Wendy DeBord

I made a batch over the weekend using regular salt, to see if it incorporates better. I'll be tasting it today at work and I'll let you know if it worked better. Just for the record, I don't have access to a guitar and I just hand cut them, then dipped them in chocolate......they were auesome. I don't see why you couldn't use any caramel recipe for a molded chocolate filling. BUT (I wish one of our professional confectioners can answer this) How do you cleanly add your caramel into your chocolate molded base? I always struggle to keep my edges clean so I can finish them with a clean sealed edge......the caramel strings as you cut off the flow....help..........anyone have the solution to that?

I think I wrote this previously, I like Ina Gartners coconut cake recipe the best of all I've ever had. The peninsula grill cake doesn't have coconut or coconut milk in the cake...........so it's not really a coconut cake.

I forgot about this website in my favorites. I've not made anything from them, but it's a good resource. HTH

It's all good and fine except for the fact that it's a very rare recipe that states if it's a sifted cup, a spooned cup or a dipped cup worth of flour. So the charts are only as good as the imperial measurement recipe was in the first place. In other words, it's anyones guess. We really must get out of the dark ages and have all our American books written with weights. I can see other countries might have a good chuckle over this American way.

The churro recipe in RecipeGullet is outstanding. It steals the show everytime I include them in a dessert. Plus their fast and easy, just piping into the fryer.

This is the first time I've seen water used. Unless your really working with this recipe for the fun of exploring it, I'd suggest trying a different recipe all together. I don't know of anyone using a water based pastry cream. Water isn't going to give you any richness/flavor. Also a double boiler should have been fine for making hollandaise. Eggs with-out starch (hollandiase) set up thick at 180F, scramble at 190F. Where as a pastry cream needs to boil at 212F. I also have never heard of anyone using a double boiler to make pastry cream. It's common to do it dirrectly in a pan.

Wow Jack! I've learned alot from this demo! Your examples of proofed doughs really clarify things beautifully. So much came together in my head from your demo. I can see things I'm doing wrong with my danish.....that I never saw before. Like Abra I'm going to embrace using a container with measurements on it. That's so simple, yet I never thought about doing it. I have a question. The last photo you show, you say it's slightly underproofed......... It looks good to me (sorry just trying to grasp this). So can you explain what signal you see in that particular photo that tells you it's underproofed? Is it the small area in the center top area that has even air pockets instead of larger wholes that's your signal? As always, I can't thank-you enough for sharing/teaching Jack!!! Personally, I get soooo much from this.........thank-you.

Sure you can bake them in the upper 1/3rd of the oven. But it may not make a big difference.......depending upon your oven and your sheet pans. Thicker sheet pans should make a big difference. But I've baked in ovens that were so bad that my bottoms always over cooked, due to the heat source. In those cases double and triple panning were my only solution.

Here's the thread thats shows Chefettes plane.

I've never made a glaze like this. Can anyone describe it? Like, is it similar to ganche only thinner?

Hum.......... if your bottoms are burning before the sides are finished, it's your oven. The heat element must be on the bottom of your oven and it's not cirulating the hot air around enough. Double or even triple layer your pans to insult your bottoms. The photo you show Ling, they are underbaked a hair on top and you can see the bottoms are too browned. Double laying your pans should help prevent that. Where as the photo OnigirlFB posted don't look unevenly baked............you can't tell the bottoms were burnt at all in that photo. These shouldn't be colapsing when you open the oven door. Bake at 375F in a standard oven. At work with a confection oven I bake them at 300F which is my equlivant of 375F for that oven. If you think about it.........why would they colapse? Seems to me that they must have just been explanding when you opened the oven door, then it let too much heat out of the oven. The answer should be that you opened your oven way to prematurely and it didn't recoupe it's heat well. These puffs do brown quickly compared to other choux paste recipes...........and you do have to bake them all the way to assure they've dryed out enough.......cause they are more delicate/thin walled.

L' Art De La Viennoiserie et Festival de Tartes, by Bellouet, Paris and Perruchon fills that need in one classic French style pastry book. I own it, but I have to admit, I've yet to bake any viennoiserie from it, yet. I do use it for ideas though. My favorite sources for breakfast breads and pastries: Glisslens pro book (worth buying the whole book for that section) The Great Scandinavian Baking Book, by Beatrice Ojakangas (love everything from her). Baking With Julia, for the brioche, danish dough & crossiants recipes. Everyday Cooking magazines, for fruit breads. Bundt cakes: Pillsbury. Amish Cookbooks for doughnuts and sweet rolls.

Actually I was hoping your chocolate plastic stayed soft when at room temp..

Too much leavening will give you craters.

I've been thinking about this issue too. I've got folders of ideas..........but too often they stay in the folder cause I'm too busy to stop and pull something out. I was thinking I needed to figure out way to create a list of notes and keep them on hand. Then I thought....I probably won't look at it enough. Right now, I'm thinking I need a cork board placed in my work space so I can constantly look at those ideas and get motivated to do more. At one time, (I think it was here, but it could have been at another website) I started a thread on this topic hoping to collect more ideas and then be able to print it out so it would be handy.............but that never got completed.

I had Herme, Bau and Bellouet/Perruchon's books in mind. I also collect all the recipes from the WPF issue of Pastry Art & Design. Petits Gateaux by Ecole Lenotre has many petite fours that are rather elaborate and would make full sized entrements. Michael Roux's Dessert book has alot of entrements also. ...........I could go on and on......and if you think about it many of our American pastry books do also but we label them tortes or cakes.

Interesting Tepee.....Does your plastic get firm when it cools to room temp.?

I triple the vote for a book from Norman Love. I'd pay dearly for that with no complaints. I also really like Dorie Greenspans books. If she could do something on a grander scale similar to her Paris Sweets.........with photos......with access into the best European Shops..........I'd go bonkers for it. I'd love to buy a photo book after each major world competition that showed clearly everyones work. Not just show pieces.....I want to see everyones peitite fours, everyones bonbons, etc...........every item that was placed infront of a judge. With close-ups, not group shots........of everything. If I dare dream larger...........I want the recipes too. And not just one from each participant (at least 3 from each). Then show me their molds...........and how they executed their items. A simpler wish would be that they'd publish every professional level book in English. Theres many books that are out there that I want, but I don't know the language and I'm not going to spend $150.00 on a book I can't fully comprehend. Funny......I think theres plenty of good entremet books out already.........

Welcome to The eGullet Society For Arts & Letters Paynes1! I feel for you. It's hard for people who aren't just getting started, too. As far as I'm concerned I think it's very narrow/closed minded for any job to only seek people coming from a couple specific schools. Some of our best chefs didn't come from formal culinary backgrounds. First, what aspect of the pastry arts are you interested in? For example, are you looking to do cake decorating? If so, yes you need some skill to obtain a job doing that. We can give you some specific advice on what you need to learn to obtain a job doing that. Or are you interested in making desserts? You don't have to have serious cake decorating skills for that........ But almost every aspect of the pastry arts relate to understanding design so some artistic knowledge is helpful/important. So can you tell us what specificly interested you to the pastry arts? ...what do you find alot of interest in doing, in the pastry field? Do you have any idea what beginning pay is in this field?.........so your not asking for a rediculous amount. And to break into a field you should take whats offered, pretty much just to get your feet wet, get something on your resume. Last, I think the best thing you can do is read all you can on your new career. There are tons of fantastic information posted here at eG everyday. Read thru our previous threads........absorb all that you can.

I'm completely delighted that your moving to PBS....thrilled in fact! My perspective as a 44 year old professional pastry chef: I'm very unhappy with the huge fees of cable tv. My bill (for nothing interesting to watch) is $80.00 per month, which has reached the point of being too expensive for what I get. I could buy a really good book and rent more movies then I want, per month for that amount of money. I'm definately thinking of canceling my cable. Foodtv had been the one channel that kept me buying cable. But as they change so does my taste for them. I see your move to PBS as extremely wise! Your going where us serious foodies want you to be. Free and not dumbed down. Thank-you! By the way, I just wanted you to know this.............my husband thinks your darn sexy/cute...far more then Rachel and G. It pleases me that a women with brains attracts the men too.

Guys/Ladys...........I think Duff is a professional...........I'm sure his brides are very happy with his work. Crying out loud, would you want to be in a cake decorating contest against Collette? they were just having fun, I thought............lightening up the situation......... Competitions are high pressure, they took themselves out of that scene for their own sanity and desided to have fun, who can blame them.........

Auesome..........thanks for sharing........ How'd the TV spot go? Oh man.......do you guys get an endless supply of Hershey candies, etc... to use in your sets ups? That would be fun.

So are you putting both desserts on the same plate for them to share?

Thanks Chianitglace. I can't wait to see photos of the food/buffets, etc...

You just became truely 'cool' in my mind, the fact that you didn't back off from a politicly sensitive question! You'll really be a hero if you can ever effect the guys around you to understand why you saught balance by looking for a female specificly. I'm often the only female in all male kitchens. I think guys have alot of misconceptions about having a girl hanging around 'being one of the guys'. Once they get past the beginning aukwardness I find guys really dig having me around, it takes a little of the macho shit out of the air and makes work more fun for them too. Anyway..........can I see this as a possiblity that your not scared to talk about the business (good, bad or indifferent)? (Personally, I get so sick of our 'leaders' in this field shying away from talking about anything meaningful about the industry....being ever so politicly careful, it's sickening. And, I think it keeps things from progressing in the industry.) I was wondering, with all your current travel if your seeing anything new, trend wise happening? As much as many people hate to label what's happening today as a "trend"..........it is a trend. All the deconstructed and reconstructed, etc.... everyone is doing it, everyone is plating similarly........ Do you see any end to it on the horizon or do you think it's going to stick around longer?