Hey everyone, looking for some help with a recipe if possible. Never posted on Reddit before so hopefully it is all formatted correctly etc.
The profile I am aiming for is a Rhubarb Custard. It is based off Perino London Rhubarb Custard, an expertly blended creamy vanilla custard with an undertone of rhubarb, a smooth and balanced vaping experience. Now my memory of that was a very mellow flavour, to a point where it felt slightly underwhelming. However, it was still quite enjoyable.
I have attempted this in various blocks over the last couple of years, and in this block I am on about the 6th iteration. The problem I am having is that it just doesn't feel to be sitting right with the balance and layers. So I am unsure if it is a percentage issue or a flavour choice issue.
This is version 6
|Flavour |Percentage | |:-|:-| |Graham Cracker Clear TPA|1.5%| |New York Cheesecake CAP|3.00%| |Raspberry (Malina) INW|0.50%| |Rhubarb INW|0.80%| |Strawberry Ripe TPA|3.00%| |Vanilla Custard CAP|3.00%|
With this profile I wanted to add a crumble type base, as I am not looking for a clone as such. So I chose Graham Cracker combined with NY Cheesecake for the crumble texture. Also hoping to get a creamy note from the NY Cheesecake to blend with CAP's vanilla Custard.
Strawberry ripe and rhubarb I understand to be a go to combo, with the strawberry ripe giving a bit more body to the tartness of the rhubarb.
The raspberry was a last second change of mind. Originally I had Flavour Arts Juicy Strawberry ready to go to add a little sweetness, but something in my head said raspberry. I think I was having concerns that the cheesecake/custard may bury the fruit flavours and thought the raspberry would help make it pop a little.
So a little unsure as to what direction I need to take this. Part of me thinks maybe a cream and custard combo as opposed to cheesecake. The crumble texture just isn't grabbing me either.
In previous iterations I have used TPA oatmeal cookie, with more of a Granola in mind. Cookie FA, CAP sugar cookie, INW biscuit and TPA apple pie have all had a look in for the crumble base. There has been dabbling with other custards that maybe aren't as heavy(eggy), Flavorah, Purilim. Then there is fruit combos pear, wild strawberry, fuji apple to no real avail.
Suffice to say I am buggered if I know where to go with this next.
Cheers and thanks
My Rhubarb recipe had the same problem (I used INW Rhubarb, Malina & TFA Strawberry Ripe too). It all came together when I added Triacetin to the mix, which is 1% of TFA Dragonfruit or if you don't have that TFA Smooth or FA? MTS, it all does the same thing.
None of these flavors should change the profile of your mix much and they should help in the blending of the flavors.
I can't take credit for figuring that out, if you want to read more on how Triacetin works, clicky there
u/scottch_reddit some really good information in the link, thanks mate. I have CAP & FLV dragonfruit, but figure they would contain the same molecular compound in triacetin. Then I also have both smooth and mts.
Might try DF at 0.5% and see what that does first, and if need be can up the %.
Cheers, brilliant !!
I'm not sure if a different vendors of DF would have triacetin, we know TFA does because they let us see the MSDS. I would use the smooth or MTS over your DFs, because we know they have triacetin. TFA Lychee has triacetin too, which would go well in your recipe also.
You say it doesn't seem to be "sitting right with the balance and layers"? In what way?
One of my favorite recipes is pretty similar. I use 3% Cap Sweet Strawberry instead of 3% TFA Ripe Strawberry. I use less rhubarb (0.4% as opposed to 0.8%) and I use 1% TFA Raspberry instead of 0.5% Inw Raspberry.
My first thought is to cut back on the creams *or* cut back on the rhubarb. Somehow I can't imagine the tartness of the rhubarb working well with cream. I don't use any cream at all, just FA Cookie at 3% and FW Yellow Cake at 2%. (Yeah, I know FW Yellow Cake is not recommended but I don't care.)
This! Plus, half the cheesecake and add in 1.5% CAP Sugar Cookie.
Thanks, u/Barbarake I will have a look at trying those fruit combinations and see how that works. The yellow cake & cookie combination I will mix up as well just so I can see where you are going with yours.
And... u/l33fty I will do another mix with your idea also, thank you.
To answer the question "sitting right with the balance and layers", it is a number of things, lacking in what I am envisioning, which is a richer mouthfeel. There tends to be notes popping out, say the top note of the tart rhubarb, then another note of the raspberry, then mild notes of a custard base type thing. All of them very seperate, and nothing harmonising together, if that makes sense.
For some reason, CAP NY Cheesecake never worked for me. Try a smaller % of INW Yes Cheesecake. And try some bavarian cream, Lorann or even TPA
Thanks, fortunately I just received some Yes we cheesecake, so an opportunity to put it to use.
Not so sure with the bavarian cream, it is a pretty heavy cream, so it may lose the fruits given they are on the bright side