Wendy DeBord

Great timing Karen.........I'm serving a pumkin brulee tart right now too and I'm using a puff pastry shell. BUT when I torched them for the first time last night I had a problem, the shells burnt! The residual heat from the torch lights them up (being careful not to hit the shell dirrectly with the torch). Do you have a method for avoiding that? (I wound up trimming off the edges but I don't want to, I like the brulee being lower then the edge of the tart.) I never had this issue with other crusts, but my pp is pretty thin. Anyone have a solution? Also, I wasn't crazy about my first attempt at stovetop pumpkin brulee. It chilled too thick and I wound up cutting it 50/50 with a caramel brulee I had on hand at the last minute. How have you been doing your stovetop pumpkin brulee? Are you adding the pumpkin to your regular proportions or subbing out some cream in it's place? (I subbed out some cream which is why mine was too thick) In answer to Neil, I've used recipes from Chefette and Roland Mesnier. But I haven't tasted them side by side to draw any comparisions. Chefettes recipe is much like what Karen posted and excellent. Mesniers stovetop versions use cornstarch. I particularly liked his champagne version: (he serves this over champagne macerated green grapes which tastes pretty darn good) 10 yolks 1 c. sugar 1 qt. heavy cream 6 tbsp. cornstarch pinch of salt 3 vanilla beans 2 c. champagne 8 tbsp butter Method: Stovetop in a pot, not double boiling.....whisk until smooth yolks, sugar and cornstarch (he whips until light). Heat cream and salt, scrap vanilla into it. Temper into yolk mixture and cook till boil. Strain into your mixing bowl and mix until custard is room temp. then add butter. Slowly add champagne until it's just combined, don't over mix. He tells you to leave his custards uncovered in the cooler for at least 4 hours (they don't develop a skin either). Heres a couple of sentences on the topic from his book Dessert University: "Stirring the custard as it cooks incorporates air into the mixture, making the finished dessert much lighter then the baked version. To this end, I also whip the egg yolks very well to give them as much volume as possible." "Adding cornstarch allows me to make the custard with fewer egg yolks then is customary, and this too contributes to the exceptionally silky and delicate texture."

I finally got around to trying the recipe for this that Michael L. generously posted a while back (I've wanted to make this for a long time). First I've gotta mention that I've never eaten this and I'm not totally certain what the finished texture should be when correctly done? So more details would be helpful. Should this be chewie or more similar to marshmellow in texture? I couldn't get Michael's recipe to work. He has you boiling together your glucose and sugar........I couldn't get this to melt evenly with-out creating caramel with lumps. (This isn't my first time melting sugar (hint), but I had to mention this. Regardless of method.) Has anyone made that exact recipe and had no problems? So after 2 unsuccessful attempts at melting sugar- I switched to a recipe from Jacques Torres for my first attempt at nougat. Both men have similarities in method, but different ingredients and different temp.'s. Not being familar with this item I'm not sure which recipe I should use to re-make this in the future. If anyone is very familar with this product I'd greatly appreciate your advice on this. Michaels recipe: 1600g sugar 340g glucose Boiled together to 260F. Similarly heating in a seperate pan: 550g honey brought to a low boil. Poured into: 200g egg whites After honey is pour into whites and whipped, sugar/glucose mixture is whipped into the honey meringue. He keeps heating his mixing bowl as he works until his sugar tests firm in a bowl of ice water. (I couldn't really get the heat of my bowl to rise enough to cook this while mixing, I was using a 20 qt. mixer.) Then warmed nuts are folded or mixed into the nougat. Torres recipe goes like this: 1 3/4 c. honey heated to low boil In a seperate pan: 9 tbsp. h2o 3/4 c. plus 2 tbso. corn syrup 2 1/2 c. sugar All combined and heated to 330 (note the difference in temp.s compared to Michael L.'s recipe) Pour the heated honey first into: 1/3 c. egg white Whip. Then add the h20/sugar/corn syrup mixture into your honey meringue. Incorporate: 2 2/3 c. nuts I'm curious about the differences in temp.s because when I followed Torres recipe it was too firm, although it did work. Where as with Michael's recipe I couldn't get the sugar to dissolve evenly. BUT I now suspect that the lower temp. of 260F might have been better (giving me a softer nougat).........that combined with Torres formula would be the way to go. So I'd be grateful for any advice and thoughts on this so in the future I'll be more successful making this item.

My non-schooled opinion is that a yolk mixture with hot sugar whipped up is a pate bombe and a egg whites only mixture with hot sugar is a meringue. I made the coffee buttercream recipe from Dorie Greenspans book Paris Sweets, this morning. In Dalloyau's Opera Cake recipe they use whole eggs and yolks to make bombe. Quite frankly I prefer buttercream recipes that include yolks. I like the richness yolks add to buttercreams (isn't that a German method?) verses an all whites buttercream.

Theres also such a thing as making creme brulee stove top. Basicly it's similar to making a pastry cream. I'm a fairly recent convert and don't see myself returning to the slower oven baking method. I use white sugar to finish and do as Neil mentioned I turn my dish to spread an even layer of sugar over the custard before torching, twice. I've never used dried br. sugar (timing and space issues) and this reminds me to test it out and see which I prefer. It's also hard at first to get an even coat where there aren't any darker almost 'burnt' spots, it takes patience and pratice to learn how to get an even coat. You can also make caramel in a pot and pour a THIN layer over your custard if you don't have a blow torch.

I'm in the same boat as you Nero. Nuts, butter and sugar don't work for me. I think you need something else in there to bind. Theres all kinds of mixes you can do, but straight nuts are a pain. Also I find that they tend to soften up too much from the moisture in the product above it........so I can't even remember the last time I did a nut crust.

Where I'm at in the mid-west US it's almost impossible to find also, even wholesale. I mix my own when I want it, very unscientificly.........I usually do half cake and half ap. flour. I never really know what the exact gluten level is in my ap. flour so I can't be very methodical about blending my flour. I've gotten alot looser in working with flours and don't always follow the recipe to a T. I think method has a more dramatic impact, unless your using bread flour and mixing endlessly.

Thanks for sharing the results of your work! Its nice to see a follow up and see what worked.

Good for you!

Unforunately price is the biggest factor. They're looking for a box (possibly other packaging) as in-expensive as possible. Style is completely open as long as it doesn't add labor into assembling. Thanks

Baking is more then chemistry. If it was straight chemistry everyone would be able to produce the same exact product with the same recipe. It seems logical, but in reality baking is chemistry played out in an ever changing enviromental circumstance where method plays a huge role on how the chemicals react and if they do so repetitively. Chemistry reactions are only the same if all the same ingredients are used in a controled enviroment, with a controled method being applied. But when you take a different recipe with different ingredients- those other ingredients interact and can block or enhanse a "known" chemical reaction from happening. So each recipe is a unique arrangement of chemistry that doesn't remain the same as other chemicals are presented. I don't think any professional chef/cook/baker would label Alton Brown as a 'chef' at all. He's an entertainer, in my opinion. His show takes a unique approach looking at cooking and baking as a science. He makes very good arguements as to why his approach is correct or better or easier because he's using science. He simplifies steps or justifys steps according to his science. But there's an aspect to baking and cooking that isn't part of his show.......he intentionally doesn't highlight that factor because he's trying to simplify/to de-mystify cooking and baking. He puts forward that anyone can bake or cook if they simply apply scientific principals. I think that's admirable and enjoyable, but not always accurate.

So far .20 cents is the least expensive box I've been able to find. Most are around .50 cents. It's harder to find a one truffle box then I would have guessed. Any other sources?

That's what came to my mind too. Theres been several really good ideas mentioned. The warm thick shake is definately a twist and a good idea for a ice cream shop in the winter. I bet you could even get a little local media attention on it. A favorite ice cream shop of mine is called Whitey's. My husbands favorite ice cream treat is their hot fudge chocolate malt. It's just adding hot fudge into the ice cream, verses a cold fudge or syrup.........so really theres no rules.

I do similar to you andiesenji baking my blind pie crusts inverted. The only real difference is that I place another pie pan over the top so that it will flatten the crust. If you don't flatten it, it will puff up as it bakes. Then when it's reinverted and filled it can crack/break from the weight of the filling. I've also prebaked bottom crusts in an attempt to avoid the possible soggie bottom. I don't know of a way to join the top and bottom once either is baked so it's traditional looking. I'll be pretty shocked if someone knows how to. But if you don't object you can leave your top crust floating. I'd rather have that then a wet bottom crust. I think if your more creative in how you do your top crust it's fine and can look decent. I'd do something more elaborate, like a leaf pattern or a lattice then just fork my edges....... In a previous thread http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=47036&hl= we talked about pie making and I think you might like some of the techniques we talked about. For example, baking a fruit pie from a frozen state. If your doing these at work and have to make alot of pies, that works really well for me.

I focused in on the same thing Foodman, the caramel layer is terrific! Thanks for sharing your photos Foodman and FWED for sharing the recipe, it's always really fun to see what everyone else is doing and making.

Thank-you very much!

I'm looking for small, 1 truffle each boxes that are nice but inexpensive because it's a freebie. Do any of you have a source you could reccomend? TIA

Oh yeah, those dreaded hot spots. I've never worked in an oven that didn't have them. Really the only thing you can do is make sure you turn your pan during baking. I've also resorted to placing a empty sheet pan on the shelf to try and block a hot spot.........in my convection oven. If it's really bad you can omit baking cookies along the edges of your pan. It will slow you down because it's less volume baking all the time..........but it's better then ruined inconsistant product. I place something heavy (like a knive or tongs) on the parchment in those blank areas so my parchment won't blow over on to my cookies.

I think every crop varies from year to year and orchard to orchard that I can't answer your question. I recall a couple years back where every apple type I bought turned to mush when baked (including granny smiths). None were juicy, nothing all winter long worked with apples. You couldn't saute' them either. I think it was 1999 or close to. I have a couple apple trees in my yard and some years they're better then others due to conditions. I agree with combining different apples in the same pie. Using a granny smith for texture and a golden delicious for flavor is a good compromise in general. But I don't want any apple thats too moist, nor too dry or soft..........and mealie-yuk. Apple pies are not an easy baked item to master! Theres alot of bakers finesse needed.

Here is a recent thread on pie making, that you might find helpful. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=47036&hl=

At the risk of upsetting a few people............ Alton Brown is not a baker at all! I'm sure he uses good references, etc... but I've seen him do too many baking procedures that were way off and heard him tell you things that were just as off. I can't take him seriously as a reference for anything regarding baking. The recipe and efforts he published for his study on making chocolate chip cookies in the episode mentioned was better researched then any other advice I've seen him give on baking. That aside, you have to consider that he's talking about chocolate chip cookies with his recipes. You can NOT take one issue like changing your granulated sugar and sub in invert sugar and get consistant results with all cookie doughs. All cookies are not made same, with the same ingredients, there is not 1 universal fix. Each cookie is unique and each will require different efforts/solutions to create a chewie cookie. Some cookies I don't think you can make chewie due to the ingredients needed to make them the cookie they are. Of the professional bakers that weighed in on this thread so far, who know their ovens and their recipes like the back of their hands, if you take them out of their enviroment they'll have to experiment to find that balance again. Little differences can make big impacts in the final product, even for seasoned professionals. (as was mentioned) There is no one definitive answer to any of the questions asked. No I'm not fond of dark baking sheets, but with modifications you can get the results you want on those pans. I've yet to encounter a cookie that doesn't bake well on parchement paper, BUT does that paper effect your cookies? Sure they do, fat gets absorbed into it. It can effect spread differently then a shiney metal surface. A silpat greatly effects cookies baked on it. Some cookies are a bear to make with-out them, some don't bake right at all on them, some it just doesn't matter. I'm confused a little on the egg advice given previously. I disagree with eggs being vital to a cookie. Only some cookies. There are MANY cookies that do not contain egg. I also disagree on hand mixing in your flour. I think more people (in general) are likely to undermix and have small pockets of dough with-out the right portion of flour using this method over using your mixer. (Although if your experienced you should be fine doing so, it's just not something for beginners to apply with-out the knowledge of: how much, how long.) I don't follow recipes dirrections that tell me to add my chips or add-in's after my flour. I always add my add-in's, then last my flour. I don't run my mixer long enough to break down my chips or add-in's. You also have to scrape down your bowl or your bound to get dough that clung to the sides of the bowl that didn't get the right balance of flour. So my ending technique is: add in my flour, give the paddle a couple turns, scrape down my bowl, re-mix a couple turns and it's done (although there are cookies that are an exception to this). When I have a huge batch (which is most of the time) I can't add all my flour at once with-out it flying out of the bowl when I start the paddle, nor could my arm handle mixing it in with-out a mixer regardless of my experience. With huge batches I add the flour in portions that fit into the mixing bowl so my flour won't create a dust storm. Restating what I posted before, I think the issue of over mixing is more important when it comes to how much you cream your butter and sugar. I'd rather see you do that by hand then any other step. How soft your butter is when you beat it, changes texture. Again, theres a few recipes that are exceptions and need to be whipped to distribute ingred. properly. Every step has impact and not all 'rules' apply to all cookies.

Honestly, I don't believe theres one way to achieve this. Theres tons of factors that determine how your finished cookie turns out.......each cookie recipe is different, each handled different. I've come to many conclusions based on experience, but I can't tell you a way to achieve chew cookies all the time in all your cookies. Then chances are whatever I post someone will contend and in the long run you'll have to find out which to believe by experience yourself. Having said that, heres a few things that come to my mind on the topic: I find using shortening creates crunchie cookies, butter or margarine will be chewier in comparision. Shortening is 100% fat which equals crunch. 100%shortening is used in cookies like chinesse almond cookies, snickerdoodles. 'Short' cookies don't contain eggs at all. They are flour, sugar and butter with items like nuts or fruit rind for flavor enhansing. Some well known examples: mexican wedding cakes, shortbread cookies. Mixing method does matter. Over mixing can be as simple as "creaming together" your fat and sugar which most recipes tell you to do. But it's whips air into your batter and that does change the texture of your finished cookie. I find a well creamed cookie batter bakes up cake like. If you take the same exact ingredients and mix them differently, like just barely combining them-you'll get a different texture. Chilling your cookie batter and even baking it from a frozen state greatly effects your finished product also. BUT then I also think leaving it out on the counter (unscooped) for a couple hours also has an similar effects (you can feel the difference). Perhaps it's as simiple as giving the gluten time to relax or the butter time to firm up........I can't tell you exactly which, but each does effect your texture. Higher oven heat will crisp up the exterior before the interior finishes baking. Just like underbaking effects the tenderness/softness of your cookies because your leaving it partically raw or underbaked. If you melt your butter, let it cool and then use it in your recipe that also changes your finished product. Similarly cutting back on your flour or sugar will have effects or even changing the type of sugar you use. BUT again, it's effect is going to be different from one recipe to the next. Your not going to find one rule/method/way to change a cookie into a chewie one. Eggs play different roles in different cookies. Typically eggs add fat=moisture. But they also add rise and bind ingredients. In different quantities and different recipes I think they play different roles. Lastly, I don't know that I've ever eaten a "chewie" cookie and if I did was it desirable. Can you name a mass produced cookie fits this discription of "chewie" for all of us to use as a comparision? The description of "chewie" is subjective, I think. I'm more likely to think you mean a moist cookie........

Gosh, I get them pretty often, at least a half dozen per case. Many times I've gotten several on the same flat. I do recall having a case (like Suzanne mentioned) that was just loaded with doubles. It never occured to me that this was unusual...............hum.

Oh how I miss all the little extras in upscale weddings.........thanks for the photos ComeUndone.

Would someone mind posting the recipe from The Art Of The Cake for me, please? I'd like to try their recipe, I don't think I have a definitive recipe for this. Don't post their dirrections as written, but if you put it in your own words it doesn't violate copy right. Thank-you.

Welcome to eg. Brownbetty. I'm sorry, I can't offer you a comparision as I've always had a hobart for my 20 qt. mixer. The only thing I wanted to mention is to ask around about repairs and replacement parts too because eventually those will be a factor in how happy you are with your mixer. I know that when one of my mixers are down for repairs it feels like an eternity until it's up and running again. With my hobarts it's usually only a day or two for the repairman to get the parts needed to fix my machine. So I think theres more to consider in addition to initial cost.