Learning how to make fancy desserts?

[Anonymous No.6086311]

I want to learn how to make stuff like this.
I've been cooking since I was 12, so I'm no idiot around the kitchen. That said, aside from boxed brownies and dump cakes, I'm clueless when it comes to baking.

If I want to make fancy stuff like this, what should I start with?

[Anonymous No.6086321]

just start by baking more things from scratch, learn the techniques involved with baking. After a while, you'll be able to bake the fancy stuff

everyone like chocolate chip cookies
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/

[Anonymous No.6086348]

step one; get a piping bag and tips
step two ; there is no step two

[Anonymous No.6086352]

>>6086311
It looks like nothing more than an oddly shaped funnel cake.

[Anonymous No.6086356]

>>6086352

[Anonymous No.6086359]

>>6086356
Kid it probably uses the exact same technique as making a funnel cake.

[Anonymous No.6086363]

>>6086359
Funnel cake is just pancake batter from a generic squeeze bottle shot into deepfry oil...

[Anonymous No.6086370]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIqdMZ3DmFs

[Anonymous No.6086376]

>>6086352
it looks like someone put too much salt on their whole-wheat spaghetti.

[Anonymous No.6086386]

>>6086311

OP, from what I can see, whoever made this just used a very thin icing bag. Im not sure of the ingredients but you could pretty much do the same with any kind of frosting if you have a small enough icing bag. Its not that fancy at all. It also doesnt look like it would taste that good, Not sure if there is anything in the inside but from what I can tell its just a big pile of frosting so enjoy your sugar rush i guess.

Instead of worrying about presentation, worry about taste first. Once you can get the hang of the taste of your desserts then you can worry about looks.

[Anonymous No.6086387]

>>6086376
According to >>6086370 it is a paste made from chestnuts you pipe out.

[Anonymous No.6086393]

>>6086387
so it's a fancy nutella? lol yurop.

[Anonymous No.6086395]

>>6086393

[Anonymous No.6086396]

Is everyone really trolling, or does no one know what a mont blanc is?

[Anonymous No.6086399]

>>6086393
Lots of chestnuts in Nutella?

[Anonymous No.6086400]

>>6086370

Oh. So its a cupcake... What is with the unproportional amount of frosting?

This is nowhere near fancy, its just frosting made to look fancy but would taste like garbage with that amount of frosting.

[Anonymous No.6086402]

>>6086396
Never heard of it. Had to youtube it. Turned out to be chestnut paste the Asian guy called malon cream. I'm assuming it is weeaboo chow which is why op uses so many /a/ reaction images.

[Anonymous No.6086404]

>>6086393

You mean hazelnuts, right? Come on now...

>>6086396

Im sorry that we dont know the name of some shitty chestnut puke

[Anonymous No.6086408]

>>6086402
It's italian tho.

[Anonymous No.6086412]

>A Mont Blanc (or Mont-Blanc aux marrons, Italian: Monte Bianco) is a dessert of puréed, sweetened chestnuts topped with whipped cream. The name comes from Mont Blanc, as it resembles a snow-capped mountain.

>The Mont Blanc is popular in France, Italy, China, Japan, and Hungary. It is also a very popular dessert in the northwestern regions of Romania, where it is usually prepared and sold in Autumn.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Blanc_%28dessert%29

Being most of us are American, Brit, Canadian, or Aussie I can see why we don't know of it.

[Anonymous No.6086418]

>>6086408

Seems to be really popular in japan though, almost every video on youtube about it is from some japanese person

[Anonymous No.6086419]

>>6086412
I'm a pastry chef, so I knew what it was, but I hate whoever linked the moonrunes video, it's not japanese by nature. It's not that bad, but not amazing either.

[Anonymous No.6086422]

>>6086408
Do you really think he picked this food up from his tours of Tuscany or watching an animu in his basement?

[Anonymous No.6086423]

>>6086422
Considering he thinks it's 'fancy' it's obvious, but it's still not jap food.

[Anonymous No.6086425]

>>6086419
It was the first vid I found that had to do with the food. Sorry if that rustled your jimmies.

[Anonymous No.6086427]

>>6086311
A cooling rack
Parchment/baking paper
A proper pan to bake on (bless a good air insulated cookie sheet and other specialty pans you'll want for specific desserts)
Piping set for decorating
Some people swear by a good kitcheaide mixer, but I haven't got the space so a small hand mixer for some things or manpower (flexible spatula, wooden spoon, your hands) do just fine for me
Pastry cutter (I fucking love pastry cutters... freezing your flour and cutting it into cold butter when a recipe calls for it is also helpful).
Scale & good measuring cups & spoons
Always properly preheat your oven
Don't melt your butter completely ("soft" butter is not "melted" butter)
If there is an order to the steps, there is usually a reason.
If there is a temperature guide (lukewarm water, ice cold water, etc.), there is usually a reason.
Practice, practice, practice (cookies are great decoration practice bc there are a lot of small repetitive practice)
Respect recipes, but practice proper judgment (is the dough too wet? dry? the difference between margarine and butter and oil, and know normal swaps/ingredients people use interchangeably and when they should best be used.
Get a good all-purpose cooking book as a base (Betty Crocker, I don't care, just something). Because until you understand nuance, google is going to be frustrating with 500 versions that are juuuuuuuust slightly different enough.
I don't know what else.

[Anonymous No.6086431]

>>6086425
No worries, just, fuck weeb shits who wanna make fancy french shit due to seeing it in anime. My fucking school was filled of those pieces of shit in the first semester. I didn't even know it was a thing, I thought that was only for Japanese 101!

[Anonymous No.6086433]

>>6086419

You hate something because it wasnt made in the country of origin? Do you also hate other foods that arent from its original country? Also a pro tip, just because a certain food was made in a specific country doesnt mean other countries cant improve on it.

Also who said that it was japanese by nature? No one did, you assumed it because you didnt think thoroughly before typing.

[Anonymous No.6086436]

>>6086433
I know you're trying to troll, but while you're actually assuming a lot of shit, I'm not assuming when >>6086402 made the claim already.

[Anonymous No.6086437]

>>6086433
I kind of did here >>6086402

[Anonymous No.6086470]

I have a question, for people who bake

do you eat all your baked goods? seems like it'd be a good way to get fat

[Anonymous No.6086480]

>>6086470
>Do we not eat all the food we make?
What kind of question is that? Many of us aren't in the food industry so yes we eat the food we make.

[Anonymous No.6086483]

>>6086427
Thank you.

[Anonymous No.6086507]

>>6086480
I dunno, I know a hobby cake decorater who gives all of her cakes to her neighbors, or to her husband to give to his coworkers.

I can't bake cakes too often because I want to keep my figure and I feel bad about throwing cakes in the trash. So I never get better at baking as I never practice

[Anonymous No.6086517]

>>6086470
I hate a lot of sweets that I make, even ones I make for practice at home.

>>6086480
You sound like a dumpy "homemaker" or something.

[Anonymous No.6086524]

>>6086470

yes, and I am thin and athletic

unless by "all of your baked goods" you mean "do you make a batch of cookies (for example) and eat them all?". I sample or eat a small portion of everything I make. I don't eat a shitload of it.

[Anonymous No.6086528]

>>6086507

I'm 5'9 130 and I was a professional dancer (no, I don't mean stripper) for years. I teach zumba classes as a hobby now. I have a lot of muscle so I am smaller than you'd think, I wear a size 2.

I eat all of the things I make. Not in large portions, but I obviously want to try the things I make to ensure their quality, and if they are especially good I will eat a little more. If you are unwilling to even to try the foods you make due to their caloric content then you have a fucking eating disorder, plain and simple. Just because you bake a cake it doesn't mean you have to eat it all yourself, although you could freeze it in small portions and eat it over a long period of time. Don't you have friends or family you could give it to, or couldn't you just make it in smaller portions if you want to practice?

[Anonymous No.6086549]

>>6086524
So if you cook 12 cookies, and then eat 1, what do you do with the other 11?

[Anonymous No.6086552]

>>6086517
The key is I rarely bake sweets. Sweets aren't an all of the time thing. They are a some of the time thing. I doubt with all of the males we have here we get many home makers or any.

[Anonymous No.6086556]

>>6086549
Eat them over time. They'll keep. Besides why would anyone eat only one cookie at a time. That is crazy unless we are talking about 4"+ dia. cookies.

[Anonymous No.6086567]

>>6086556
I eat one cookie at a time, once a week. I don't think they keep that long

[Anonymous No.6086571]

>>6086567
Yeah that's a little weird even for people with a healthy body weight.

[Anonymous No.6086616]

>>6086549

eat them over time, freeze them, give them to friends

how is this not intuitive? I'm so confused

[Anonymous No.6086617]

>>6086616
eh, I've never had a frozen cookie that didn't have an "off" texture.

I feel bad about making my friends fat

[Anonymous No.6086619]

>>6086617
A couple cookies a day won't make you fat.

[Anonymous No.6086623]

>>6086619
no, but "a couple cookies a day" probably something I can only afford once a month at most

or one cookie once a week

[Anonymous No.6086630]

>>6086623

then that's a separate issue entirely from what we were originally talking about

>>6086617

If your friends eat too many cookies then that's their choice

I don't know how you could feel bad about giving your friends something they enjoy, why are you cooking if not to give yourself and others the wonderful experience of eating delicious food? Get another hobby.

[Anonymous No.6086632]

>>6086623
Are you a woman trying to go for a model's body or a professional model?

[Anonymous No.6086633]

>>6086630
As Sesame Street says, cookies are a sometimes food. They may taste good, but we have a responsibility to not shove that sugar fat to them all the time. I would feel guilty as I would only do it so I wouldn't gain weight.

[Anonymous No.6086637]

>>6086632
Yes, and yes, or as close as I can.

[Anonymous No.6086640]

I love how people with eating disorders always love baking even though you guys don't eat any of the shit you make

just take a second the think about that and reflect about how insane it is, and go to a fucking therapist

[Anonymous No.6086655]

>>6086637
I hope you aren't letting it go too far.

[Anonymous No.6086795]

>>6086412

it's an incredibly famous dessert you retard

anyone with any kind of food literacy should know about it

[Anonymous No.6086817]

>>6086795
It looks like play-doh and is nothing more than chestnut icing. Don't pretend this is haute cuisine. Only a couple countries even recognize it as food.

[Anonymous No.6086835]

>>6086817

>i like to shit on everything i'm not familiar with because i'm insecure about the idea that it might be valuable knowledge i've missed out on up til now

[Anonymous No.6086839]

>>6086835
>valuable knowledge
>icing
Are you kidding? It might be interesting to try but come on.

[Anonymous No.6086850]

>>6086839

it's a classic confection, trying to be reductive doesn't change the fact that you're a pleb who doesn't know much about patisserie.

[Anonymous No.6086851]

>>6086817

American here, they have these at a place near my work. I'm going to get one today, for breakfast.

[Anonymous No.6086854]

>>6086850
This doesn't even qualify as a pastry. It is just a mound of icing.

[Anonymous No.6086869]

>>6086854

[Anonymous No.6086885]

>>6086311
I'd start by making a few batches of cookie type things to get a basic sense of how different methods of using fat work, and how different textures of dough come out after baking. They're generally pretty hard to fuck up too, so whatever happens you'll probably end up with something you can eat.

Basic ratio for crisp (think shortbread or pie crust) pastry is roughly 1:2:3 sugar:fat:flour. You can do things like:
- Cut cold butter into flour, rub together with your hands, then add sugar.
- Beat soft butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until pale, then add the flour.
- Melt butter, pour into mixed flour and sugar.
- Do the beating one but add an egg.

To all of those you can adjust by adding more flour or a bit of milk if it's sopping wet or unworkably dry. Then spoon or roll out into lumps, and bake at about 190C / 375F for fifteen to twenty minutes until they look light golden. They'll be softer than you expect immediately after you pull them out, to the point that you might think it's uncooked, but let them sit for a few minutes and they'll firm up.

Then move on to wetter batters (tends to be similar to the above but with more eggs) that you can pour to make things like cakes, which are slightly harder to cook through properly.
Then buns and leavened doughs that need kneading.

[Anonymous No.6086892]

Baking is science, not art. It is applied chemistry. Outside of some craziness done in molecular gastronomy crap, it is the part of cooking where precision and accuracy matter the most.

Also, measure shit by weight, not volume.

[Anonymous No.6086909]

>>6086892
>not measuring with your hands

[Anonymous No.6086919]

>>6086892
lol
mass not weight nigga

[Anonymous No.6086922]

[Anonymous No.6086923]

[Anonymous No.6086924]

>>6086919
Like this matters since some of us cook on the moon right anon? I doubt any of us are ayy lmao okay. gb2/x/

[Anonymous No.6086925]

[Anonymous No.6086927]

[Anonymous No.6087338]

>>6086925

eaten there

[Anonymous No.6087356]

>>6086400
>a cupcake
No. There is no cake. The cake is a lie.
>unproportional amount of frosting
The frosting is the whole thing.

Also Wiki
>The dessert was described in an Italian cook book from 1475

[Anonymous No.6088356]

>>6086386
The strands are twisting around though, can't be a piping bag

[Anonymous No.6088398]

>>6086623
I understand - most your other daily calories get taken out surprisingly, but stuff like oats, meat, etc...

[Anonymous No.6088460]

>>6086925
I love millefeuille

[Anonymous No.6089014]

>>6086924
Don't try to argue with the >muhscience fags, it's like a religion to them

[Anonymous No.6089358]

>>6088356
You just rotate the tip as you pipe, brah. It's not fucking difficult.

[Anonymous No.6090016]

>>6088356
You get nozzles with multiple holes, so as you move around in a circle the strands become twisted together like that.

[Anonymous No.6090031]

I have learned to make meringues of all sorts extremely well, and this is how. In my spare time during culinary school , I made meringues for about a year. Practice a lot is all I can say.