Confections! What did we make? (2017 – )

[keychris]

Are you keeping it sealed up? Nougat absorbs moisture from the atmosphere like a sponge in a sink, makes it soften and go sticky.

[DianaB]

4 hours ago, keychris said:

Are you keeping it sealed up? Nougat absorbs moisture from the atmosphere like a sponge in a sink, makes it soften and go sticky.

 

It has been kept at room temp in a sealed container.  Taste has stayed great but it is clear that the mix is very very slowly spreading.  A pity, am nevertheless delighted to have something edible, if not giftable yet... 

[Tri2Cook]

Nothing exciting here, no decoration or anything fancy. Just coffee ganache and dulce de leche in 40% milk shell. The main reason I'm even posting it is to ask if anybody has figured out a way to eliminate the crunchy little sugar crystals that form in every batch of dulce de leche I make (using the boiled cans of SCM method)? They're so tiny that you don't even know they're there until you get that little crunch when chewing. I've had taste testers* say they enjoy the occasional little crunch they get from them but I'm not sure if that convinces me it's ok for them to be there. 



*Taste testers are another thing I'm going to have to address. Think I'm going to instate a "one strike, you're out" rule that removes people from the tester list if I don't receive timely feedback. 

[Jim D.]

1 hour ago, Tri2Cook said:

Nothing exciting here, no decoration or anything fancy. Just coffee ganache and dulce de leche in 40% milk shell. The main reason I'm even posting it is to ask if anybody has figured out a way to eliminate the crunchy little sugar crystals that form in every batch of dulce de leche I make (using the boiled cans of SCM method)? They're so tiny that you don't even know they're there until you get that little crunch when chewing. I've had taste testers* say they enjoy the occasional little crunch they get from them but I'm not sure if that convinces me it's ok for them to be there. 



*Taste testers are another thing I'm going to have to address. Think I'm going to instate a "one strike, you're out" rule that removes people from the tester list if I don't receive timely feedback. 

I have also gotten the crystals, but have no idea how to prevent them. Is this Greweling's recipe? I'm about to make it in a few days. I have had the problem in the past of having the DDL be rather thin. It can seem thick when it has been cooked, but when I stir it a bit, it thins out. Did you have that happen? I am a little concerned about its shelf life.

[Kerry Beal]

I've had the crystals in old bottles of DDL - not so much when it's been 'fresher'. Thinking particularly of the Presidents Choice brand I used to get.

[pastrygirl]

1 hour ago, Tri2Cook said:

The main reason I'm even posting it is to ask if anybody has figured out a way to eliminate the crunchy little sugar crystals that form in every batch of dulce de leche I make (using the boiled cans of SCM method)? They're so tiny that you don't even know they're there until you get that little crunch when chewing.

 

Have you tried straining it?

[Tri2Cook]

8 hours ago, Jim D. said:

I have also gotten the crystals, but have no idea how to prevent them. Is this Greweling's recipe? I'm about to make it in a few days. I have had the problem in the past of having the DDL be rather thin. It can seem thick when it has been cooked, but when I stir it a bit, it thins out. Did you have that happen? I am a little concerned about its shelf life.

It's a loose rendition of Greweling's recipe. I used Michael Laiskonis' coffee ganache recipe subbing the chocolate I was using for the shell for the dark chocolate he calls for which essentially takes it back to Greweling's recipe. The DDL does thin when stirring and piping but it seems to thicken up again. As can be seen in the picture, it stays in place after cutting. Shelf life, I can't answer. I haven't reached a point where I need more than a couple weeks at most and everything seems to survive that time period (even using commercial off-the-shelf jelly in PB&Js held up longer than that unrefrigerated). I kept a few of these aside, I'm going to cut into one every few days and take a look but the eyeball test doesn't really guarantee nothing is starting to go bad.
 

8 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

I've had the crystals in old bottles of DDL - not so much when it's been 'fresher'. Thinking particularly of the Presidents Choice brand I used to get.

This is the stuff I make myself by simmering cans of sweetened condensed milk. I'll try making the DDL a day or two before using and see if that helps. The can I used this time had been cooked about a week or so before I used it.
 

7 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 

Have you tried straining it?

I haven't tried that. The crystals are pretty small but I'll give it a try next time and see what happens.

[Kerry Beal]

25 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

It's a loose rendition of Greweling's recipe. I used Michael Laiskonis' coffee ganache recipe subbing the chocolate I was using for the shell for the dark chocolate he calls for which essentially takes it back to Greweling's recipe. The DDL does thin when stirring and piping but it seems to thicken up again. As can be seen in the picture, it stays in place after cutting. Shelf life, I can't answer. I haven't reached a point where I need more than a couple weeks at most and everything seems to survive that time period (even using commercial off-the-shelf jelly in PB&Js held up longer than that unrefrigerated). I kept a few of these aside, I'm going to cut into one every few days and take a look but the eyeball test doesn't really guarantee nothing is starting to go bad.
 

This is the stuff I make myself by simmering cans of sweetened condensed milk. I'll try making the DDL a day or two before using and see if that helps. The can I used this time had been cooked about a week or so before I used it.
 

I haven't tried that. The crystals are pretty small but I'll give it a try next time and see what happens.

The crystallization is just that - crystallization - so what ever would prevent it in a caramel will prevent it in DDL - so extra glucose maybe?

[Tri2Cook]

7 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

The crystallization is just that - crystallization - so what ever would prevent it in a caramel will prevent it in DDL - so extra glucose maybe?

Yeah, I thought about the options I'd normally use. The problem is, it's inside a can cooking and the crystallization is already there when the can is opened. Guess I could try one of the outside-the-can cooking methods so I can fiddle around with adjustments... or I could just not worry about it. Some have said they enjoy the little crunch and none have said that it bothered them. 

[Kerry Beal]

7 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:

Yeah, I thought about the options I'd normally use. The problem is, it's inside a can cooking and the crystallization is already there when the can is opened. Guess I could try one of the outside-the-can cooking methods so I can fiddle around with adjustments... or I could just not worry about it. Some have said they enjoy the little crunch and none have said that it bothered them. 

I'd probably go the not worry about it route.

 

 

[keychris]

Nobody else knows except you that it's not supposed to be like that, that's why no-one has complained

[Tri2Cook]

5 hours ago, keychris said:

Nobody else knows except you that it's not supposed to be like that, that's why no-one has complained

Good point. The thing about that is, I'm usually the biggest pain in the arse with my work. What are probably small mostly non-problems that few would notice or care about tend to be mountains in my head once I notice them. But I'll attempt to lock this one away since I'm not getting negatives about it from anywhere besides my own head. 

[ChocoMom]

Pink with white splatter: Strawberry PdF/Strawberry creme in 72%

Sphene Green with matte gold: Pear Pdf /Vanilla bean caramel in 38%

 

 

 

 

[Pastrypastmidnight]

2 minutes ago, ChocoMom said:

Pink with white splatter: Strawberry PdF/Strawberry creme in 72%

Sphene Green with matte gold: Pear Pdf /Vanilla bean caramel in 38%

 

 

 

 

These are beautiful! I have wondered about pear pdf. Pear is such a sweet and mild fruit that it seems like all the pear-ness of it would get lost in the sweetness of the pdf so I haven’t tried it yet. But I love pear! Does much of the pear flavor come through or is it more of a neutral fruitiness that just goes well with the caramel?

[ChocoMom]

@Pastrypastmidnight.. Thank you!

 I used Notter's formula for pear PdF. The tartaric acid helps tremendously in making that pear flavor "pop".  On a scale of 1 to 10, my own palate indicates around a 6 or 7+/- on the pear flavor.  In contrast with the caramel, it balances well- and you get just a bit of a tang from the pear.  I do wish it was a little more tart (like the wild strawberry PdF), but you can definitely tell that it's pear.  I hope that helps some.  

If you want to try it, I suggest cutting the batch either in half, or quarter it.  I did only a half batch because I didn't want to end up a whole bunch leftover.  I still have to get a couple of them out to my trusty taste-testers for more feedback, but that's what we've got so far. 

[Pastrypastmidnight]

59 minutes ago, ChocoMom said:

@Pastrypastmidnight.. Thank you!

 I used Notter's formula for pear PdF. The tartaric acid helps tremendously in making that pear flavor "pop".  On a scale of 1 to 10, my own palate indicates around a 6 or 7+/- on the pear flavor.  In contrast with the caramel, it balances well- and you get just a bit of a tang from the pear.  I do wish it was a little more tart (like the wild strawberry PdF), but you can definitely tell that it's pear.  I hope that helps some.  

If you want to try it, I suggest cutting the batch either in half, or quarter it.  I did only a half batch because I didn't want to end up a whole bunch leftover.  I still have to get a couple of them out to my trusty taste-testers for more feedback, but that's what we've got so far. 

Thanks for the feedback!

[Jim D.]

2 hours ago, Pastrypastmidnight said:

These are beautiful! I have wondered about pear pdf. Pear is such a sweet and mild fruit that it seems like all the pear-ness of it would get lost in the sweetness of the pdf so I haven’t tried it yet. But I love pear! Does much of the pear flavor come through or is it more of a neutral fruitiness that just goes well with the caramel?

I have tried lots of things to make pear taste more like pear. I make pear purée myself so that I can get as much of the fruit in it as possible (as opposed to just the juice). Then when I make the PdF (using Pomona's pectin, thus less cooking), I include some puréed dried pear. Finally I add some "pear essence" (a distilled fruit flavor from France) that boosts the flavor a bit more. Even with all that, the flavor was still fairly faint. But I kept at it and made the PdF one layer in a bonbon matched with an almond-pear cream (Kerry Beal's recipe) that includes Poire Williams (pear brandy) and some more pear purée. Almond really goes with pear. But I am intrigued with matching it with caramel and will give that a try.

[ChocoMom]

Pistachio -lemon creme in 72%

 

[Tri2Cook]

Anybody have suggestions on which nougat or nougat-esque confection would be a good match for what's used as the base for the Payday bar?

Edit: Payday bars are impossible to get where I live other than by mail order and, as anybody who is a fan of that particular bar knows, they're only good when really fresh which is never a guarantee when mail ordering. Plus, it could be entirely my imagination but the current Payday seems like it has much less salt on the peanuts than I remember them having when I was younger. 

Edited June 3, 2018 by Tri2Cook (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Never tasted a payday - is the nougat one I might know from a snickers or similar bar?

[Tri2Cook]

21 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Never tasted a payday - is the nougat one I might know from a snickers or similar bar?

I don't know if it's actually considered a nougat or not, just the closest thing I can think of that's similar. It's soft but firm enough to be dipped in caramel and coated in salted peanuts and still maintain it's shape. There's no chocolate in it anywhere, center or coating. I have very little experience working with nougats so I'm not real sure what to try to compare it to. I haven't had one recently but I think it may be a little more firm than what's in a Snickers. I could be remembering incorrectly though.

[Tri2Cook]

I'm wondering if the center for the pecan log in Ruth's book would be similar. May have to give that a try.

[Kerry Beal]

3 minutes ago, Tri2Cook said:

I'm wondering if the center for the pecan log in Ruth's book would be similar. May have to give that a try.

A bit of reading leads me to a caramel nougat - wonder when you would add caramel to the nougat?

 

 

[Tri2Cook]

17 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

A bit of reading leads me to a caramel nougat - wonder when you would add caramel to the nougat?

 

 

Not sure because I've never noticed anything caramel-like about the center itself. It's white and doesn't have any caramel flavor that I can distinguish. But that's keeping in mind that the center is dipped in caramel and then coated in salted peanuts so the caramel coating may overtake any caramel flavor in the center itself.

Edit: actually, the more I think about it, I'm not sure the center is white. I guess I need to order a couple to refresh my memory, that may make this a lot easier. 

Edited June 3, 2018 by Tri2Cook (log)

[dhardy123]

The inside of a Payday:

BTW there is a copycat recipe out there that uses peanut butter chips, marshmallow and condensed milk...never tried it though

Edited June 3, 2018 by dhardy123 (log)