Wendy DeBord

O.k.........I have to plead guilty to using the word compound and emulsion interchangably. But let me see if I can make some sense of this. Purees, are the pulp and juice of a fruit pureed together and usually strained (but not always). It should be just pure fruit......maybe a little sugar or additives as perservatives. You can make your own purees at home. Purchased purees do seem to have a more intense flavor then when I make my own puree. They claim they're using fruit picked at peek ripeness...........maybe that's part of it........but purchased purees usually have less water content and more fruit intensity then when you puree fruit yourself. If I cook down my fruit to evaporate the excess water..........I can taste the cooked fruit verses fresh uncooked fruit. Thats one thing these all have in common. Their tastes usually taste uncooked/unprocessed/natural. High quality emulsions and compounds taste like cooked down/reduced fruit with a more intense flavor concentration then fresh or puree. I can tell you that the taste can vary greatly from one brand to the next. Perhaps good compounds are all natural and bad ones use artifical flavorings? I'm not certain. I can tell you that the Albert Uster emulsions taste like a base of material to which they've added flavorings (some of their flavors taste natural, some taste completely artifical). The liquid they use to suspend the flavoring is all the same feeling and looking thru their product line. Where as the Dridopple compounds (my photos show them in jars) taste like real fruit........... like intense cooked down fruit, but they don't taste "cooked". So a little goes a long way. The rum emulsion I have in the photo (from Dridopple) is an artifical taste suspended in a base......an emulsion. You can add emulsions and compounds to fat based products like mousse, ganche, buttercream, pastry cream, bavarians, whipped cream, etc.... They mix together with products that contain some fat. But you can't add emulsions and compounds to straight chocolate, they don't mix. Cocoa butter isn't the same as fat. You can add emulsions to raw batters to flavor them (although the flavor does dull alittle from the heat of baking). If you taste a compound straight from the jar it doesn't seem like a flavor suspended in fat, like an oil. I think you can clearly see the texture of a compound in the photos I've previously posted in this thread. I bet on the back of a label it states exactly what's in the compound, but I'm at home now and can't look for you. Pastes, are usually nut pastes.... pureed nuts. But there are companies that market 'pastes' like coconut, fruits of the forest, amaretto, etc..... I can't tell you a clear defination for those. Those 'pastes' I've gotten were similar to emulsions in that they seem to be a neutral base with flavorings suspended in them, possible both natural and artifical flavorings. The nut pastes can be artifically flavored or all natural. In a current thread someone asked about some pistachio paste they bought. They purchased a sweetened and colored pistachio paste, verses all nuts ground into a paste. Real nut pastes seperate in time as they sit on your shelfs. The oil rises to the top, the solids to the bottom. Emulsions and compounds don't seperate when left un-agitiated on a shelf for a period of time. Oil's..........good quality oils like Boyajian can be used in most baked products. They mix with cocoa butter like shortening does. You can put them in frostings, mousses, raw batters. The flavoring from oils doesn't fade in a baked item like compounds and emulsions can. Unless your making a product that doesn't mix with fat like a meringue you can use oils in everything. They tend to be in-expensive and intense, but you can't get them in a wide range of flavors only from fruits that have oils. I believe the oil is completely natural and extracted mainly from the skin of the fruit. Then there are oils like Loranne oils, where they seem to be adding artical flavorings to oil (not oil from the fruit) and you can taste that unnatural artifical taste. Like the bottles of extract you find in the grocery stores from McCormick. The extracts at the grocery stores are alchol based flavorings, not oil or emulsion based. There are better and worse brands, in my opinion. The alchol based extracts do mix with oil/fats.......but they don't mix with cocoa butter. Then there are dried fruit powders..........I believe they are dried purees. Their flavor is not intense. They mix with items like meringue because they don't contain any fat. They are expensive and don't come in a wide variety of flavors. So I think it all comes down to the expertise of the company making the compounds, extracts, emulsions, oils. Theres good and bad examples of each out on the market. You should ask about the product line your interested in purchasing from people who use them (not relying on the companies sales pitch). Asking about the quality, because it does vary and price isn't always the way to figure out which is best.

Well the thing is what are you going to use as your ink if you silk screen? Just colored cocoa butter doesn't work on acetate like you might be imagining. It wants to bead up when you put it on acetate sheets. They must use some additives to print patterns on transfer sheets........or there's something about the blank transfer sheet companies use that makes cocoa butter adhear well to it. Maybe even controling the temp of the paper being printed on..... so it adhears instantly. You can stencil on logos after you've set your chocolate using gold or silver dusts. You can use rubber stamps to apply the dust onto chocolate. But you can't just put images on acetate in cocoa butter and make anything similar to what you buy with transfer sheets.

I'm short on time this morning........it's a work day for me. But I have a couple photos in my files I took of some ingredients I have on hand at work......that I can show you.

Welcome the the eGullet Society For Arts & Letters dmalouf. Regular inks are not edible. You need cocoa butter based ink and a smooth surface to adhear it to as professional transfer sheets come on. I don't beleive the equipment to print transfer sheets is inexspensive.......or we'd see alot of places making their own. To the best of my knowledge you can make your own, I have. But their crude compared to whats commerical printed. Printing on fondant, chocolate plastic and gum paste requires a different type of printer that prints dirrectly on the surface of them. These aren't cheap either.

Hello Hannahmontana, welcome to the eGullet Society For Arts & Letters. I hope everyones input has been helpful for you? If you have any further questions please don't hestiatate to ask them...........and please don't feel shy or intimidated. I've never made croissants. I do seem to recall seeing some beautiful croissant photos from Melmeks bakery..........didn't Anne rave about them?

I don't know of how to fix this now that it's done. You could attempt another layer of your jelly over this, if your certain it won't crack either. Or if your desperate.....you could sprinkle some find white chocolate shavings over them if they'll stick to your glazed area......sort of hiding what's beneath.

My favorite recipe for angel food cake comes from Martha Stewarts website. It's a chocolate chip angel food cake.............just don't add the chocolate bits and you've got a pretty good plain angel food cake. Using both almond extract and vanilla extract makes your cake taste more similar to purchased angel food cakes.......it's up to you if you want that or not. If not, use all vanilla. I hope this goes well for you. Angel food cakes are supprisingly easy to make........once you try. I think you'll be successful. The only tip that come to my mind at this moment: make sure you've baked it completely by testing it with a toothpick. If it's underbaked it will deflate a bit upon cooling and be dense. Otherwise.........just follow the recipe.

I looked at the links..............but didn't see it. Can you show us a photo of this lobster tail's pastry? I'd love to see it.

I you don't mind, we prefer everyone post recipes in public on threads so everyone can share and participate. If you need help understanding how to adapt a published recipe so it doesn't violate copy right law, please feel free to ask me or any host your questions.

I enjoy reading details about small private companies on their packaging. I enjoy stumbling over something interesting to read while I'm eating the product. It personalizes them/the business/the people behind the business, it can make me bond/or identify to a product or the business owners.

I make several cookies that I got from Everyday Living magazine. If you go to http://www.marthastewart.com she's got tons of cookie recipes. My current favorites are the oatmeal chocolate chunk recipe they published (I don't use the chocolate instead I use raisins) and a chocolate cookie I think they called something like"simply outragous chocolate cookies". Both recipes I believe were given to the magazine by readers (readers choice or cookie of the month type of feature). (The chocolate cookie does not contain flour and it is outragously good!)

Really? That's what I've always done with flan or creme carmel. I hit it for a second with the torch, then poke a little hole with the pairing knife and remove the ramekin. Thats just the way I learned at the places I worked. In any case it works fine. I find that when I don't use the torch I will have mostly liquid caramel with one or two solid "films" that slide onto the plate or just look bad. Maybe I do something else wrong along the way... ← I'm sorry I didn't mean my comments to be a personal attack, not at all. I was thinking of the beginning pastry person and worried they would take your dirrections too literally and not understand the fine nueances needed to work as you do. Don't you agree that you shouldn't serve molten caramel to a diner? If your heating the caramel to liquify it..........your making molten caramel, no? Yes, it will cool down, but them it will harden back up and be very hard to eat. You also are heating up the custard............they could scramble the outside edges of it, no? It's fairly hard to handle a hot little ramakin while unmolding it. Time consuming if your unmolding several at the same time. I agree that your technique if done with skill and so your just warming up the ramakin and not firing it like pottery to turn the sugar into hot molten liquid will work fine. In fact, I find this very interesting and I'd like to learn more about this from you. Any chance you would explain it further? I sincerely meant no offense or disrespect............please accept my appologies, my wording was in appropriate. After seeing your second post on the topic where you mention your just warming the dish I see that I misunderstood. I don't understand what you mean by "films"........would you please explain?

Loves ganches are softer/creamier then Wybauw's. I attended demo's from both men....and obtained a couple formulas from Love at his demo, recieved technical info. from Wybauw's demo. I sincerely hope one day Love publishes a book! It will be a must buy as much as Wybauw's book is. I guess I sort of think of Wybauw as a more of a scientist.......and Love as more of an artist......... But they each are both artist and scientist.

Oh god.......someone should handcuff me now. So my opinion of his book after owning it for like a year............I love the technical info. I've never seen more info. on sugar and chocolates!!! Every Pastry Chef can use and does need this scientific knowledge. It's a teaching manual!! His actually recipes are maybe a little different then what my tastes are acustomed to. Probably the difference between American and European tastes. I've only made a couple of items and I find I treasure/prefer my ganche recipes from Norman Love more.

I've yet to have served a meat in my dessert course. I've yet to taste similar done well. I might except it if it was served at the right time of day with the right meal before it. For example I might eat that after a light egg breakfast. But I wouldn't like it at night or on a full stomach.

Woooooooo, you don't want to heat the bottom of your creme caramel as a release technique or a sugar melting technique. You melt your sugar into liquid in your pot. Pour it into your ramakins, let it set (that happens in moments). Mix together you creme caramel, pour it in your sugar coated ramakin, then bake (in a water bath) and chill before unmolding/serving. To unmold run a knive around the inside of the ramakin to release the suction. Caramel should have turned to liquid. and pour out over your creme caramel. Sometimes the sugar doesn't want to melt down as throughly a other times. I don't have a scientific answer for you on that. I just know I've encountered that. I believe it melts less well when you use a thicker coating of caramel. I also think the longer it sits in the cooler to chill the more caramel will turn to liquid with-in your ramakin. If you've unmolded your creme caramel and you NEED more liquid you can solve that by cooking some caramel syrup seperately and drizzling it over you plate. I usually make seperate extra caramel because I like a consistant amount of caramel on all my plates.....and sometimes I spill some caramel when unmolding them, so extra is nice to have on hand. To make caramel sauce, melt down your sugar as you did before, cook to caramel darkness you want. Thin with heated water (not cream) to the consistancy you want........which would be pretty thin for this item. HTH?

I looked thru a book or two (didn't look thru my own file yet), anyway I came up with pretty much the same thing everyone else has. Even though I recall doing it a bit different in a couple recipes. I actually would make my reg. buttercream and then add some pastry cream to it, by feel. Not caring what any book says. It should freeze well.

Here's your page: Click here. You then click on each photo, that will bring up the url for that photo. You copy the address and paste it into the IMG box dirrectly above your box for entering info..

I was reading in "Fine Chocolates Great Experience" by Jean-Pierre Wybauw yesterday and ran across his take on this issue. "Curdling/ Is the seperation of an emulsion from two liquid substances that do not form a solution. The most typical example is oil and water (mayonnaise). Causes: Incorrect balance of ingredients Incorrect mixing temperatures Chocolate PH too low Remedies: (depending on recipe) Homogenise with blender Add emulisfier (in some cases a little lecithin helps) Add a thickener Allow to solidify slightly, then stir vigorously (possibly in beater/mixer)." Personally, I use my stick blender to make ganches and temper chocolate....... For years I used Flechlin brand chocolate, cream, butter and sugar in my ganches. Then at a different job, all of the sudden my ganche recipe/formula no longer worked. I had a different chocolate and a different dairy. I finally experienced what others described as a broken ganche.........until then I couldn't even imagine how a ganche could be broken. I had to change the formula I was using and eliminate the extra butter and sugar. Plus I must use my stick blender to get a good emulsion. I can't tell you exactly what's different between my last chocolate and my new brand (or with my cream), but some factor has changed and I had to adjust.

Your totally on the right track....use up what you've got, convert recipes that didn't work into something else, etc... You should be able to do something with that macaroon batter. The thing is.........unless it's the type made with coconut or almond paste..........I don't think you can hold it in your fridge for later use........... I need to double check on my tarts at work and I'll post on the new thread about them. But I think I'm all wrong when I'm talking sizes.........SORRY! 2" is huge for a mini.........I'm sorry to be confusing (I just really looked at a ruler yesterday and realized my mistake). I have to edit my joconde demo thread too. I'm not using anything over 1.5", less then that is better.

I've had similar happen with a couple items and that's one of the great features of networking.......finding out your not alone. I never understood when someone would say their ganche broke........until it happened to me, etc... I don't know about that Jim........but if it's working, go with it. I find that the container I bake them throws in a second factor. I'm currently baking brulee in soup cups because they don't own anything else. Some of their soup cups are thicker then others..........therefore heating up slower and cooling down slower.

I've kept quite on this topic because I can't find a link to the recipe I prefer. It was posted in the T & T (tried and true) recipe section of http://www.tauton.com . I got it a couple years back and now I can't seem to find the recipe. They do have a lemon bar recipe listed and it's credited to a different source then the recipe I liked. The one I like was posted by a regular member there. Perhaps we have some cross over members that can locate the recipe I'm describing? The thing about lemon bars that I find frustrating is find a good recipe that also holds up well with-out refridgeration, one you can stack on a buffet and let sit out for a couple hours. I'd find good recipe and then they become a mess when served........so I kept searching. I've stopped searching and will stay with the one from finecooking/tauton, for now..........

Wow, I've thought that..........but never dared to write that. I LOVE such honesty and daring................and you make me darn curious what your exact thoughts are on Will's cusine. Is it art? Shouldn't one be able to explain why something is or isn't an art to "defend" your position? Is it enough to call it art and not give any reasoning to it?

I've read about this and tried to pour caramel on top of a creme brulee to see what that was all about. I find that I can not pour it thin enough.........and I'm not sure anyone else could do better. That oh so thin veil of sugar on top of the creme brulee is what makes the dessert, in my opinion. When you pour sugar on, it's too thick! I don't believe that that technique makes it a creme caramel. If you poured your sugar on the bottom of your ramikin, then it would be a creme caramel. The sugar would melt down as the custard baked and sat on it. But pouring a caramel over the top.........is not the same. AND technically you use a different recipe/formula for creme caramel then for creme brulee. Yes, my vanilla bean flecks all fall to the bottom of my baked custards. I use extract for that very reason. You could strain out your infused vanilla flecks........... But yes, I find it objectionable as do my clients to see all the flecks on the bottom of your dish.....gotta work around it.

I think a German buttercream is what they are talking about. I happen to like them, their slightly "richer"/"heavier" and well, I like that (maybe cause I'm part German). I can't think off the top of my head what the exact proportions of pastry cream to butter are............so I would follow the recipe you have. But adding xxxsugar seems wrong to me. Maybe someone else will jump in here and know. If you can give me a day or two, I can find other recipes for you to compare to?