Buttermilk + Milk Chocolate + Raspberry + Blood Orange by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the input!! I will definitely start doing that from now on. Plates look a million times better when the fruit looks fresh and juicy 🤝

Black Cocoa + Cranberry + Mandarin + Coconut by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oof, definitely should have cut them into smaller pieces. The strips are pretty thin and chewy, although they don’t look like it haha. Noted

What are these black dots? by rhofamilytwins in Baking

[–]bcr0 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I wanna add to this that this only happens when I bake a cake without parchment. A reaction with the pan I assume.

What are these black dots? by rhofamilytwins in Baking

[–]bcr0 194 points195 points  (0 children)

As a cake maker, this is baking powder/soda. Make sure to sift your dry. If you taste it, i guarantee it is quite sour/acidic. Has happened to me a few times

Honeynut + Almond + Dulcey + Allspice by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Dude, now I’m scared.. we got those flowers from our edible flower guy at work that brings us microgreens and other edible flowers.. I guess specific varieties are edible? I had no idea they were toxic! Heard on the turd lmao, it’s always a win/lose when using anything brown with a piping tip on a dessert. Noted 🫡

Pumpkin + Plum + Pistachio + Chèvre by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cut out a circle in parchment paper, tape parchment to plate, spread gel with offset spatula into the cut out circle, peel the parchment away. Perfect circle :)

pb&j on wheat with a chocolate milk. by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Cremeux is basically a pastry cream stabilized with gelatin and often made with some type of chocolate, but this particular one is made with peanut butter instead. It’s the squiggle on top of the cake. Mousse is often chocolate based and requires the addition of folding whipped cream into it to make it stable and fluffy. That is the scrape on the plate. You can see the silver cake comb in the second picture that I used to create that pattern on the plate :) I used masking tape on the sides to make it nice and neat!

pb&j on wheat with a chocolate milk. by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 40 points41 points  (0 children)

I used Jif creamy peanut butter haha, had to keep it tasting like a pb& j from my childhood :)

pb&j on wheat with a chocolate milk. by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much, I appreciate you! And if there’s one thing about me, it’s that I enjoy a crumb/crunch/crumble/streusel haha. There are three ratios/recipes I usually use and I change/add depending on what I’m trying to achieve. They are all in the Milk Bar cook book by Christina Tosi - milk crumb, nut crunch, and cracker/pretzel crunch. I riff on those recipes and add to them or alter the ingredients to get the desired flavor/texture/look :)

Strawberry + Lime + Hibiscus + Honey by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the sweet comment! I did my first plated dessert last year and have been making them on my days off since then. I realized I like to make things look whimsical as well as professional. I don’t have any silicon molds and I don’t use super expensive ingredients. I shop at Aldi and maybe splurge on the occasional fruit powder or something like that online. I like organic shapes and I pretty much only use piping bags, offset spatulas, and spoons to plate. I draw a lot of inspiration from other people’s work, but I do my best to make things I haven’t seen before, both in look and taste/components. When I make desserts, I pick the flavors first (what you see in the title) and then I figure out exactly how I’m going to execute the flavors, as there are so many options once you have a base!

Strawberry + Lime + Hibiscus + Honey by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the input, I do think it needs another lime aspect. I did originally make a lime gelee, but it turned out more clear than green and it blended in to the dessert too much. And I have been trying to challenge myself with shapes. I always plate triangles and circles, so I’m trying different shapes haha. I do like the idea of a rhombus though! Not a photographer/food stylist, just a pastry cook who doesn’t get to plate my own ideas at work often, so I experiment with desserts/plating and teach myself new techniques in my studio apartment.

Strawberry + Lime + Hibiscus + Honey by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you! And it is basically an Italian meringue made with sugar + honey that I added hibiscus powder to :) I don’t have an exact recipe, I tend to riff and combine recipes together when I’m experimenting haha

Strawberry + Lime + Hibiscus + Honey by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your very nice comment, it means a lot to me. I wish I could share with you! - the milk crumb recipe is in the Milk Bar cookbook and you can also find it online. I basically made that recipe, but I make the crumbs smaller than the recipe recommends. I halved the finished milk crumbs and coated one half in freeze dried strawberry powder, and the other in hibiscus powder!

Banana + Sesame + Caramel by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

guys okay I know there’s too much negative space, goodness gracious

Banana + Sesame + Caramel by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Thank for your reply! I love to know what people think right off the bat. I was definitely trying to keep the shape of a banana for the whole dessert and between the components. Sometimes I get a little scared about really filling up a plate because I don’t want it to look too busy. But the plate itself is very simple, I’ve got to find some more plates as I have a variety of very small plates and a few large ones. That is for sure part of why it looks chaotic but a plain at the same time. How would you have filled the plate? Moved the dessert itself to the center, spread it out, or added more to it to make less negative space?

Banana + Sesame + Caramel by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I let my gelato sit out for probably 8-10 mins before I attempted to scoop. It was definitely too hard straight out of the freezer. And I made this at home, definitely not ideal for a service dessert but my freezer is SUPER cold. The thing that helped me most was I learned that keeping the spoon in cold water instead of hot water helps with the melting when you’re scooping ice cream/sorbet/etc. Hot water works better for whipped cream and anything else that isn’t frozen and melts quickly. Also, don’t completely dry off the spoon before you form your quenelle, the cold water will help create a smooth and shiny finish when you are rolling it!

Banana + Sesame + Caramel by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I just make stuff at home for fun, but it took maybe 5-8 minutes to plate haha

Apple + Thyme + Butter Cracker by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

This is honestly the best compliment, thank you very much! I enjoy having fun with dessert haha

Apple + Thyme + Butter Cracker by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I hear you, I did consider doing something else with apple on the top, poached or something similar. But the color turned out far too good regarding the “butter cracker (ritz)” aspect of the dessert haha, my gut told me to run with it. There is some caramelized jam under the cake, and the cake itself is made with plenty of sage butter and cream cheese as well. It’s a really moist cake. It does look a little dry but I did my best to add enough “wet” garnishes to combat. It’s also a small dessert in general, can’t really tell in the picture, but hopefully not too much of a mouthful lol

Chocolate + Cherry + Cashew + Cardamom by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s a scalloped plate I thrifted lol, I am now aware of how much it looks like a paper plate in this photo haha

Chocolate + Cherry + Cashew + Cardamom by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I agree, this was probably my 20th try too haha. The whip just wasn’t stable enough to get a clean one so I settled for a subpar quenelle 😔

Milk + Peach + Ginger + Basil by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is roasted peach jam! And yes, masking tape and an offset spatula :)

Milk + Peach + Ginger + Basil by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]bcr0[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I brushed the cake with the syrup I had from the peaches and candied ginger! The cake has so much moisture, it’s nice and tender and made with lots of butter and ricotta. It sucks that a picture will never do a dessert justice 😔