tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69510832273575775502024-03-14T11:20:55.416-07:00French Pastry School Experience.After a couple of years of fine dining cooking and traveling around Asia to learn about asian cuisines, I have now decided.. It is time to take a chance on conquering my fears-- BAKING AND PASTRIES! And I will start that by attending the French Pastry School in Chicago, where I will begin my first steps of overcoming the nightmares of flopped baked goods.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-35793992400683995272015-04-02T11:19:00.000-07:002015-04-02T11:25:57.356-07:00It's AAALIIIVEEEE!I feel inspired to write some BS stories about my mundane life again after my unexpected stumble on an old xangan blogger. I used to trail her xanga posts like I was star chasing. If I still remember correctly, one of her post even made me shed a tear because it was very touching. Of course, had an happy ending, she ended up with a care package of oat meals and cereals etc,etc. Who would have knew oat meals and cereals would make me weep. The last time I bought oat meal for my mom, it was sitting on the shelf for so long that you can actually put an age to it. Roughly 3 years old. Now, of course, it was unopened, but you can wonder how the hell is it even possible to leave a pack of oat meal on the shelf for almost 3 years?! Well, I ponder about that just the same. And the kicker of the story is that, I walk by it almost everyday. Ha...<br />
<br />
Another interesting and exciting thing about my life is that, I finally adapted a dog. Her name is Mia. More on that later IF.. my motivation drive to write still have fuel left in it by the end of tomorrow night. You know with YouTube and Facebook being such a time trap, vacuuming time and space up like a vortex, seriously, hours feels like seconds. One morning the sun is up and after some YouTube clips, OH, it's dinner time?? Whhaaaa..<br />
<br />
Anyways, I am allowing Mia to sleep in my room today, (<i>even though I think she prefer to sleep outside in the hallway on her usual spot, because she keeps walking in and out of my room</i>) I like to think it's a privilege to get to sleep in my room. I closed the door, so she can't get out. Hehheh..<br />
<br />
On the side note, I haven't had good cereal in a while, and I know why I am not enticed to eat cereal here in Asia. BECAUSE THE MILK SUCKS! I am still used to Canadian milk. Here, the "<i>milk" </i>is funk town funky. Can't quite explain it, however, the milk taste TOO flavorful for it to be pure. I mean, I live in Taiwan, it's a Formosa with very little grassy lands for cows to graze on. So with that in mind, the cows sure ain't going to be fatty or healthy enough to produce great milk for all of Taiwan. I'm pretty sure the milk we buy here is chemically flavored, I mean, com'on.. We even have "Apple Milk", and it's yellow. I know, because I grew up drinking it. And yes, all that flavoring made it deliciously, dangerously addictive.<br />
<br />
That's all. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-85991046248460369172011-10-27T19:11:00.001-07:002011-10-27T19:11:24.363-07:00Whole Wheat Tarts vs Plain Flour TartsLately, I've been playing around with tarts made out of whole wheat
flour instead of regular pastry flour or plain flour for the reasons
that it will be healthier choice. As you may or may not know, whole
wheat products will provide you with a source of proteins, fibers,
vitamins and minerals which are always good for your body. My mom cannot
consume too much white flour, so in house, we have mainly whole wheat
products when it comes to baked goods such as whole wheat buns and
breads. My parents are quite conscious when it comes to eating healthy,
and I don't even want to get into the kind of drinks that they blend up
every morning for my sister and I to drink. But that aside and back to
the point, whole wheat tarts. <br /><a href="http://x6d.xanga.com/d88e133008032279420539/b222588202.jpg" target="_blank"><img data-src="http://x6d.xanga.com/d88e133008032279420539/z222588202.jpg" height="400" src="http://x6d.xanga.com/d88e133008032279420539/z222588202.jpg" style="border-style: none; border-width: 0px;" title="P1030054" /></a> <a href="http://x27.xanga.com/fafe127361032279420536/b222431869.jpg" target="_blank"><img data-src="http://x27.xanga.com/fafe127361032279420536/z222431869.jpg" height="400" src="http://x27.xanga.com/fafe127361032279420536/z222431869.jpg" style="border-style: none; border-width: 0px;" title="P1030053" /></a> <br />There
are many doughs out there for tarts and pies and endless recipes to
match with it. But as I have learned, the key to a strong tart/pie dough
is allow to time for maturity of the dough. This means you must let
your dough rest, best overnight, thus giving time for the flour in the
dough to absorb any fat or moisture in the recipe. When flour is mixed
in liquid, gluten is naturally developed and it helps strength the
dough's ability to stretch when rolled. Same goes for tart doughs made
with whole wheat flour, and it may take longer periods of resting time
compared to pastry flour. This is due to the slower absorption of
moisture from the whole wheat flour. <br /> <a href="http://x89.xanga.com/437f6536c1231279420540/b222588203.jpg" target="_blank"><img data-src="http://x89.xanga.com/437f6536c1231279420540/z222588203.jpg" height="400" src="http://x89.xanga.com/437f6536c1231279420540/z222588203.jpg" style="border-style: none; border-width: 0px;" title="P1030056" /></a> <a href="http://x8d.xanga.com/79ef963bc1d30279420542/b222588204.jpg" target="_blank"><img data-src="http://x8d.xanga.com/79ef963bc1d30279420542/z222588204.jpg" height="400" src="http://x8d.xanga.com/79ef963bc1d30279420542/z222588204.jpg" style="border-style: none; border-width: 0px;" title="P1030061" /></a> <br />Then
through a few trials, I found that whole wheat tarts tend to take a
longer time to bake, and you couldn't use the same temperature used for
regular tarts. The color of the tarts became too dark before it was
fully baked. The whole wheat dough itself is much more dense compared to
the regular flour tarts, and therefore, the release of moisture through
baking took longer, and this cause the oven to steam up, and instead of
baking you are now, steaming. So I had to open the oven doors to let
out the steam and continue baking. Normally, the best oven for baking
tarts are the convection ovens, the ovens with the built in fan to
circulate the hot air better. And better this, you can buy yourself a
convection oven with a vent function to let out steam when built up in
the oven. It will provide your tarts with a nicer color on the crust and
also giving you that crispy shell which is always desired. <br /> <a href="http://xde.xanga.com/8e5f803078333279420544/b222588206.jpg" target="_blank"><img data-src="http://xde.xanga.com/8e5f803078333279420544/z222588206.jpg" height="400" src="http://xde.xanga.com/8e5f803078333279420544/z222588206.jpg" style="border-style: none; border-width: 0px;" title="P1030073" /></a> <a href="http://x3c.xanga.com/7daf843018333279420545/b222588207.jpg" target="_blank"><img data-src="http://x3c.xanga.com/7daf843018333279420545/z222588207.jpg" height="400" src="http://x3c.xanga.com/7daf843018333279420545/z222588207.jpg" style="border-style: none; border-width: 0px;" title="P1030077" /></a> <br />I
prefer to bake my tarts a little longer to evaporate more moisture. I
do this because, although the tart shells will be a lot more dry, but
when I add in the fillings it will soak up juice and balance out. Also,
when living in humid climate, baking your shells a little longer than
required will also help prevent your shells from becoming soft too fast
due to the moisture in the air. Nobody likes a soggy tart shell. <br /><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-81898343417248023012011-08-28T14:43:00.000-07:002011-08-28T14:43:38.239-07:00Grilled peaches, Arugula Salad. Honey Grapefruit Vinaigrette.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x01.xanga.com/ca1e366078034278583856/w221907951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://x01.xanga.com/ca1e366078034278583856/w221907951.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Grilled Peaches. Had a craving to want to pan grill something, and so... Peaches it was. <br />
Grilled peaches aren't exactly my favorite type of fruit to grill, but I enjoy the appearance of beautiful grill marks on my surface of my food. There weren't much ingredients to pan grill in the house, and I wasn't going to plan on pan grilling my bread without a fragrant cheese in between.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x60.xanga.com/78ee3a6678037278583857/w221907952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://x60.xanga.com/78ee3a6678037278583857/w221907952.jpg" width="480" /></a></div> When you grill anything, especially fruits or vegetables, some of it's moisture evaporates, thus concentrating it's flavors and natural sugars. This in case, with the peaches, they became much sweeter than prior and the feminine like scent of peaches become much more fragrant. <br />
<br />
A few days ago, I had made using the last cup of the grapefruit juice with some EVOO, lemon juice, dijon mustard and honey. A <span style="font-style: italic;">honey grapefruit vinaigrette </span>was made. And I decided to dress that on my salad for lunch. I I thought the grapefruit juice and honey would nicely balance out the peppery taste of the baby arugula, and the spiciness of the raw red onions. <br />
<br />
But even so, I think I would have been just as happy with some lemon juice and olive oil whooshed together as my dressing. Sometimes I feel we tend to forget how beautifully tasting a great quality olive oil would be on the tongue, and we should be more enticed to explore these raw flavors. <br />
<br style="font-weight: bold;" /><span style="font-style: italic;">Baby arugula salad<br />
tomatoes. red onions. <br />
and the beautifully grilled peaches<br />
Honey grapefruit vinaigrette. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-29498823211660600872011-03-13T19:06:00.000-07:002011-03-13T19:06:57.391-07:00Chocolate Gift Box. All CHOCOLATE!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x26.xanga.com/869e121735c35275560529/w219607518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://x26.xanga.com/869e121735c35275560529/w219607518.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Okay readers, I am sorry I have abandoned you guys and this blog for more than a month. And I feel grateful that some of you still write to me and encourage me to keep on blogging about food. Especially, this one reader emailed me, screaming, " WHERE'S THE FOOOODDD PORNNN??? ". So I finally decided to get my ass off the lazy couch and put some effort back into my food blog. Hopefully, this type of motivation will last..<br />
<br />
Well, I had taught a chocolate class a few days ago, and it was all about chocolate gift boxes. Using chocolate to make a real box with a lid and some decorations. You can use this box to fill it with more chocolate stuff, oh you know, like chocolate truffles and or chocolate bonbons. Whatever it is that you put into this box, it is going to look like it's the LV of chocolates.<br />
<br />
I used CK luster dust to brush the colors on the chocolate once I had released it from the mold. Luster dust will give you a beautiful shiny look on your finished product. On the center of the flower pedal, I used a darker golden luster dust and on the ribbon tie, I picked a bronzed copper color. Overall, giving this chocolate gift box a beautiful antique look. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x37.xanga.com/edcf901a09733275560534/w219607522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://x37.xanga.com/edcf901a09733275560534/w219607522.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A smaller version of the chocolate gift box. Yup. It's all chocolate.<br />
Doesn't look like it once bit, does it! Looks almost like metal !!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-29627849991597147682011-02-05T08:37:00.000-08:002011-02-05T08:37:48.529-08:00Pear & Lavender Ice Cream : home style<div style="text-align: left;"><b>When making the prefect ice cream</b>, there are many factors to consider and some go very in-depth to prefect the recipe. There are 4 basic categories of ice cream and they are, ice Cream based, egg based, fruit based and then finally there is the sorbet. Each category has it's standard rules of measurements of certain ingredients, which if followed, will guarantee you a unique, pallet smoothing and flavor flowing ice cream that you want. Some of these rules of measurements concerns ingredients such as the percentages of fat contain, sugar contain, dairy contain and sometimes even the % of emulsifiers used to combine fats together. But, do we really need study all this rules of measurement to make a great tasting ice cream dessert? The answer is NO. You can still make ice cream with just a few simple ingredients such as milk, cream and some kind of flavoring. And it will still be quite delicious.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">In this case I'm making a simple pear and lavender ice cream with an egg base ice cream.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Ingredients are simple. You need:</div><div class="photo photo_none" style="text-align: center;"><div class="photo_img"><img class="img" src="http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs789.ash1/167939_179568628750903_178032772237822_363744_7159182_n.jpg" style="width: 393px;" /></div><div class="caption">Simple ingredients for home style ice cream.</div><div class="caption"></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>500g whole milk</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>200g 35% cream</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>100g egg yolks</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>60g sugar</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>2-3 sprigs of lavender</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>150g pear puree.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>If you can't find pear puree, you can also buy your own pear and cook it down with simple syrup and puree with a hand blender. Or you can also buy pear jams if you can find it in your local market. Just beware if you are using Jams, consider the sweetness level of your jam, you might have to reduce the 60g of sugar if your jam is already sweet.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Start by infusing the lavender with your cream and milk, so in a heavy bottomed pot, slowly bring your whole milk, 35% cream and sprigs of lavender to a quick simmer. Turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid to allow the lavender to further infuse. Steep for about 5 minutes or so, if you want a stronger lavender flavor, you can also steep it for 10 minutes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xa4.xanga.com/d0ef8ae448735274852258/m219086424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://xa4.xanga.com/d0ef8ae448735274852258/m219086424.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Next, make a crème <i>anglaise.</i> So whisk your sugar and egg yolks together when your cream is finished infusing, and temper your egg yolk mixture with your cream. It' important that you keep whisking your crème <i>anglaise </i>while you cook and bring to a temperature of 80-82degree C. This will ensure that you pasteurize your egg yolks and leaving no trace of potential harmful bacteria.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="photo_img" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img class="img" src="http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs036.snc6/166652_179568872084212_178032772237822_363753_3082331_n.jpg" style="width: 393px;" /></div><br />
<div class="photo photo_none" style="text-align: center;"><div class="caption">Cooling the creme Anglaise</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">When your crème <i>anglaise </i>reaches 80-82C, take it off the heat and quickly cool it in an ice bath. Then add in your pear puree when the crème <i>anglaise </i>is at about 35C. Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and follow the machine's instruction. Each ice cream machine is different, but usually it shouldn't take longer than an hour or so for your ice cream to be firm enough to scoop and eat.</div><div class="photo photo_none" style="text-align: center;"><div class="photo_img"><img class="img" src="http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs260.snc6/180799_179569042084195_178032772237822_363759_7638673_n.jpg" style="width: 393px;" /></div><div class="caption">After 40 minutes of spinning the ice cream. It's firm enough to scoop.</div><div class="caption"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x60.xanga.com/f18f67f271c30274852302/m219086463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://x60.xanga.com/f18f67f271c30274852302/m219086463.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="caption"></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">I really like to play with ice cream flavors, and the combination are endless. It's really just up to your imagination and testing to see what works, and what works better!~ I'm going to go enjoy my ice cream now!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-37157547877658315312011-02-01T03:01:00.000-08:002011-02-01T03:01:03.169-08:00The cure for crumble pound cakes! Why does my pound cake Crumble!When we think pound cakes, we think rich, we think butter and we think of the dense cake-like texture that is the opposite of a sponge cake. But when my friend made her pound cake the texture was quite crumbly, as if it was falling apart when she sliced the cake. Why? <br />
<br />
This crumbly texture of pound cakes is most likely a result of over mixing your cake batter for too long. This is an common mistake for most <span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 新細明體; mso-fareast-language: ZH-TW; mso-font-kerning: 1.0pt;">inexperienced</span> bakers who is unsure when the cake batter is considered "well mixed". Especially, when trying out a new cake batter recipe, the result may not come out as planned. <br />
<br />
Table top mixers, like kitchen aids are powerful beasts when used to mix cake batters. Often we forget how fast our pedal attachment is actually spinning per minute at certain speeds. My suggestion is to be patient, do not blast your mixer on high speed to start but instead, start on a moderate low speed. Besides from creaming your butter with sugar, the rest of the ingredients just need to be incorporated until smooth. Any more mixing after your batter is well incorporated will risk the creation of air bubbles, therefore crumbly cake. <br />
<br />
And if you are cutting your cake while it's still hot, that's another faux pas. It will also cause your cake to crumble, crack or fall apart. The cake is always at its weakest when it's fresh out of the oven, although it's body structure has been baked set, but the inners with all the moisture is still too heavy for the outer layer to withstand. Allow your cake to cool before cutting and releasing from the mold.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com73tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-17145708436007916402011-01-30T12:29:00.000-08:002011-01-30T12:29:39.600-08:00I started a FB page for my Profession!!So finally after long thoughts and weeks of wondering.. I finally decided I will create a fan page on facebook.<br />
But do I really have any fans? Time will tell~<br />
<br />
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jack-Lee/178032772237822?ref=sgm<br />
<br />
For now! COME SUPPORT ME!! PLZ PLZ PLZ! hahaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-80409019920082164092011-01-24T18:42:00.000-08:002011-01-24T18:42:43.921-08:00Cookies: Brown Sugar vs Granulated SugarCan you replace brown sugar with regular granulated sugar in a cookie recipe? I'm sure we have bumped into this kind of situation where the brown sugar is nowhere to be found in the kitchen, or simply just out of when we need it the most. Then we look towards our white granulated sugar and ponder, "Can I do that? Can I substitute brown sugar with granulated sugar?". And the answer is YES, however this kind of substitute comes with a mixed blessing.<br />
<br />
When you replace the need of brown sugar in a cookie with granulated sugar, the end result of your cookie will be more crisp, because there is less moisture in granulated sugar than in brown sugar. The moisture content which comes the molasses in brown sugar will also give you a nice molasses flavor in your cookie. There's molasses in both light and dark brown sugar, and they can be both used interchangeably. The darker brown sugar will have more intense molasses flavor, which is especially complimentary when baking oat meal cookies.<br />
<br />
At the same time, cookies baked with brown sugar will contain more moisture, which will also result in a more chewy cookie than cookies made with granulated sugar.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-55321761084223750852011-01-11T20:25:00.000-08:002011-01-11T20:27:41.728-08:00There are no secrets to making great jams besides using the best fruits or berries you can find in the market. The sweeter the fruit, the better your jam is going to taste. That is all. <br />
<br />
<br />
For this orange marmalade, I started off with a couple of oranges and peeled the rind off without the pith. The pith is the white spongy stuff underneath your citrus fruits. Then I segmented the rest of the orange and squeezed every last drop of OJ from the left over cores. Keep the segments and juice aside for later. With the peels, I tripe blanched, once to get rid of the waxy coating on the orange, 2nd to open up spores on the surface and then lastly, I cooked the orange peels in a simple syrup which is made out of sugar and water. About half and half. I brought the syrup to a boil with the peels inside and I let it simmer very lightly for about another hour.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xba.xanga.com/bb8f654147333274195806/b218600210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://xba.xanga.com/bb8f654147333274195806/b218600210.jpg" /></a></div>Then when the orange peels and syrup is cooled, blitz them in a food processor to the consistency or texture you want your jam to be. If you like it with a bit of bite from the grind, then don't blitz it for too long.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xc1.xanga.com/a49f934747333274195807/b218600211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://xc1.xanga.com/a49f934747333274195807/b218600211.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xf7.xanga.com/ba6f774347331274195810/b218600214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://xf7.xanga.com/ba6f774347331274195810/b218600214.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I like my jam with a bit of texture so as you can see, there's still tiny bits of pieces of the rind. <br />
<br />
Return the pureed rind to the pot and we will continue to add the rest of the ingredients to it. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x77.xanga.com/31ef7b4147330274195811/b218600215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x77.xanga.com/31ef7b4147330274195811/b218600215.jpg" /></a></div>Here we have the orange juice that we squeezed, the segments from the orange and some sugar with pectin. Pectin is the setting agent for almost all jams that I know of. You can try it with gelatin or even agar agar. Although they would all work as for they are all jellifying agents, but they don't give you the same jam texture as pectin would. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x38.xanga.com/c60f907444133274195805/b218600209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x38.xanga.com/c60f907444133274195805/b218600209.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Pour the orange juice into pot along with your orange segments and turn up the heat while whisking. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xe7.xanga.com/71df614747330274195812/b218600216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://xe7.xanga.com/71df614747330274195812/b218600216.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x71.xanga.com/5bdf657524133274195813/b218600217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x71.xanga.com/5bdf657524133274195813/b218600217.jpg" /></a></div><br />
In this step, you should combine your sugar with the pectin and mix it all around so the pectin is disbursed into the sugar. If you dump your pectin into any liquid, you would have a high chance of creating pectin lumps which are very hard to break apart. So by mixing your pectin and sugar, this will help evenly spread the mixture around minimizing lumps. Rain in your sugar pectin mixture while stirring the jam so everything is mixed in nicely. You need to keep on stirring and heating your jam until you reach a minimum temp. of 105C-106C. Only at this temperature that it would activate the pectin and allow the agent to start jellifying. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xc7.xanga.com/6acf977444133274195815/b218600219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://xc7.xanga.com/6acf977444133274195815/b218600219.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x09.xanga.com/528f954747332274195827/b218600231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x09.xanga.com/528f954747332274195827/b218600231.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x8e.xanga.com/a03f924147333274195816/b218600220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x8e.xanga.com/a03f924147333274195816/b218600220.jpg" /></a></div><br />
You need to sterolize your preserving containers or jars, and you can do that by dipping them in hot bolied water for 30 seconds or so, and then drying them in the oven at about 150F. Then fill the jars with your jam and seel them tight. As longe as the containers are sterolized properly, you can store these jams in cool, dark places for up to a year or two. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x64.xanga.com/4d0f8a75c4135274195839/b218600243.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x64.xanga.com/4d0f8a75c4135274195839/b218600243.jpg" /></a></div>Of course, before you want to try a home made jam that's 2 years old already, you might want to check out any signs of spoilage first. Don't just assume because it's a preserve that it's going to last.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://xa2.xanga.com/6c7f9b7534032274195844/b218600247.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://xa2.xanga.com/6c7f9b7534032274195844/b218600247.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-25973634658565905762011-01-06T21:24:00.000-08:002011-01-06T21:24:12.376-08:00Lemon Ginger Butter CakeAlthough you could call this a pound cake (with it's term used lightly), however, it is actually considered a "Dump Cake" or sometimes also known as "High-Ratio" cakes. They are considered high ratio because of the higher than usual proportion of sugar to flour. They are also called "Dump cake" because once the soft butter has been mixed into the dry ingredients, you will then 'dump' in all the wet ingredients and mix until they are incorporated. <br />
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The result of these kind of cakes are very rich and buttery, and very light as well. It's hard to find cake recipes with a mixing method that gives you these 3 factors together. Often if your cake is rich and buttery, then chances are it is a pretty heavy cake, not light this one. <br />
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So this recipe is a typical version of a high ratio cake or dump cake which you can try at home. <br />
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2½ cups of cake flour<br />
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1½ cups of sugar<br />
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½ teaspoon salt<br />
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1 tablespoon of baking powder<br />
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2 whole eggs<br />
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3 egg yolks<br />
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1½ cups of milk (You can replace half this with heavy cream to make it richer)<br />
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2 teaspoons of vanilla extract<br />
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1 cup of unsalted butter at room temperature or just softened.<br />
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<strong>The version I made below has a LEMON GINGER flavor, and all you have to do is add:</strong><br />
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3 tablespoons of lemon juice<br />
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4 tablespoons of lemon zest<br />
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3½ tablespoons of grated ginger (This is best grated with a mircoplan so you get almost mush-like texture)<br />
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1. Sift all your dry ingredients together. So that's your flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. It's important to sift your leavening agent, in this case it's the baking powder, with your flour together. This will better ensure the even distribution of the leavening process so it's not lump sided.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xae.xanga.com/e4ff9574c5732274194392/s218599020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://xae.xanga.com/e4ff9574c5732274194392/s218599020.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2. Mix together with a paddle attachment on low speed all the sifted dry ingredients with all of the soften butter. Usually if you just leave your butter out over night, you will achieve the softness required. You can always microwave your butter if it's too cold, however, you must be careful not to melt the butter. So try 30-40% power on your microwave and 15-20 seconds at a time. Cutting them into smaller pieces would also help speed things up. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="223" n4="true" src="http://x74.xanga.com/c0af837ac5732274194393/s218599021.jpg" width="400" /><a href="http://x1b.xanga.com/473f8b40c5735274194395/s218599023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://x1b.xanga.com/473f8b40c5735274194395/s218599023.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
3. After mixing for about 3-4 minutes, you will find your mix to be quite crumbly. This the type of consistency you want your mix to be before adding in your wet ingredients. So once it becomes crumbly, stop mixing and start preparing your wet ingredients<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xea.xanga.com/cd0f6440c5733274194410/s218599038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://xea.xanga.com/cd0f6440c5733274194410/s218599038.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x94.xanga.com/3b3f657502533274194401/s218599029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://x94.xanga.com/3b3f657502533274194401/s218599029.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>4. The wet ingredients are quite simple. All you have to is whisk your eggs, yolks, milk/cream, vanilla extract, lemon juice, lemon zest, and grated ginger together. In this case, because there's an acid, the lemon juice, you cannot whisk this a head of time otherwise the acid from the lemons will start to curdle your dairy. So best to make this wet mix à la minute when your dry mix is crumbly, and then pour in steady stream, down into your mix with the mixer mixing on low speed. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xc7.xanga.com/055e117502535274194396/s218599024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://xc7.xanga.com/055e117502535274194396/s218599024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x85.xanga.com/d0cf6b7ac5733274194413/s218599041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://x85.xanga.com/d0cf6b7ac5733274194413/s218599041.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>5. Mix until all the wet ingredients are incorporated into your dry and looking smooth. Once all the liquids have been poured into the mix, it should only take about 2-3 minutes on low speed before that batter is smooth and creamy. You don't have to over mix it, but if you still see some flour lumps, then keep on mixing for another minute or you can use a spatula and work the lumps in by hand. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xc8.xanga.com/691e117442535274194419/s218599047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://xc8.xanga.com/691e117442535274194419/s218599047.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x6c.xanga.com/cd1f837502532274194416/s218599044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://x6c.xanga.com/cd1f837502532274194416/s218599044.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>6. Next you need to butter your mold so that the cake won't stick when you're trying to release it. After I coated my mold with butter, I also sprinkled grounded almond flour, but that's not necessary. Fill your cake mold about 3/4 of the way up.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x9d.xanga.com/025f8240c5732274194425/s218599053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://x9d.xanga.com/025f8240c5732274194425/s218599053.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xcd.xanga.com/3c6f867502532274194426/s218599054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://xcd.xanga.com/3c6f867502532274194426/s218599054.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
7. Usually cake recipes will tell you the temperature of your oven in which your cake is baked at, and also the duration of the baking. However, that depends on the geometry of your cake mold, obviously the more shallow and wide your cake pan is, the more surface area is exposed to the heat and thus, it will bake way faster compared to the deep and bulky mold. Unless, if for SOME specific reason that you must bake at the given temperature, most of the time if you bake your cake at 350F with 15degree variance, it will work out just fine. And to check the doneness of your cake, like they say in cooking, "stick a fork in me, i'm done", this is the same concept by sticking a toothpick in. If nothing gooey sticks when you pull it out then you're done. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x67.xanga.com/573f9040c5733274194430/s218599058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://x67.xanga.com/573f9040c5733274194430/s218599058.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x09.xanga.com/218f9374c5733274194432/s218599060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" n4="true" src="http://x09.xanga.com/218f9374c5733274194432/s218599060.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>And for those of you who are STILL insecure about not following a given temperature and time duration, lol, just bake this cake at 350F for about 30minutes and check with toothpick. If it's gooey, give another 5 minutes and check again, and repeat until toothpick comes out clean.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-42749935850088380542010-12-27T17:36:00.000-08:002010-12-27T17:43:39.841-08:00Creme Brulee<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Creme Brulee is a classic French dessert made with just a few simple basic ingredients. Creme Brulee can be found in almost all French dessert menus and it is considered a staple of the French dessert.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My chef once told me, " If you really want to see the skill level of a pastry chef who is making your dessert, just order their creme brulee. It's such an easy dessert to make and everyone can make it. But just like an omelette, it's hard to prefect. "</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x4a.xanga.com/bf3f6a1a51433274025147/m218467184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x4a.xanga.com/bf3f6a1a51433274025147/m218467184.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>2 cups heavy cream / 1 cup sugar / 6 egg yolks / Vanilla extract / Tin foil cups or ramekins</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x01.xanga.com/4bcf70e604631274025150/m218467187.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x01.xanga.com/4bcf70e604631274025150/m218467187.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- gently bring your cream to a light simmer. Careful not to boil your cream.</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x74.xanga.com/705f601a41730274025162/m218467198.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x74.xanga.com/705f601a41730274025162/m218467198.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- While heating up your cream to a simmer, whisk together egg yolks and sugar together.</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x5e.xanga.com/af8f74e404630274025151/m218467188.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x5e.xanga.com/af8f74e404630274025151/m218467188.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- Pour the simmered cream in a steady stream into your yolk+sugar mixture while whisking.</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x9c.xanga.com/739f77e204630274025153/m218467190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x9c.xanga.com/739f77e204630274025153/m218467190.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- After whisking, it should look foamy on top but liquidy on the bottom. </strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>-Use a scraper or spoon to remove the foam.</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x14.xanga.com/c26f641a61733274025163/m218467199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x14.xanga.com/c26f641a61733274025163/m218467199.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- Pour the creme brulee mixture into tin fold cups or ramekins as preferred and fill about 4/5 of the way. In this picture, you will notice that I used a small tin foil tart mold. This is really not preferred since the bottom of the tin is narrow and the top is very wide. This will give you an uneven baking time, the bottom will be cooked faster than the top. But this is just for my sister, so it's okay!! </strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x3d.xanga.com/15bf651a51633274025168/m218467203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x3d.xanga.com/15bf651a51633274025168/m218467203.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- Pre-heat the oven to 300F. </strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- Place the tin cups into a tray filled 1/4 of the way up with hot water. This is called a "bain-marie" or aka 'water bath'. The moisture from the hot water will prevent the surface of your creme brulee from cracking during baking. I baked the custard for about 35 minutes, but the timing will probably be slightly different in every oven. Some ovens are more powerful than others, and some have really dangerous hot spots. </strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>( "Hot spots" in an oven is basically an area in your oven that is hotter than the rest, due to uneven temperature distribution ) </strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>A general rule of thumb for checking the doneness of any baked custards, such as cheesecakes, flan, creme caramel and this is case the creme brulee, is to lightly tap the sides to see how much your dessert jiggles. Only the center of the dessert should giggle slightly while the edges are firm. This is the perfect doneness.</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xa4.xanga.com/d8af45e004031274025170/m218467205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://xa4.xanga.com/d8af45e004031274025170/m218467205.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- Remove from tins from the bain-marie, dry off the bottom and let the creme brulee cool in room temperature for about 1 hour and then chill for 4 hours in the fridge.</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xbd.xanga.com/68af671a71033274025175/m218467208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://xbd.xanga.com/68af671a71033274025175/m218467208.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- After it has been chilled, you will find the texture of your brulee has firmed up even more. Then sprinkle a generous amount of sugar on top of your custard. Try and spread an even amount of sugar on top, and again, be generous with the sugar.</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x15.xanga.com/456f6b1a11033274025176/m218467209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x15.xanga.com/456f6b1a11033274025176/m218467209.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- Use a mini torch and torch your way around the surface of the brulee. Turning and shifting your tin clock wise so the flame will melt all the sugar and caramelize them.</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xed.xanga.com/967f74e604230274025182/m218467215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://xed.xanga.com/967f74e604230274025182/m218467215.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- Eventually this is what you will end up with. A thin and crunchy layer of caramelized sugar on top of your creamy creme brulee. </strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x71.xanga.com/4cdf93e404233274025188/m218467221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://x71.xanga.com/4cdf93e404233274025188/m218467221.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- You must serve your creme brulee as soon as it's caramelized with sugar, otherwise the sugar will start to absorb the moisture from the air and it will not be crunchy anymore.</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xf6.xanga.com/7cff62e404230274025183/m218467216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><strong><img border="0" n4="true" src="http://xf6.xanga.com/7cff62e404230274025183/m218467216.jpg" /></strong></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>- Creme brulee is best served with some fresh berries or fruits to balance the richness and the sweetness of the dessert. </strong></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-1695757026073863722010-12-20T17:06:00.000-08:002010-12-20T17:13:13.640-08:00French Macarons<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong>French Macarons. </strong>They're simply just amazing. With nothing but just a few easy ingredients; they are fairly easy to make. And the French method, much easier than the Italian method, and no need to fuss over cooking the simple syrup to 118C. <span style="width: 0px;"></span>And if you've never had a macaron in your life before, today would be a good start to treat yourself with these little bite size French sweets.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaO0GezKYIqFXadqY-wrCjloGNIAuPdxAcgU4wZcRgxWEbTYUu3eggEr-AABrg5WkXKHaA5cE2O2QktER87pFwf1pCTAaw6MZXUHxMK6FA3HVzR90QCRmd_Aea_a1e8Ac29v4diXpxCg0/s1600/P1070962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="393" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaO0GezKYIqFXadqY-wrCjloGNIAuPdxAcgU4wZcRgxWEbTYUu3eggEr-AABrg5WkXKHaA5cE2O2QktER87pFwf1pCTAaw6MZXUHxMK6FA3HVzR90QCRmd_Aea_a1e8Ac29v4diXpxCg0/s640/P1070962.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now to start. You will need some basic baking tools. Mixing bowls, whisks, spatulas, pastry bag with round tip, baking tray, and parchment paper or a silpat which is a non stick silicone pad. </div><div style="text-align: left;">Crank your oven to 320F. You don't need a high temperature to bake the macaron shells. Most ovens is best at 320F, but if you have a really powerful oven, perhaps 310F is good enough. For convection ovens with fans blowing to better circulate the hot air, 300F is prefect. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xbe.xanga.com/048f860434535273557973/b218116713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://xbe.xanga.com/048f860434535273557973/b218116713.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now. Ingredients. Simple and fast. You will need almond flour which you can usually find in your local pastry ingredient shops or high end grocery stores. And if you cannot finding, don't worry, just buy almond slivers and blitz them in the food processor until course. If they tend to clump up because of their natural oils being released, just add some icing sugar and that will absorb all the oil. Next, you will need more icing sugar along with good quality cocoa powder. And like always, I shouldn't have to remind you to don't skimp out on the good stuff. Always pay a little extra for that better quality. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Whisk all dry ingredients together, or if you are lazy and smart like me, just blitz them all in the food processor. Like so.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x3b.xanga.com/f1af970167532273557901/b218116679.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://x3b.xanga.com/f1af970167532273557901/b218116679.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Moving on to our wet ingredients. Having your egg whites already aged for a day in room temperature allowing some moisture to evaporate and the proteins to relax. In the mixing bowl, whisk together your egg whites, meringue powder and sugar until stiff peak. The addition of meringue powder will help strength your meringue since you are just adding in dried up egg whites. And they will always help with the absorption of moisture. Kitchen Aid comes in really handy in whisking this up.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xd6.xanga.com/b99e156169134273597908/b218116662.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://xd6.xanga.com/b99e156169134273597908/b218116662.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x91.xanga.com/a56f840a31135273557916/b218116682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://x91.xanga.com/a56f840a31135273557916/b218116682.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x61.xanga.com/857e140109734273557928/b218116684.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://x61.xanga.com/857e140109734273557928/b218116684.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Next. Fold in your meringue gently into your dry mixture and careful not to whisk the mixture. It's tempting to just want to whisk it all together, but if you do so, you will end up destorying all the little air bubbles in your meringue and you will end up with a very runny batter. I would say 4/5 of the time over mixing is the cause of most failures in macaron shell making. </div><div style="text-align: left;">So to properly fold your mixture, start from 11o'clock direction, scoop down to 4 and glide across to 7 and lift up to bring over to 2. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x17.xanga.com/405f920133c33273557960/b218116701.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://x70.xanga.com/213f840a33d35273557943/b218116685.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://x70.xanga.com/213f840a33d35273557943/b218116685.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="http://x14.xanga.com/292e070040237273557948/b218116689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://x14.xanga.com/292e070040237273557948/b218116689.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="http://x17.xanga.com/405f920133c33273557960/b218116701.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://x17.xanga.com/405f920133c33273557960/b218116701.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After when your batter has been mixed to <strong><u>this</u> </strong>point above. As you can see it's quite shiny and almost pudding like surface. Very glossy. The consistancy of the batter is still quite thick, but it should resemble the viscosity of a milkshake, where it should only <em>juuuusttt</em> slightly hold it's ripples before merging back into it's puddle. If it's too runny, and it doesn't hold it's shape, you have over mixed it. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">With your macaron batter, fill it into your pastry bag with a round tip. If you are using a Wilton brand pastry tip, a size #8-9 would be good. You want to pipe out small even circles about the size of a quarter and half. And. here's a trick, if you are right handed, always start piping your rows from the left to the right. Always start from top left and pipe across to the right, and shift 1 row down after or start from the top left and pipe down, then shift 1 collum over. Making sure you stagger the spaces so they are not all the rows are right above each other or beside. Pipe each shell in between the space gap of two top shells or two side shells. This way the heat will distribute even through out the baking process. </div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x6e.xanga.com/fe1f9a0533c32273557962/b218116703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://x6e.xanga.com/fe1f9a0533c32273557962/b218116703.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then we need to let these macaron batter rest. Allowing them to form a skin on the surface so when it rises in the oven, it will create a nice dome shaped shell. Also, this will help with the proper development of the "feet" which is a signature symbol of macarons. As you can tell from the picture above and the pictures below, there's a difference on the surface of the shells. The ones below have been rested for about 20 minutes in room temperature and they have formed a skin. They don't feel sticky to the touch, and they are still quite soft on the insides. </div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xfc.xanga.com/66fe160120234273557966/b218116707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://xfc.xanga.com/66fe160120234273557966/b218116707.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x38.xanga.com/80bf800b33c32273557963/b218116704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://x38.xanga.com/80bf800b33c32273557963/b218116704.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">After resting, you are ready to bake. So in a 320F oven, place your macarons and bake for about 16-20 minutes depending on your oven. In convection ovens, it only takes a quick 10-11 minutes with the fan on. Another trick for normal ovens, you can preheat another tray in the oven and simply place your macaron tray onto of the hot tray already in the oven. That extra heated tray will give you an extra boost in heat temperature and also help insolate more heat. </div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x40.xanga.com/e46f910133c33273557970/b218116711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" n4="true" src="http://x40.xanga.com/e46f910133c33273557970/b218116711.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Trust me. No matter how many times I've baked a cake, a bread or even small petits four desserts like these macaron shells, everytime when I peak in the oven to see if they have risen correctly and they have~ I get so excited and kiddish. I do a little fist pump in my mind and I smile and say to myself, "whew~ good job Jack".</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">These macaron shells came out prefectly with a nice even rise and very well developed "feet" on the bottom. If you end up with TOO much feet, it means you have under mixed your batter or your oven temperature is too high. If you don't have much of any feet, chances are you have over mixed and or your oven temperature is not high enough.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Allow your shells to cool to room temperature before piping your filling. Especially if you are using a buttercream filling or a ganache in this case, you don't want your macaron shells to be warm when you are filling it. It will obviously start melting your buttercream and ganache. So rearrange your macaron shells and play match maker with similiar sized shells. Then have 1 roll top facing up and 1 roll top facing down so this way you can pipe your filling in an organized manner and also assamble'em without confusion.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xe3.xanga.com/9f6f93e376433273615682/b218158801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://xe3.xanga.com/9f6f93e376433273615682/b218158801.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x61.xanga.com/2d0f651b76433273615681/b218158800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" n4="true" src="http://x61.xanga.com/2d0f651b76433273615681/b218158800.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">For this chocolate macaron, we are filling it with a chocolate ganache that is a mixture of 70% dark chocolate and 30% milk chocolate in ratio. I find this will tone down the bitterness of the dark chocolate, but still giving you a nice richness of the cocoa flavor, but not too much of the sweetness. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-89838021603714872132010-12-05T23:43:00.000-08:002010-12-05T23:43:15.692-08:00Macarons. The 2 Methods of Making.When it comes to macarons, there are two methods of making them: the French method and the Italian method. Some chefs will tell you, they swear by the French method, and another will not hear of anything than the other. And knowing how chefs or pastry chefs are, once they have their mind set on their own philosophy, it is then a one way street. Personally, I don't have much of a preference, however if I were to choose to make macarons, I would most likely choose the Italian method over the French. *Only because you have less of a chance to over mix your batter.<br />
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In this post, I will explain the differences between the two methods.<br />
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Although there are two methods of making the macaron, and each method will require you to do things a bit differently, the general idea is the same. To incorporate your meringue into your mixture of almond flour and confectioner sugar. <br />
1) THE MERINGUE: The French method of making the macaron requires you to start whipping your egg whites with a large amount of sugar into a stiff peak. What you will end up with is classically called, "French Meringue". The Italian method of making the macaron is similar, but instead of making the French meringue, you are now making the "Italian Meringue". And this is done by boiling a mixture of water and sugar to a temperature of 118C - 121C and then adding it to your lightly frothed egg whites. <br />
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<strong>THE MIXTURE OF SUGAR AND WATER: SIMPLE SYRUP</strong><br />
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</div><strong>BOILING THE SYRUP TO 118C OR 121C.</strong><a href="http://xc0.xanga.com/9c6f6407c2233273558720/b218117373.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" ox="true" src="http://xc0.xanga.com/9c6f6407c2233273558720/b218117373.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
2) THE MIXING: During the incorporation of meringues into the dry mixture, I find it harder to fold in the French meringue into to dry mix compared to the Italian meringue. Although it is harder to fold in the French meringue into your dry mix, at the same time, the border line between a nicely incorporated and an over mixed is just a matter of 2-3 extra stirs away. Once you have over mixed your batter, you will start to release the water content that was once trapped by the stiff meringue, resulting in a very runny batter that will not hold its dome shape when piped. You will have an easier time folding in the Italian meringue and the chance of over mixing the macaron batter is smaller. Since the egg whites are partially cooked by the hot syrup, therefore making the proteins bonds stronger.<br />
<strong>THE FRENCH METHOD - FOLDING IN THE FRENCH MERINGUE</strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x14.xanga.com/292f8b1218435273558790/b218116689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" ox="true" src="http://x14.xanga.com/292f8b1218435273558790/b218116689.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<strong>THE ITALIAN METHOD - FOLDING IN THE ITALIAN MERINGUE</strong> <br />
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3) THE RESTING: There is also a difference between the period of resting time prior to baking your macarons. Resting time is one of the many important factors for the proper rise of the macarons during baking. Resting will allow a thin layer of skin to form on the surface of your piped macaron, and is also one of the contributors to producing the famous "feet" on the bottom of your baked shells. The French method will contain more moisture content and thus, will require you to rest your piped shells for at least 15-30 minutes depending on the humidity of the room. The Italian method, on the other hand, only requires you to rest your piped macaron batter for approximately 10-15 minutes. The reason for this shorter time of rest is due to the evaporation of moisture already happening when you were adding the hot syrup into your egg whites and whipping it to cool.<br />
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<strong>BEFORE RESTING <br />
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<strong>AFTER RESTING</strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xfc.xanga.com/66fe160120234273557966/b218116707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" ox="true" src="http://xfc.xanga.com/66fe160120234273557966/b218116707.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-23319629235001345412010-12-02T01:24:00.000-08:002010-12-02T01:24:22.998-08:00Aging or Maturing Your Egg Whites! Loosen those coiled Proteins!As strange as this extra but crucial step of aging your egg whites is, the result of it is actually quite beneficial to your success of whipping up a strong meringue. Aging or "maturing" in regards to egg whites is simply just a process of evaporating some of it's moisture content in the whites, and also allowing the coiled proteins to relax over time. <br />
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And to further understand the whole "coiled" proteins and how it works, just picture a slinky and how it is all coiled up like a spring. ( But okay, I'm sure under the microscope, the coiled proteins doesn't actually look like that! But you get the idea! ) It's hard to get it to stretch out without it springing back at you, so therefore, we age/mature the egg whites in room temperature or slightly warmer to allow the proteins to loosen up. Simple as that. When the coiled proteins in the egg whites are relaxed, they become much more easier to whisk up compared to egg whites straight out of the refrigerator, which have a stiffer coiled proteins. Although, both will eventually achieve the same volume when whisked, but one will take a longer time and the other, less. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xa2.xanga.com/832f673a49433273537562/b218101951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" ox="true" src="http://xa2.xanga.com/832f673a49433273537562/b218101951.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Although some of pastry chefs in France will age their egg whites for days, weeks and sometimes even months! But you don't have to go to the extreme like that. They are most likely aging their egg whites for a different and specific purpose, like evaporating moisture content- and we will get to that in the later posts. But aging your egg whites for moisture evaporation is VERY important in making macarons, and yes, we will also talk about that later.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-29846050071817030192010-12-01T02:12:00.000-08:002010-12-01T02:12:56.823-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xa0.xanga.com/0aef913477033273516536/w218086641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" ox="true" src="http://xa0.xanga.com/0aef913477033273516536/w218086641.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Often, too many people are not aware of the lengthy time required to make a proper macaron from scratch. Although, macaron can be whipped up in just under 30 minutes or so if made by a skilled pastry chef. However, a proper macaron is sadly not a 30 minute recipe, nor is it an hour or two or three, or a full day. The proper macaron production time is actually a minimal of three to four days. Yup! Surprised? Betcha' didn't know that! Did ya~ Haha. I know I speak like I am an "know-it-all" for macarons, but really.. I'm just as surprised as you are right now when I found out this fact just a few days ago.<br />
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Lately I've been doing a lot of researching, and practice on the arts of macarons, and I've been obessed with it's traditional ways of production. Along with also knowing the differences between a French method and the Italian method, which both certainly bring forth a different texture, density and perhaps even a different range of shelf life. <br />
In the past, I've been taught to make it the French method, hence the restaurant that I worked at was a French one, Auberge du Pommier. But I've come quick to learn about the Italian method and in the next 2 or 3 posts, I will sharing them with you what I've discovered about macarons!. And even perhaps.. a recipe or two =DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-41403426810740296632010-11-13T17:49:00.000-08:002010-11-13T17:51:05.517-08:00French Bread. It's the Soul of the French Bakers.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x47.xanga.com/4daf463762031273110511/w217783766.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" px="true" src="http://x47.xanga.com/4daf463762031273110511/w217783766.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Making French bread is quite the thrill!!.. HA.. no.. not really. It's actually quite boring. The only fun part of it is the shaping aspect. The dough is so soft and easy on the hand to play with. I started yesterday with a poolish, which in simple terms is just a starter dough that will give you a boost of flavor in your bread with early fermentation. What is interesting about the Poolish or starter dough is that, it is actually ALIVE! Yup, it's alive. Like frankenstein alive. And just like all living organisms, you need to feed it food to keep it alive and healthy. As for the Poolish, it eats flour, so every morning you feed it with some flour and it's happy. There are stories of crazy bakers, mostly frenchies, where they would bring their poolish around as they travel. This way they can feed it everyday and also make delicious bread where ever they go. It's pretty neat. I think. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xff.xanga.com/562f4a3562031273110512/w217783767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" px="true" src="http://xff.xanga.com/562f4a3562031273110512/w217783767.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x6f.xanga.com/496f7024c9631273110513/w217783768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" px="true" src="http://x6f.xanga.com/496f7024c9631273110513/w217783768.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x8f.xanga.com/edbf4b3364631273110623/w217783860.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" px="true" src="http://x8f.xanga.com/edbf4b3364631273110623/w217783860.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>As boring as making bread is for me, I still admire the process of making it. It makes me happy to see perfectly shaped dough, ready to be scored and baked. The feel of working with lots amount of flour, eggs, yeast and salt.. getting messy with your hands, sometimes it's annoying but there are times, where you just feel so relaxed with kneading all the ingredients together into a soft dough. The feel of your hands and finger tips, crusty with the bits and pieces of dried dough, yes.. it's quite annoying also but hey! It's well worth the effort and the mess. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x2e.xanga.com/671f713164630273110624/w217783861.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" px="true" src="http://x2e.xanga.com/671f713164630273110624/w217783861.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> So sometimes we would make up to 40-50 loaves a day of french bread or other types of breads, pastries and desserts, but by the time I get home, I only have 1 loaf of bread in my hand. Yes, I give them all away to people I see. People who I don't even know that I bump into, people who happen to sit next to me on the train, or neighbors that just happen to walk in the elevator when I'm in it. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x49.xanga.com/ee1f753764630273110625/w217783862.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" px="true" src="http://x49.xanga.com/ee1f753764630273110625/w217783862.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>Final note. People are always so surprised when I offer food to them, and although I'm shy and I don't really like confrontation of such behavior from strangers. I know this loaf of bread, cake, or pastry will make the rest of their night a more positive one. They will go home and say, " Hey honey! guess what.. some asian kid just gave me a free loaf of bread ! " .. lol. strange.. but is it? Should it be? It makes me wonder.. what has this world become to when the thought of giving without asking for anything in return is a suspicious motive. But I'm not going to let that thought stop me from sharing what I love the most. Making YOU happy by doing what I love to do. Sharing the food that i make DUH!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-69097680869944782182010-10-19T00:15:00.000-07:002010-10-19T00:18:19.684-07:00My favorite Lemon Cream !!There's this recipe from our French Pastry School text book that teaches us how to make the best lemon cream for a filling on a tart or inside a cake, or for your cream puff filling. The possibility of usage for this lemon cream is endless! And I LOVE a good lemony dessert. <br />
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Before when I made any sort of lemon tart or lemon filling for a cake, I never would have thought about adding butter to the lemon curd to make it a lemon cream. This is just SO French, adding butter to everything that they get their hands on. Being Taiwanese, (Chinese) we tend to stay away from butter, we think it is very unhealthy to the heart so maybe that's why butter never popped up in my mind to add it to my lemon curd. However, it's ironic, because Asian food are known for it's hot oil flash fry or deep fried foods, and here we are saying No to butter? HA!<br />
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So here we have your basic lemon curd ingredients and with the addition of butter to make it a lemon cream. Notice the container of butter? That's A LOT of butter to be emulsifying into your curd. Delicious!<br />
You would go about making your lemon curd by adding sugar to your eggs and lemon juice and then combining the two mixture together then zest your lemon rind into the mix. Then over a hot <br />
water bath, you would cook the mixture to 85degree C to pasteurize your eggs. This is important to do so, if you don't hit 85C, you will run the risk bacteria growth and someone may get seriously ill from food poisoning!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9lGmN1muP6ezoEEaAmF3ZejH6wCmg1CHQWLaPNTnOjL07bXbhmhycyji3O7zZeV6flaQJI6yq1Pi-a4o8d4t9CGoJSeKqgqm2cYcbwr3e8BVeO4uD42JZiE4z4N1p82Vdg2qzBrsdiY/s1600/6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9lGmN1muP6ezoEEaAmF3ZejH6wCmg1CHQWLaPNTnOjL07bXbhmhycyji3O7zZeV6flaQJI6yq1Pi-a4o8d4t9CGoJSeKqgqm2cYcbwr3e8BVeO4uD42JZiE4z4N1p82Vdg2qzBrsdiY/s640/6.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>With a digital thermometer measuring the lemon curd that's being cooked over a hot water bath. It's important to keep on whisking as the curd cooks, or else the eggs will end up cooking at the bottom and you will end up getting scrambled lemon eggs. Not very pleasant to eat at all! Keep that whisk going!<br />
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When it's time, you add the butter into your curd and by using a hand blender, you will need to emulsify the butter into your curd. This will give you a real smooth, creamy and thick texture that is packed with richness and flavor! I am in love.<br />
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<strong>Lemon Cream Tart with French Meringue! </strong><br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-57398512045930019572010-10-18T23:43:00.000-07:002010-10-18T23:44:33.668-07:00My Classmates at the French Pastry School.It's been almost 4 months or so since I've attended the French Pastry School in early July and time is sure flying by fast. I still remember back in February when I was still in Taiwan, pondering if I should spend $22,000USD on attending the French Pastry School to further my pastry knowledge. And I can tell you with a proud mind set that, I've made a right decision. <br />
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Here at the French Pastry School, I met some of the best Pastry Chefs from around the world. From Chef Della, who was the Head Pastry Chef at 'Charlie Trottors' for many many years to World Pastry Champions like Chef Dimitri, who've just recently returned from competing at the MOF semi-finals in France. We have Chef Josh, who is super talented at everything to anything chocolate, and he has an awesome chocolate milk drink that he made for us at the end of the chocolate class. Chef En-Ming, who is another World Champion, competed for Team USA and won 1st place. And many, many more passionate Chefs, like Chef John and Chef Pierre who will be soon teaching us the the art of artisan bread making! <br />
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I enjoyed meeting everyone in my class, 4 months together have really brought all of us from strangers to almost a family-like relationship. We look forward to seeing each other everyday, look forward to making French pastries together and most of all, we are always looking forward to tasting our delicious desserts at the end of class! <br />
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Every table at school has a Kitchen Aid Stand mixer and an induction burner, along with multiple baking trays of different sizes, and stainless steel bowls and plastic bowls for mixing. There are always tons of tools and equipment for all the students to use, so none of us would have to really wait for major appliances to mix our cake batters or cook our pastry cream. <br />
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The French Pastry School does a really great job of making sure that each and every one of their students are getting the chance to use tools best suited for the task. They spend thousands of dollars on kitchen appliances, like the blast freezers that will freeze anything into a solid within a matter of minutes! And this will assure the best quality is of our work is preserved for the next day or to take home to eat. They buy the best ice cream making machines, and deck ovens that will bake anything from tarts to breads with the most prefect condition top and bottom. <br />
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There are 18 students per class, 2 students per table and at the end of each day, all 18 of us will do a thorough clean up of the kitchen classroom. We are all assigned a duty or task to go about our cleaning, from sweeping the floors, to mopping. All the fridges are wiped down with special polishing material, and all the tables are scrubbed and sanitized with the proper sanitizing solution. Every table gets reset at the end of class, meaning all the trays of different sizes are restocked, all the plastic containers and stainless steel bowls are neatly placed underneath the table. All is prepared and ready for the next day!<br />
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We have tons of kitchen aid mixer bowls, and stainless steel rings and plastic containers to scale our ingredients in. And at the end of class, they are all washed through a 3 sink dish compartment, 1st rinsed out with hot water, then it's scrubbed with soap, and it's rinsed again in hot water and then finally it's soaked in a sanitizing solution. Afterwards, we place them on the racks and hand dry them! It's a really fun job! I promise! =DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-9192306383099045352010-10-18T23:03:00.000-07:002010-10-18T23:04:11.536-07:00What is "Pastry Chicago" ?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkRELyD53_pW9ijoN6EYyKJq_cULEYwtxbVUwY8Fo-QFcTTFl5BxweYOy5SVVgJsiBdzxHT1pM7qjNtZsve46i6iBPd-TkAg5507V0c6zKV1GVyuN6ILYvptNsmUYYJayRXo1j-bS2TI/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkRELyD53_pW9ijoN6EYyKJq_cULEYwtxbVUwY8Fo-QFcTTFl5BxweYOy5SVVgJsiBdzxHT1pM7qjNtZsve46i6iBPd-TkAg5507V0c6zKV1GVyuN6ILYvptNsmUYYJayRXo1j-bS2TI/s1600/Untitled.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Mission Statement of Pastry Chicago.<br />
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" <em>Pastry Chicago is a group of passionate people who love and enjoy all forms of pastries. Pastry Chicago is made up of professional pastry chefs, students of the art of pastry and people who enjoy eating and the visual art of pastry. The goal of our group is to experience the Art of Pastry in all its glory at educational fun events across the city of Chicago and at the same time promote the fantastic talents of all the Artisans who work at the craft of producing beautiful delicious pastries</em> " <br />
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Kind of like how in Taiwan or Japan, we have the 'Gateaux Association', and here in Chicago we have 'Pastry Chicago'. I truly enjoy these types of events which are all for the love of pastries and culinary. These organizations bring the community closer together by the means of sharing delicious pastries and food, and friendly competitions with awesome prizes! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pastrychicago.org/images/10pie-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" src="http://www.pastrychicago.org/images/10pie-1.jpg" /></a></div>The previous event hosted Pastry Chicago was pie contest and sponsored by California Raisins. I had the opportunity to volunteer for this wonderful event and got to witness the judging of the pies by Pastry Chefs through out Chicago and also got to test the winning pie! <br />
<div align="center"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-4203803400043929072010-10-18T22:51:00.000-07:002010-10-18T22:52:37.593-07:00Pastry Chicago Cupcake Competition!!I decided to attend the cupcake competition hosted by Pastry Chicago and the French Pastry School that will take place on October 23rd, which is this coming Saturday. The winners will receive awesome prices from Kitchen Aid products, and I believe the 1st place winner will get a Kitchen Aid Mixer!! How exciting is that! So far I believe there are already 35 competitors signed up, and judging from last year's winners, it's looks like I am going up against some tough, highly skilled cupcake masters! <br />
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For this competition, I cannot reveal too much of what I have planned for my cupcake, but what I can tell you is that, I am experimenting with pumpkin seeds as my flour. That is why in my previous post I wrote about using my Kitchen Aid hand blender with the food processor attachment to turn my pumpkin seeds into a flour-like ingredient. And use the pumpkin seed flour as part of my flour mixture in my cupcake. I am hoping this will bring some kind of unique flavor and texture into my cupcake base.<br />
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One of a challenge for me would be finding time to practice my recipes since both of my roommates are also in French Pastry School, and one of them is also competing! So we have to be real cautious of each other, not to reveal our ideas or secret recipes. After school, I head towards the gym for a 2 hour work out, it's a must, since every day I consume a brick load of butter, sugar, and other fattening French pastries. When I get home and shower, it's roughly about 11PM and that's when I start my practice cupcakes. <br />
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I cannot reveal any recipes for these cupcakes yet, but if I win the competition, I will surely post up the winning recipe! On this tray of cupcakes, there are 3 different types of flavors, methods and textures. As you can clearly tell, there's an obvious difference in the color, height, and shape of the 3 rows of cupcakes. But all of them have one thing in common, they all have the pumpkin seed flour that I've made earlier incorporated into the cupcake batter.<br />
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As for the frosting for the cupcake. I'm still not sure what flavors I'm reaching for, but I do have ginger and honey on my mind. So perhaps a 'Ginger Honey Cream Cheese Frosting' ? That does sound very delicious, but we will see how the flavors bind with cream cheese as a frosting. I hope I win! I want that Kitchen Aid!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-21900660471285586272010-10-18T22:00:00.000-07:002010-10-18T22:00:53.051-07:00Pumpkin Seed Flour Test!So this whole concept of using pumpkin seeds as part of my flour mixture for my cupcake base is only just a theory, and it needs to be tested to see how it holds up. <br />
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First, making the pumpkin seed flour is not as simple as it sounds. There's a lot of factors they may become a problem to consider when blitzing nuts or seeds. An good example is the natural oils in the nuts or seeds itself may cause the mixture to clump up into a semi paste if your blade is generating too much heat from spinning. So you might have to think about doing this in a 2 step or 3 step process, giving time to allow the nuts to cool down and dry off a bit before continuing to blitz the nuts into a finer consistency.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"> <strong>Just some simple tools. Hand blender with the food processor attachment. </strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://x3a.xanga.com/5c3f6ae0d2333272419816/m217262370.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="400" src="http://x3a.xanga.com/5c3f6ae0d2333272419816/m217262370.jpg" width="223" /></a><img border="0" ex="true" height="400" src="http://x33.xanga.com/6f4f671b09133272419813/m217262367.jpg" width="224" /> </div> <br />
Luckily, my kitchen aid hand blender comes with 10 speeds. The blender is a roaring beast. But even at it's highest speed, it is unable to slice the seeds into a finer, flour-like consistency. <br />
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</div>Then I sifted out the pumpkin seed flour and there were still some bigger nibblets that I had to go through again with my blender. However, the pumpkin seed flour is still too big for me to use, so tomorrow I will have to blend it again, hoping it will become finer. <br />
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</div>The end result of today's trial for pumpkin seed flour. As you can tell, it looks alright but it's still a bit too gritty. If all else fails and I cannot get it to be like powder then I'll just tell the judges that "I did it on purpose to add the gritty texture". YUP! all part of the master plan.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-30671509103372605592010-10-18T21:53:00.000-07:002010-10-18T21:53:38.032-07:00Dark Chocolate Rhum Truffle Part 2.So you've managed to emulsify the chocolate and cream, and now it is a 'ganache'. It should be still quite fluid, however thick like milkshake, but smooth like pastry cream. Let that chill and cool for about 20-30 minutes, and eventually you will be able to either fill it in a pastry bag and pipe out little balls, OR you can wait until it's firmer and use a spoon to scoop into balls. I did the scoop with spoon method and rolled it in my hand to make it into a more sphere shape. You need to have a bowl of tempered chocolate to enrobe your truffle balls and create a protection shell that will mostly prolong the shelf life of these truffles, and also give you a thin layer of crunch. <br />
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Working with chocolate is always a challenge to stay clean, and it takes lots of good cleaning habits to prevent a chocolate messy. Once, you feel like you are getting chocolate on areas where you're not suppose to have chocolate. STOP! Stop what you are doing and clean up the mess before continuing or else you will surely end up with chocolate on your clothing and on your shoe and everywhere else besides the truffles.<br />
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You need to prepare yourself a big enough of a bowl or tray to roll your enrobbed truffles in. The bigger the bowl, the wider the surface area for your coco powder to spread, therefore easier for your truffle balls to roll around in and not bump into each other. You need to roll your truffles in coco powder as soon as each one is enrobbed, because you will need the help of the tempered chocolate to glue the coco powder on. If you allow the enrobbed truffles to dry out before you roll them in the powder, they will not coat at all. And DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT BUYING CHEAP COCO POWDER... <br />
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Until they are all nicely coated, you should use a mesh sift and sift out the excess coco powder. You just want a even light coat, not a ball of cocaine shot in your mouth. Be gentle with the sifting, you don't want too much force being appliced, or else you might break the chocolate shell. These truffles will store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks, given the condition that your cream and other ingredients are fresh. Chocolate by itself will last up to 2 years in dark, cool and dry places. If you decide to freeze them, they will store up to 3 months, but defrost them over night in the fridge. If you leave them out in the open, room temperature to defrost, the drastic change in temperature will most likely create some condensation on your truffles and that's where the sugar bloom, fat bloom and spoilage comes into play. <br />
ANYWAYS, why store them? Make'em and EAT them right away or give them away to strangers. That's what I do all the time. The homeless people that lives just down the street, underneath the train tracks, they get all the delicious desserts from me. =D <br />
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Anyways, to make this <strong>EASY</strong> luxury chocolate treat, all you need are some simple ingredients that you can find at pretty much any grocery store. <br />
<strong>1. Heavy Whipping Cream</strong><br />
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<strong>2. Good Couverture Chocolate</strong><br />
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<strong>3. Excellent Quality Coco Powder</strong><br />
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<strong>4. Rum or any other flavorings.</strong><br />
You don't really want to skimp out on buying quality chocolate when you're making truffles. Since a truffle is pretty much combination of chocolate and cream, it's important that you buy a great quality chocolate that is consider couvertures chocolates. And again, don't be intimidated by the word 'couverture', it simply just means that the chocolate contains 31% or higher of cocao butter. Cocao butter is what makes the chocolate rich, smooth and melts heavenly in your mouth. Most cheap chocolates that you buy are not couverture, they don't contain cocao butter, or they contain very little amount. Other types of fats and oils are used in replacement of the cocao butter, and sadly, they don't provide the same result. If you really want to a clear defined understanding of the differences here, just compare shortening and butter. Which one melts easier in your mouth. Try it! =D<br />
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Melt your chocolate in the microwave in intervals of 15-20 seconds on med-high power, and stir well everytime until it's 80% melted. Do not try and mircowave your chocolate for 40 seconds at once, thinking 20 seconds strength + 20 seconds strength = 40 seconds strength. It's NOT! You will end up burning your chocolate. Chocolate does not have a very high melting point, they melt in your mouth and that's not very hot at all compared to 40 seconds in the mircowave. Chocolate can only withstand a temperature of about 45C before all it's characteristics and flavors starts to be compromised. <br />
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When the chocolates are melted, you can heat up your cream to a light simmer, roughly about 68-70C, and pour the warm cream into the melted chocolate. Let that sit for about 15-20 seconds to allow the warm cream to melt the rest of the 20% of chocolate before stirring it. I prefer to use a whisk in begining to create a swirl of the two mixtures, and that will eventually emulsify together, becoming a "Ganache". <br />
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Start your swirl of emulsion either towards the side of the bowl or dead center, and slowly work in small circles bring everything together before moving out into larger circles. If you start whisking in large circles before you start an emulsion, you risk breaking the ganache, and you will end up with a layer of coco butter floating to the top. Then it's pretty much a down hill battle from there on, unless you know how to fix a broken ganache. <br />
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Continue Part 2.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-85566009435557951982010-10-18T21:36:00.000-07:002010-10-18T21:36:53.031-07:00Sugar Sculpture. Using Isomalt.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x05.xanga.com/548e110408134271924994/w216881990.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" src="http://x05.xanga.com/548e110408134271924994/w216881990.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Carrying this thing around with me on the train attracts so much attention. Everyone looks and stares with a confused face. You can hear people whispering and talking about it, wondering if that's made out of sugar or if it's a cake. These girls who were next to me asked what I was going to do with it, and I told her I'm probably going to throw it out in a few days. And she insisted that I shouldn't because it's so beautiful and it would be a waste. <br />
Anyways, so this is my final piece of sugar art, it's mostly made out of sugar and isomalt (a type of sugar). There's blown sugar involved, the dragon-like bird is a part of blown sugar and so is the hidden apple in the back. Blown sugar is a lot like glass blowing, and it's quite an interesting art. I am thinking of taking up glass blowing classes and pottery classes as well. Everything here is made by hand, some are pressed onto a patterned mold to achieve the imprints, but mostly they are all hand pulled and molded. <br />
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Hope you guys like it. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://x3e.xanga.com/b79e150a08134271924995/m216881991.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" src="http://x3e.xanga.com/b79e150a08134271924995/m216881991.jpg" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6951083227357577550.post-3576980380390866492010-09-17T19:14:00.000-07:002010-09-17T19:22:19.160-07:00Sugar Art. How to Make a Rose out of Pulled Sugar.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xab.xanga.com/47de133537c34271883349/w216848318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="http://xab.xanga.com/47de133537c34271883349/w216848318.jpg" /></a></div>Finished Sugar Rose. Pulled and Molded by hand. One petal at at time. <br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Working with sugar isn't as easy as it sounds, and especially when the sugar is HAWWTTT.. I have blisters on my thumbs from pulling hot sugar 3 hours a day for the last 3 days. Basically, you boil sugar and water to 165degree C and pour the scorching hot syrup onto a nonstick silpat. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Boiling the sugar and water mixture until 140 degree C. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xb3.xanga.com/b61f920711432271883360/w216848329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="http://xb3.xanga.com/b61f920711432271883360/w216848329.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Add the water soluble color and keep boiling the sugar until 165degree C.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://xb0.xanga.com/b68f950111432271883364/b216848333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="http://xb0.xanga.com/b68f950111432271883364/b216848333.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Pour the hot syrup onto the silpat, and work as fast as you can to cool the down the sugar evenly.</div><br />
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Wearing gloves will somewhat help with the hot sugar and reduce the pain. Just a tad.... <br />
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Knead and pull the sugar blob until it's firm enough, but yet still applicable to pulling and molding.<br />
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For the first petal, pull out a long stretch until it's long enough and cut it.<br />
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If you don't work quick enough, the sugar will cool down and become brittle. It will crack and shatter.<br />
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Quickly mold the petals with your finger tips while shaping it to look more natural. <br />
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Gluing the petals together by heating up the ends of the leaf.<br />
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Work each petal pretty much the same way as you would the first ones.<br />
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You will achieve a glossy shine if you just pulling during it's colder stages, but it will be harder to pull.<br />
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Finished. 11 petal rose This will be one of my componets on my final sugar art show piece. <br />
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