Author Archives: Dave Oney

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About Dave Oney

Dave Oney was born mid last century in Middlebury, Vermont. He received his BS in Chemistry and worked as a polymer chemist in Massachusetts and New Jersey. He became a microscopist (someone who studies little bitty things using a microscope) and photomicrographer (someone who photographs little bitty things) before settling into a 35-year career in technical sales of scientific imaging equipment (the science of digitally recording itty bitty things, sending the image to a computer for analysis.) He designed and created a number of products contributing to this field. He is (was) proficient in several computer languages and is currently working on mastering English. After making a few more paradigm shift career changes Dave and his wife, Fran, retired and moved closer to their children and granddaughters and now live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas.

Sugar Snow-Globe Cake

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I saw a technique for making sugar domes on Netflix’s School of Chocolate. Initially, I thought that looked like a fun and easy skill to learn. I soon discovered it was fun. Plus I had the added incentive of wanting to make a snow-globe cake for my granddaughters. I envisioned an evergreen tree and snowman under the dome.

‘Simply’ pour a little (1-2 Tbl depending on ring size) molten (hard crack) sugar/glucose mixture inside a ring mold, resting on 3 layers of plastic wrap stretched (not too tightly) and sealed across a large bowl.

L – Once the sugar reached hard crack at 300 deg F I had no time to take pictures. R – Ring resting on plastic wrapped covered bowl.

Press down on the outside of the ring and keep increasing the pressure until the sugar reaches the side of the mold and starts to dome up. If the sugar is too hot it can melt the plastic wrap, too cold it won’t spread to the edges of the ring mold. No matter what you do, your fingers will burn. (After this I purchased some heat resistant silicone gloves.)

I tried this many, many times with varying degrees of success. If you use too much sugar the bottom edge of the dome will be very thick and unattractive.
If you use too little sugar the dome will be thin or incomplete and either deflate or crack. More attempts than shown here were re-melted.

It was about now that I decided to make the cake an actual snow-globe. There is no way to pick it up and shake it, but a life time of skiing around snow makers gave me an idea. If I could blow the ‘snow’ (or powdered sugar) from inside the dome it would look like it was snowing.

I changed my plan from a small dome on shell tart to a 5” fondant covered cake. Now I had to make the domes bigger and higher.

I saw a method for making the globes (the author was actually making sugar bowls, but inverted would be perfect.) Ann Reardon – How To Cook That has a great tutorial.

Use helium quality balloons so the molten sugar doesn’t melt them. Ann explains using water filled balloons to disperse the heat and keep them from bursting when covering with the sugar.

This technique also required some practice. You need to be sure to use enough molten sugar or the balloon won’t be fully covered. I found covering the balloon in one smooth pour was more successful than trying to go back and filling in places that weren’t covered.

I could guess how many attempts I needed to make two acceptable domes, but I won’t. The balloons were pretty cheap and until you burn it, the sugar can be reused.

I made some white gum paste and rolled a little into balls for the snowmen. I colored some black to make buttons, eyes etc. I dyed some green and shaped it into cones. Another YouTube video demonstrated how to use cuticle scissors to snip bits to make the boughs of the trees.

The snowmen look like they belong in a Tim Burton movie. Sorry bout that.

Now to the engineering ‘genius’ of the cakes. To make the snow blower I procured some mini funnels (1.5” across at the top.) I connected a piece of flexible tubing (I happened to have the exact correct size and length from my beer making equipment.)

A squeeze bottle served as the air pump and a small sugar pearl blocked the sugar from pouring down the tubing. A firm squeeze on the bottle and voilà, a mini snowstorm. This is my test set up.

The cake was put on a 5” cake board which I had cut in its center, then it was crumb coated and covered in fondant. The flexible tubing was fed up through the cake board, cake and fondant and the funnel attached. The other end was fed through the checkerboard ‘tablecloth’ and two 5.25” styrofoam disks with holes cut in the center. The bottom disk had a channel cut from the bottom center to the edge to have a place for the tubing to run to the outside.

Everything was stacked, filled and covered with the sugar dome. Imagine my surprise when the girls and I tried it all together the first time, and it worked!

Slow Motion – IMHO Awesome!

Now, back to those braided fruit tarts.

Holiday Sweets

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As the holidays approach, the baker often changes his spots from baker to chocolatier. Everyone seems to like my chocolate coated soft caramels dusted with some Maldon Sea Salt Flakes.

L: wrapped for the holidays and unwrapped QC samples – R: cut caramel

I ran out of my favorite Barry 64% cacao chocolate. This chocolate is both delicious and has a 4 out of 5 liquidity which makes a nice thin coating. I found some re-packaged bulk Barry Callebaut 70% dark chocolate which did not have a liquidity rating. After using it I would guess it is in the 2-3 range of 5. By not flowing as well yhis resulted in a thicker coating, but it was all that was available. Hopefully, my “go to” 64% will be back in stock soon!

Paying attention to the temperatures while tempering the chocolate really pays off. The chocolates don’t melt in your fingers and have an attractive, shiny appearance.

I hit the maximum temperature of the caramel perfectly. (238 deg) To cut it I put in in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, then cut into about 1” squared. I still had to coat the knife with some baking spray to make cleanish cuts.

Happy Thanksgiving 2021

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Hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving has a safe and peaceful one this year, a much needed culinary respite from life’s trials and tribulations. (Note: you have the means to read this, no doubt we are the most fortunate of all.)

This year I decided to take a turkey to our family dinner.

Of course, it is a turkey made of bread. I also brought a couple of dozen dinner rolls and a high hydration honey bread as a hostess gift. This morning was another good baking session.

You can find the method and recipe here: https://youtu.be/s1peTKP0fvg

Enhancing the Scarlet Pumpernickel

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Amazingly, each batch of pumpernickel bread seems to be better than the previous. Today I enhanced my recipe with KAF Cake and Bread Enhancer.

This product is an emulsifier which “enhances” the ability of fats and liquids to combine more easily. This in turn makes the bread (or cake) softer, moister and stay fresh longer. Other than this addition (one Tbl per cup of flour) this recipe is the same as the last one. The result was exactly as advertised, great taste, soft, moist and delicious.

L: Enhanced Mini Loaves – R: Enhanced Mini Loaf Crumb

A quick story about how I came to have Cake and Bread Enhancer. I was visiting my home state which also happens to be the home of King Arthur Baking. We decided to take a road trip, not that I needed anything. Well, a couple of hours and -$395 later I had the mini loaf pan, enhancer and dozens of other baking items I did not need. QC no longer allows me to go into that store with any credit cards.☹️

Choose the Short Straw

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I watched Valerie Bertinelli make manchego cheese and fig puff pastry straws on YouTube so I said to myself …why not?

If you have read other posts of mine using puff pastry you know while I have made it from scratch before, I prefer either Pepperidge or Trader Joe’s puff pastry. Pepperidge Farms puffs up 2 or 3x more Trader Joe’s so choosing which to use depends on what you are making. This time, I used Pepperidge Farms puff pastry.

L: Fig coated layer and other ingredients – R: Cut and twisted straws

This recipe resulted in a flavorful treat with a good snap, provided you bake them long enough. They are best warm so if you have them in more than one sitting, warm them up in an oven or toaster-oven. Be sure they are warm!

Oh! I also made a batch of blueberry drop scones for freezing for quick breakfasts

Manchego Cheese and Fig Straws

INGREDIENTS

• All-purpose flour, for dusting
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 1 tablespoon fig jam
• 1 cup grated manchego cheese, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
• 1 large egg

METHOD

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line two 18-by-13-inch sheet pans with parchment paper.
  2. Dust a work surface lightly with flour. Roll out the puff pastry into a 14-by-12-inch rectangle. With the short side facing you, cut the dough in half horizontally: Measure 7 inches up the side, mark the dough and cut in half, using the mark as a guide.
  3. Evenly spread the fig jam over the bottom half of the dough, leaving a little room at the edges. Sprinkle 1 cup of the cheese over the jam. Top with the other half of the dough, pressing down lightly to adhere to the cheese and jam. With a pizza cutter, cut into 1/2-inch strips (about 24 strips).
  4. Twist each strip four or five times, then pinch the ends together to prevent unraveling while baking. Place the twists on the prepared baking sheets.
  5. Mix the egg with 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl and brush onto the twists. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons cheese.
  6. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before releasing the straws from the parchment with an offset spatula. Let cool completely.
  7. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container for up to 1 day.

Good Bakery Morning

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I wanted to try a new recipe for blueberry muffins that purported to yield soft, moist, not dense muffins. I also had some new ‘tulip’ muffin papers to try. These were advertised to not need a muffin pan (read that as one less pan to wash.) In use, the papers were too thin, therefore too flimsy to not need the support of a muffin pan.

The papers would have been good had I squeezed them into a pan small enough to help them maintain a round shape. They weren’t bad, but not perfect. Perhaps a heavier paper, or using 2 or 3 of them to make the papers stiffer? On the positive side they did not leak resulting in a clean pan which require no washing.

The recipe was very good. The muffins were not stodgy, rather were moist, soft and just a bit crumbly. Nearly perfect, or at least very good.

While the oven was hot I also made a batch of apple/raisin ‘scones’. Scones are in quotes as they are un-traditional. I made them in an ring mold pan to force them to rise up the sides rather than spread horizontally. (They did.) The same brown sugar and cinnamon crumble was used on both the scones and muffins. It was a good experiment, but I prefer my standard, traditional drop berry scones topped with sparkling sugar.

I was bored as the scones baked so using Dan’s modified waffle recipe I made a batch of waffles to freeze and nuke for a quick breakfast before an early tee time.

I just cancelled golf for tomorrow due to a forecast 100% chance of 55 degree rain. Now… what to do with another day off? Hmmmm….

Blueberry Muffins

INGREDIENTS
Streusel Topping
• ½ cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Muffins
• 1¾ cups (220g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (115g) room temperature unsalted butter
• ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
• ¼ cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 2 large room temperature eggs
• ½ cup (120g) room temperature sour cream or plain/vanilla yogurt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup (60ml) room temperature milk
• 1½ cups (250g) fresh or frozen blueberries
METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or use cupcake liners. Grease/line a second pan with 2 liners because this recipe yields about 14 muffins. Set aside.
  2. Mix all of the streusel ingredients together. Set aside.
  3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
  4. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract on medium speed until combined. By hand, add the dry ingredients and milk into the wet ingredients and stir gently, no more than 4 stirs. Gently, fold in the blueberries.
  5. Spoon the batter into liners, filling them all the way to the top. Top each with streusel, gently pressing it down into the surface so it sticks. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 18-20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 205-210 °F or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 23-25 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
  6. Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Apple/Raisin Ring Scones

INGREDIENTS
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• Zest of 1 small lemon (I used a small mandarin orange)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
• 1 cup diced apple
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Brown sugar/cinnamon streusel (see above)

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and zest. Pulse a few times to incorporate.
  3. Add the cubed butter and pulse to incorporate. The mixture should resemble very coarse sand.
  4. Empty the flour mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the cream and stir until just barely incorporated.
  5. Dice the apples leaving the skin. Use the outside of the apple removing a majority of the inside without skin. The skin will add some color to the scone. The dough should just be moist, not wet, but also not crumbly or powdery looking. If it looks too dry, add a tablespoon of cold water.
  6. Add and mix in the diced apple and raisins
  7. Spoon the dough into 6 ring molds sprinkle some streusel over the top, if desired.
  8. Bake for 16-19 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The scones should be lightly golden and cooked through.
  9. Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes then carefully remove to a cooling rack.

Waffles ala Dan

INGREDIENTS
• 2 eggs (separated)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ¾ cups milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
METHOD

  1. Preheat waffle iron.
  2. Whip egg whites to firm peaks.
  3. Beat egg yolks in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy.
  4. Gently mix flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth.
  5. Fold in egg whites until just combined.
  6. Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

Idle Hands Make…

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This afternoon’s ‘to do’ list contained nothing pressing. Tuesday I hard boiled eggs to include in our dinner salad and to make egg salad Wednesday. Today I baked a loaf of sandwich bread because I love egg salad on fresh baked bread. And as long as I was making bread I decided to replace the hamburger rolls I froze a few weeks ago. (I wasn’t happy with the rise of those whole wheat buns.) Today I mixed a double recipe of bread dough and shaped half into a loaf to bake at 425 deg and the rest into hamburger rolls to be baked at 375 deg.

To make a softer crust I coated the top of the loaf with melted butter before baking (hence the darker crust) and once again after it was baked, but still hot.

I also had a cup of heavy cream to use before it expired, and as long as the oven was on, I dropped the temperature and made some multi berry scones, baked at 400 deg.

Remember the hamburger rolls that baked at 375 deg? Well, as long as the oven was going to be dropped to 375 deg and as long as I had some frozen chocolate chip cookie dough that also bakes at 375 deg, I figured, what the heck.?

I have to find more chores to add to the ‘to do’ list. Today was exhausting.

The best part of the day was participating in the Grandparents Drive-Thru Car Parade at Grace’s school! (Unicorn car. You can’t see the fuzzy pink tail.)

Speaking of Grace, here we are making the aforesaid chocolate chip cookies.

Like Molasses in… September

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Before teeing off on the 8th hole yesterday, I flashed back to my mom’s molasses cookies. I don’t have her recipe, but as she was always a Betty Crocker kinda gal I found Betty’s recipe, made some this morning and they were exactly as I remembered!

(Betty’s recipe didn’t say, but I flattened the sugar coated balls a little. They may have flattened on their own, but I was concerned the centers and the edges may not cook evenly. Whatever the reason, they were excellent!)

Now, this may be childhood folklore or faulty memories, but growing up I had a neighbor named Betty Crocker. That was her married name after she and George wed. As a single woman her last name was Taylor, and of course her formal first name was Elizabeth but was known as Betty. Even without this celebrity, I was raised in a fabulous neighborhood and remain friends with MOST of my classmates from that time. So fortunate.

Soft Molasses Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup shortening
• ¼ cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

METHOD

  1. Heat oven to 325°F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, shortening, molasses and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients except granulated sugar.
  2. Shape dough by rounded tablespoonfuls into 1 ½ – inch balls. Dip tops into granulated sugar. On ungreased cookie sheet, place balls, sugared sides up, about 2 inches apart.
  3. Bake 13 to 16 minutes or just until set and cookies appear dry. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

Expert Tips From Betty Crocker

o Purchase shortening formed in oblong packages marked for easy cutting and measuring. It eliminates messy measuring in cups.
o There are reasons for using shortening versus butter when mixing up a cookie dough. Shortening has a higher melting point, so cookies will hold their shape longer in the oven before the fat melts in the dough (and shortening doesn’t release any steam like butter) so results in moist, chewy cookies. While butter melts more quickly and releases some steam so that cookies will spread more and be crisper, with a distinctly buttery flavor. Some recipes use a combination of the two fats.
o There is enough fat in these tender cookies that they won’t stick to the baking sheets. But for easier clean-up, line the baking sheets with baking parchment. The parchment can be used several times before composting or recycling it.
o What type of molasses should you keep in your pantry? Choices include light, cooking, unsulphured and blackstrap. Each style is a by-product of the sugar making process and offer mild to robust levels of flavor in baked goods. A good all-purpose molasses is an unsulphured one, made from sun-ripened sugar cane; it has a full, smooth flavor without being bitter.
o Measuring flour accurately is key in baking. Stir flour a bit before spooning into measuring cup then level off top using a flat-edge utensil such as a knife.

‘Spearminting’ with Shortbread

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Actually, I was ‘experimenting” with vegetarian mirror glaze today. Previously, I made a mirror glaze that was too rubbery so I thought I would give it another try. Anyway, I wanted to try making some chocolate mousse domes. The recipe I found for the domes was good. It uses Agar Agar rather than gelatin sheets so it remained vegetarian.

As I only needed six shortbread cookies for the bases of the domes, I decided to make a few (24) shortbread cookies with the balance of the recipe. And, as long as I was also using chocolate for the domes I figured I might as well dip one side of the cookie to make a nice chocolate crescent accent

L: Baked 2.5” Diameter Cookies – C: Cookies and Dipping Chocolate – R: Final

To make the domes, I filled my 2.5” diameter silicone mold with mousse to within 1/4” of the top. This provided room to fit a 2.5” trimmed cookie in the base. As the cookies spread a little while baking, the thinnest were trimmed with a cutter and placed on the still soft mousse, then put in the freezer until solid.

Top: L: Mousse and Cookie in Mold – C: Trimming Cookie – R and Bottom: Finished Domes.

Even the thinnest shortbread cookies were too thick (about 1/4”.) The problem is the unbaked cookies are too fragile to move if they are any thinner. Next time I will roll the dough out thinner on the cookie sheet then remove the excess from between the round cookies. Wish me luck.

The results were promising. The glaze was too thick to pour. Spreading the glaze ruins the effect of a smooth. Coating. I found another recipe for the glaze, but using gelatin sheets. I will substitute Agar powder using one third the amount of Agar to gelatin. The ratio of cocoa powder to liquids seems right to allow it to pour. Time will tell.

Chocolate Mouse Domes with Agar Agar

Mousse

INGREDIENTS:
• 60 g Dark Chocolate (melted)
• 50 ml (1/4 cup) Heavy Cream
• 175 ml (3/4 cup) Whipping Cream ( whipped into soft Peaks)
• 1 tbl Agar Agar
• 6 short bread biscuits

METHOD:

  1. Add Agar Agar to heavy cream and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate
  2. Let rest for five minutes, then mix chocolate and heavy cream into a smooth mixture.
  3. Fold in Whipped Cream to the above mixture

Assembling

  1. Pour the mousse mixture into semi dome silicone molds or any medium sized round bowls.
  2. Place one biscuit over each dome
  3. Freeze the mousse until solid.

White Chocolate Glaze

INGREDIENTS
• 50 g White Chocolate
• 50 ml Heavy Cream
• 2 tsp Agar Agar
• 1 tbl Butter

METHOD

  1. Mix in the above mixture and bring it to boil once.
  2. Mix everything into homogenous smooth glaze.
  3. Sieve it once

Dark Chocolate Glaze – Option 2 (not yet used)
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/chef-dominique-ansels-recipe-for-dark-chocolate-mirror-glaze#chef-dominique-ansels-dark-chocolate-mirror-glaze-recipe

INGREDIENTS
• 206g, or 1 cup sugar
• 142g, or 1⁄2 cup, plus 11⁄2 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 ½ tsp Agar Powder (originally 12g, or 4 tsp gelatin, powdered)
• 60g, or 1⁄4 cup water, cold
• 148g, or 2/3 cups water, room temperature
• 71g, or 1⁄2 cup, plus 5 tsp cocoa powder

METHOD

  1. In a medium pot, bring sugar and heavy cream to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
  2. Add the Agar powder and heat while stirring until mixture starts to thicken (1-2 min, medium low heat.)
  3. In a bowl, combine the 148g (2/3 cups) room temperature water with the cocoa powder, stirring with a spatula until it becomes a uniform paste.
  4. Stir cream-sugar-Agar mixture into cocoa powder paste until combined.
  5. Remove the pot from the heat, and strain the glaze mixture through a mesh strainer over a heatproof bowl to remove any clumps of undissolved cocoa powder.
  6. Emulsify the mixture with a hand blender (immersion blender) to remove any lumps, until smooth.
  7. Cover and chill in the fridge overnight to set, until ready to use. Should be 90 deg to pour.
  8. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

OPTION PUBLISHED WITH THIS RECIPE
INGREDIENTS:
• 50 ml Water
• 50 ml Heavy Cream
• 50 ml Sugar
• 80 gm Cocoa Powder
• 2 tsp Agar Agar

METHOD:

  1. Bring all the ingredients to boil in a medium saucepan.
  2. Whisk to cool to room temperature
  3. Sieve once to remove lumps

ASSEMBLING AND DECORATION:

  1. After 8 hours remove mousse from freezer and remove from the moulds
  2. Place mousse domes on cooling rack.
  3. Pour Dark Chocolate or White Chocolate Glaze over the dome and place the dome in freezer for 5 mins.
  4. I sprinkled some freeze dried raspberry powder on the domes to add a little bitterness to the sweetness of the mouse and glaze.

Jammy Bits

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Anyone who read the post on my go-to brownie recipe knows a vital ingredient is jammy bits. These are small pieces of sugar coated chewy raspberry jam. They add texture, moisture and flavor to the brownies, but they are time consuming to make. (You can buy them at King Arthur Baking.)

The California wildfires “smoked us in” this morning with the AQI over 300 (!) I decided to stay inside (except to walk Rosie while wearing a KN-95 mask.) This provided the time necessary to make jammies. (Full disclosure: I also baked some chocolate chip cookies and blueberry drop scones from frozen doughs I made previously. I had to do something as the jam was reducing!)

L: Making jam pretty much as normal – R: Caster sugar coated silicone lined baking sheet
L: Sieving hot jam onto sugar – C: Sheet of jam ~2-3mm thick – R: Frozen jam sheet, sugar coated on both sides and cut in half.
L: Frozen jam sheets cut into 1/4” wide strips – R: Jam strips cut into squares.

Once the jammy bits are cut put them in an airtight container, add several tablespoons of caster sugar and toss to coat the bits. If some stick together break them apart and re-coat. If some to stick together when you go to use them, just cut them apart.

Fruit Jammy Bits

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups Berries
• 2 Tbl Fruit Pectin
• 2 cups sugar
• Caster sugar (Extra Fine) for coating

METHOD

  1. Puree berries
  2. Heat puree to barely boiling and add pectin
  3. Once pectin is incorporated, add the sugar
  4. Continue boiling until mixing marks stay 7-10 seconds or about 235-240F
  5. Pour mixture into a fine sieve to remove seeds. Press firmly to squeeze as much seedless puree as possible through the sieve. I let the drippings fall on the caster sugar coated silicone mat trying to keep the thickness to 1-2mm.
  6. If necessary, spread mixture on caster sugar coated silicone mat and freeze
  7. Remove the sheet of fruit from the freezer and coat top with caster sugar
  8. Flip coated over onto a cutting board and coat the now top surface with more sugar
  9. When the fruit sheet is pliable cut into small squares (1/4” across) with a knife
  10. Toss the jammy bits into a bowl of sugar then store in an air-tight container in the freezer