Bakerchic

Thank you. I don't weigh, but I will start doing that, just in case that''s the problem. It sounds like I just need to keep at it. My neighbors will be getting a lot of ciabatta in the process.

Thank you. And yes, shaping this high hydration dough is a problem. I think I tried to roll it, while stretching slightly, to make a thick baguette-type shape, but it still collapses. I am letting it rise after the last shaping, and that''s when it really flattens out.

Thank you. I used 6 cups flour to 3 cups water. It made it loose, but I was still able to fold and knead a bit. I used KA a.p. flour. I made a sponge of 2c flour to 1 cup water and 12/tsp yeast, let it ferment a day or so, and then added the additional water water and flour. I used a Kitchen Aid for most of the kneading and then a few minutes by hand just to smooth it into shape.

Hey everyone. I'm a relatively experienced baker (50 yrs), and I've taken a semester of culinary school which included bread making. I love ciabatta, aka, slipper bread, but have never been able to get the open texture, and a firm structure. To get the open texture, my batter is so loose, it flattens out and bakes up to only about an inch! Still tasty, but looks matter, too. Any suggestions or help with what I might be doing wrong!? Is there a pan of some sort I should be using?

I'm going to make a chiffon cake and I've looked at several recipes. Some of the recipes whip the egg whites separately with some of the sugar, and others do not. I think the sugar might make the egg whites more stable and easier to fold in, but not all the recipes do it. Baking Illustrated doesn't add sugar to the egg whites, but one of my text books (CIA) does. And, some of the recipes say to use an un-greased tube pan and to cool the cake upside down, like you would an angel food cake. But, they also say you can cook them in round cake tins. How would I get the cake out of an un-greased round cake tin? Can I use parchment on the bottom and leave just the sides un-greased, or does it not matter for a round pan? Will it just slip out of an ungreased cake tin? Any suggestions?

I've made Pichet Ong's choux paste and I liked it. I want to make the recipe in a chocolate version. I found a full recipe for chocolate choux on foodnetwork (Emeril Lagass), but I'd rather convert Ong's and if some has tried it successfully, I'd feel more confident. Has anyone made Ong's recipe in chocolate? Does anyone have a good chocolate choux recipe? Thanks!

I tried it and it worked! I did the usual caramel with sugar, cornsyrup and cream of tartar; I started the isomalt about 15 minutes earlier than the sugar and when it got to temperature I mixed about half of the isomalt into the caramel. I colored the rest of the isomalt to experiment with candy gems and sugar cages. That was fun, and I discovered that I don't need gel coloring for the isomalt if I dissolve some powder in a bit of alcohol (I used vodka). However, I think mixing the sugar with the isomalt decreased the dryness of the isomalt; the isomalt might have had a small effect on the sugar, but it wasn't noticeable. I ended up with both being hygroscopic to some extent. Now I know.

Thanks! I will try it. I thought for sure I'd have to melt them separately and then combine, but if combining them all works just as well, I'll try KennethT's suggestion.

Hello! Is there a reason I cannot mix isomalt and sugar/? Are they chemically incompatible? For example, if I heat the sugar to caramel stage and heat the isomalt to the required temperature, can I mix the two, to get the color and flavor of the sugar and the humidity resistance of the isomalt?

I don't know if they're authentic or not, but there are several folks on you-tube who profess that is easy and cheap to make it by caramelizing part of the sugar, pouring a hot syrup mixture into it, and voila- it comes out golden. They use a lemon in the syrup to eliminate crystallization. I always prefer to make my own stuff, since I'm not in the business and time doesn't matter much.

Hi: I'm still mining the old posts for the wealth of information within. Someone mentioned aging his homemade golden syrup. Does anyone know if it's mandatory, and if so, why? Thank you. Audrey

I hope this isn't too obvious a question, but can Wondra be used for baking cakes, cookies, pie crusts, or anything but gravy? Thanks. Audrey

Wow! What a great job. Welcome to the forum!

Hi again! Sorry for the very late question, I've been reviewing the old posts in the various subjects and I found this fabulous thread. Since I've been dying to practice, I've decided to make Ong's pate choux recipe. I have one question. Will I need to punch a hole in the bottom and put them back in the oven to dry out? I have seen other recipes require that step. Thank you! Audrey the above edit was a mistake! I took the "reply" literally, and thought I had to start a thread to ask a question! Then I remembered that everyone asks questions.

This is how several candies are made. Junior mints and cherry cordials, for example. They make a hard sugar center, surround it in chocolate, inject it with the invertase, which liquefies the sugar. In theory, you should be able to make a very firm caramel ball and it would still work.