Excited!
Excitement warranted!
Ok,
Made it through the family gathering and all went well, and am finally able to post. Overall impressions were very positive, I’ll try to summarize best that I can, comments were fast and furious as fork hit food:
Initial delivery/packaging:
Everything arrived in great shape on Friday, box within a box, corners held pastry in place nicely, cup in center rounded out middle well, no damage or issues. Wife commented that receiving food in cardboard and packing peanuts seemed odd, “doesn’t it need to be refrigerated?” she asked? I said “no” per you, but customers will likely expect it to be shipped/received similar to other foods ordered. But overall the item itself looked great, I left it in its packaging and stored in a fridge in preparation for Sunday family bash.
Preparation:
At desert time we laid out all the deserts and I finally remembered the pastry. Preheated oven as instructed, grabbed pastry, loaded onto cookie sheet, got peppered with lots of “What is THAT?” types of questions, warmed, and brought out to table with rest of deserts: Homemade brownies, cookies, cakes, death by chocolate tiered thing, and an ice cream cake. Surely this would be an action packed competition!
First comment, this thing smells AWESOME when heated up. Great aroma filled the kitchen and heighted the excitement as I explained the pastry came from a “Friend” of mine on the Internet looking to start an online pastry business. Curious onlookers became excited about being able to share their opinions, my comments below in ()’s:
Mom:
Flavorful, light, tastes like “more” meaning she wanted more than she got. Rated a 9 out of 10. Would be great for breakfast, would order.
Aunt:
Called this an “adult” desert and was delicious (adult meant less sweet, as there were a number of super sweet items on table detailed above, this was more refined). Nice flake, but moist, excellent flavoring, love the almond, Cherry was very good. Would order.
Dad:
Was just okay, too crumbly for his taste, only tried a couple bites from his wife. Said it was a bit too “Fancy” for him.
Uncle:
Not bad, different, never had anything like it, tasty. Liked that it wasn’t “Fake” cherry, but not a big fan of almonds in general, was able to eat around them. Echoed his brother’s “Fancy” comment.
Uncle 2:
Very good, rated 8 out of 10
Mom-in-Law (just turned 80):
Really really liked it more so than any of the store bought deserts on table, really liked the inclusion of almonds. Would order.
Female Cousin:
Tasty, moist, sometimes these things are too dry but this was just right. “Adult” tasty, not too sweet. Rated an 8 out of 10. Commented that there are few good bakeries any more, would order this and freeze (?) for when having company, or be good for corporate type events.
Me:
(I haven’t stated this yet, as I didn’t want to get bumped from sample, but I’m not a big fan of pastries. I usually avoid them. I’m more of a sweets fan. Cheese in a Danish doesn’t interest me, and I generally don’t like eating cooked fruit, something to do with the texture, so I wanted to see how I would react to this type of item) Took little bites at first, crust was yummy, crunchy and light, but moist, not dry. Surprised at use of actual cherries, which actually scared me because of the cooked fruit issue, but they weren’t gooey, and were actually really good. I was actually one of the last to try it, and finished my piece (after sampling most of the other deserts) despite my fears. I would eat again myself (which is unusual given the ingredients) and definitely order for others.
Wife:
(Later on in night, she didn’t get much of desert during party, I heated up a piece for the second time) Excellent smell when heating, not a big Cherry fan but this tasted good, don’t know if this is already in it but Cinnamon might be a nice addition, maybe add a glaze on top as well, otherwise delicious, nicely flakey, little doughy deep down but was very good for having been heated twice. Did not expect it to be as good as it was, ate more than originally intended.
Overall impressions where that it was really good, most would eat again or order if available and could freeze for future use, interested in other flavors, liked almond usage, really liked real cherry filling, flakey crust while remaining moist. Women seemed to be bigger fans of it than men, but guys apparently had that “Fancy” issue and felt that the item was above them or something.
Regardless, thank you very much for including us in your test, family was very positive and wishes you well in your business trial, and asked me to provide information when you have a storefront or something. IF you have additional qustions that I can answer, please let me know!