Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
Now, I have my pie crusts down. They come out so light, tender, and flaky that I'm not sure I can get them to come out any better. Now I'm not bragging. I've just learned what it takes to make a great pie crust, just as there are those who have mastered sauces, like Luka.
But I have a question, and a hypothesis. First, the question; does anyone know a source of good, raw, edible, reasonably priced cocoa butter? Though it has a fair amount of saturated fat, it doesn't create cholesterol in the blood stream as does animal fat. But, it is brittle at room temperature, and doesn't soften until about 98 degrees or so. This would make it difficult to use for pastry, and the resulting pastry might be questionable.
But I wonder, if melting lard and cocoa butter together would make a hybrid fat that would increase the working temperature of the lard, and make the cocoa butter more pliable so that the dough can be handled and still maintain a flaky texture at warmer temperatures than can be done with pure lard. This would free the user from having to chill the flour, and lard, and use ice water, etc, to keep the fat solidififed (the key to a flaky crust).
Anyone comments are welcome.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
But I have a question, and a hypothesis. First, the question; does anyone know a source of good, raw, edible, reasonably priced cocoa butter? Though it has a fair amount of saturated fat, it doesn't create cholesterol in the blood stream as does animal fat. But, it is brittle at room temperature, and doesn't soften until about 98 degrees or so. This would make it difficult to use for pastry, and the resulting pastry might be questionable.
But I wonder, if melting lard and cocoa butter together would make a hybrid fat that would increase the working temperature of the lard, and make the cocoa butter more pliable so that the dough can be handled and still maintain a flaky texture at warmer temperatures than can be done with pure lard. This would free the user from having to chill the flour, and lard, and use ice water, etc, to keep the fat solidififed (the key to a flaky crust).
Anyone comments are welcome.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North