Molecular Gastronomy in Pastry

[filipe]

Ok, I'm starting this thread now, with this confuse title, as it's subjet I'm very interested about.

We saw a lot of different paths being followed on savory cooking but when it comes to pastry things tend to go a little slower...

El Bulli has opened a huge range of new techniques/ingredientes/combinations/methods that can also be brought to pastry (not that anyone is doing that, but it's not a very common topic - as a whole- around these P&B threads)

I've bought some products from the Texturas range, by El Bulli, and for me it's a great excitement to start experiencing them. Today I've made my first caviar : apple caviar. I've tryed a peach caviar first but it didn't went very well...

This is how it turned out (the apple one)

For now I'm just experiencing... but I can't wait to be using it for real on my pastry adventures. Anyone wanna join?

Edited December 12, 2006 by filipe (log)

[sote23]

Ok, I'm starting this thread now, with this confuse title, as it's  subjet I'm very interested about.

We saw a lot of different paths being followed on savory cooking but when it comes to pastry things tend to go a little slower...

El Bulli has opened a huge range of new techniques/ingredientes/combinations/methods that can also be brought to pastry (not that anyone is doing that, but it's not a very common topic - as a whole-  around these P&B threads)

I've bought some products from the Texturas range, by El Bulli, and for me it's a great excitement to start experiencing them. Today I've made my first caviar : apple caviar. I've tryed a peach caviar first but it didn't went very well...

This is how it turned out (the apple one)

For now I'm just experiencing... but I can't wait to be using it for real on my pastry adventures. Anyone wanna join?

←

keep us informed. I'd be curious to see what you come up with.

[s_sevilla]

check the "Adventures with Sodium Alginate" over in the Cooking forums, it has a lot of insight into the quirks you may run into when working with that particular product.

[Kent Wang]

Looks cool, but won't it oxidize and brown very quickly, especially with apple?

[chiantiglace]

Looks cool, but won't it oxidize and brown very quickly, especially with apple?

←

No. The puree/pulp will not oxidize because it is the purpose of the alginate to protect it.

The alginate is designed to create bons or gels protecting the beings food stores. In the presence of calcium ions CA2+, the alginate creates a barrier to block the calcium from bonding with its food stores.

The only thing you have to worry about really, is serving the "caviar" in an appropriate time frame to keep it from completely gelling. Once the barrier is formed, the caviar beeds will continue to gel all the way through. So to get that "pop" or burst of juice/puree, it needs to be served relatively soon. If not you will wind up with a fairly brittle bunch or apple beeds. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[filipe]

I've tried a red fruits caviar

What I've noticed is the lack of flavour - which was very intense before adding the sodium alginate - but it's kinda lost after being shaped into spheres. It looks nice , but on what concerns to its flavour things go a bit different

Edited December 15, 2006 by filipe (log)

[Timh]

Is that glace? bavaroir?

Very nice.

[filipe]

Is that glace? bavaroir?

Very nice.

←

Thanks

It's a blueberry+strawberry+raspberry panacotta topped with strawberry jelly laying over a chocolate financier

This next one is a coconut panacotta laying over a lemon genoise on which I've used the apple caviar

Edited December 15, 2006 by filipe (log)

[K8memphis]

I agree, in my little experience, I noticed I needed a concentrated flavor to make it right.

[dejaq]

Is that glace? bavaroir?

Very nice.

←

Thanks

It's a blueberry+strawberry+raspberry panacotta topped with strawberry jelly laying over a chocolate financier

This next one is a coconut panacotta laying over a lemon genoise on which I've used the apple caviar

←

Outstanding work,

application of the pearls does have a place under the sun in retail presentation, terrific work Filipe.

Michael

[filipe]

Outstanding work,

application of the pearls does have a place under the sun in retail presentation, terrific work Filipe.

Michael

←

Thank you very much Michael

I've recently bought the 2005's edition of the El Bulli book's colection. They come with a new techique which they call the inverted-spherification. The sodium alginated solutions react in the presence of calcium, so that is to say if the liquid you're willing to turn into spheres has calcium in it, that will ruin the entire process as the reation will occur when you had the sodium alginate to the liquid itself. For example that would mean no milk chocolate caviar... or anything that has cream or milk in it.

The way they've dealed with it, opening a new range of possibilities, was to invert the process : since the liquid has calcium in it, instead of mixing it with soldium alginate and then drop it on a calcium chloride solution, they just correct the calcium ammount of the liquid by adding some calcium chloride and then drop it on a water+sodium alginate solution. This way it produces a similar spherification reaction but just on the outskirts, leaving the center of the sphere still soft.

Edited December 18, 2006 by filipe (log)

[chiantiglace]

Wow filipe, the apple cavriar looks quite clear. I do see a little blush of green, did you add any food coloring or is that just green layer shining through?

[filipe]

Wow filipe, the apple cavriar looks quite clear.  I do see a little blush of green, did you add any food coloring or is that just green layer shining through?

←

It was green sprayed indeed, but just to get a shade of green, not to paint the entire surface

[Kent Wang]

The blue and brown shades work beautifully.

[bripastryguy]

Filipe,

I too have been biten by the mg bug. can you post the latest fomulas you have been using?

[dejaq]

Outstanding work,

application of the pearls does have a place under the sun in retail presentation, terrific work Filipe.

Michael

←

Thank you very much Michael

I've recently bought the 2005's edition of the El Bulli book's colection. They come with a new techique which they call the inverted-spherification. The sodium alginated solutions react in the presence of calcium, so that is to say if the liquid you're willing to turn into spheres has calcium in it, that will ruin the entire process as the reation will occur when you had the sodium alginate to the liquid itself. For example that would mean no milk chocolate caviar... or anything that has cream or milk in it.

The way they've dealed with it, opening a new range of possibilities, was to invert the process : since the liquid has calcium in it, instead of mixing it with soldium alginate and then drop it on a calcium chloride solution, they just correct the calcium ammount of the liquid by adding some calcium chloride and then drop it on a water+sodium alginate solution. This way it produces a similar spherification reaction but just on the outskirts, leaving the center of the sphere still soft.

←

Yeah, I got Adrià's most recent works as well, he is such a brillant and talented Artist, double thumbs up to anyone setting aside nearly three hundred USD for the set, well worth every blessed nickel, not dust collectors, but functional works of inspiration, he is a genius, but we already know that.

Michael