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Danish Pastry guinea pigs needed
Malenko:
these look so good, how do I get in on it?
I wouldnt feel comfortable at LEAST paying for shipping
knave:
I served up the rest of the danish over the weekend. This time I heated it at 350 for 10 minutes and then upped the temp to 425 for about 3.
It definitely gave the pastry a nice flaky crust but having had it before I think I preferred the more gooey inside. this time around was much less moist, not dry though. This probably was because the pastry had been in my fridge for a while at this point.
Just about everyone liked it, the consensus was that the flavors were really well balanced and that it wasn't too sweet.
Mom and her friend, really liked the almond flavor. My mom compaired it to the high end bakery we have in our area. Both would buy.
Mom's friends son. Also really liked it he liked the almonds on top, and that it was not too sweet. he would buy.
My bro liked it just fine he said but He's not a pastry eater so he seemed underwhelmed. Would not buy.
My older daughter said it was yummy.
My younger daughter who is 8 said she doesn't like apricot.
I brought a piece to my Girlfriends Dad and he loved it. Said it reminded him of the old time bakery's he grew up with in San Francisco. He would buy.
My consensus, I enjoyed the more moist pieces to the more crisp pieces that I had but I'm ready for another one to test out that theory!
Dervacumen:
--- Quote from: knave on April 05, 2012, 01:04:47 pm ---
My overall impression of the packaging was that it was very secure...I'm not a big fan of the foam peanuts though.
The edges of the pastry did have some squaring from the box but I still think it looked fantastic. The label stickers are a nice touch.
--- End quote ---
Back from vacation with some follow up comments. The above quote is edited for brevity.
This packaging will be similar to the final package, but I'll ditch the foam peanuts in favor of something else. I originally wanted to use shredded Easter-like paper grass of varying colors based on the season, but now I'm not sure if that will be more of a pain than an nice touch. I'll have to play around with that. Regular bubble wrap squares would work well so I may go that route. The stickers were just made at home so I'll get nicer ones made. For the sticker that seals the bag opening, I'm leaning toward using sealing wax with the Hollister Danish coat of arms stamped in to it.
To further secure the pastry and prevent squaring of the edges, I'll have plastic trays made at some point. The trays will be round and about an inch high or so on the edges. The center peg will be 3" high and removable, providing a solid brace for the center of the pastry. The center piece might be something like those little plastic things you sometimes see in pizza boxes to prevent the lid from touching the top of the pizza, with the company logo in the center.
Dervacumen:
--- Quote from: Hoopz on April 05, 2012, 02:18:08 pm ---
I thought the smaller brown box that held the danish itself may have been secure enough for the danish without using the USPS priority shipping box. My danish came out of it in excellent condition. I don't know if others received their's in that type of setup and had them look less than appealing. My suggestion would be to ship two danishes to the same person (or even to yourself) and see how they compare with different packing. It's not exactly apples to apples but it's closer than comparing one container to me and a different one to someone else.
Waiting for the oven to heat up and then warm the danish was a painful process. But well worth it. The cherries were delicious. I don't know if these were the same cherries that others said were tart, but I found them delicious.
My initial thought was that the pasty was a little more dense than I thought it would be.
I can only imagine how the warm cinnamon would taste.
The only question I had was if any lard was used as the shortening or fat in the pastry?
--- End quote ---
Interesting thing about the double box you got. I didn't plan on that, but when I got to the post office i found it was less expensive to shove my custom box in to a priority mail box. For addresses that are closer to CA it was less expensive to ship in my custom boxes. I think shipping both ways to the same address is a good idea.
Waiting for the pastry to heat up probably adds to the enjoyment of the final product because of the smell. I know we always go nuts when we bake, even after all these years. This dough is much denser than a puff pastry, and had a different bite than a croissant. The filling also has an impact so the pastry with only almond paste will be lighter.
Cinnamon. Would you still want almond paste, or just a cinnamon and sugar filling? The production process for these always results in shreads and pieces of left over dough. Ususally when I'm done for the day I take all of these shreads which contain bits and pieces and globs of various fillings from the day and mix them with sugar and cinnamon, cut them in to bite sized pieces, and bake them in a loaf, like pull apart sticky buns. They are some of the best things I make, really. They're full of chewy carmelized goodness with little surprises of fruit every few bites. I'll sell this by weight.
Dervacumen:
--- Quote from: Le Chuck on April 05, 2012, 05:59:53 pm ---
--- Quote from: Dervacumen on April 04, 2012, 02:54:38 pm ---
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?
--- End quote ---
This got me thinking about how I rate things that I eat. If I grab a bottle of two buck chuck and it knocks my socks off then I call that a 10, because I'm getting a lot more than a I bargained for. If I am drinking a retardedly expensive single malt that is outstanding but a bit too smokey or to peat heavy for my taste that will be an 8 or 9 because I didn't get the bang for my buck to justify the difference I could have spent on a cheaper brand.
This is how I personally evaluate luxury items, like alcohols, hotel rooms, and very likely gourmet pastry. I don't think a price point has been provided yet but I am interested because I know that price does affect my expectations. In other words, perfection comes more easily for say $20 than for $80. If you want to share your price (or target range) I think that you could get some valuable comments on whether or not people would buy your pastry at that price, and what it rates at that price. The poll is a good idea but I don't feel like I could make a realistic contribution without knowing cost to produce and time involved etc. Rather than get that far in the weeds though it's be easier for you to just put down a fair range.
--- End quote ---
I'll stop beating around the bush.
The target for these is between $20-$30. I figure they provide about 8 portions at about $2.50 - $3.50 each. My individual pastries will be various sizes and shape and range from $2 to $4.
As for knowing the cost to produce and time involved, I guess you could look at it that way, but it makes sense to do so only if you're the producer, not the consumer IMO. The thing about this pastry is there is a lot of waiting time involved. I mean, a LOT. I can make two or ten, and in each case I'll start at the same time and finish at the same time.
--- Quote from: shmokes on April 05, 2012, 11:54:20 pm ---
--- Quote from: Vigo on April 05, 2012, 06:35:52 pm ---Comic Sans does not mix with elegant pastry anything.
--- End quote ---
Truth
--- End quote ---
Huh. I like that font. I wanted a font that was easy to read for the large event I recently catered. Point taken though, and I'll change it to something else. Thanks!
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