/r/pastry

Photograph via snooOG

A community dedicated to those who love pastry, baking and desserts - whether a professional chef or amateur.

WELCOME TO /R/PASTRY!

A community dedicated to those who love desserts - whether a professional Chef or amateur.


RULES

  • All Posts Must Be Pastry/Dessert-Related. All photo submissions must be pastry related and show proficiency. Submissions that are not artistic, or show prowess and technique will be removed.

  • Make titles descriptive and about the food

  • Be nice to each other. Some people here are professionals, others are learning. Constructive criticism is highly encouraged.

  • No overt blogspam/YouTube, Social Media/self-promotion. If you would like to link your website, please add a comment to your post.

  • Any photo must be uploaded using reputable hosts (i.reddi.it, imgur.com, etc)

  • If you post something that's not yours, you must credit the original creator. This will be strongly moderated and karma farming will not be tolerated.

/r/pastry

34,123 Subscribers

42

First cake I have made after leaving the culinary industry, and moving into clinical chemistry. It was fun to bake again, knowing it wasn’t work!

Marble cake with Bavarian cream and fresh strawberry filling. Iced with Swiss meringue buttercream, and decorated with dragees and some fondant roses I made.

1 Comment
2024/05/06
04:24 UTC

0

folding and incorporating techniques

totally confused on folding, and incorporating techniques. i have a practical exam coming up.

sorry, many questions. i cannot memorize the recipes by paper. so i resorted to youtube tutorials, to visually memorize the steps. for the practical, we are only given the ingredients no instructions, so i will have to go by youtube video memorizations, and my gut as i go.

- so from what i understand, for the stand up mixer, we basically only use the paddle attachment for creaming basically?

- mousse. the teacher says don't use a spatula to fold in the raspberry coulis. use the whisk. the coulis was kind of heavy and deflated the mousse a bit, so i had to whisk it back to fluffy. would it be wise to use the sacrificial method (add some of the mousse into the coulis, instead of coulis going into mousse bowl all at once), then transfer that pre-mix, into your main mousse bowl, and blend everything together)?

- whenever we are folding, it is almost always using the spatula? when would a whisk be better?

- for chocolate genoise, i found it very hard to fold in the flour and the cocoa powder into the beaten eggs. many many folds, and i lost the structure. if you don't have a partner to pour in the dry ingredients for you as you fold, can you do 1/3, 1/3, 1\3 yourself?

- the professor asks us always to sift all the dry ingredients onto parchment paper. then fold the parchment paper in half, and tilt the dries into the liquid mixture mixing bowl. all the dry ingredients end up in the centre. in so many youtube videos, the bakers are whisking directly over the bowl. which is the best way? so it sprinkles all over the liquid surface more evenly?

- dumb question, but what is the purpose of whisking. i initially though it's just to refine the dry elements. but if some people are whisking a portion of their dries right over the bowl, then whisking with a whisk is actually an integral part of the folding process ... what do you guys think? even if you've pre-whisked your dries, they still don't end up in your batter all fine and freshly fluffed.

- when would a sturdy metal large spoon work better than a spatula when folding? i find the spatula you have to do a 360 turn. i find it is just pushing the mixture around. one youtuber said she always uses a large metal spoon, with a sturdy edge, since it cuts through the mixture better, and scoops up much more mass than a spatula can, and with much less moves.

(but i know we can just use the larger spatula. i just find it heavier, has a handle way too long, and it is impossible to scrape sides with since the actual spatula part of it does not bend, and contort to the side of the bowl).

- we scrape the sides and the bottom if there is unincorporated flour stuck there. in folding, how do we avoid that this happens at all? the reason i ask, if because i have a feeling that scraping the sides or bottom, has this effect of pushing the mixture against the side of the bowl, and popping out the air bubbles.

(now, even getting mixtures out of their bowls. i either pour, if pourable, and to scrape the last bits stuck to the bowl, i set the bowl down, and ever so gently scrape out the rest).

- and do we use a wooden spoon, or a spatula? one video said upon hitting any dry bits in the mixture, you will know with a wooden spoon, since you hit something, but a spatula just slides over it (and you also can't see that it's there).

- when incorporating two liquid mixtures of different consistencies, whether using scraficial method or not, if was not taught in class, but let's just say you're adding something whipped and airy into a denser fruit sauce. each time when you add the the whipped cream, the youtube video says you cut that portion of whipped cream sitting on the fruit sauce in half with a spatula, then fold. even after that initial fold, you cut the entire mixture down through the middle, then fold again.

is this the best method? i also heard there is the number 8 method for even more even distribution?

10 Comments
2024/05/06
02:59 UTC

18

Brittany Shortbread with Lemon Cream & French Merengue topped with Candied Lemon Zest

Made these for my boyfriend getting accepted to college! Don’t mind the one missing in front 🤭🤤

0 Comments
2024/05/06
01:43 UTC

2

Escoffier Culinary? Yay or nay?

Was looking into the school and they say they’re accredited but I’m not sure of the way classes work since it’s online, but it’s currently the only option in my area. Would love some options from someone who’s done online school and/or people within the industry!

6 Comments
2024/05/05
22:36 UTC

1

Les vertes intens verte minth

any one know where I can order some Les vertes intens verte minth food colour?

3 Comments
2024/05/05
16:02 UTC

2

Gift to a graduating pastry chef student?

My friend is soon graduating as a pastry chef. I would like to hear ideas what to give her as a graduation present.

Perhaps some kitchen utensils or a professional book about pastry making? What would you yourself like to receive?

(Preferably something that's available in Europe, or available for shipping to Europe.)

13 Comments
2024/05/05
08:39 UTC

1

Working Abroad

I’m currently looking to relocate from the US and i’m looking at the possibilities of moving to europe for my next job/staging. i’ve already been through school and have been working a few years in the field, but don’t have great connections overseas to help with getting a job. if anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated!

2 Comments
2024/05/05
05:45 UTC

57

[I ate] I bought this dessert, after the first spoonful I didn't want to finish it, too delicious !

3 Comments
2024/05/05
00:43 UTC

22

Greek sweet bread made for orthodox Easter “tsourekia”

A bit like a challah,except we use sweet spices like mahleb,cardamom and mastic. It’s buttery but light and airy,aromatic and can be paired with anything from fruit jams to Nutella/nut butters. Can we re used into a French toast or base for other sweets.

1 Comment
2024/05/04
22:03 UTC

27

What do you think of my saint honoré tartelettes?

1 Comment
2024/05/04
20:45 UTC

1

Pastry school? Hospitality management?

I’m a UG student who wants to get into Pastry and hospitality management for post grad But I am confused which is the best place for it? I have many options but I want to learn from specefic experiences of students who have worked in those uni. I’m considering Le cordon London and Paris, ICE NewYork, le Roche and Glion Swiss and Ecole Ducasse..

Any suggestions anyone ? Please share your experience if any??

0 Comments
2024/05/04
10:41 UTC

0

sorry, inexperienced question from pastry student YET AGAIN

when creating a pan cake cake, and we want the loaf to break at the top. producing a crust. producing maillard reaction, and cyrstallization at the surface. browning. this 'faultline' gap i call it. as students, we still don't know what to call it. it has never been given a name.

how do we MANUALLY create it??? halfway thru the bake. can we slice a line down the top, causing hot air and liquid to rush out of?im sorry mechnical leavening and leavening agents do the trick. mechanical leavening IN MY MIND, only provides cake AIRYNESS. that's all. it's only when you slicce in half. and you get light sponge texture.

height of the cake is leavening agents affected, and also i dont know what else. less overbeating. an extra partner today helped me finish my recipe since we were out of time. she is a home baker, and she did our banana bread recipe, and used the mix levels on a mixer like a pro. she did the level so fast. in less than 2 minutes, she was pouring the mixture in the pan. SHE BARELY mixed anything. she only got thing to get incorporated.

our bake came out the most perfect in the class, and it was not due to special ingredients or minutiously measuring baking soda or powder quantity. all of banana cakes came out flat. ouar was the only came out as rised loaf, with the crack in the centre. i honestly believe this girl 'eyeballed' the consistency of the mixed dry and wet ingredients (and said, stop here, this dry and wet ingredient is gonna puff perfectly).

the prof is tring tell us two thousand and ten ways why are cakes have collasped. i find with the home bakers. they eye ball things, and when they know thing are just right, they put in for the bake. i find that homebakers at the mixing stage our like NOW. perfect bake before the bake.

sorry it sounds sexist, but i learn more from women than men. iam guy. most women teach me dainty fine thingys. guys in my class goof off and are immature. i ask the classier middle age guys some 'hard' questions, these older guys respond in top notch fashion.

12 Comments
2024/05/04
08:36 UTC

0

more crazy questions from a totally inexeperienced student ...

YET EVEN MORE QUESTIONS.

piping.

if you are somebody with the worstest of shakiest hands. i am diabetic. any ungood sugar levels cause my hands to shake. high. low. same effect. i can still do hard labour, and general 'labour' things, through just physical force of my body, i.e. whisking and lifting bags bags of flour, bringing out trays. i am man. i can push myself through things.

but delicate arm and wrist piping is my nemesis. i have no control over them.

- how do you make daquoise when your hands shake? so it's circular lines. my hands shook so much, i had to rotate my whole body core to achieve the perfect rings. my arms weren't moving. my whole body was. and the thing is if you don't exert equal piping exercision throughout the pipe, you don't get that thin consistent fluent line. its done in all one fell movement. when you pipe out a swirl, it's a one movement-move.

- also, lol! piping from the centre out. in EACH of my daquoise, i started in the middle, and when reached the outer circles, i was MAJORLY off base from the stencil. and had to exceed the stencil outer limit oulines. can we start from the other and work into the centre, is my question

also starting from within, and working circular around, and ending at the last tip, most students didn't know of how to conclude the ending. creating an extra tail. minute, or acutally visibly squirrel like. my partner told me in piping, when you conclude a movement, you quickly release your hand pressure, and full away expotentially FAST.

10 Comments
2024/05/04
06:34 UTC

0

more crazy questions from a totally inexeperienced student ...

like totally no talent, and no-how.

cooking i am good. baking and specifications in technique i am no good. like it is just not wired or practiced in my brain. i eyeball things sauteed or grilled or deep fried. that i can master. baking and mixing i just can't do.

in school today, we had to indentify ingredients without labels (for the exam). something is happening with my eyesight (LITERALLY). i see things, and touch things, and i still don't know what they are. so in class today i TASTED the raw dry and fat ingredients. it was the only way i knew.

i have too, TOO MANY questions, lol.

- glucose. i have no idea how to handle this product. so dense, so sticky. you use wet hands to get it. it CANNOT be spooned up, or scraped off of any utensil or surface successfully. my action plan for my technical exam is to pull it up in my wet hands, rotate my hand, and let it drip a bit. cut a piece of substantial parchment paper and put on my scale, and smear my hand on to the paper. getting it off my hand.

- i tried putting it into a 1 litre plastic container, and couldn't get it out with a spatula. it is HARD GLUE. so much of it stayed in the container, unble to come out, so i am not getting the right measured quantity. half i measured, i can only get half in to the recipe. so setting a glob of it on parchment paper, which i can just sort of wipe the paper off into the other vessel, is best??? like press it into the side of the other bowl or pot? SQUEEZE IT OFF.

- small pots vs. large ones. the ones in class are too heavy for me, even if we are men, lol. we have to do this thing where we 360 rotate a heavy, saucepan with our left hand, so the waxy caralemized sugar won't stick to the outer edge of the pot. making cleaning a hassle. they taught us that caramelized sugar is the most cumbersome to clean, and that boiling water in the used pot INSTANTLY is the only way to clean out the pot. no water or detergent can do the job.

-for even heat distribution, i use the larger pots to achieve that nice flat-surface boil. but cannot lift these pots, even tho i am a guy. if the quantity is small, should i use a smaller pot? i cannot even pour this hot liquid onto parchment to set. my hand is shaking, and the handle is hot (since we use gas stoves), and i have even less grip wince i got a wash towel wrapped around.

sorry already too long. i will re-ask in another post.

18 Comments
2024/05/04
06:07 UTC

48

Why do my pies collapse?

I’ve tried tapioca, cornstarch, and this test is cleargel.

Pastry is ice cold from walk in fridge. Goes into a preheated 375° convection for 20 min.

Then drop the temp to 350° & bake until internal temp is 200°.

Seems like I’m hitting all the marks but this continues to happen.

Any input much appreciated!

13 Comments
2024/05/04
00:45 UTC

11

what is the name of this type of plastic mold?

13 Comments
2024/05/03
18:31 UTC

3

panna cotta problems

hi! so the client wanted a smooth, silky and soft panna cotta. how do i pull off this one? she dont want it to be served in glass thats why i added ratio of gelatin to hold the texture.

for 250g milk, 250g cream, I used 5pcs of gelatine sheets

has anyone has ratio suggestion? or did any one tried using agar or egg whites?

thank you!

5 Comments
2024/05/03
07:02 UTC

4

Any good pastry related podcasts?

^

4 Comments
2024/05/02
16:29 UTC

22

making use of overripe bananas, now i have my muffins

1 Comment
2024/05/01
20:26 UTC

347

melt in your mouth cookies

15 Comments
2024/05/01
19:33 UTC

263

bought donuts and they taste better than they look

23 Comments
2024/05/01
18:03 UTC

6

What are some desserts I can make for Easter?

I have very little experience in making desserts, but I am hosting a gathering for Easter for 15-20 people and want to make 3 types of deserts that are easy ideally a cake, a parfait and and a ice-cream like dessert. Can you give me some ideas that cost less than 100 dollars and take less than 6 hours to make.

11 Comments
2024/05/01
13:57 UTC

113

Cross section of a laminated croissant block from work today

3 Comments
2024/05/01
13:13 UTC

1

Pastry tool finding

Does anyone know what tool they use at the start of the video ? Where they make a air bubble with sugar

https://youtu.be/dlpnnAFXhcg?si=1HFhzCdS6p-G-C6L

3 Comments
2024/04/30
18:51 UTC

4

Thinking about training for a Certified Working Pastry Chef certificate.

Hello, I am thinking about training for a Certified Working Pastry Chef certificate. I currently have an associates degree in baking and pastry with 2 years work experience, one year a way from the three I would need with a degree.

So I was wondering what can I study and practice to do well on it in the mean time. Additionally, I was wondering if many kitchens consider it of prestige or would just look over it entirely. Also what would the exam consist of?

5 Comments
2024/04/30
06:46 UTC

1

Showpiece question

Hi i need someones help, i’m doing a chocolate showpiece and iv’e come to a problem, i need to find out how to stick pastillage or gum paste to chocolate. Would anyone know ?

2 Comments
2024/04/30
05:45 UTC

Back To Top