Tip 1: Bowed palette knifeI've been working in handcraft patisserie for the past thirty years. My work has mainly been in Hotels, Restaurant and Wholesale supply of high class patisserie mainly French. Fruit and other flans were always prominent as a daily item fro preparation and this often meant a thin layer of something was required into the base of the flan case. A cranked palette knife is not the right shape to place a very thin layer into smaller items. If you a producing larger flans a cranked palette knife may do the job. In around 1981 I decided to make my own tool for the job and bent a 150mm palette knife to produce a kind of bow shape of around 30º. Since then I've always had a bent or bowed palette knife in my tool box. It just does the job better than any other tool, that is in my opinion. You don't have to buy the best knife to make a very useful tool, so why not try it, you may be pleasantly surprised.Source: Graham Dunton, Chef Patissier, Unifine UK Tip 2: Praline souffléWhy not make a praline soufflé using Dobla Siena or Domino decorations? Usa a praline or ganache filling and stack the decorations with a layer of filling in between. Quite a change from the standars bonbon!Source: Rik Pins, Dobla BVTip 3: Caramelized bananaBrushing clarified butter on pre-sliced bananas helps with flavour and dessert finishing time before caramelization.Source: Gerben van Boeijen, Dobla BVTip 4: Extract max. flavour from nutsIn order to extract maximum oils and flavour from spices and nuts, slow roast them at lower temperatures to infuse ice cream bases. Quick, high-heat roasting may caramelize the carbs and sugars present, which is often not the desired flavour profile.Source: Meredith Kurtzman via Pastry Art & DesignTip 5: Beautiful textured genoiseFor a beautifully textured genoise: After heating the eggs and sugar mixture over a bain-marie, pass the mixture through a sieve into the mixing bowl. This will remove any eggshells or over-cooked bits of egg that otherwise settle to the bottom of the sponge during baking.For a beautifully textured genoise: After heating the eggs and sugar mixture over a bain-marie, pass the mixture through a sieve into the mixing bowl. This will remove any eggshells or over-cooked bits of egg that otherwise settle to the bottom of the sponge during baking.Source: Meg Ray via Pastry Art & Design Tip 6: Success guaranteedWhite chocolate has a fabulously rich taste. Once mixed with fresh coffee beans it takes on all the allure of an absolute delicacy. Gently heat a kilo of white chocolate. Meanwhite grind 20 grams of coffee beans finely in a food processor and mix it with the white chocolate. Spreakd the chocolate mix on a baking plate and lightly cover with some chocolate moca beans. Let the chocolate harden and break it. You can sell it per piece of per weight. This recipe is extremely easy to make, delicious and guarantees you excellent margin.Another tip? Cover the hot chocolate paste with dried fruit, such as strawberries or fruit of the forest.Source: Jack Schepers, Dobla BVTip 7: A fine instrumentTake a kitchen fork and remove the inner teeth. Thus a simple fork will turn into an ideal instrument to decorate pastry in an unusual manner or to make bonbons.Source: Arthur Tuytel, member of the Dutch Pastry TeamTip 8: Save your scrapsWaste not, want not: Save your scraps. Cracked French macarons are great chopped up and used under ice cream quenelles when plating a dessert. Brioche crusts can be toasted, then steeped in a vanilla ice cream base to make incredible Toast Ice Cream. Confit extra citrus peel, dry it out in a very low-temperature oven overnight, then toss in a food processor to make a citrus “salt” to use as a finishing touch to desserts.Season your sauces, ice cream and sorbet bases, etc., with a pinch of salt to enhance flavour and balance sugar. Add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice to brighten flavors.Source: Michelle Meyers via Pastry Art & DesignTip 9: The perfect stragiatellaBy adding 20% coconut oil to melted chocolate, you’ll get chocolate that quickly melts in your mouth when set, but still has some snap. Spread the melted chocolate onto a silicone baking mat and freeze. Cut into small bars or pieces and fold into ice cream. When making a stragiatella, don’t add pieces of chocolate into ice cream or processing machine. Instead, place chocolate in-between multiple layers of ice cream. When scooping through the layers, you’ll end up with big shards of chocolate in the ice cream as opposed to tiny pieces.Source: Robert Ellinger via Pastry Art & DesignTip 10: Original cakesIn search of an element of surprise? Then why not use a Dobla cup to decorate your cake? Choose the hearts cup (large) for Mother's Day of for Valentine's Day. Or fill the cups on each individual piece à la carte.Source: Gerben van Boeijen, Dobla BV
Tip 2: Praline souffléWhy not make a praline soufflé using Dobla Siena or Domino decorations? Usa a praline or ganache filling and stack the decorations with a layer of filling in between. Quite a change from the standars bonbon!Source: Rik Pins, Dobla BVTip 3: Caramelized bananaBrushing clarified butter on pre-sliced bananas helps with flavour and dessert finishing time before caramelization.Source: Gerben van Boeijen, Dobla BVTip 4: Extract max. flavour from nutsIn order to extract maximum oils and flavour from spices and nuts, slow roast them at lower temperatures to infuse ice cream bases. Quick, high-heat roasting may caramelize the carbs and sugars present, which is often not the desired flavour profile.Source: Meredith Kurtzman via Pastry Art & DesignTip 5: Beautiful textured genoiseFor a beautifully textured genoise: After heating the eggs and sugar mixture over a bain-marie, pass the mixture through a sieve into the mixing bowl. This will remove any eggshells or over-cooked bits of egg that otherwise settle to the bottom of the sponge during baking.For a beautifully textured genoise: After heating the eggs and sugar mixture over a bain-marie, pass the mixture through a sieve into the mixing bowl. This will remove any eggshells or over-cooked bits of egg that otherwise settle to the bottom of the sponge during baking.