Jonathan

And finally done with Mother’s Day, Baklava bonbons inspired by Chefchaouen with a pistachio, walnut and feuilletine gianduja and the classic Apple Pie with an apple compote, cinnamon ganache and dulcey and shortbreae base:

It's odd... that mould seems so innocuous but it's an absolute nightmare sometimes to actually get things out cleanly

On the vibrating table note, you could try a vibrating platform used for dental stone, you can get cheap-ish ones for about $30 and just mount a flat platform on top of that? I've been meaning to try it actually since it's a similar principle

It feels good to be back to simpler designs for production, Kintsugi Tres Leches and Mango Kulfi bonbons for the next leg of the mother’s day boxes

They were an absolute nightmare, thankfully only got 2 trays to try. I want to use them so as not to waste them but it’s almost not worth the effort. The result is fine enough but still, spending 10 minutes with a cotton pad on a Q-tip to polish wasn’t fun

I’m going to preface this with a strongly worded statement: I HATE THESE MOULDS. Polishing them, painting them and demoulding them was an absolute nightmare. Still, the outcome wasn’t half bad, I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to demould them. These first of my Mother’s Day Line, “Places you know and places you’ll go”, 6 flavours from around the world starting with something close to home, blueberry lamington. Blueberry pate de fruit and coconut ganache in dark chocolate

Would vegetable shortening work?

This one was a doozy... It was hard to get the streaky effect since cocoa butter is so fluid it just blends but probably the piece I’m most proud of overall, Valrhona Tainori studded with hazelnuts

Opalys is an absolute pain to temper, too thin then on a re-coat too thick... Still, thickness aside the look came out better than I’d hoped. Kill Bill themed bars, a Trix flavoured bar for the bride and for O-Ren I wanted to use something Japanese, Chinese and American. Ended up going with a play on PB&J, strawberry jelly, miso and peanutbutter ganache and a black sesame crunch for the base

Definitely helpful, though I imagine a high sugar cereal like Trix won’t need so much toasting to impart the same flavour? It’s an experiment so who knows, I’ll have some fun with it regardless

So still haven’t gone back to the baklava ones yet, had a new idea and got side tracked. If one were to make a cereal milk ganache, could I directly infuse the cream with the cereal or would it be best to infuse some milk and reduce it and add it. I worry soaking in the cream directly would result in a weird texture if the cereal breaks down

I’m a dentist by trade (ironic I know) so I just grab whatever the free brushes are lying around work, I think these were just regular Colgate ones?

Just a normal toothbrush, although I flick with a gloved finger and at a reasonable distance, seems to get smaller, more evenly distributed flecks

My Chocolate Totoro

I do like it but I still HATE tempering it and the price makes it for certain things only

I’m considering using opalys and this macadamia honey I’ve got which I’ve found less sweet than normal honey

Gradient or not it still looks stunning

I've got so many single use appliances my home kitchen is getting very backed up (although a dehydrator has always been on the wants list) and after doing some digging apparently it reconstitutes quite quickly (so basically like a sugar version of honey). Still, I might get some to sprinkle on the bases as a finishing touch? The other idea would be to make a syrup so when you split the bars open it runs out just like a baklava? It's a little early (Mother's Day is in May here) but I'm thinking about doing a "Tastes of Home" theme for it and having a selection of desserts from around the world. Tiramisu was quite easy, I've got apple pie for the states so this will be a trial run to see how it pans out. I think it's going to be very sweet but I guess baklava IS just very sweet

I did look into that but it’s absolutely a nuisance to source

Hi guys, thinking of doing a Baklava inspired filling for the next batch I’m thinking of using feuilletine as a filo substitute with a cardamom, honey and pistachio ganache. Would I be right in assuming so long as the water activity of the ganache is low the feuilletine should remain crisp for at least 2-3 weeks?

Weirdly enough for fine stuff like this I used a toothpick

How I wish I had stickers, I hand painted these ones, I'm trying to figure out the sticker thing, I assume cricket cutter and a specific type of tape but I haven't found much info on it

Now that there’s no upcoming events I’ve had a bit more of a chance to play. Tiramisu cats for example, vanilla marscapone mousse and a tia maria and espresso ganache

Salted caramel brown butter pecan cookies. It’s been a while since I’ve baked these and that’s probably a good thing for my waistline since with a scoop of icecream while hot these are dangerous (I have no idea why I’ve got no flaky sea salt anywhere at the moment so I just chucked on some merlot salt I found in the cupboard)

First time I’ve tried to paint a portrait on moulded bonbons and it’s infinitely harder than on a flat moulded block. You’ve got to paint back to front and if you make a mistake it’s lights out... Still, very happy with how these turned out