Love this video. It shows how to make realistic looking edible sequins for cake decorating.
Author: Renee Shelton
Mochi Making: High Speed Mochi-Tsuki
High speed mochi making, mochi-tsuki. Mochi is a Japanese dessert with various fillings. This video shows Mitsuo Nakatani in his restaurant, Nakatanidou, in Nara, Japan. How fast is he? “Three poundings per second.”
Multi Colored Chocolate Lace Wrap (Solid)
Here’s a step by step video on creating a solid multi-colored chocolate lace wrap with a floral design. Julia M. Usher created this video, and in it uses untempered couverture chocolate.
The video is below. But first, here are some handy tips if you are wanting to create lace wraps using untempered chocolate for your next project:
- Use acetate rather than parchment paper. Acetate will give a shine to untempered chocolate; parchment will give it a dull look.
- When choosing acetate, use the thinner sheets over the thicker ones. The thinner ones pull away from the chocolate lace much easier.
- Any guidelines marked with a marker should be on the opposite side of the piping side (mark then flip over). This will avoid any transfer of marker onto the chocolate.
- The length should be the cake diameter x Pi (3.14), adding an extra couple of inches to make up for the chocolate bulk and to ensure you have enough of the length to fully cover the cake.
- Use untempered couverture, and quality brands of chocolate at that. Tempered chocolate will set up too fast as you are piping it and may be hard by the time you are done or even during piping.
- The untempered chocolate should be melted slowly. Melting it too fast may make the chocolate seize.
- The outline colors with any dark chocolate should be done first.
- Start with darker colors in the project and work to light. That way, if you have leftover darker colors, you can mix in plain white chocolate to create the lighter colors so no waste and no having to create multiple extra shades.
- If the chocolate isn’t flowing as smooth, add in a few flakes of Paramount crystals or cocoa butter to help loosen the chocolate to make it flow smoothly.
- The chocolate lace wrap should be interconnected in some form when you create it so it is a continuous design and nothing falls out as you wrap it.
- Partially set up the wrap in the fridge so it holds its shape. Too soon and the melted chocolate (untempered) may run. Too much chilling and it will be difficult to wrap.
- Then anchor the end where you want the back to be, aligning to the bottom of the cake. Press it slightly and gently to the cake to secure. If there is any overhang along the top, piping a border will help stick the lace to the cake and help prevent it from coming off.
- Place back in the fridge until the chocolate sets up. Final setting time – as long as it takes to set up the chocolate fully and the acetate pulls off easily.
- Carefully remove the acetate beginning with the overhang section. Score any extra chocolate pieces off with a hot knife – just to the spot where it meets to prevent any gaps.
- Finish up with any extra accents or beads on the outside with chocolate, optional, and the cake is ready to serve.
Interview with Zachary Golper on Bien Cuit: The Art of Bread
Artisanal bread. Image by Flickr user Rahim Packir Saibo via a creative commons license.
A Journey to the Dark Side of Bread. Matthew Zuras interviews Zachary Golper via Munchies on Vice following the release of Bien Cuit: The Art of Bread, showcasing his secret to a perfect loaf of bread: long, low-temperature fermentation, which allows the dough to develop deep, complex flavors.
How to Make a Basic Character Fondant Face
Simple fondant character face via Zoe’s Fancy Cakes
Here’s a great tutorial on creating a simple fondant character face from Zoe and Zoe’s Fancy Cakes. Not only is the instruction clear and the face super cute, but her voice is perfect. I could literally listen to her all day long, I love her narrations to her videos.
How to Make White Chocolate Feathers
How to Make Chocolate Feathers via Ann Reardon’s How to Cook That
Chocolate feathers! Great video tutorial on making white chocolate feathers. This video comes by way of ‘How to Cook That’ by Ann Reardon. Decorate cakes or dessert platters with the finished feathers.
Steps to Make the Chocolate Feathers
- Lay a silicone sheet on your work surface, and top that with a sheet of parchment paper.
- Temper your white chocolate. Place it in a disposable piping bag.
- Pipe thick lines on the parchment paper, following the basic shape of your feather – looking at a finished feather is helpful to ensure it bends or arcs naturally, or has a natural shape.
- Place another sheet of parchment over the top, and press down with your fingers to make the chocolate flat and even. Peel off as soon as you are done pressing, don’t wait for it to harden. Save the top layer for more feathers later (see step 7).
- Begin shaping the feather by cutting away parts you want out and creating the feathered edges using a wooden skewer.
- Finish the feather by piping the final line down the middle, offsetting slightly.
- The top sheet you peeled off will have hardened by now. Using a skewer and a small knife, away parts you don’t want and scratch the surface as you did in step five to create detailing on the feather. Pipe the center line when you are done.
- Finish the feather by coloring it. Use oil based colors, powdered colors, or luster dust to color.
Raspberry Millefuille
How to put together a super easy and great looking dessert, Raspberry Millefuille via Gordon Ramsay.
Begin with taking a sheet of puff pastry, thawed out if frozen. Lay it flat on a non-stick baking sheet. Dust it with a nice even dusting of powdered sugar. Bake it at 220 degrees C/425 degrees F about 6 to 7 minutes, then reduce the heat to 190 degrees C/375 degrees F and continue to bake until done and the top turns a golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Cool. Cut into three pieces and stack them using fresh raspberries and a filling of sweetened whipped cream flavored with orange zest, orange liqueur, and vanilla beans.
Easy and delicious.
Raspberry Millefeuille
Sugar Lace Made Easy
Great video on how to make cake lace using an embossing mat.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
[yumprint-recipe id=’8′]
Pies, Tarts, Galettes, and More
Here are basic differences between desserts related to the pie. For more information, read all about The Pie Family and All the Cousins.
- Pie – Dessert with a filling that has a single or double crust.
- Deep Dish Pie – pie baked in a deep dish pan.
- Tart – Dessert baked in a special tart pan; can be single or double crust.
- Flan – Tart baked in a flan ring (metal ring with rolled edges).
- Free Form Tart – Pastry dough that is rolled out, spread with a filling, and crust made by folding over the edges.
- Croustade – Similar to a free form tart.
- Galette – Can be either a free form tart made with a pastry crust or a shortbread cookie crust.
- Turnover – Individual mini desserts where pie dough is cut out, filling is placed in the middle, and it is folded over and baked.
- Fried Pies – Similar to turnovers, only they are deep fried.
- Tarte Tatin – Special dessert baked with caramelized fruit and baked with a crust on top. It is inverted before serving.
- Upside Down Pies – A simple dessert where the fruit is baked on the bottom and crust on top, and inverted before serving.
- Angel Pies – Pies with a baked meringue crust.