Pâte de Fruits (Fruit Paste/Fruit Jellies) (Part 1)

[Kerry Beal]

My first bottle of apple pectin cost me $100 (hard to find - one Canadian supplier I could figure out) and I've never looked back.

[curls]

Thanks Curls! I just ordered some molds from Chocolat-Chocolat that I have wanted for a couple years! They did have to call me a couple of times to figure out shipping to me, but my order is in! To think I could have ordered them a long time ago. I am going to try the recipe you pointed me to while I wait for my apple pectin from Chef rubber. I hope I really like these things to make my $100 pectin worth it

JenBunk, glad to hear that you placed an order, have fun with your new molds! Keep us up to date on your pdf experiments. Hope you like them!

[JenBunk]

OK, so I just did my first pdf. It was a strawberry rhubarb puree and the recipe is from the home edition of C&C. I have never had a pate de fruit so I don't have anything to compare it to. My over all impression is it was pretty firm. Most people describe them as tender so I am hoping the apple pectin recipe will yield better results. I dipped them in chocolate. I did not really care for them and care for them even less dipped in chocolate. I'm going to give it another shot when I get the apple pectin.

[curls]

OK, so I just did my first pdf. It was a strawberry rhubarb puree and the recipe is from the home edition of C&C. I have never had a pate de fruit so I don't have anything to compare it to. My over all impression is it was pretty firm. Most people describe them as tender so I am hoping the apple pectin recipe will yield better results. I dipped them in chocolate. I did not really care for them and care for them even less dipped in chocolate. I'm going to give it another shot when I get the apple pectin.

You should have a softer texture with the apple pectin. How did you like the flavor of your first pdf?

[JenBunk]

Well, I did not care for it much,and really didn't like them in chocolate. I think it would totally change the flavor if I rolled them in sugar rather than dipping them in chocolate. My sister really likes strawberry-rhubarb and she said they tasted really good without the chocolate. I am looking forward to trying the apple pectin recipe and some different fruits.

[pastrygirl]

I like the texture somewhat firm, but not necessarily chewy. Does al dente apply to candy? PDF is fickle stuff. The same ingredients cooked faster or more slowly will turn out differently, and overcooking does make them tough.

I had an intern make a couple batches of my usual recipe, the only difference seemed to be he had the flame lower than I usually do - I told him to turn it up a couple of times. His batches came out shorter in the frame, darker in color, and more chewy, edging towards tough. I made some today at my usual active boil, and they came out perfectly, at least in my opinion. There is also kind of a sweet spot in batch sizes, and you want your pot matched to the size of the burner. I tried doing double batches a few times, and they would get lumpy and weird, I think because I wasn't getting even heat with the small induction burner and large pot I was using. Even heat, cook as fast as feasible without burning it, don't overcook, and you may have to tweak your recipe to your ingredients and equipment.

[curls]

If it is just a layer of pate de fruit, I just coat it in sugar.

I enrobe it in chocolate if I make a layered pate de fruit, so... a slabbed ganache and pate de fruit, marzipan and pate de fruit, these I would enrobe in chocolate. Don't have my books with me right now but I am pretty sure that Grewling, Wybauw and Curley all have recipes that combine a layer of pate de fruit with another layer of ganache or marzipan. Try one of their flavor combinations and see if that works better for you.

[JenBunk]

Pastrygirl- I think you hit the problem right on the head. I was using a large pot and wondered if that is why it took forever to cook! I am going to try again with a smaller pot.

Curls- A layered pdf was what led me to these experiments. I wanted to do a layered one, but wanted to practice before I made the ganache layer. I dipped them in chocolate to get an idea of the flavor. Won't do that again with just pdf

[JenBunk]

Just got my apple pectin in and have my puree thawing to give it another shot.

Kerry- I am going to try the Boiron recipe you sent me, but I had a question. I noticed you did a strawberry rhubarb recently. Did you use the strawberry recipe or Rhubarb recipe, or a combination of both?

[Kerry Beal]

Just got my apple pectin in and have my puree thawing to give it another shot.

Kerry- I am going to try the Boiron recipe you sent me, but I had a question. I noticed you did a strawberry rhubarb recently. Did you use the strawberry recipe or Rhubarb recipe, or a combination of both?

Combination of both - made a half batch splitting the difference between the amounts of pectin, sugar, glucose and citric acid solution for the strawberry recipe and the rhubarb recipe. I tend to add a bit more citric acid solution than called for and I usually use about 10 grams of booze along with the citric solution - for the strawberry rhubarb I think I used a triple sec.

[JenBunk]

Just got my apple pectin in and have my puree thawing to give it another shot.

Kerry- I am going to try the Boiron recipe you sent me, but I had a question. I noticed you did a strawberry rhubarb recently. Did you use the strawberry recipe or Rhubarb recipe, or a combination of both?

Combination of both - made a half batch splitting the difference between the amounts of pectin, sugar, glucose and citric acid solution for the strawberry recipe and the rhubarb recipe. I tend to add a bit more citric acid solution than called for and I usually use about 10 grams of booze along with the citric solution - for the strawberry rhubarb I think I used a triple sec.

Thanks! I was thinking of splitting the difference, but considering how the last batch turned out I thought getting a little direction couldn't hurt.

The pdf is cooling right now and I will post pictures later. This batch came out lighter and filled the pan. My last batch did exactly what pastrygirl said happened when her intern used a bigger pot (darker, tough, an did not fill the pan). We will see if the texture turned out tomorrow.

Jenny

[JenBunk]

The texture and flavor were much better this time compared to my first attempt. I don't know if it was the large pot or because it was a liquid pectin recipe, but this batch was way better!

[pastrygirl]

Pretty color! And nice and clear. I think you're getting somewhere!

[Robert Watts]

Hi, first id like to say hello, read a few things on this forum and seems full of knoledge

Basically when i try making PDFs the bottom of te pan is black before the

Mix can reach 107c

And as a consequence the whole batch taste like burnt caremel

Anyone shed some

Light on this please? In using a solid top if this has anything todo with it ?

Thanks in advance

[Kerry Beal]

Welcome Robert.

How heavy a pan are you using? What recipe? Is your thermometer accurate? You aren't using the IR thermometer for these are you?

[gap]

Are you stirring the whole time with a whisk?

[Robert Watts]

Hi, i use the boiron recipes so 1k puree 30 pectin 800 sugar 200 glucose 20 lemon juice,

I uses both a sugar thermomiter and a probe, i have. Ir but havnt used it yet,

Pan isnt copper its just a normal deep pan i guess ,

Younreckon if the pan isnt flat may cause hot spots to burn?

[Robert Watts]

Sorry in dont whisk constantly, is it best to?

[Mjx]

Heaps of information of information on pate de fruits in these topics, just for starters (there are also quite a few others): Pate de Fruit (Fruit Pastes/Fruit Jellies), Pate de fruit, and Questions on Pate de Fruit.

[minas6907]

You for a certainty need to whisk or stir constantly, the fruit puree and sugars burn very very easily. And when you say "Younreckon if the pan isnt flat may cause hot spots to burn?" Are you saying that your actual pan is dented or warped at all? If it is in the slightest bit, your using a pan that is too thin, you need to have a heavy bottom sauce/stock pot. If the pan is too thin, it gets way way too hot and will caramelize the sugar very easily. I suppose you can put your current pan over a hot cast iron pan and cook it that way, using the cast iron to disperse the heat, but it really is better to get a heavy bottom pan, I'd recommend a pan from a restaurant supply store, NSF makes pans that work very nicely and are very affordable.

Edited August 24, 2012 by minas6907 (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Yup - with minas on this one - nice heavy pot, stir pretty much constantly - I use a silicone spoonula getting in behind the thermometer and along the edges.

[Robert Watts]

made passion fruit the other day got the heaviest pan suitable and turned out pretty good

[Kerry Beal]

That looks great.

[JeanneCake]

That looks wonderful!

I think I'd like to make these, or at least try. A few of my clients are planning holiday open houses to show their venue space; is there a flavor that is very pale (one of them is having a winter white theme) so that the PdF could be in the winter white spirit? Something like white peach? pear? any other ideas?

[gap]

made passion fruit the other day got the heaviest pan suitable and turned out pretty good

They look great. Passionfruit is one of my favourites

Edited August 27, 2012 by gap (log)