Phyllo purse desserts

[JeanneCake]

I am being asked to make warm chocolate phyllo purses for a restaurant on Saturday (their pastry chef is on vacation).

I'm ok with phyllo in general and making the purses is probably not unlike making those folded triangle pastries; but all I have for chocolate is Schokinag disks (chips really) and callets from Callebaut. Well, I also have some blocks of unsweetened but don't think it would call for that...

I'm hoping they'll provide a recipe but in case they don't, any hints on whether I can just pile up a tablespoon of chips in the center of the phyllo square and then twist the tops? If you've made this sort of dessert before, are there any "gotchas" to be aware of? I'm also expecting that they will bake these onsite - if I were to bake them, the filling would harden and they'd need to reheat and that might cause the phyllo to brown excessively.

[pastrymama]

I make this type of dessert with my warm chocolate cake recipe which has chocolate, butter sugar and eggs. I always double up the phyllo or use brick pastry which is a little sturdier. If you want the chocolate cake recipe I'll be happy to send it to you.

[JeanneCake]

Today I was told they use crepes to make this dessert, not phyllo. I'm going nuts looking for a place that carries bric or crepe (AUI has some, it will cost to get it overnighted!) They also said that the center is a thick ganache, some rum, fresh berries - they wrap in foil to bake. What's the difference between a crepe and bric (assuming both are purchased)? I'm trying to get more help in for Friday (I'd rather make the crepes myself, but the reality is two gala dinners on Saturday for 500 ppl each and only so much time), but want to have a backup plan just in case.

I'd love to have the recipe for your chocolate cake center!

[JeanneCake]

I am sure to get into heaven because I spent the weekend in hell.

I ended up getting the bric from AUI and it was fantastic. It took two of us less than an hour to put 100 of these together; and they were terrific. Even the caterers I share with want to use this stuff.

The bric was an 11" round, and it turned out to be the perfect size - a nice frilly top, great presentation. It wouldn't stick to itself as previously noted in another thread but the chef said they bake these wrapped in foil so once we put them together, and then in the foil, I stuck them in the freezer. After a half hour in the freezer, it stayed in place perfectly.

Marilyn, many many thanks!

[pastrymama]

Hi Jeanne, You are so welcome. I'm sorry the weekend was so difficult, but I am glad that the purses worked out well.

[pastrygirl]

Keeping with the feuill de brick dough theme - is there any way to glue this stuff together and make it stick to itself? I am making chocolate spring rolls that will be a thick chocolate pastry creme rolled up in brick. Egg white seems to help a little, as did freezing them seam-side down, but I'd like a little extra security so chocolate doesn't ooze all over the fryer. Any ideas?

[gfron1]

I recently did a dish where I used corn start dusting to create a binding. The thought was the moisture would make it sticky, and the cooking would solidify it somewhat - worked like a charm.

[pastrygirl]

I recently did a dish where I used corn start dusting to create a binding.  The thought was the moisture would make it sticky, and the cooking would solidify it somewhat - worked like a charm.

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Awesome, I'll try it!

[alanamoana]

i just use regular spring roll wrappers for that kind of thing and i make a paste with flour and water to stick the seam together.

i love brik for other things though!

[pastrygirl]

I'd think of regular spring roll wrappers first too, but we happen to have a bunch of brick in the freezer that the other chefs aren't using right now. The brick is a little more delicate, which is nice.

I tried again today, the cornstarch didn't do much, but beaten whole egg seemed to do the trick. Ahh, eggs, is there anything they can't do?

So going on the menu today, chocolate orange spring rolls served warm on circles of white chocolate with an apricot jam/marmalade mix dipping sauce. We'll see how it competes with the warm chocolate/caramel sauce/malted milk ice cream dessert.