The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Experienced using paper bakerware?

Helena's picture
Helena

Experienced using paper bakerware?

Hi everyone,

I am testing some cheesecake recipes for a cheese plant. So far I have been baking 9in cheesecakes in Kaiser Springform pans with mostly success except for some cracking (using convection mode) -also tried in a non springform 8 in and was a disaster, as could not get it out of pan. 

Now I want to make mini cheesecakes with the same recipe. I bought a metal ware Texas size muffin pan, individual silicone muffin/tart pans and individual paper muffin and tart cups (different sizes). I am going to try these each today, but please tell me, do professionals baking in bulk at a commercial kitchen use paperbakeware? I could find nothing on any historical forum on this topic. What a relief this would be to not have to pre-sanitize many 9in pans then spend hours in cooler for large cheesecakes to set properly and then carefully release each cake from pan and then have to wash and dry and try to store them in too small storage locker  and they don't even stack!

Does anyone have experience with baking mini cheesecakes professionally in freestanding silicone or paper bakeware?

Thanks so much!!

drogon's picture
drogon

or mousse rings is what I've used for mini (3" diameter) cheesecakes.

e.g. http://www.nisbets.co.uk/Vogue-Mousse-Ring-7x-6cm/CC056/ProductDetail.raction

Can be placed on a baking sheet with the biscuit base packed in then the mix poured on-top. Might want to form a bottom out of foil if you think it will leak. I use a commercial release spray but you could spray then line with baking parchment to make them taller.

Watch your cooking times - I found I had to watch closely when I moved from my usual large recipe to smaller - they cook quicker!

-Gordon

Helena's picture
Helena

Thanks Drogon, this looks like an overseas company, are you in the UK? The photo of the mouse rings looks like there is not a bottom, I must not be viewing it correctly. The walls of it look really high. Today I baked with the different size paper bakeware and found out you can not spray the inside before baking or the show  a greasy ring and look bad. The silicone free standing large muffin size worked pretty good with the mini cheesecakes and they released pretty easily from them. The texture was perfect on the cheesecakes, but I would like them slightly higher and rounder. I know people use these 9 or 12 hole cheesecake muffin pans, but they either create bite size cheesecakes or they get poor ratings like non stick surface peeling off and losing removeable bottoms. In your experience is it easier to sell to restaurants whole cheesecakes (these are special cheese, quark and chevre, etc) or mini cheesecakes these days?

drogon's picture
drogon

Just giving that link as an example really. They are rings - top/bottomless. I place them on a steel baking sheet pack the biscuit crumb into the base, then pour in the cheesy topping. This is after spraying them with a release agent. Next time I'm going to make them a bit higher with baking parchment liners (home made by cutting a strip out of a sheet of parchment)

I've seen cheesecakes in a local coffee shop that look like they might have been baked in a paper case (wrinkled sides?) then the case removed - I'm guessing the case is then put inside a tin like a muffin tin to give it a bit more support? I've not found these paper cases myself yet though.

I've not yet tried to sell these - it's just something I've done for home/party but its definitely on my roadmap, as it were. (I have a new customer just starting who has a display chiller and they might be interested)

-Gordon

Helena's picture
Helena

So, you have a cookie sheet, set the round biscuit base dough on the cookie sheet, then set this ring over it, which means the biscuit base had to be the perfect size, seems hard for an advanced beginner like myself. Did you line the cookie sheet with parchment, then how do you remove these cheesecakes successfully? Do they call in this ring or do you remove it?

Yes, most of the paper liners have these muffin ridges which I do not like. But for the goat cheese minis, I put a roasted nut topping on sides and top after I plopped them out so it covered it. But I found some online that look like they are aluminum lined and maybe don't have the ridges. I found it at pastrychef.com They are called disposable alum crème brulee baking cups. $48.99 for 500 so only 10 cents each and no washing of pans! It says they are good for "plated dessert presentations."  That's ok for a coffee shop but the restaurants would have to remove them and plate them. I plan on ordering them and trying this as it's the only thing on line I have found the right size for indiv. cheesecakes that have no ridges. Dia. 2 3/8" height: 1 3/16"

I did put the decorative paper muffin cases in a metal muffin pan for more support, this worked well, just pulled them at the tops easily out. But they were too high for the mini cheesecakes which don't rise. I filled them 2/3's full and well that's where they stayed. My husband said it didn't look like a cheesecake in there! 

drogon's picture
drogon

So the rings are just that - rings - no top, no bottom.

I put them on a steel baking sheet then spoon in the crumb base - this is blitzed digestive biscuits and melted butter. Pack it down into the base (I use an espresso coffee tamper). Then I pour in the cheesecake mix. Put into the oven and hope for the best!

I use a spray oil on the rings first. I have used foil bases (sheet of foil folded up to the sides of the ring to form a base) but while it does make it easier to get off the baking sheet, it's not much different.

When baked, remove from oven, let go cold then I can push the bases up, rings down by putting it on a jam jar. it's not been perfect, so next time I'll line the rings with baking parchment to hopefully keep a smoother side.

See this site:

http://www.thepinkwhisk.co.uk/2011/05/afternoon-tea-mini-cheesecakes-with-rose-syllabub.html

for a better description with pictures (not my site - just found it googling)

 

If you look at this photo:

http://unicorn.drogon.net/IMG_20150310_144445.jpg

and zoom in to the cheesecake, that's what I'm after (that's not my stuff, but slightly commercial in a nearby coffee shop) it looks like their cheesecakes had some sort of paper lining on them when made and it might be slightly tapered too. Not quite the same deep "ruffles" of a cupcake paper though.

-Gordon

Helena's picture
Helena

Thank you Gordon for the link with all the photos of the mini's, that was extremely helpful as it shows the moulds and how to release them, though I don't know where she gets those perfect paper liners to put in them...

Tell me have you made cheesecake w/ fresh ricotta (whole milk) before? I have done it a couple of different ways, and both times it tastes nearly the same, bland and slightly grainy. I am not using cream cheese as the cheese company wants me to make a good tasting cake that profiles their ricotta. I have added heavy cream and full fat yougart, but I still don't like what I am getting.Nearly 99% of the ricotta cheesecake recipes one finds in American books or online have half ricotta, half cream cheese then maybe with sour cream thrown in-- is this what I have to do to make it taste good, make the Ricotta a sideline?

drogon's picture
drogon

Only ever soured cream. Comes out a fairly smooth texture..

-Gordon

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven
drogon's picture
drogon

Haha.. Yes. Gü is reassuringly expensive though and I bet none of their glassware is ever recycled )-:

However as a cafe/restaurant product it might work - assuming the baker gets the glass jars back and has adequate cleaning/sterilising means..

However (always a down-side!) there are always some whingers - e.g. read this recently:

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/features/risotto-on-a-shovel-crumble-in-a-flowerpot-why-don-t-restaurants-use-plates-anymore-1-7177834

-Gordon

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

here in Austria.  We recycle a lot.  Big glass containers.  Did you mean returnable?  

We have many products here sold in glass.  Some even have deposits and the supermarkets take the returnables.  Very clever machine actually, weighs the bottles, reads the bar code on containers and adds them up giving a receipt. That gets deducted from the groceries at the check out.  Smooth operation.  Disposables have a symbol for recycle.  No glass goes into the trash.  

Anyway, GÜ is very popular.  Food looks nice in glass.  so do candles and jellies.  :)

Helena's picture
Helena

Mini, Wo sind Sie in Oesterreich? Mein lieblings Land. Anyway, is this Gu product used to bake the cheesecake in, refriderate the cheesecake,  then serve at the coffee shop? Because how in the world when I get the mini cheesecake cleanly out of the small glass container? What do you do in Austria if I may ask! I wonder how people keep the fingerprints off the glass, I can just see me trying to wipe smudges off the outsides before I deliver them and hoping the windex doesn't get in the food (just kidding...)

I did figure out how to release the mini cheesecakes cleanly from the silicone free standing cups, they have to have been in the fridge for hours, then take a plastic knife around the edges, turn them over and the cake comes out cleanly. But one of these red silicone things was soaking in warm water yesterday for 45 min in another bowl in the sink and when I came to wash it, the bowl had red water from the red silicone thing in it. So, these are not a good idea, don't know if it is the crappy brand I got or they all will leach. So, the search continues for the right containers.

Thanks Gordon for the article attachment, I will read it.

 

 

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

are made in the glass and get sealed with a heavy aluminum foil.  They are sold complete in supermarkets, often in pairs.  Served and eaten in the glass with a spoon.  

Have you thought about baking and serving in paper cups, like coffee cups? Paper wet or surrounded in water doesn't burn, learned that in girl scouts umpteen years ago.  

Cheesecake sold in a Café here are usually round with cellophane dividers/wrappers.  The cold cake is cut, each slice wrapped and then placed back together (round or in a long row) for looks and to keep cold. 

Here is a link to a picture...  zoom in and look carefully at each slice.  There is a thin cellophane square under and up the sides on each slice with the tops open, easiest to see between the rows and on the chocolate slices.  This also makes them easy to serve and when needed, the cellophane can be pinched together and set on a plate without ever touching the cake.  This serving method is pretty widespread in Europe.  

I am still puzzled by the cheesecake's ability to stick to your forms.  Mine are lined with toasted cake crumbs and don't stick.   I like the look of the darker crumbs, but if you want them invisible, perhaps white cake crumbs work better.   At home, I use two glazed ceramic antique forms (8 pointed star) without problems.  I also don't flip cheesecakes upside down. (???) I have a set of mini spring form pans (d 10cm) but haven't gotten around to using them yet.  If they were expensive, I wouldn't have purchased them.  

Just like a fan in an oven speeds up baking, a small fan in a refrigerator can speed up cooling.  :)

 

Helena's picture
Helena

I see the cellophane, looks great. Tomorrow I have to take the slices of cheesecake to the owner, right now the whole cake is on a round cake board inside a plastic 12 in cake holder in the fridge.I have to drive 60 miles with that in a cooler with ice packs along with the cheesecake brownies, and mini goat and ricotta cheesecakes.I just hope everything doesn't arrive with condensation on everything I put the items on. Not sure if I should lay parchment, wax paper, nothing or what under the brownies and cakes in the plastic transport containers. I think I'll put the brownies at least in clear cellophane bags.

I did bake some cheesecakes in decorative paper, yet they were too narrow, they didn't  look like cheesecakes, you couldn't see enough of the finished surface, they seem better for tall mini brioche or such. I am not using water baths, just little silicone cups or muffin tins with liners on a cookie tray w/ convection at 275. or so. If I move forward with this, I can not see myself doing many cheesecakes by myself in a commercial kitchen with boiling water and little hot things inside it moving in and out of oven, so baked cakes needs to work. I have tried many different recipes and size cakes with quark, farmer's cheese, ricotta, cream cheese, and chevre. The goat cheese is the most delicious with the quark and farmer's second. I flip the little cakes out of the silicone upside down as they are not coming out cleanly by pushing up on the bottom. I have made them with no crust, or with just a roasted nut crust and the quark kaesekuchen has only a pastry bottom, no pastry up the sides, too lazy. I asked my husband to go twice to buy graham crackers to try this type of bottom out of desperation, but each of the 4 different brands tasted like glue, so I never made a graham cracker crust and since I am trying to do more European style desserts, I know they don't put store bought crumbled up "cookies" on the bottom of a Topfentorte, at least not when I lived there.

Thanks for the fridge fan tip!

drogon's picture
drogon

The easy base in baked or chilled cheese cakes here in the UK is digestive biscuits. (Google for a recipe there are dozens but the one in the guardian is maybe the best). Basically blitz the biscuits then add in half their weight in melted butter...

Bigger commercial producers obviously won't do this due to cost, so will have their own crumb base mix - I've looked at it, but I'll stick to biscuits for now..

Maybe also look at no-bake cheesecakes? They're more popular here but the "New York style" (ie. baked) is catching on.

Good luck on the transport - the general rule here is that you're allowed 4 hours out of a fridge for food that's designed to be kept chilled - but only once.

You can get mini fridges that plug in to a car power socket now. Not cheap though )-:

 

-Gordon

Helena's picture
Helena

I partially froze some of the cheesecakes (2 hours in freezer) before I drove the 60 miles with them in the cooler w/ ice packs as it was 82F outside. They were still a little too cold unfortunately at taste test time, but it's hard to get it just right. They loved 3 of the things and asked me to try an Ital style with Ricotta they gave me.

Gordon, how long would these refridgerated cakes last? They asked me yesterday what the storage life of the baked cheesecakes with the ricotta, quark and chevre were and I told them I thought only 2 days refriderated for the ricotta minis and maybe 3-4 days for the cakes with the other cheeses. Do you think this is accurate? So, now they will want to freeze the cakes and take out as needed, more for me to research and figure out. How to transport perfect slices of frozen cheesecake.I am assuming refridgerated cheesecakes with sheet gelatin don't last too long but I am not positive, but I would love to try this, There is one with sponge cake slices on top and bottom and quark in the middle w/ gelatin that looks beautiful but worried it will be to fragile to transport.  I will be for ex. making or baking the cheesecakes on a Monday then delivering next day Tues preferably fresh or frozen if this will be necessary.

Mini- vielen dank- eine ganze Dissertation ueber Kaesekuchen! I watched the German lady make it, but I do not have Makerquark, I have full fat quark to work with and I don't have access to her packet of vanilla pudding powder (what does that do) and don't know how much vanilla sugar is in the packet they put in the recipe. They also don't state what size springform so it will be tricky to test their recipe. Do you know if mixing the batter ingredients with a hand mixer like she did on both the cheesecakes she profiled is better than using a stand mixer which is what I have been doing? Do I want less agitation? I have been using the hand mixer for the egg whites I later fold in, but I have been using the standing mixer to cream the sugar and butter and to mix in the quark, sour cream or whatever but never on high speed. On the other hand, she uses oil instead of butter so maybe that's why- she's not creaming anything. Thanks again for the link.

 

 

drogon's picture
drogon

I'm not sure just how long something will last in the fridge. There's no real guidelines that I can find, other than the 4-hour rule and that might just be applicable to UK food hygiene laws... But it's effectively sterile when it goes in the fridge, having been cooked and cooled. If kept in a sealed container which is also clean then it should last quite a few days, however while it may be sterile at the point of cooking, it's also a substance high in water, fats and sugars - ideal conditions for moulds, etc. to grow )-: however sub 5C temperatures ought to keep them at bay - for a few days at least.

What I'd be inclined to do would be to go to your local supermarket and look at commercial equivalents - and see what their sell by/use by dates are. Bear in-mind they'll be packed in a sealed bag in sterile conditions and may even use a preservative, but it's a starting point.

The closest I have to go on right now is the frosting for carrot cake - made with cream cheese, butter and sugar and that easily lasts 4-5 days in the one shop that sells it for me.

I'm lucky in that that shop is within walking distance though.

I may be making some small baked cheesecakes for next weeks market though - will take photos if I remember!

-Gordon

sonia101's picture
sonia101

I use full fat Quark in my German cheesecakes all the time and they turn out beautiful. A  packet of vanilla sugar is 8 grams and the vanilla pudding powder helps to firm it up, you can sub custard powder. I hate it when a recipe doesn't list the cake pan size!!! I've found most of the cheesecakes on Chefkoch work fine for me in a 26 inch springform pan. Hope that helps.

Sonia

Helena's picture
Helena

If you go to the supermarkets here, all the cheesecake is frozen, unless you go to the upscale supermarkets with a serious bakery and they sell it by the slice. I will have to look next time to see if they even offer an expiration date on the fresh indiv cake or cheesecake slices.

Yes post your pictures!

Maybe the food scientists (that's their title!) will know the answers to these shelf like questions on products with no preservatives at the local Dept of Agriculture which will come to inspect me.

gerhard's picture
gerhard

it is better to know the answers to questions rather than have questions for government types ;)

Gerhard

gerhard's picture
gerhard

has all the ingredients to promote bacterial growth so I would be careful about trying to extend it's shelf life.  I would consider the shelf life to be that of the soonest to expire ingredient.  Refrigerate it at the appropriate temperature and don't subject it to many warm cool cycles, such as when displayed on a desert tray taken to customers tables to tempt them to spend on desert.

Gerhard

Helena's picture
Helena

Gerhard you made me laugh on your comment regarding not asking the scientists any questions; earlier today I emailed one asking if the large transport cooler for the cakes I bought will be ok (I heard they need the measurements)  and then I got an auto reply that she was on medical leave with no info about when she was returning. In the message, there were phone numbers of 2 other food scientists. I called the first and it went into his voicemail on the 1st ring so I hung up and called the second scientist and the same thing happened. I decided if they didn't want to pick up the phone then I wasn't leaving a message and hung up on that one too. Then I emailed the owner of the commercial kitchen and I said, "Hey it doesn't seem like these scientists want to talk to anyone." And he replied:"No, they were probably on the phone, they only have 2 food scientists but they probably need triple that amount."

I will remember what you said, the ingredient that expires the soonest is when the whole dessert has gone kaputt. That is easy to remember. Thanks.

gerhard's picture
gerhard

I did not mean to imply scientists are not knowledgeable just that once they work for the government they will not be able or willing to give a concrete recommendation.  For example you ask them if that piece of equipment is up to doing what you want safely they will fill your inbox with endless PDFs  on regulations, best practices and generally accepted methods that may or may not apply to your question but they won't say no that machine will not work for you or yes it will.  You are better off talking to equipment manufacturers and research your needs yourself in my opinion.

Helena's picture
Helena

That was good to know Gerhard that will be better off getting concrete info from equipment dealers.

The cheese company with the retail store has just thrown me for a loop. In order to buy the bulk I need to give them to offer wholesale prices and make it worth my time,  they said they will need to purchase frozen cakes as long as it will not affect the taste.

Does anyone have experience in this?? Do I have to first let baked whole 9 in cheesecakes come to room temp which takes forever, then have them set in fridge 12 hours, then freeze them? Or can they go from cooled on countertop to freezer to "set"? I'm guessing they have to set in fridge first, but not 100% sure.

 

KathyF's picture
KathyF

I've only made cheesecake for home, but in my experience, the cheesecake needs to cool to room temp. before freezing, otherwise there might be condensation. Of course, if you freeze it before you cover it, you might not have that problem.

There is a local cheesecake bakery and I have bought their cheesecake frozen and it is always good.  http://www.johnandjillscheesecake.com/

drogon's picture
drogon

So you can put stuff directly from the oven into the freezer... However it can cause the freezer internal temperature to rise - to the point that some stuff may become defrosted... So let it cool to room temperature (put it in the coldest room, covered with one of those springy mesh things), then into the freezer.

Baked cheesecakes seem to freeze well (and more importantly keep their texture when thawed). At least the ones I've made do.

Defrosting and re-freezing is a no-no, and from the fridge to display is allowed for 4 hours (UK guidelines) however after those 4 hours you can't chill it again - it's in the bin. So shops ought to be planning freezer -> fridge overnight then into display as required (hopefully a chilled display!)

The key to freezing things is a blast freezer - they're big, expensive and use a lot of energy to very quickly take something from ambient (or warm) to -22C or better. Then you need many freezers. However for small individual cheesecakes, letting them cool to room temperature and freezing them should be fine. You might want to turn your freezer down to -22C if it will go that cold. -18C is the norm. Some freezers have a boost button, but all that (usually) does is tell the system to ignore the thermostat - it won't make it freeze things faster - designed to be used before you go out shopping, so that when you get home, it's colder than -18C so you can put e.g. fresh meat into it and it'll freezer a bit quicker.

Make sure stuff going into the freezer is in an airtight container too - some freezers (e.g. the frost free ones) have dehumidifiers built in and this will speed the effects of "freezer burn" on foods by drying them out.

So oven -> cool place -> freezer.

-Gordon

Helena's picture
Helena

Thanks Sonia for the correct measurements, I can now try this German recipe!

sonia101's picture
sonia101

You're welcome, if any of the recipes for bases call for a packet or half a packet of baking powder, a packet of baking powder is 17 grams.

Helena's picture
Helena

Hi Sonia! I just found yesterday afternoon at a super large market 30 miles from me the Dr. Oetker "Vanilla Pudding" packet. It is 43 gr. (1.5 oz) per packet and they come 3 packets together. Is this what they are using on the German video recipe called van. pudding powder for the quark cheesecake? This seems kind of a lot for one cake. This is basically just a lot of cornstarch, dextrose, salt and artificial colorings and fake vanilla flavoring.  I suppose a recipe with cornstarch to thicken and real vanilla extract would suffice which is what I already did. Anyway, I bought it and will try it but want to make sure 43 gr is right for the 26 cm (10 in cake). Maybe this ChefKoch outfit is getting paid to advertise Dr. Oetker products in their baking recipes, just wondering...

Thanks Kathy for the link on the CA cheesecake co. I just emailed them to ask if they would let me know how best to freeze because I cannot find anywhere on the internet if I have to put in fridge to set before freezer or if directly in freezer works and like you say, best uncovered for a while first before wrapping or what? These cheesecakes with locally made cheeses are very expensive to make so I don't won't to keep doing inadequate experiments if someone has the answer!

sonia101's picture
sonia101

Sorry Helena I just now saw this post! Yes that is what I use, if I don't have any in the house I just add normal custard power or cornflour. I just baked a cheesecake this morning, this was the recipe.

The filling for this 26cm  springform cake was:

125 grams softened butter 

150 grams sugar ( cream butter and sugar together)

3 packets vanilla sugar

3 egg yolks

800 grams quark

30 grams corn flour 

good dash of lemon juice

3 egg whites (beat till stiff and fold into the mix at the end)

 

I really liked this recipe, less eggs so the cake didn't rise as much and I didn't have to leave it in the oven to cool for hours with the door ajar, I could tell the top was not going to crack or sink!!!  :-) The cake was a bit heavier than the normal German cheesecake less eggs, no cream or sour cream in this recipe. it's kinda like a cross between a German Cheesecake and American  baked cheesecake. It was actually really nice, both my Mum and Sister who are German and love cheesecake both wanted the recipe lol

Sorry for the bad photo but I'm in the middle of cooking dinner so just quickly snapped it. Haven't even had time to remove it from the springform lol

Helena's picture
Helena

Sonia, thank you for the lovely photo, I like the chocolate base, did you use biscuits/cookies? Your recipe is very close to the one I use, except I use 500 gr. quark instead of 800 and I use some cream and vanilla sugar and cornstarch but no cornflour. What does the corn flour do? I also use 3 egg whites. Do you fold in the egg whites til there are no streaks/blobs to see, or leave some in, not sure if I am deflating my whites. I do want to try to get the cake on the high side as the person who is interested in selling them made a comment that the cake tasted really good but wasn't very high (boo hoo, I wanted to cry, but didn't!)

sonia101's picture
sonia101

Cornstarch and cornflour are the same thing, we call it cornflour in Australia. I gently fold the egg whites till the mixture is smooth, no lumps. The base is not cookies, I always make my base. The base recipe I used made way too much for one cake and having baking powder you need to roll it thinner than normal. First time I had made this base  recipe and it's a keeper, it was really good, not dry at all!

The chocolate base is 

200 grams soft butter

200 grams sugar

2 eggs

400 grams lain flour

50 grams unsweetened cocoa powder

1 packet baking powder 

Cream together butter and sugar, then add eggs and beat till creamy. Then add flour, cocoa and baking powder and mix tip you have a dough, place dough in fridge for 2 hours before using.

 

Helena's picture
Helena

Sonia,I am going to try your base. But are you rolling the dough in a ball and refridgerating ball for 2 hours then rolling out into the pan? Or are you rolling out right away flat putting in springform and putting springform pan in for 2 hours before adding batter? Thanks.

sonia101's picture
sonia101

Sorry Helena! Place dough ball  in cling wrap into the fridge for 2 hours and then roll out and place in the springform, add cheese mix and bake. I normally kinda squish it down into a flat disc and refrigerate for 1 hours because I'm always in a hurry lol. Like I said the base mixture made too much dough for the 26 springform, next time I'll try 3/4 of the recipe.

Helena's picture
Helena

Gordon, sorry I didn't see your section on freezing in answer to my question before I replied! Huge help! Will talk to the comm. kitchen guy about his freezer, it was huge but I had no idea what to ask about it. I think freezing only mini cheesecakes is going to be effective re. time paid in the kitchen as there is no air cond in that comm kitchen I will be in- i.e. no cool room to let cakes rest. Maybe in winter it will be easier, but don't think by much in a one large room kitch where the ovens have been on for a long time. And you're right about warm things bringing up the temps of the other foods already in the freezer!

What do you mean by putting the cakes in air tight containers? I was thinking if a cake is cool, I would wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then foil and then freeze but now that I think about it that looks ugly to transport a frozen cake to client. But I also can't give them a bunch of plastic containers w/ each cake nor could I afford that. How do restaurants receive frozen cheesecakes, I suppose they are probably in some special machine wrapped plastic from Sisco but what little outfits do, I know not.

drogon's picture
drogon

Big producers will blast-freeze individual units, then pack them in cardboard boxes. At least that's the ones I've seen. Maybe 6 to a box, or more, depending on what it is. The recipient can then store them in their freezer and use when required. I'm not 100% sure how commercial freezers work - if they're frost free or not.

I don't currently freeze for customer delivery (although I have plans for some bread products) so right now I tend to bake cakes when a shop needs one, then freeze the others - when they next need one, I can defrost it overnight, apply the final decor and deliver. To freeze these cakes I let them go cold, cover in cling film and put them in a drawer in the freezer. I have one freezer that never has meat in it which keeps the environmental health people happy. For bits of cake, or biscuit crumb I use the modern equivalent of tupperware - some click-lock system that's airtight.

I deliver cakes in big "tupperware" containers, ready plated or on bases for display by the customer. I try to take then back again, but occasionally I have to leave one with a customer - they're accounted for!!!

Another thing I use is card boxes. You buy them flat-packed and make them up yourself.

There are 1000000's of different boxes - this is an example page:

http://www.keylink.org/productlistings.php?altCats=13:193&catCode=1993

I have frozen cheesecakes in some boxes like that in the past. (plain ones not fancy)

-Gordon

Helena's picture
Helena

thanks for the blast freeze explanation, now I can see they are doing it. I found your Eng. digestive biscuits in the international section too and tried a base with that and some melted butter, little sugar and ginger powder on the minis, I did not bake it first. It tasted pretty nice, not oily which I liked. You're lucky that your clients are nearby and you can deliver fresh! I am becoming a bit disillusioned at how much all these premium goods are costing to make with real butter and eggs (which have gone up tremendously since the avian flu outbreak), Euro. chocolate, expensive local, soft cheeses, etc. I understand more and more now why the food is so crappy that we buy and even get in the restaurants, people don't want to pay the high prices that real food items would cost, so we get imitation cream cheese, oil instead of butter and cocoa powder instead of choc. etc, etc. I wonder if the restaurants will be able to pay me for my products what I need to make a go of this!!

drogon's picture
drogon

Yes, it's sad that a lot of up-market restaurants, etc. buy in bulk and it's freezer to plate via microwave, deep fat fryer or oven )-: They don't want to make their own plated desserts as its time consuming and/or they'd have to pay someone to do it.

I could rant on for hours about this - particularly as I live in the middle of organic farming england where we're supposed to value food, but even here we have fast food outlets, and pubs, cafes, etc. churning out cheap food. I want to get some of the local pubs to try offering sourdough "soup buns" or wedges for "ploughmans lunch", but they're not keen.

Who's to blame? The supermarkets will blame the consumer who wants cheap food - as will the restaurants - my own (cynical?) view is that the vendors of such produce want to maximise profits...

But fortunately you will find a few outlets that do seem to care - and I'm lucky where I live in that I can get good ingredients - not always cheap - e.g. I buy farm made butter by the stick (which in the UK is about 2 to 3Kg, not the little 100g US style stick!) but even then, I'm paying the same for it as medium quality butter from a supermarket. I do get a good deal on my eggs as I can drive to the farm, see the chickens free-ranging and get a deal on taking a couple of trays of small or odd sized eggs.. Flour - that's tricky. I could buy it from the local supermarket, labelled as British for less than I can buy nice organic stuff - but I can buy 25Kg sacks of the nice organic stuff and get free postage on it if I can meet their minimal order. I buy British sugar as I want to support British farmers, but I get people asking why I'm not buying organic or fare-trade from Africa or from the central americas. So I can't win!

Don't let what you find put you off though - In the back of your mind we all know this - you simply can't get low-price goods in bulk without something going wrong somewhere - we've had BSE, Foot&Mouth, Avian Flu, horse meat, etc. "scandals" in recent years and I'm sure something else will happen soon.

So hang in there!

-Gordon

Helena's picture
Helena

I hear ya Gordon... surprised they don't want your wonderful sourdoughs. What are they serving, just that awful doughy white industrial bread? I have done breads with starters many times but I find it so wasteful to have to keep throwing away so much flour to refresh the starter so then I stop the sourdough thing for 6 months and then I start it again. My favorite bread books are by Dan Lepard. I love his method of gently kneading for a few seconds and then leaving to rest at numerous intervals, but you have to be home more or less all day to complete his loaves. I have made many of his recipes straight dough and starter breads. I think the overnight sponge would be best for my long-term style but too busy for bread lately due to making and tasting desserts trying to get this little business rolling.

I did have some good luck today talking to a busy specialty food market that wants to taste my local cheese cheesecakes and a couple of other items. He will want everything delivered frozen weekly or every 2 weeks. He prefers whole cheesecakes instead of the minis which is good as I am having trouble making them look great. He said I could just score them and then they will slice and pack them in indiv. containers. I need to put some kind of light sour cream or other glaze on top which covers up little flaws like cracks and makes them look more professional. They will be expensive at least $5.99 for one slice so they have to look good. He said his cream cheese cheesecakes come from a local cheesecake place wrapped in plastic and then a cardboard box. We did discuss prices and I think this might work. I live near farmland too so I can go get fresh eggs but it has to be from a licensed facility by law. I'll have to see what I can find.

Good luck and keep us posted!

drogon's picture
drogon

seems the be the name of the game, sadly. But yes, the cheap produced breads rather than nice local craft breads is what the local food outlets are using..

As for sourdough - well if you read my other posts, you'll see that my method doesn't involve throwing anything away. My starters live in the fridge and I'll use them directly from the fridge or sometimes (actually a lot of the time now) bulk them up 6 hours or so before I make the breads.

Have a look at this: http://moorbakes.co.uk/sourdough-made-easy-part-1/

You can make overnight yeasted breads that way too - just reduce the yeast to a fraction of normal - e.g. my "Overnight Whites" start with 960g of flour and 2.5g of dried yeast. mix,  knead at about 9pm, diving into 3, shape, (into 3 tins) at about 7am then into the oven at about 8:30.... hot bread by about 9... Low impact is my thing :-)

Cheesecakes: A "fruits of the forest" type of topping is popular here - essentially what's local to you - here it might be blueberries, blackberries (brambles), raspberrys, occasionally redcurrants and a fruit glaze/syrup - use damaged fruit to make a jelly - simmer in a pan with sugar and sieve giving a soft fruit jelly/sauce/coulis .. some fresh berries on-top then a spoonful of the glaze and off you go. (If you ever use fresh berries for anything else, always put the damaged ones into a tub in the freezer to use to make jelly/jam/etc. waste not want not...)

-Gordon