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Danish Pastry guinea pigs needed
Dervacumen:
This will be short, more to come.
First and most importantly, the feedback both positive and negative is exactly what I need.
Second, the shipping issue is unsurprising, and that even half of you received this in decent shape is a testimonial to the USPS and the job I did packing it. This trial was largely about getting the pastry to you in a form that at least comes close to replicating the smell, bite, and flavor experience I provide locally. I have learned a TON for you all.
Thanks again folks.
Next up is group two. It may take a bit to get these out because I want to work on what I've learned and that takes a lot of time, baking, and eating way to much pastry. I promise it won't be much over a couple of weeks if that.
More feedback to come...
knave:
--- Quote from: Dervacumen on March 08, 2012, 11:50:47 pm ---Next up is group two.
--- End quote ---
Back off my dainish Le Chuck! :bat
Dervacumen:
--- Quote from: shmokes on March 08, 2012, 10:40:07 am ---
I believe that I am primarily meant to be testing the pastry only, and that the packaging was more-or-less an afterthought. Nevertheless, I will comment on it in case anything useful can come of it. First, the empty space in the box was filled out with folded up bubble mailer envelopes. ... those things are super expensive. I'm guessing you had them on hand...
Aside from the mailers, the pastry sat upon a piece of cardboard, loosely wrapped in wax paper ... I believe it will affect the perceptions of your customers. It looks like the product was damaged in-transit and did not arrive altogether in-tact. You don't want your customer's first impression to be, "Uh oh . . ."
Edit: hen I saw ready-to-eat food essentially just sitting in a box, entirely exposed, I was pretty shocked. Honestly, my first thought was, " . . . the ---fudgesicle---?" You'll probably have to consider this, because I think many many Americans are like me. I think you need to do something to adjust their expectations before they lay eyes on the seemingly unwrapped product, or take care that the product appears to be 100% wrapped and guarded from outside evils.
Additionally, as you can see from the photos, the pastry was a bit squashed down and to one side during shipping. It's quite noticeable. I tried unsuccessfully to think of a way (beyond freezing) to guard against this.
As for the pastry itself, let me say first off that the difference in quality between eating it right out of the box and first heating it in the oven is so dramatic that I don't think you should dream of even suggesting that the former is even an option ... the pastry was slightly doughy. The filling, I thought, had a nice texture and I could taste that it was very high quality, But I was slightly underwhelmed . But once heated, the entire confection was transformed. The pastry became flaky, the almonds crunchy, the filling warm and far more flavorful. It was far and away the best danish I've ever had. Nothing else even comes close.
In short, if you wish to position these as high-end gourmet products, commanding a high price, you will have to consider the packing/shipping predicament thoroughly if you wish to ship them unfrozen. I also think that suggesting that it can be consumed heated or unheated is a heresy.
Oh yeah . . . I should also mention, I thought the apricot, almond paste, cheese combo worked well.
edit: Substantial edits.
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-->Edits to the above for brevity...
shmokes,
There are a lot of things here, so I'll just get in to it.
1. Packaging was absolutely not what I'll use, either in presentation, security, wrapping, or carrier. I made a commitment to a Monday ship and as Monday afternoon approached I grabbed whatever I had that would be acceptably functional given the intent to provide edibles through the mail. I have given a ton of thought to this and even sourced competing products to learn from those who have experience in this sort of thing. I'll make up a mock box and post it here for comment. Being in sales and marketing for a couple decades has given me some experience in this area.
2. Freezing before baking and providing instructions for the final bake is not an option as I'll lose quality control. Freezing after baking and shipping frozen will not require dry ice so the cost will not go up. The moisture trapped in the packaging during the defrost while in transit will likely destroy the bottom of the pastry as all the water from condensation gets pulled down by gravity. I will probably try this, but I think with the proper packaging the best alternative is shipping unfrozen. Again, quality control is at stake. When it comes down to it, the visual risk outweighs the quality risk be a wide margin.
3. I agree that the instructions will not provide an option for eating before reheating.
4. I'm pleased you like the combination. It's looking like that's one of the preferred choices around here, and if I were ordering one that's the one I would try first. I'm glad I could provide a little guidance with the flavor choice combinations.
Will you clarify your thoughts on the relative amounts of each of the three component fillings, dough texture (especially the inside of the ring and the bottom), amount of glazing and almonds? After reheating, please, since going forward that's the only option.
Dervacumen:
--- Quote from: Nephasth on March 08, 2012, 09:13:53 pm ---Got home after work this afternoon to find a medium flat rate box sitting on my stoop. I smiled because I knew what was inside waiting for me. But the damned postman set it on the step upsidedown! The box arrived intact and in good shape so I was hopeful. However when I opened the box, I found a lot of almonds and other pieces loose inside. The wax paper wasn't ripped at all like it was with shmokes, but the the pastry was "squared" moving about during transit. I would recommend finding a somewhat stiff cardboard ring to place the pastries inside to prevent the "squaring".
Right out of the box this thing smelled great! ... Typically, if I was given a number of options for flavors of pastries, I would go with apple or bear claw ... to my surprise, I was quite pleased with this flavor combonation. Most pastries I eat (I maybe have only 10 a year) are unheated. As Mikezilla already stated, the center of the pastry was a little on the raw side, which is not a bad thing, because I like this too. One thing I did like was that the pastry wasn't "sweaty" and sticky like the mass produced ones that are individually wrapped in plastic. On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd rate the unwarmed piece at about a 7.5 for "total pastry experience." The last bite wasn't very enjoyable. It was a dark brown, not quite burnt bottom, and didn't taste very well.
I warmed up 4 pieces after dinner for dessert for the family. The flaky texture of the warmed pastry definitely makes this the best way to consume, much better than unwarmed. The family didn't like the pastry as much as I did, however ... The wife enjoyed the flavors and textures, but the pastry didn't wow her. Our daughter (7) took one bite and said she didn't want to eat anymore. Usually she's crazy about anything sweet, Our son (15) thought the kitchen smelled great while they were warming up. He said the pastry was "pretty good" overall. But he didn't want to finish his sister's piece. an 8.5-8.75 out of 10. The dark brown bottom tasted much better on the warmed pieces than the unwarmed one.
I was really impressed with the appearance of the pastries in the photos of them before they shipped. I really like the layered circle. The wife told me that this is probably something she wouldn't buy ... I wouldn't be inclined to buy such a large pastry (which surprised me, you said 8" diameter, but this thing ended up being much larger than I expected). I would probably buy a piece or two with a cup of coffee somewhere, but this isn't something I would order to have shipped to me, but I have never ordered any food item off of the internet that needed to be shipped. My work gets kringles shipped to our office every xmas from one of our customers, and I could see ordering one of these easier as a gift for someone than buying one for myself.
I would have gone with my initial flavor pick of apple. The cherry is good, but I'm a sucker for apple. Although this wasn't enjoyed by everyone in my house, I will be thoroughly enjoying it until there is nothing left to enjoy!
:cheers:
--- End quote ---
--> Edited the above for brevity ...
Nephasth,
I think you got the short end of the stick. Now your family will never trust your judgement again. Just kidding. I'll try to dissect this experience without making excuses.
1. I like that you identified twice that the smell was an important indicator. That's very valuable marketing information for me.
2. The options for fillings will include apples as well as several others including several stone fruit and berries as well as pears. There will be savory choices as well.
3. The sweaty and sticky comment is also critical in my marketing.
4. The bottom of your pastry was ruined, and I'll take care no ensure that doesn't happen again. I know exactly why this happened with yours.
5. Many hundreds, perhaps over a thousand people have eaten this pastry and the reaction from your wife and kids was atypical. I would love for you to nail down the exact reasons they had these reactions. What would they have preferred this to be? Sweeter? Not burned? Different filling? Texture? Arriving in one piece and not looking like $H*T?
6. Your wife would buy ... why? Because it sucked so bad or because your household aren't really pastry eaters? I understand your point about not wanting such a huge pastry and I make individual portioned pastries for that reason.
7. You mentioned this would be a better gift for someone that for yourself. Because the quality is not there, or because you don't like sweets too much? Or a combination of both? In other words, if it were fantastic would you even consider buying such a pastry for your family? What would it take to make it fantastic?
Very interested in some of your responses.
Nephasth:
I could answer a few of your questions now, but I will wait until I can answer all of them at once. Those were just our initial reactions to our first tastings. We still have just over half of the pastry left. My wife didn't dislike the pastry, she thinks it's tasty, but she just didn't get that "wow" impression. I will ask my wife and our son to go more in depth with their thoughts on this, the little girl might not be able to explain her reasons for not liking it though (but I will try to get her to try it again).
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