Making the world a little sweeter one pastry tip at at time.
A blini pan is small diameter cooking pan, similar to a frying pan and a crepe pan. It is used primarily for making mini pancakes called blinis. A ‘pancake’ pan is a blini pan just slightly bigger. What makes this style handy is the pan size …read more
Ok, I’m in love with oatcakes. At least this recipe. In celebration of national oatmeal month (January) I dove into my collection of recipes to find some outstanding ones using oatmeal. I almost overlooked this one. Oatcakes are savory biscuits (although sweet ones are out …read more
Upcoming equipment auctions. Bakery, cafe, and restaurant equipment. Check these out:
 |
| Bakery auction item, picture courtesy Joseph Finn Co., Inc. auctioneers |
 |
| Restaurant auction item, picture courtesy Auction 757 auctioneers. |
Looking for something a little old fashioned, a little fancy to make for dessert this weekend? Try the Chocolate Marshmallow Roll recipe from a 1950 advertising cookbook from Royal Cream of Tartar Baking Powder.
A really great read on the cocoa industry and how it has changed landscapes through deforestation and illegally grown cocoa. It is estimated that at least 17% of the worlds yearly cocoa harvest comes from protected areas. The World Cocoa Foundation’s (WCF) president, Mighty Earth’s …read more
It’s no secret that I love love love tomatoes from the garden. This year, I planted wild tomatoes, San Marzano plum tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, yellow and red cherry tomatoes, and Black Krim tomatoes. I had tomatoes to my heart’s content. And sometimes when I’m slicing a fully ripened tomato, I get a flashback memory of my grandmother serving up a sweet version of tomatoes when I was a kid.
She liked to garden, too, and she did it on a big scale. She had the green thumb of all green thumbs, and every once in a while, she would make me a special treat: sliced tomatoes with cream and sugar. Served cold, there was just enough sugar to complement the light acid of the fresh tomato. To fully appreciate this dish, though, there is no way it could be recreated with tasteless supermarket tomatoes. The tomatoes called for here must be vine ripened.
This recipe below is adapted from The Southern Junior League Cookbook, and features cherry tomatoes sweetened with brown sugar, lightly sauteed in butter and served with cream. For those who have never had tomatoes with cream and sugar, it is an unusual treat. I like my tomatoes cold, but this recipe caters to those who like the dish warmed.
The warm weather is upon us, and with it comes picnics and potlucks. Picnic cakes are the quick and easy solution if you are tasked with bringing a dessert: they are portable, store well at room temperature, and are typically baked in a 9 inch …read more
Breaking Breads by Uri Scheft gives spirit to old favorites, and is a reflection of the author’s travels. Traditional challah, laminated breads, flatbreads, and stuffed breads are all greatly described and made, and he mixes contemporary ingredients with traditional methods. And it’s not just about …read more
Puff pastry is any baker’s (and mom’s) best friend. It comes in frozen so it’s easy to always have on hand, and after it is thawed can be used to not only create desserts but can be used to make simple but delicious dinner and lunch treats. Inevitably, if you are cutting out shapes from the sheets, you’ll have leftovers. What to do with the leftover puff dough scraps? Leftover dough palmiers is a great idea.
If you’ve never had a palmier, you are missing something good. Palmiers are one of those wonderful and crispy treats that require only a couple of ingredients: sugar folded into puff pastry sheets. But they can quickly turn savory, too. Palmiers also create delicious appetizers or amuse bouche when things like nuts, green onions, cracked pepper, and cheese are folded into the rolled out puff pastry.
Here is a recipe from Manu Feildel that makes great use of puff pastry scraps, Leftover Pastry Palmiers. I use the same technique but have used regular sugar in the past to roll the puff dough palmiers into. I think the powdered sugar is a great idea. Just remember that when reusing scraps of puff pastry to always layer them one on top of the other rather than just bunching them up into a ball and then trying to roll it out. Puff pastry dough is composed of many individual layers and to keep the dough from getting too tough, and to keep the layers, don’t try to form it into a round disk like a pie dough, just roll it out. Like in the video below.
“Palmier on plate” by barnimages.com is licensed under CC 2.0.
Hobart Heavy Duty 30 Qt Dough Mixer – Image from Auctionzip lizting. Here are some recent bakery and equipment items for auction Great ways to shop for equipment. Restaurant, Butcher, Bakery Equipment Auction What: All kinds of equipment, from mixers and steamers to carts and …read more