant cover. Snowmen are cake pops.

Hi everyone, just a quick question about swiss meringue, since the sugar and egg whites are being cooked over a double boiler, is it really nessary to dry the piped pieces in a oven? Could you possible just pipe and leave at room temp. overnight? I only ask because I am making decor pieces for the buche de noel. Any insight would be helpful with production work. Matt

Hi RobertM, I am sorry to say i will not be able to attend the workshop in May. My wife is expecting towards the end of May, so please take me off the list. I did inform her I will be expecting to attended in 2016 where ever it may be held. Good luck with the planning. Matt