Danish Pastry guinea pigs needed

[yotsuya]

Good luck with this!!!!

[Rando]

Good luck with this!!!!

+1!

Definitely keep us posted, I for one would definitely place an order for when I'm hosting an eventt.  For Easter it was great, would work well for Mothers day brunch, definitely good for other occassions.

Luck!

[Dervacumen]

Thanks for the continuing support!  Yesterday I sent out the last group for our guinea pigs.  Le Chuck and crashwg, you should have yours no later than Saturday.  I sent others to Idaho and N. California.  It still gives me a kick to see these go out and tomorrow I'm preparing another batch for other commitments.
crashwg, you are the first to try my zero-almond cinnamon/sugar approach.  I've had several requests for that combination including a couple of people here.  I'm very interested in your feedback.  I'm making one with the same filling but also using almond paste and sprinkled almonds for my wife for mother's day.
Le Chuck, you were the last on the list and hopefully you'll enjoy the cherry/cheese danish.  I know you waited long enough for it.  I guess I'll have to play a little more Monkey Island with my daughter.
Enjoy!

[Dervacumen]

I've been asked by a few people about orders.  I am currently accepting and fulfilling order requests.  The price is $28 per 10" danish ring, plus $10 for shipping anywhere in the continental U.S.
The orders will go out USPS priority mail, and I'll bake and ship once or twice a week depending on volume.  Currently the following flavors are available with more to come soon:

Classic Almond Paste <--- the original and still my favorite
Almond Paste / Cherry
Almond Paste / Blenheim Apricot <---Much more intense apricot flavor, more tart
Almond Paste / Turkish Apricot <---Less intense apricot flavor, sweeter
Almond / Apple / Cinnamon / Kahlua

Coming very soon:
Cinnamon / Sugar
Almond Paste / Cinnamon / Sugar

Coming a little later:
Almond Paste / Raspberry
Almond Paste / Pear
Blueberry

Savory choices are in the works, suggestions welcome.

I'm also offering a referral bonus.  To participate, refer someone to my website: www.hollisterdanish.com and have them send an email to the "info" email address to initiate their order, referencing your username here on the forums.  In the body of their email I just need their flavor choice, shipping address, and they can arrange payment with me via email.  Once I complete their order I will PM you for your paypal address and I'll send a $5 paypal referral gift.  There is no limit to the number of referral bonuses you can earn.  For example, if you refer a friend and they order 3 times in the next couple months, you'll receive a total of $15 in paypal gifts.  I may change these terms in the future (likely) but for now lets go this route.

Did I forget anything?

<edit: I did forget to add the apple option.  Done>

[Nephasth]

If you can have Blueberry ready before mid-June, I'd like to order one for my Father's birthday / Father's Day.

[Le Chuck]

Devra, pastry arrived today.  I could smell it through the box.  My delightful mail handler left it leaning against the front door on its side.  Pastry is a little slumped from the hard handling but none the worse for wear.  I took pics as I deboxed and will post after tonight's tasting.  We are having several friends couples over this evening and it was serendipitous that your package arrived when it did.  I just used serendipitous in a post.  More to follow.   

[Dervacumen]

Your website ain't working right with Firefox or IE.

I know it's not fantastic, but aren't you at least seeing a home splash page with functional email links?
I've tried on three computers using IE and Firefox and with the exception of some text in the top red box being cut off everything else works.  I'm not at all surprised if it doesn't work tho.

[Dervacumen]

If you can have Blueberry ready before mid-June, I'd like to order one for my Father's birthday / Father's Day.

I will have it ready, I just want to work on the flavor combo a bit more.  Send me a PM with the date you need it by and I'll make arrangements.
I'll do some more trials next week.  I'm actually really excited about this one because blueberries are my favorite fruit.

[crashwg]

Mmmmmm mmmm mmmm, this thing smells good.

It finally came.  I had a little bit better luck with my postal worker as it was put down flat when it reached my home.   Unfortunately upon opening it it was evident that it had been on it's side at some point in time as it was "D" shaped.  I've barely been able to restrain myself from eating it up until now but I'm waiting for a time when more people can participate in the taste testing so my review at this time is purely on the aesthetics and packaging.

I'll start with the bad.
Pastry had obviously slid to one side in transit.  Never having shipped something like this I can offer no suggestions on fixes, sorry.
The "scotch" tape holding the waxed paper closed didn't scream upper crust sort of pastry.  I'm wondering if you could find large enough waxed paper bags for your pastries then you'd only have to have your sticker hold it shut.
Priority mail flat rate packaging.  I'm assuming you won't be shipping to paying customers this way but just in case, it would be nice to be able to identify the box from a few feet away with a fancy logo of some sort.  I completely missed the "Perishable" stamps on the box so I had no clue what was in there until I opened it.


The good.
It friken smells delicious.
The waxed paper holder offer doodad worked as intended.  No smearing of the toppings.
My mouth is watering.
The lovely tissue paper looks nice when you open the box.  Emphasis on the looks due to pastry sliding in transit.
The cinnamon sugar is not a gooey mess like it would be in a plastic bag.
It was really easy to put it back in the round which would be better for presentation yet it would be better still if it came round.  (I guess that one could go either way, good or bad.)
I imagine the "good" list will get much longer if it tastes as good as it smells and looks.

I don't know if you're looking for input on the note you've included and I'm certainly no English major but if the note you send with paid for orders is going to be based on this one I'd like to make some suggestions.  Perhaps you'll post the note looking for feedback other than my own.

"Place ring" sounds better (to me) than "Put ring."  I would remove the "about" in the heating instructions and again with the "abouts" but this time where you say "shelf life of about a week" I think "about one week" is less offensive to my ears.  Then again it could just be one of those things like when you say a word so many times it sounds weird but "about a" just sounds wrong.  One more thing and this one I hope you will not take offense to as it's a little more personal and kind of odd for someone to critique something as simple as but when I think of fancy pastry and the people making them, I tend to think of them as artists and your signature doesn't coincide with that image.

[Dervacumen]

Mmmmmm mmmm mmmm, this thing smells good.

It finally came.  I had a little bit better luck with my postal worker as it was put down flat when it reached my home.   Unfortunately upon opening it it was evident that it had been on it's side at some point in time as it was "D" shaped.  I've barely been able to restrain myself from eating it up until now but I'm waiting for a time when more people can participate in the taste testing so my review at this time is purely on the aesthetics and packaging.

I'll start with the bad.
Pastry had obviously slid to one side in transit.  Never having shipped something like this I can offer no suggestions on fixes, sorry.
The "scotch" tape holding the waxed paper closed didn't scream upper crust sort of pastry.  I'm wondering if you could find large enough waxed paper bags for your pastries then you'd only have to have your sticker hold it shut.
Priority mail flat rate packaging.  I'm assuming you won't be shipping to paying customers this way but just in case, it would be nice to be able to identify the box from a few feet away with a fancy logo of some sort.  I completely missed the "Perishable" stamps on the box so I had no clue what was in there until I opened it.


The good.
It friken smells delicious.
The waxed paper holder offer doodad worked as intended.  No smearing of the toppings.
My mouth is watering.
The lovely tissue paper looks nice when you open the box.  Emphasis on the looks due to pastry sliding in transit.
The cinnamon sugar is not a gooey mess like it would be in a plastic bag.
It was really easy to put it back in the round which would be better for presentation yet it would be better still if it came round.  (I guess that one could go either way, good or bad.)
I imagine the "good" list will get much longer if it tastes as good as it smells and looks.

I don't know if you're looking for input on the note you've included and I'm certainly no English major but if the note you send with paid for orders is going to be based on this one I'd like to make some suggestions.  Perhaps you'll post the note looking for feedback other than my own.

"Place ring" sounds better (to me) than "Put ring."  I would remove the "about" in the heating instructions and again with the "abouts" but this time where you say "shelf life of about a week" I think "about one week" is less offensive to my ears.  Then again it could just be one of those things like when you say a word so many times it sounds weird but "about a" just sounds wrong.  One more thing and this one I hope you will not take offense to as it's a little more personal and kind of odd for someone to critique something as simple as but when I think of fancy pastry and the people making them, I tend to think of them as artists and your signature doesn't coincide with that image.

I take no offense to anyone in this trial.

I love the feedback, keep it coming.  I'm busy all weekend so I'll be weak to post but often to read since I'll be with the impetus for this project for the next few days.
More feedback early next week crashwg.  Thank you.

[Le Chuck]

Pastry was heated in accordance with instructions and then cut into small pie shaped wedges to be served.  It was sampled by 4 sober women, 6 hyper-active children, and 3 drunk men-children.  The kids mostly picked at theirs (we put one slice on a plate and let me see how they would do) they didn't seem to care for the richer flavors but we expected as much.  All four womens liked the consistency and flakiness of the pastry.  The cheese filling was sweet and savory and was well executed.  We aren't big cherry eaters in the family but this was nice, just not something we would have ordered ourselves.  Being that we don't eat cherry anything I can't really evaluate that filling, Bri thought it had a cranberry edge but I didn't get that.  

The women tasters all said that this was an excellent product and that they would buy by the slice at a coffee shop or restaurant but that they probably would not order an entire ring as they can get cheaper desserts that feed more people from the local stores.  They really enjoyed the gooeyness of the filling and the bite of the pastry and didn't have any negative comments aside from basic price aversion - but you run into that a lot in the south.  

The men (myself at the time) were too entrenched in beer to be bothered with pastry.  The following morning I rewarmed one piece then ate the remaining pieces for breakfast/lunch.  The pastry really is great and reminded me of what we would run in to when we lived in Germany.  The balance of sweet and savory coupled with the layered flakiness of the pastry is a very subtle rich flavor.  It is in no way overpowering and leaves one satisfied yet craving another piece.  I would order rings for my parents and siblings for the holidays but as I work in a generally all male environment I probably would not show up with this to a meeting.  The cherry was a surprize but the filling was a high quality and wasn't the syrupy medicine tasting mess I've come to associate with the flavor.  

Thanks for having me as part of your trial and let me know if you need any thing.      

[Dervacumen]

It's evident I need blocking in the corners for this interim step.
Can someone help me figure out what the length of the sides of the orange triangle in the attached picture would be?
Thanks everyone,
Derv

[HaRuMaN]

The sides of that triangle are

2.93", 2.93", and the hypotenuse is 4.14"

[knave]

Mmmm...the most delicious Pythagorean use I've seen yet...

a squared plus b squared = yummy pastry.

[Dervacumen]

The sides of that triangle are

2.93", 2.93", and the hypotenuse is 4.14"

Crowd sourcing at it's finest!  Now I can get some blocks for the next shipment.  Thanks!

<of topic> So quickly, in math terms how did you figure so fast?  I tutor math, trig, etc. and I know the steps to get to the answer but your method must be better than mine or I wouldn't have asked for help.  Pastry and math.  That's a pretty close approximation of my current existence.  Kudos knave for recognizing that...
Did you drop a right angle on the triangle first?

[HaRuMaN]

Figured out the length of a line from the center of the box to the corner, call it A:

A = sqrt(5^2 + 5^2) = 7.0711

Subtract 5 for the radius leaving:

2.0711, which is half the hypotenuse of the triangle you need.

And, since it is a right triangle, with a = b, you then can use

2 * 2.0711 = sqrt(2 * a ^ 2)

which simplifies to

(2 * 2.0711) ^ 2 = 2  * a ^ 2

and so on...

[knave]

I just cheated and used a online pythagorean calculator...

[Cakemeister]

The exact answer is 10-5*sqrt(2).

Or just 3 inches.

[Hoopz]

Good to see you moving forward.  Some questions/ideas/suggestions I had:

-Offer a rewards type of club.  10th pastry ordered has free shipping or something.
-Special orders or combos available?  Raspberry and blackberry (ie razzleberry) or other combos allowed?  I doubt one-off orders are that big but if someone wanted olallieberry or something like that, is that an option?

I think the price is fair but personally, the shipping makes it more difficult to order often.

I think that I'll have a danish be the prize for the winner of the 2012 NFL pick em.  Fins fans not eligible of course.   

[yotsuya]

Figured out the length of a line from the center of the box to the corner, call it A:

A = sqrt(5^2 + 5^2) = 7.0711

Subtract 5 for the radius leaving:

2.0711, which is half the hypotenuse of the triangle you need.

And, since it is a right triangle, with a = b, you then can use

2 * 2.0711 = sqrt(2 * a ^ 2)

which simplifies to

(2 * 2.0711) ^ 2 = 2  * a ^ 2

and so on...

[HaRuMaN]

I'm an engineer... what can I say?   

[Vigo]

Good to see you moving forward.  Some questions/ideas/suggestions I had:

-Special orders or combos available?  Raspberry and blackberry (ie razzleberry) or other combos allowed?  I doubt one-off orders are that big but if someone wanted olallieberry or something like that, is that an option?

A couple half and half options could be cool as well, like you can do with a pizza. I am not sure if that would be easy to do on a pastry though.

....oh, and Vigo proposes a BYOAC discount.   

[Vigo]

I'm an engineer... what can I say?   

Who said engineers need to know math?

[HaRuMaN]

I'm an engineer... what can I say?   

Who said engineers need to know math?

My major required so much math that all I needed was one extra math course to receive a math minor.

[crashwg]

The pastry is gone.  I've got my wife's and my review so far.  Up to five more coming if I can manage to get the other people to say more than "it was good."

Wife: "It was good.  I liked it.  More apples."  <- See what I mean with the simple responses... 

Mine: I have to agree with the wife.  If I were to buy one of these it would have to have twice as much filling.  I suppose my palette has been trained over many years of eating sugary sweets.  I imagine the target audience would generally prefer it as is though.

The pastry was perfect.  Flaky but not a dry 'choke when you breath' flaky.  After some of the early reviews I was worried it would be less cooked than I like but was presently surprised that it wasn't.

Cinnamon sugar was a good amount but perhaps a little too much cinnamon to the sugar ratio.  If you were to add more apple filling I would not add more C&S.

[Vigo]

I'm an engineer... what can I say?   

Who said engineers need to know math?

My major required so much math that all I needed was one extra math course to receive a math minor.

One of my old man's degrees is in engineering. When it was his major, he only took two math classes. The degree requirement was that he completed math through differential calc or something like that. He just had his adviser sign off so he take that class without the classes leading up to it and aced the course. Skipped years of math in the process. Left room for him to rake in some other minors and some fun classes as well. The guy is a fricken paragon on how to beat the system.

[Dervacumen]

I'm ready to order and would definitely get cherry again but my first choice would be cinnamon, then cinnamon again, with cinnamon coming in 3rd too.  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?

Somebody better take my order and money for the cinnamon ones asap.  Or else.   

For those interested, these are the ingredients.  I'm not shy about them, rather I'm proud that these are rich, wholesome, and without any artificial anything (unless my suppliers are lying).  The art of combining and working them to my bidding is what makes these so incredible.  I'm not quite organic YET, but I'm on the way for those who care.
Take a look at the ingredients in other pastry, mail order or in the store.  Stabilizers, preservatives, thickening agents, yada yada.  I call BS.  Hollister Danish FTW!

Flour
Water
Salt
Sugar
Brown Sugar
Eggs
Spices (heh, can't tell you which ones though!)
Whole fruit
Butter
Yeast

I think that's it.

The cinnamon/almond  is my new favorite, but only when combined with the almond paste.  One member here got one that had only cinnamon and sugar, no almond paste and no fruit and wasn't so impressed.  I understand why.

Wait.  I also love the blueberry.  If I were to rank my choices right now, they would be:
Cinnamon
Classic almond
Blueberry
Cherry
Apricot

Both the cheese accompaniment and the berries are too wet to work well in this orientation so I'll have to work on those. I'm very close.

Things are definitely picking up.

[Le Chuck]

Bump - I'm having a Christmas party later this month and thought of you.  How's business been going and did you ever work a cheese filling solution out?