Main > Everything Else

Danish Pastry guinea pigs needed

<< < (40/54) > >>

knave:
Pastry arrived Sat. afternoon. I think it survived pretty well in the mail, I'll post pictures when I grab my camera. I will offer more of my feedback about the packaging then.

I tried a small sliver straight from the packaging and thought it was delicious. I was most pleased that the ratio of almond flavor to Apricot was very well balanced, not too sweet and not so "apricoty" (my new word) as to overpower the almond taste. I really like my pastry's to have a gooey center so right out of the box I loved it.

For the real taste test I used the conventional oven, preheated to 350 for 8 minutes. Warming the pastry really does a lot to enhance all the flavors plus crisp up the outside crust and almonds providing a nice contrast to the softer center. It was better warm but I still enjoyed it out-of-the-box. I shared it with my girlfriend who is not usually a sweets person. First thing she said was that it was delicious, and that she really liked that it was not too sweet. She then asked for another piece.  :)

My second sample I heated a slice in a pre-warmed toaster oven. I set the temp to 350 and baked it for about 8 min again. This time, since the pastry was so much closer to the heating elements the top was toasted a golden brown including the almonds. This was amazing. The toasted almond flavor accentuated the almond-apricot filling and the extra crispiness of the crust provided a wonderful contrast to the warm gooey filling.

I'm bringing the rest to family dinner at my mom's this Wed. I will bake it in the conventional oven for closer to the higher recommended range probably 14 minutes.

Thank you Dervacumen for opportunity to test out the pastry. Feedback on the packaging to come...

Rando:

--- Quote from: Rando on March 31, 2012, 06:16:08 pm ---Excited! :)

--- End quote ---
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!   :applaud:

Dervacumen:

--- Quote from: knave on April 02, 2012, 12:37:05 pm ---Pastry arrived Sat. afternoon. I think it survived pretty well in the mail, I'll post pictures when I grab my camera. I will offer more of my feedback about the packaging then.

I tried a small sliver straight from the packaging and thought it was delicious. I was most pleased that the ratio of almond flavor to Apricot was very well balanced, not too sweet and not so "apricoty" (my new word) as to overpower the almond taste. I really like my pastry's to have a gooey center so right out of the box I loved it.

For the real taste test I used the conventional oven, preheated to 350 for 8 minutes. Warming the pastry really does a lot to enhance all the flavors plus crisp up the outside crust and almonds providing a nice contrast to the softer center. It was better warm but I still enjoyed it out-of-the-box. I shared it with my girlfriend who is not usually a sweets person. First thing she said was that it was delicious, and that she really liked that it was not too sweet. She then asked for another piece.  :)

My second sample I heated a slice in a pre-warmed toaster oven. I set the temp to 350 and baked it for about 8 min again. This time, since the pastry was so much closer to the heating elements the top was toasted a golden brown including the almonds. This was amazing. The toasted almond flavor accentuated the almond-apricot filling and the extra crispiness of the crust provided a wonderful contrast to the warm gooey filling.

I'm bringing the rest to family dinner at my mom's this Wed. I will bake it in the conventional oven for closer to the higher recommended range probably 14 minutes.

Thank you Dervacumen for opportunity to test out the pastry. Feedback on the packaging to come...


--- End quote ---
Knave,
These are great observations, and thank you for your trust in my experiment.  From your experience I learned I should modify the warming time instructions.  My original plan called for about 12 minutes in the center rack of an oven, and your experience supports that.
If I were to change the essential directions to the following, what do you think the result would be?

Place rack in center of oven.  If there is no center rack mount choose the one right above center.
Preheat oven to 350F.  Heat for 8 minutes.
Turn Heat to 425 and heat for an additional 4 minutes.


I think this will give the internals time to heat, and give a nice roasted - just out of the oven - crisp to the exterior.

This is so fun.

I love your comment regarding the balance between the sugar and apricot.  I'm using two apricot varieties, and the one I sent to you is certainly more "apricoty" than the other.  I've worked really hard getting the balance right.

Yay!

Dervacumen:

--- Quote from: Rando on April 02, 2012, 03:36:46 pm ---
--- Quote from: Rando on March 31, 2012, 06:16:08 pm ---Excited! :)

--- End quote ---
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!   :applaud:

--- End quote ---

Rando FTW!
Wow.  I didn't expect this, but man, this is like gold to me and thank you for the PM :).  Even the funny parts like the guys thinking it's "too fancy".  That's exactly what I needed to hear because women may be my target audience.  As I think I said earlier, this is going to be positioned as a high end treat.  I can't thank you enough for your participation and your feedback.  Just Wow.

What I need to know is how to get it from an 8 or 9 to a 10.  I don't like to settle for less than perfection.
Any ideas?

Dervacumen:
Hoopz, yotsuya, did your danish arrive?  No rush for the feedback, just want to know if the USPS works ok for some of these shipments.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

Go to full version