Culinary School: Session 52 (12.17.14)
Caramel Mou, Hippen Tuile and Petits Fours Glaces
The cow says, "Mou"...
Caramel Mou, that is... meaning soft caramels... just another single bite to grace the silver serving platters. As another sugar-based Confisirie (like the earlier Pate a Fruit), Caramel Mou requires temperature precision. Over- or under-heat the sugar, and the final product may not even bear a passing similarity to what you had hoped.
And what Petits Fours tray would be complete without Petits Fours Glaces, those tiny glazed cakes, which to many people are Petits Fours?
.GIF "In Process Domed Petits Fours Glaces with Raspberry Buttercream")
- Ingredients Running Tally -
Ingredients used to date (12.17.14):
- Flour: 22,965g
- Eggs: 11,600g (232x)
- Sugar: 13,450g
- Butter: 13,125g
- Milk/Cream: 12,105g
- The Recipes -
Item:
Description:
A rich, chocolate, soft caramel chew. Sometimes referred to as "an elevated Tootsie Roll", with all of the pure chocolate in this recipe, that's just insulting.
Focus Techniques:
- Making a caramel that includes cream in the initial mix of ingredients. Often a soft caramel is made by caramelizing sugar and then cutting it with cream and butter. By heating all of the ingredients together, much of the moisture content in the cream evaporates and some of the milk solids are darkened, resulting in a deeper flavor.
- Finely chopping chocolate for melting. Given how quickly the caramel will set when it cools, if the chocolate is left in larger pieces (as can be done when making a ganache), the caramel will likely harden before the chocolate is completely melted and incorporated.
- Adding sea salt for taste and texture. All caramel benefits tremendously from the addition of salt, which amplifies the flavor profile.
.GIF "Molded Caramel Mou with Sea Salt")
.GIF "Whisk Coated in Caramel Mou")
.GIF "Making Caramel Mou")
.GIF "Close-up of Caramel Mou with Sea Salt")
Caramel Mou
Description:
A rich, chocolate, soft caramel chew. Sometimes referred to as "an elevated Tootsie Roll", with all of the pure chocolate in this recipe, that's just insulting.
Focus Techniques:
- Making a caramel that includes cream in the initial mix of ingredients. Often a soft caramel is made by caramelizing sugar and then cutting it with cream and butter. By heating all of the ingredients together, much of the moisture content in the cream evaporates and some of the milk solids are darkened, resulting in a deeper flavor.
- Finely chopping chocolate for melting. Given how quickly the caramel will set when it cools, if the chocolate is left in larger pieces (as can be done when making a ganache), the caramel will likely harden before the chocolate is completely melted and incorporated.
- Adding sea salt for taste and texture. All caramel benefits tremendously from the addition of salt, which amplifies the flavor profile.
Item:
Description:
A simple tuile that can be molded in limitless shapes. These tuiles can be used for anything from decorative garnishes on plated dessert to the actual vessels for smaller dessert items, such as a cup to hold a mousse.
Focus Techniques:
- Forming tuiles of various shapes using molds.
- Shaping warm tuiles immediately after baking. The tuiles are soft and pliable when they are removed from the oven and can be further formed in various ways, but they will harden in about 30 seconds.
Hippen Tuile
Description:
A simple tuile that can be molded in limitless shapes. These tuiles can be used for anything from decorative garnishes on plated dessert to the actual vessels for smaller dessert items, such as a cup to hold a mousse.
Focus Techniques:
- Forming tuiles of various shapes using molds.
- Shaping warm tuiles immediately after baking. The tuiles are soft and pliable when they are removed from the oven and can be further formed in various ways, but they will harden in about 30 seconds.
.GIF "Maple Leaf Hippen Tuile")
.GIF "Maple Leaf Hippen Tuiles")
Item:
Description:
These are the quintessential tea-tray Petits Fours. Rich nut cakes paired with flavored buttercreams and jams, these individual bites are enrobed in Fondant or Pate a Glacer and ornately decorated with piped icing.
Focus Techniques:
- Creating numerous varieties of Petits Fours with a limited number of underlying ingredients. By pairing various cakes, fillings and glazes, and by varying the shapes of the products, it is easy to assemble a large variety of unique bites.
Petits Fours Glaces
Description:
These are the quintessential tea-tray Petits Fours. Rich nut cakes paired with flavored buttercreams and jams, these individual bites are enrobed in Fondant or Pate a Glacer and ornately decorated with piped icing.
Focus Techniques:
- Creating numerous varieties of Petits Fours with a limited number of underlying ingredients. By pairing various cakes, fillings and glazes, and by varying the shapes of the products, it is easy to assemble a large variety of unique bites.
.GIF "In Process Domed Petits Fours Glaces with Raspberry and Coffee Buttercream")
.GIF "In Process Pyramid Petits Fours Glaces with Raspberry and Vanilla")
Next - Session 53: Lemon Cookies and Cornet Piping & Glazing
Previous - Session 51: Checkerboard Cookies, Swirl Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes and Florentines
Take a look at the full syllabus
Questions? Comments? Send me an email or leave a comment.
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