Recipe Help and Sosa Extract

[cslas]

Hi all, 

 

I'm thinking ahead to (U.S.) Thanksgiving and I was interested in trying to make this Apple Pie Bouchee bon bon by Melissa Coppel. Anyway, I had a couple of questions I was hoping you all could help me answer.

 

1. In the second part of the recipe, she lists "Sosa apple extract" as an ingredient. I've located a couple of Sosa apple products, but none of them explicitly say they're "extract". Do you know if I'm looking for a liquid? A powder? Also, are their any other brands besides Sosa that might be worth trying for an extract? (Just thinking most of the powder versions at least seem to be only sold in Europe and are kind of pricey when you only need 25 g).

 

2. So she calls for the extract, but for the life of me I can't figure out where I'd use it. I think she forgot to include it in the actual instructions. Any ideas?

 

3. Lastly, at the end she says that the recipe will only hold up for 2 days before the cookie starts to get soggy. Is there anything I can do to combat this (for this recipe or in general)? Would freezing them have an impact? I read a Peter Greweling paper on layering flavors and it seemed like he was suggesting you could put a layer of cocoa butter between layers with disparate Aw values to prevent moisture from migrating between them. Is this really a thing? 

 

Any help is appreciated.

[Kerry Beal]

1. I couldn't find anything either - Sosa makes aroma but that would be half a bottle and that stuff is strong! Likely she means the compound - 25 grams of that in that recipe would be reasonable. 

 

2. I'd add the compound with the rum.

 

3. Spray with cocoa butter - that should help slow the time to soggy.

 

 

 

 

[pastrygirl]

AUI shows a 'cooked apple' and a 'green apple'.  Either one could be good in the ganache, depending on whether you want to reinforce the roasted apple flavor or brighten it up with green apple.

https://secure.auifinefoods.com/products-search?qs=sosa+apple+aroma

 

However, Sosa is still expensive.  Consider LorAnn candy oils for intense flavor in a few drops but the apple is artificial. 

https://www.lorannoils.com/apple-flavor-1-dram-0350-0100

 

I think the easiest thing would be to reduce some good quality apple cider to a syrup.

 

And yes, a fat 'raincoat' will help protect the cookie from sogginess.

[Tri2Cook]

7 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

AUI shows a 'cooked apple' and a 'green apple'.  Either one could be good in the ganache, depending on whether you want to reinforce the roasted apple flavor or brighten it up with green apple.

Not that I was eyeballing this recipe with any serious interest but now I'm thinking some of both would be tasty.

[Rajala]

13 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Likely she means the compound

 

What is this?

 

I made this recipe once and thought about that as well, the 25 grams. I went with 25 drops.  

[Kerry Beal]

23 minutes ago, Rajala said:

 

What is this?

 

I made this recipe once and thought about that as well, the 25 grams. I went with 25 drops.  

Compound is a jam like mixture of fruit, sugar and additional flavoring. Often used with no additional fruit to make gelato etc. 

[Jim D.]

17 hours ago, cslas said:

Hi all, 

 

I'm thinking ahead to (U.S.) Thanksgiving and I was interested in trying to make this Apple Pie Bouchee bon bon by Melissa Coppel. Anyway, I had a couple of questions I was hoping you all could help me answer.

 

1. In the second part of the recipe, she lists "Sosa apple extract" as an ingredient. I've located a couple of Sosa apple products, but none of them explicitly say they're "extract". Do you know if I'm looking for a liquid? A powder? Also, are their any other brands besides Sosa that might be worth trying for an extract? (Just thinking most of the powder versions at least seem to be only sold in Europe and are kind of pricey when you only need 25 g).

 

 

In a similar recipe of hers for apricot cobbler bouchée (which is posted on the Savour School site), she calls for apricot extract. In the video she is holding a bottle of Sosa apricot aroma (and calls it extract). She speaks of adding 30 drops of extract, so I think the apple recipe may have meant 25 drops.

 

Speaking from much experience in locating an apple extract/aroma/essence that does not taste like varnish, I did not find this an easy task. I don't have any Sosa aromas, but would trust them completely. Melissa's studio shelves were lined with every conceivable Sosa aroma (arranged perfectly, I should add), and I had a bergamot caramel, made by Melissa's former partner, Jean-Marie Auboine, using Sosa bergamot aroma. I eventually found an apple flavoring from a little shop, La Cuisine, in Alexandria, Va., but that place is now closed. Eventually I tracked down the owner, who located a source, International Gourmet Foods, but they deal only with businesses and have a high minimum order (I ordered some Valrhona chocolate along with extracts to reach the minimum). There is now an online place, www.simplygourmand.com, that is beginning to carry these French aromas (as they are called), but I don't think it has the apple yet (but you could ask the owner). A long explanation to say that I really like this apple flavoring and use it in several apple items I make. If all else fails, I could send you some to use.

 

One additional comment on the recipe:  In my opinion, the use of a milk chocolate (even one as light as what she specifies) is going to mask the apple flavor. In the apricot recipe she uses Zéphyr caramelized white chocolate. In what I call an "apple crisp" bonbon filling, I use apple juice concentrate plus puréed dried apples, the aroma, and a healthy dose of citric acid to get a decent apple flavor, then mold it in Zéphyr caramelized chocolate.

[Chocolot]

Don't know if it applies here, but Melissa told me she much prefers the Sosa cooked apple aroma. She said it has a much better flavor than the others.