@shubunny - cookies

[Norcalbaker59]

@ShuBunny

This cookie was twice baked at 350°F. 12 minutes; cool 10 minutes; then bake an additional 5 minutes. As I mentioned this dough was only rested 30 minutes if memory serves me right. I develop this still recipe for someone. I believe it’s just a straight forward chocolate chip cookie recipe. I think it has a 50-50 granulated sugar to brown sugar ratio; unbleached flour 11.5% protein; I can’t remember the sugar ratio, but I would guess it be between 105% - 110% given who I developed it for. I don’t believe the eggs and this was very high, about 20%.

The cookies were make with an unmalted flour, so that is why are not very brown. Most flours are malted with barley flour. looking at your flour ingredients and see if it includes barley on the list. Malted Flour is added to enhance browning.

if I were to estimate the ratios I will say this is the ballpark
100% flour
1.5% baking soda
2% Diamond Crystal salt - not table salt
105%-110% sugars
20% egg
3% vanilla paste
145% chopped chocolate

I make almond fennel; biscotti; white chocolate & macadamia nuts; sour cherry & pecan, chai & candied ginger.

Regarding the storage issues. You may have to store the cookies in air tight containers until you are ready to package and deliver. I put my biscotti in cambro containers. They are expensive, but they nearly indestructible. Some of my cambro containers are 12 years old, maybe older. I don’t know if they are available where you live, but if you can find something comparable. Check the restaurant supply stores in your area for food storage containers.

Square Food Storage Containers - CamSquares® | Cambro

Revolutionize your kitchen with durable Camwear® CamSquare Food Storage, ensuring extra freshness and savings from your ingredients! This crystal-clear design is virtually unbreakable, outstanding for fast paced kitchens. The CamSquare shape also boasts an incredible 33% better space usage than...

www.cambro.com

 

[ShuBunny]

@Norcalbaker59 big thanks for this. I’m going to try it out and thanks for the tip on storage - I presume that I should store the cookie once it is cooled down. Or better yet. Pack the cookie and store the whole package in the container until delivery is possible.

On a separate note; I just had dinner with friends. We are allowed small group gatherings, someone brought macarons and a burnt cheesecake. And honestly, the macarons were tasty - but you can tell the macarons has already been damaged by the humidity just in the few hours of transportation. No fault of the baker.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

@Norcalbaker59 big thanks for this. I’m going to try it out and thanks for the tip on storage - I presume that I should store the cookie once it is cooled down. Or better yet. Pack the cookie and store the whole package in the container until delivery is possible.

On a separate note; I just had dinner with friends. We are allowed small group gatherings, someone brought macarons and a burnt cheesecake. And honestly, the macarons were tasty - but you can tell the macarons has already been damaged by the humidity just in the few hours of transportation. No fault of the baker.

Yes, let the cookies cool completely and then store them in an airtight container. I don’t know what type of packaging you are using. If using boxes you probably don’t want to put them in boxes right away because you don’t want the transfer of oil onto the cardboard. But if you use cello pack like my biscotti, you can place them in the cello pack, then placed them in the airtight container.

The most important thing is to get them out of the humidity. As I mentioned in our conversation the sugar is pulling the moisture out of the air, making the cookies soft.

Yes humidity is a curse. when I package my biscotti I individually seal each one in a sleeve. Then place eight in a large cello bag. Even though biscotti is low moisture, I want it the extra layer of protection from the air. I am not in an extremely high humidity area, but we are coastal. We get the marine layer off the Pacific Ocean that come inland to cool the valley. It’s what makes this valley such a great wine growing region.

The other thing you have to worry about is spoilage and the increased risk for food poisoning.

With a cookie water activity is very low. But when you start making things like cakes, and you’re dealing with filling and buttercreams, your responsibility for food hygiene goes way up. You should look into the regulations governing the sale of food from a home kitchen in your country. in the US nearly every state regulates what can be sold from a home kitchen. It is based on water activity level. Water activity level is a bit complicated, it has to do with the vapor pressure in the air and the water food.

Life depends on water. bacteria requires water to reproduce. And bacteria can reproduce in a vast range of temperatures. Butter, cream, eggs, milk, so many products contain water and the potential to introduce bacteria. So in the United States the government will not allow bakers to produce and sell certain products from a home kitchen such as meringue buttercreams, mascarpone Chantilly icings, lemon curds like those recipes I sent you. Products with those components require a commercial business license and must be produced in a commercial kitchen. Which the baker can still be an independent. You can rent a kitchen by the hour; contract to rent kitchen space for a certain number of hours per month. arrange to rent a kitchen during a restaurant’s closed hours; work part time in a bakery in exchange for kitchen access.

 

[ShuBunny]

The other thing you have to worry about is spoilage and the increased risk for food poisoning.

Yes, that's something I'm really concerned with too. Although, I'm conscientious about my work surfaces. I clean before and after I bake for paid orders. I feel that I have little control over when people eat their food.
Eg: I can make a cookie and deliver it and it doesn't go bad if not eaten within half a day - but for curds and creams, it's more likely something i bake and bring to a dinner. Because then I can control the eating time and storage...

You should look into the regulations governing the sale of food from a home kitchen in your country.

interestingly, it's absolutely lax. The main rule is - you can't be baking/cooking a volume so large that you need van delivery. only cars and motor bikes delivery allowed. to prevent being a nuisance to your neighbours.

i guess x10 car deliveries are less annoying than x1 van...

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Yes, that's something I'm really concerned with too. Although, I'm conscientious about my work surfaces. I clean before and after I bake for paid orders. I feel that I have little control over when people eat their food.
Eg: I can make a cookie and deliver it and it doesn't go bad if not eaten within half a day - but for curds and creams, it's more likely something i bake and bring to a dinner. Because then I can control the eating time and storage...


interestingly, it's absolutely lax. The main rule is - you can't be baking/cooking a volume so large that you need van delivery. only cars and motor bikes delivery allowed. to prevent being a nuisance to your neighbours.

i guess x10 car deliveries are less annoying than x1 van...

Correct, you can’t control how a product is stored once it’s delivered. Your responsibility is in the hygienic storage of tools and ingredients; hygienic and safe handling in the preparation, packaging, and delivery. If you delivered an edible, uncontaminated product, then you are fine. my kids always joke because I am extremely finicky about the restaurants that I will eat in. Well walk into a establishment and my son will look at his wife and shake his head and say “Nope, can’t eat here, does it past mom’s smell test.”

Edit: we don’t wear shoes in the house because we are Asian. So when I go to an American house, I still take my shoes off because I can’t wear shoes in the house—my brain just isn’t wired for it. My niece screamed at my brother one day when he was heading out and he forgot some thing. So he dashed in the house real quick to grab it. And she screamed because he had his shoes on, “Daddy, Daddy, you are ruining our house!!” Get out, Get out with your shoes!”

 

[ShuBunny]

The no shoes in the house rule is golden! @Norcalbaker59
Though I do, like your bro, dash in if i forget something - but on uncarpeted floor. That's the other rule!

Because bulk of deliveries are contact-free, I can't imagine letting my courier drop a cream cake at a customer's house in warm weather.
I feel that delivery means it gets in their 'hands' - then everything else is up to them.

On the back of my calling card, I actually write down storage and reheating instructions and best eaten in 2-3 days messages.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

The no shoes in the house rule is golden! @Norcalbaker59
Though I do, like your bro, dash in if i forget something - but on uncarpeted floor. That's the other rule!

Because bulk of deliveries are contact-free, I can't imagine letting my courier drop a cream cake at a customer's house in warm weather.
I feel that delivery means it gets in their 'hands' - then everything else is up to them.

On the back of my calling card, I actually write down storage and reheating instructions and best eaten in 2-3 days messages.

Cake delivery has a whole process. Especially if it’s for an event. There’s a whole list of things that have to be done. You need to know in advance the venue, the contact person at the venue; Time of delivery; where cake is to set up; the weather conditions in which the cake is going to be in; if those weather conditions are going to be unfavorable to the type of cake, then arrangements have to be made to ensure cake is properly stored before it is put on display; you have to pack a repair kit to make minor repairs on site; you have to bring all the necessary tools to assemble the tiers on site.

It’s a big project. An event cake is not a small endeavor. People don’t realize how much planning goes into logistics in coordinating the delivery prior baking the cake based on the design of the cake. And then once the cake is baked there’s a lot of work involved in delivering the cake.

It’s not like someone going to a bakery and picking up a premade cake and taking it home.

 

[ShuBunny]

Wow, I didn’t imagine that to be so - but I’ll relish that kind of challenge! love coordination work