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June 2, 2023Desserts / How to GuidesCandy thermometers can be used to make desserts such as rochers, macarons, marshmallows, fudge, caramels, and more! Candy thermometers will sit on the edge of your saucepan, without having to touch it unlike a pen thermometer. Almond Toffee Rochers Almond toffee rochers are made by combining toffee, toasted almonds, and melted chocolate. The toffee pieces are made by making caramel and heating it until it reaches 140 degrees C. Caramel is poured onto a prepared baking sheet fitted with a silicone mat, and then its let to solidify. The caramel is broken up into small toffee pieces with a mallet, which will fill the chocolate caramel nut clusters with crunch. Slivered almonds are toasted to create the almond aroma for the almond rocher dessert. You can use dark or milk chocolate to make almond toffee rochers. Rose Marshmallows Rose marshmallows are floral flavored gooey dessert marshmallows. In a saucepan over medium heat, corn syrup, granulated sugar and water are heated until 240 degrees F (firm ball on the candy thermometer). Gelatin is whisked together with water, and then the corn syrup mixture is whisked into the gelatin and beat together for about 10 minutes. Rose water extract is added to the marshmallow base, and then it’s poured into a prepared pan. Dried rose petals are sprinkled on top of the marshmallows, and then let it sit overnight. Fudge Fudge is a soft, sweet dessert you can make with a candy thermometer. You can make different flavors of fudge including vanilla, chocolate, cookies and cream, and more! Vanilla fudge is made by adding double cream, milk, butter, caster sugar, and muscovado sugar into a saucepan over low heat to initially melt the butter. Vanilla fudge is heated on medium heat until it reaches 116 degrees C and then it is removed from the heat source until it reaches 110 degrees C. Vanilla extract is added and stirred into fudge to flavor the dessert. Fudge is poured into a prepared baking pan, and set to cool to room temperature. Macarons Macarons are cookies that have a soft shell that melts in your mouth, and a filling that is typically buttercream icing, chocolate ganache, caramel sauce, or jam. Macarons are made by heating together sugar and water until it reaches 118 degrees C. Egg whites are whipped in a stand mixer until foamy, and then the syrup is streamed down the side of the stand mixer while it’s mixing on low speed. Italian meringue is whipped until the bowl is only warm, and not burning hot anymore. In another bowl, almond flour, icing sugar, and more egg whites are mixed together to create a paste. Half of the Italian meringue is mixed into the almond paste until it’s fully combined. The other half of the Italian meringue is mixed into the almond paste, creating macaron batter. Macaron batter is piped onto a prepared baking sheet fitted with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Macarons are let to dry for 30 minutes, and then baked in the oven to create a soft cookie shell. Macaron shells can then be filled your favorite macaron filling. Peanut Brittle Peanut brittle is a hard candy with roasted peanuts throughout. Peanut brittle is prepared by combining water, sugar, and corn syrup into a saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 240 degrees F. Peanuts are added to the candy, and then its heated again until it reaches 300 degrees F. Peanut brittle is removed from the heat source, and then a mixture of baking soda, water, and vanilla extract is added to the candy and stirred together. Peanut brittle is poured onto a heated prepared baking sheet, and set to cool and harden. Homemade Caramels Homemade caramels are soft and chewy caramels you can cut and portion out to small individual pieces. Homemade caramels are made by heating together butter, sweetened condensed milk, corn syrup and brown sugar is a saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 235-245 degrees F. As soon as it reaches temperature, it is removed from the heat source, and vanilla extract is stirred into the caramels. Caramel is poured into a baking pan, and set to cool and solidify. Chocolate Dipped Seafoam Candy Chocolate dipped seafoam candy is a crunchy candy that melts in your mouth as soon as you bite into it. Seafoam candy is made by mixing together brown sugar, white sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan over medium heat. Sugar is stirred constantly until it reaches 285 F. Sifted baking soda is gently stirred into the seafoam candy, creating the bubbles. Seafoam candy is poured into a prepared baking pan, and let to cool and solidify. Seafoam candy is broken into pieces, and then dipped into melted chocolate and set to harden. [...]
June 2, 2023How to Guides / WeddingIf you’re having your wedding reception in the middle of lunch and dinner, you can serve enticing food for your guests that they’ll love! If your guests are going to be attending a 2 pm wedding reception, some of them might be quite hungry because they may be had a late breakfast, and are anticipating lunch. You’ll want to serve food that will be filling, and have an appetizer feel to it, even if you plan on serving it as a meal. This way, you’ll cover all of your basis. Some people will only need a few bites of an appy, other’s will eat a full meal. You can serve charcuterie, have a seafood bar, sushi bar, Greek food, or alluring appetizers like crostini’s for a 2 pm wedding reception. Charcuterie Board Charcuterie boards are made with a variety of meats, cheeses, condiments, and crackers. Meats are rolled, or made into roses to create a textured look to the charcuterie board. Soft and hard cheeses can be paired with meats, mustard, pickles, honey, or spreads (jelly’s, jam), layered on top of crostini’s, crackers, or slices of baguette. You can include extra foods like grapes, arugula, hummus, dried fruits, and nuts for a complete charcuterie board. Seafood Bar Having a seafood bar at a wedding can either be a raw bar, or a seafood buffet table. A raw bar is seafood that is cold such as oysters, mussels, scallops, and clams. You can serve raw oysters with an accompanying cocktail for your weddings guests such as a Bloody Mary or a martini. If you’re wanting a seafood buffet table, you can serve hot seafood sushi as calamari, prawns, crab, or fish and chip cups. You can serve dips for your seafood bar such as butter for crab, shrimp cocktail sauce, tartar sauce for fish and chips, and spicy mayo for squid and octopus. prawns squid octopus scallops shrimp oysters crab fish & chip cups Sushi Bar Sushi is an easy to serve wedding reception food. Sushi is individually portioned, therefore guests can fill up their own plates with their favorite sushi rolls. You can serve deep fried vegetable or prawn tempura, sushi cones, sashimi, or nigiri sushi for a spread of choices. You can include vegetable rolls such as avocado or cucumber rolls for your guests. Another option would be to serve deep fried rolls such as a California roll. For a wedding reception, you’ll also want to serve more elaborate rolls that topped with avocado or mango. You can also pick a seafood sushi topping for your sushi such as tuna, smoked salmon, tobiko. Sushi rolls can have a sauces drizzled on top of them for a beautiful finish to a sushi bar such as unagi sauce, spicy mayo, teriyaki sauce, or hot sauce. Serve you sushi bar bit a bit sake as a treat for your guests. sushi rolls sashimi temaki – sushi cones tempura nigiri sushi Satay Satay is an appetizer food you can serve at an afternoon wedding reception. Satay skewers are meat that has been barbequed, and then served with an accompanying creamy peanut sauce for dipping. You can make small chicken skewers that are portioned for a wedding as an appetizer, so it’s not too big for your guests. chicken beef lamb Greek Food Greek food includes lighter foods that can be eaten as an appetizer, or as a meal, but isn’t too filling. Therefore Greek food works well for an afternoon, 2 pm wedding reception. You can serve small pita wraps filled with vegetables, tzatziki sauce, chicken or beef. If you’re wanting more of an appetizer style, you can serve small portioned Greek salad with pita bread, and few meat skewers for your guests to choose from. pita wraps Greek salad pita bread with tzatziki sauce meat skewers with tzatziki sauce Crostini’s Crostini appetizers are small pieces of toasted baguette with indulgent toppings. You can serve crostini’s with a few different toppings so your guests can pick and choose their favorites to try. Crostini’s can be topped with Havarti, prosciutto, fresh pesto, ricotta, avocado and more to create alluring appetizers for your wedding reception. cheese and prosciutto with arugula and balsamic reduction fresh pesto mixed with diced tomatoes, topped with grated parmesan cheese ricotta, sliced pears or apples, walnuts, drizzled with honey mashed avocado topped with grilled garlic shrimp watermelon bruschetta topped with balsamic reduction goat cheese, apricot preserves, sprinkled with pistachios and mint leaves garlic and dill cream cheese, slices of cucumber and radishes, topped with smoked salmon [...]
May 26, 2023Desserts / How to GuidesGanache is a sweet dessert filling or frosting made by using heated heavy cream over chocolate. You can make more than just white, milk, or dark chocolate ganache. You can add fruit puree, extracts, or zest to flavor chocolate ganache to use for cakes, cupcakes, tarts, fondue, or truffles. You can make raspberry ganache, caramel ganache, Irish cream ganache, peanut butter ganache and more! Raspberry Raspberry ganache is a sweet white chocolate ganache infused with raspberry puree. Raspberry ganache is made by making raspberry puree, and then straining it through a strainer to remove the seeds. Raspberry puree is heated with heavy cream until just before it begins to boil. White chocolate is chopped into small pieces, and then heated raspberry cream mixture is poured over the white chocolate. Whisk until smooth, and then cool to room temperature. Place ganache in the fridge overnight, and then it will harden up. If it’s too hard to work with, you can microwave it to soften it. macaron filling cupcake frosting cake filling and frosting filling for chocolate Caramel Caramel ganache is a sweet ganache you can pour over fruit for a special treat, or drizzle over ice cream. Caramel ganache is made by melting sugar in a saucepan until it becomes a golden brown color. Heavy cream is heated in the microwave, and then carefully poured over caramelized sugar. Cream sugar mixture is stirred together, and then let to come to 226 degrees F. Caramel ganache is removed from the heat source, and then cubes of butter are melted into the ganache. Butter is mixed into ganache, and then it’s cooled in an ice bath. Caramel ganache is whipped with a hand mixer, and then it’s ready to be used. topping for apples topping for ice cream cake frosting chocolate cupcake frosting macaron filling Matcha Matcha ganache is a green tea flavored white chocolate ganache. White chocolate and heavy cream are heated in the microwave until the chocolate has fully melted. Matcha powder is added to the white chocolate ganache and whisked until smooth. You can place matcha ganache in the fridge for a harder ganache, if needed. macaron filling chocolate cupcake frosting vanilla cupcake frosting Peanut Butter Peanut butter ganache is a creamy ganache you can use for filling tarts or even making truffles. Heavy cream is heated until it almost begins to boil. Hot heavy cream is poured over chopped white chocolate, peanut butter, and vanilla extract. As the cream melts the chocolate, whisk the mixture together until it’s smooth. Cool the ganache to room temperature, and then it’s ready to use used for desserts. tart filling drip cake topping cake frosting truffles macaron filling Chocolate Orange Chocolate orange ganache is a citrusy chocolate ganache you can use for cakes, tarts, or truffles. Chocolate orange ganache is made by heating heavy cream in a saucepan with orange zest until heavy cream begins to simmer. Pour hot heavy cream over chopped chocolate and whisk together until smooth. Cool chocolate orange ganache, and then place it in the fridge for 1 hour to firm up prior to using. truffles cake frosting tart filling glaze vol au vent filling Mint Chocolate Mint chocolate ganache is a rich chocolate ganache you can use for a lovely hint of mint in your dessert. Heavy cream is heated until it almost begins to boil. Pour over mint chocolate chips and whisk until the chocolate is melted and mixture becomes smooth. Let mint chocolate ganache cool to room temperature, and then it’ll be ready to use. If you’re wanting to make mint chocolate truffles, place the ganache in the fridge. When it hardens up, you can use a melon baller, and remove a ball of chocolate to make into a truffle. cupcake frosting cake frosting truffles ice cream topping dessert waffle topping Irish Cream Irish cream ganache is a chocolate ganache infused with Irish cream alcohol. Irish cream ganache is made by heating Irish cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Irish cream is poured over milk chocolate chips, and let to sit for 10 minutes to fully melt chocolate. A little heavy cream is poured into the ganache, and then whisked together until smooth. If you’re using Irish cream ganache for fondue, serve your ganache warm. Warm it up in the microwave if needed. You can dip fresh fruit, rice Krispy squares, brownies, angel food cake into Irish cream ganache. Irish cream is cooled to room temperature, and then it’s ready to be used for cake frosting or cupcake frosting. If you’re wanting to make truffles, you can firm it up in the fridge and then use a melon baller to form your truffles. cake frosting chocolate cupcake frosting dipping sauce for dessert fondue truffles [...]
May 26, 2023How to Guides / Party IdeasSeafood appetizers can be made ahead of time when preparing for a summer BBQ, birthday party, or cocktail party. You can make alluring appetizers for your guests including seafood mousse, smoked salmon phyllo cups, tzatziki avocado salmon rolls and more! Seafood Mousse Seafood mousse is a chilled mousse that is served with accompanying crackers. Seafood mousse is made by blooming gelatin in a bit of white wine. This will help the mousse solidify, and maintain it’s shape when it’s being served. In a separate bowl, crab meat, shrimp, diced celery, whipped heavy cream, sour cream, green onions, mayo, dill weed, lemon zest, and paprika are mixed together to until they’re fully combined. Gelatin and wine mixture is microwaved until it forms a liquid, and then is added to the seafood mousse. Once gelatin is mixed into the mousse, it’s placed into a prepared mold or bowl and chilled in the fridge for a few hours. You can prepare seafood mousse the day before, and then unmold it right before serving. Unmold the seafood mousse, and serve with crackers or baguette slices. Seafood Spread Seafood spread can be prepared ahead of time, and served with baguette slices, crackers, or prepared crostini’s if desired. Seafood spread is made by combining softened cream cheese, shredded Parmesan cheese, crab meat, minced garlic, parsley, red pepper flakes, and fresh pan fried shrimp pieces. You can place the prepared spread in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. Serve seafood spread with baguette slices, crackers, or crostini’s. Smoked Salmon Phyllo Cups Smoked salmon phyllo cups are a creamy appetizer served in a phyllo dough cups. Smoked salmon cream cheese mixture is made by adding softened cream cheese, sour cream and fresh lemon juice to a food processor and blending together. Smoked salmon, fresh dill, chives, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper are added to the food processor and blended together until smooth. Place filling in the fridge overnight to chill. Phyllo cups only take a few minutes to bake. You can bake them any time the day of your event. Place smoked salmon cream cheese filling in a piping bag, fitted with the star tip and pipe the filling into the prepared dough cups. Place smoked salmon phyllo cups in the fridge until you’re ready to serve them. Tzatziki Avocado Salmon Rolls Tzatziki avocado salmon rolls are a creamy appetizer you can make ahead of time. Tzatziki is mixed together with chives and fresh lime juice. A piece of plastic wrap is placed on a cutting board, and smoked salmon is placed on top of the plastic wrap. Smoked salmon should have overlapping edges and be patted down, so that the roll will turn out later on. Tzatziki is spread over the salmon, and then slices of avocado are arranged in the center of the salmon. A couple of cucumber strips are added on top of the avocado, along with a few more chives. Roll up the salmon roll, using the plastic wrap to help guide you. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the edges, and place it in the fridge covered until you’re ready to serve. Unwrap the salmon roll and slice off bite sized pieces when you’re ready to serve your seafood appetizer. Smoked Salmon Bites Smoked salmon bites are creamy toothpick appetizer you can easily make ahead of time. In a bowl, cream cheese, sour cream, garlic powder, lemon zest, salt, and dill are mixed together. Cream cheese mixture is spread in the center of a tortilla creating a square shape. Smoked salmon pieces are placed on top of the cream cheese mixture, With another tortilla, spread a thin layer of butter. Place the butter side down onto the smoked salmon. Spread cream cheese mixture on top of the tortilla, and layer again with more smoked salmon. Butter another tortilla, and place it butter side down onto the smoked salmon. Press down on the appetizer using a plate or cutting board to flatten out the appetizer. Cover the appetizer and place it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. When you’re ready to serve, use a serrated knife to trim the edges into a square. Cut the appetizer into strips, and then into squares. Place a toothpick into each smoked salmon appetizer for easy serving. Garnish with a bit of dill weed if desired. [...]
May 24, 2023Desserts / How to GuidesWhipped cream is a rich, creamy base for making desserts with fruit. You can make berry mousse, raspberry cream puffs, pineapple crème brûlée, trifle, strawberry soufflé, and more! Raspberry Mousse Raspberry mousse is a rich, fruity, decandet mousse. Raspberry mousse is made by heating raspberries in a saucepan and adding sugar and water to make raspberry puree. Raspberry puree is strained to remove the seeds of the raspberries, and only have the pure raspberry sauce left. Gelatin is added to raspberry sauce, and then it’s thickened in a saucepan over medium heat. After raspberry sauce has thickened, it is left to cool to room temperature. Whipped cream is whipped until stiff peaks form. Raspberry puree is added to the whipped cream and folded together to make raspberry mousse. You can pipe raspberry mousse into ramekins, and then add a couple of raspberries on top as a garnish. Angel Food Cake Trifle Angel food cake trifle is a layered dessert with cake, custard, whipped cream, and fruit. Vanilla pastry cream is placed in the bottom of a dessert glass. Angel food cake is cut into small 1″ squares, and then sprinkled on top of the pastry cream. Add raspberries, blueberries, strawberries or blackberries. Repeat the layers until it reaches almost the top of the glass. Top with freshly whipped cream and a couple of berries as a garnish. Raspberry Cream Puffs Raspberry cream puffs are fruity cream puffs made with choux pastry. Raspberry cream puffs are made by combining raspberries and icing sugar in blender and blending on medium speed, creating raspberry puree. Whipping cream is whipped together with raspberry puree to create the filling for the cream puffs. Pipe raspberry cream mixture into the cream puffs. You can add a chocolate ganache icing on top, or simply dust with icing sugar. Blackberry Mousse Blackberry mousse is a fruity mousse with memorable blackberry flavoring. Blackberry mousse is made by adding pureed blackberries and hot water in a blender and mixing together. The blackberries must be strained and then the remaining blackberry sauce is cooked to thicken it into a puree. Gelatin is bloomed in a bit of water, and microwaved together. Heated gelatin is added to blackberry puree and and whisked together. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, heavy cream is whipped with vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Fold blackberry puree with gelatin into the whipped cream and chill until you’re ready to serve. Pineapple Crème Brûlée Pineapple crème brûlée is a creamy, citrusy dessert with a brûléed sugar top. Pineapple crème brûlée is made by cooking the pineapple with a bit of water and brown sugar. Once the pineapple has caramelized with the brown sugar, it is pureed using a food processor. Whipped cream is heated in a saucepan with brown sugar, lemon zest and salt until it begins to simmer. In a separate bowl, egg yolks, an egg, and lemon juice are whisked together. Hot cream mixture is poured into the egg mixture and whisked together to temper the eggs. Vanilla extract is mixed into the cream mixture, along with caramelized pineapple puree to make the crème brûlée base. Crème brûlée is placed into ramekins and then baked in the oven. After they have been cooled and chilled in the fridge, they are ready to be brûléed with granulated sugar and a cooking torch. The pineapple is added, along with lemon zest for a citrus flavored pineapple crème brûlée. Strawberry Soufflé Strawberry soufflé is light and fruity whipped cream dessert. Whipped cream is whipped with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Whipped cream is placed in the fridge to chill it while preparing the rest of the soufflé. Strawberry puree is heated in a saucepan over medium heat with gelatin. Strawberry puree is cooled, and then whipped with an electric mixer. Strawberry puree will expand and add a ton of air to it. Strawberry mixture is gently folded into the whipped chilled cream. In a separate bowl egg whites are beaten with an electric mixture with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Granulated sugar is added to the egg whites, and then beaten until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into strawberry cream mixture. Strawberry cream mixture can be piped into ramekins, and then frozen for a few hours. Place the soufflé in the fridge for 2 hours, right before you’re ready to serve it. Add a little whipped cream dollop on top, as well as a few sliced strawberries right before serving. Blueberry Mousse Blueberry mousse is made by making blueberry puree. Blueberries are heated together with sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. After the blueberry mixture has thickened, it is blended together and strained through a mesh sieve. In a stainless steel mixing bowl, egg whites, sugar, and cream of tarter is mixed together. Heat the mixture over a pot of water simmering with a few inches of water in the bottom. Once the mixture has thicken, it is removed from the heat source, and beat until the egg whites become stiff peaks. In a stand mixer, heavy cream is a placed in a metal bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, and whipped until soft peaks are formed. Gelatin is bloomed with a bit of water, and then whisked into the blueberry puree. Egg white meringue is folded into blueberry puree to add a ton of light airiness to the mousse. Finally, fold soft peak whipped cream into the blueberry mixture and chill for a few hours prior to serving. [...]
May 24, 2023How to Guides / Types of FoodSan Marzano tomatoes are the best tomatoes for making pizza sauce because of their sweet and rich flavor. San Marzano tomatoes pizza sauce is a thick and lush pizza sauce with a sweet finish that you can use for pizza, pizza pretzels, or as a breadstick dipping sauce. San Marzano Tomatoes for Pizza Sauce San Marzano tomatoes are less acidic than Roma tomatoes, and have a more powerful flavor. San Marzano pizza sauce is a little on the sweeter side. If you were to make pizza sauce with Plum or Roma tomatoes, you would have to add more sugar or add butter to the pizza sauce to balance out the acidity. San Marzano tomatoes were first grown in volcanic soil from the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius close to Naples in Italy. San Marzano tomatoes have very thick walls, thick fleshy inside, and very few seeds. Therefore, when the tomatoes are broken down to make pizza sauce, it creates a paste like consistency. This makes San Marzano pizza sauce extra thick and creamy. Breaking Down San Marzano Tomatoes There are 2 ways you can break down San Marzano tomatoes for pizza sauce. Hands You can use your hands to break apart your tomatoes for pizza sauce. It will feel slimly and wet! But you need to break down the tomatoes in order for you not to have a chunky sauce. Pastry Blender A pastry blender will easily cut tomatoes into small pieces while keeping your hands clean! Press the pastry blender into the tomatoes and cut them into bite sized pieces. Then you’ll be ready to make your pizza sauce. Draining San Marzano Tomatoes You should drain off tomato juices of San Marzano tomatoes when you’re making pizza sauce. Draining off the juices will make the pizza sauce have a thicker consistency, and you can always add the juice drippings if the pizza sauce is too thick for your liking. You have more control over the pizza sauce consistency by draining the San Marzano tomatoes. To drain your tomatoes, place a strainer on top of a glass bowl. Add your tomatoes into the strainer and let them sit for about 20 minutes prior to making your pizza sauce. [...]
Brie Appetizer Recipes