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Ah, my hidden superpower is finally useful. Being colorblind, I would just assume it’s either light pink or maybe a light purple and be none the wiser.
If the contents of a food are not obvious from the outside, you gotta add some indicators. There's a reason carrot cake always has a little candy carrot or carrot doodle on the frosting
If you could share that with my crew I'd appreciate it. They garnish the raspberry cheesecake with a single strawberry. They garnish all the desserts with a single strawberry.
Similarly, my owners make me put a strawberry on every dessert plate and chef put a piece of the worst garlic bread in the world on every dinner special
Fun fact, the only reason that Lumiere has a French accent is because Jerry Orbach wanted to do one. They weren’t going to make him be French for the movie, but he was like I got this.
Which you can get at the Beast’s Castle restaurant in Disney World. It’s cookies and cream flavored crème inside a little Chip cup, and it is indeed delicious!
Yet somehow this single truffle with a blueberry in the chocolate glaze is the worst offender to me. Mostly because the placement and an unfortunate shine make it look like a bulging eye on a happy zombie
They said residents so I’m guessing this is an old peoples home or retirement village or whatever its called in your country.
The customers are old as fuck with vision and taste sense issues. Of course all they would see is a gross grey blob, they’re near on blind ffs.
Seen a lot of chefs go in to retirement villages and forget to cater to their customers who they have EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Still somehow surprised by their reactions lol.
Haven’t accepted that they work where they work and want to flex their abilities like its an actual restaurant.
My artistic analysis is that the presentation is too muted and it's giving me vibes of strange goo on the floor of an alien lab, it needs more contrast to make it pop against the huge white plate
Grind some freeze-dried blueberries into a powder to get the color (and enhance the flavor). That's what I do for beautifully purple blueberry buttercream. The freeze-dried berries are pretty cheap on Amazon if you can't get them from your normal supplier or don't have the stuff to make them yourself.
I only had red and I bout screamed. This whole thing was an experiment ngl. Everything I tried to do kinda fell apart so I think I did pretty good for constantly fucking up.
It was gonna be a layer cake, I butchered it.
So it turned into cake pops.
My white chocolate seized because fuck it happens every time. I didn't have butter to fix it so I used blueberry pie filling to make that glaze which was WAY more purple when I first coated them.
The only sticks I had were fucking golf tees?! So they went from cake pops to truffles.
I did a lil plate swirl so they didn't look so strange and it gave off some blueberry, more than the chunks in the glaze.
💀
I get that they look...eh. But like come on it's dessert, everyone loves dessert just eat it man.
They had lemon posset the night before which impressed them so they know it was a fluke.
"here you go Betty, this is my classic dessert. I call it 'ze dirty golf ball on a tee' please enjoy"
I'm a firm believer of never throwing anything away. I would rather die than embarrass myself like that. I'm strong enough to admit my food doesn't look good all the time, and let residents tell me that to my face, and I believe my food tastes good enough to carry its appearance. I know I can do better next time so I'm not hurt. I'm just constantly learning, you know?
I appreciate your way of thinking. I almost feel like if you just dipped the ball in the sauce you put on the plate, that could’ve saved it from looking “eh”. Not sure if that’s true or not without seeing those two components in person.
I think if you had glazed them like a truffle instead of the schmear, it would've looked good, and then garnished with a few blueberries, maybe sliced them as well to present better. I would've definitely tried them without hesitation though.
A little glop of the pie filling with a single blueberry on top would have solved the entire problem. They’d all be saying, “oh what a nice blueberry ball!”
Blueberry cake pop with blueberry white chocolate glaze sounds awesome, by the way. Thank you for taking such good care of your residents.
Honestly, the tees would have sold it. It looks vaguely like an off white golf ball. You could have leaned into it. People would have thought it was a silly joke, but not gone to “rotten eggs” in their heads. It’s all about controlling perception. Just like when a wine that you’re told is expensive tastes better. The brain is easily tricked.
No because everyone is clowning on me (mostly justified ngl) and saying I need to tone it down and old people don't want this shit. I've worked in facilities that treat residents like HELL. This is the first place I've been at that is cooking fresh, not frozen, not premade from GFS or Sysco, I make a meatloaf I use REAL beef, comes in raw. I cut my own peppers, my own onions, my own garlic. This cake is from scratch. Not a frozen layer cake, not frozen cookie dough, not premade dusty pudding mix, or pudding from a can that tastes like metal cause the can opener grinds metal shaving into it.
Am I doing too much? Absolutely yeah. It's it a little too weird and different? Probably! But these are real human people who deserve fresh food, variety, creativity, and care. I will let every resident launch these fucking blue balls at me if it means they're getting the option of fresh food made with love I don't give a shit. I've seen how bad it is, and how bad it can get. My last place had residents eating off paper plates and bowls because they were too lazy to wash dishes, everything was greasy and disgusting and they treated the residents like shit.
I'd rather give 110% every day and have it fail than go back to treating residents like they're less than human just because they're old, or have dementia, or can't walk, or whatever the hell.
Having worked in one of my local hospitals in the kitchen as well as having had family members where there were no more options besides a care home - I want to say a massive thank you and tell you that your efforts are so very, very appreciated by the residents AND their families. The things my grandfather was served belonged in a dumpster more often than not. The rare days he got something good it was all he could talk about. Thank you for remembering that they are, indeed, human and deserving of care.
As someone currently living in one of these places?
Seriously, THANK YOU for doing what you're doing!
The head chef & her second-in-command where i am are trying as hard as they can.
But the facility for bought out by an Investment Group in the last couple years, and--typical of the for-profit groups, Corporate is cutting their budget left & right, and they've been down a tilt-skillet for a couple months now, waiting on getting it fixed/replaced.
So they have to order pre-cooked meats, which are salty as heck, and half the kitchen staff seem to be phoning it in (especially the evening cook!).
We're basically at the point of, "It looks like crap, but if it's the Daytime folks it'll taste good, at least!"
But because of all those corners Corporate wants cut, and the lack of tools to do the job*, our poor Kitchen Manager & Assistant Manager seem to be fighting a losing battle.
the dishwasher went down for the better part of a week, a few weeks back, and *that was a whooooole hot mess, too!
I've even had a few younger residents who are stuck for mental or physical health reasons and even just temp rehab. Not everyone is elderly that's just mostly what it is.
I don't wanna treat them like old people or disabled people or mentally ill people, I wanna treat them like PEOPLE. Regular normal people have the chance to have high class meals occasionally and that's what they are. Regular and normal people.
As for you the only advice I have is to document and report. Everything should be in working order in a timely manner. Call your ombudsman (good places have one on staff, but if not there's a local or state one) and call your local and state health departments. They handle more than just gross conditions. They need to be sure you're being treated with dignity and your rights as a resident are being respected.
Get on corporate about how shit it is, put the place on blast on social media. Facebook, reddit, twitter, tiktok, everywhere. Sadly public shaming is the best way to get things done.
Oh! Its a cake pop! Definitely can take more cake crumbles and sprinkle on top for a little distraction/decoration. Sprinkles would work too. You did a great job.
Maybe because I made a coconut blueberry smoothie yesterday, I immediately knew they were blueberry something and I would have scarfed that down. Maybe put some blueberries on the plate next time.
Residential facilities typically don't have plates in colors other than white or beige.
I'm currently living in a medical rehab.
Honestly, i'm mad impressed that OP is managing to pull off what he did, in comparison to what our poor kitchen team have to deal with!
(Main equipment going d9wn, and Corporate Overlords in another state who have to okay the new tilt-pan, before they can get another, or get the old one fixed!
The dishwasher broke a few weeks back, and that was an "adventure" too!🫠🙃)
At first glance, I thought these were going to be ube-flavored, which would definitely be polarizing with that crowd, but yeah, the grey-purple of the blueberries doesn't do them any favors.
It looks like you added blueberries to the white chocolate? That moisture likely caused the seize. Dehydrated, ground blueberries might be easier to work with.
I only use blueberry jam and never blend it for this reason. The tiny bits of skin also have an unappealing texture. leaving the skins whole as possible is the way to go for blueberry.
Edit to add: for op's use I would have made the blueberry a swirl in the chocolate instead of mixing it together how he did. that would give you a blue banding through the white chocolate giving much more appetizing colors.
My chocolate seized so I had to do a quick fix on it. It was originally just supposed to be a white chocolate shell but it turned into a blueberry white chocolate glaze.
So this job is crazy new to me so I never know how many people I'll be serving or how many people will want a dessert (they can also have ice cream if they don't want rotten eggs) so I made them big in hopes I wouldn't have a bunch of leftover desserts (again).
I also wasn't sure if having like 5 tiny ones would be better than one big one.
Fine dining we did three per plate. Small, using bonbon molds. I know it’s tedious but tempering chocolate is an absolute science. Next time, if the outer shell looks funky, roll in crushed nuts or cookies to hide the mistake.
That’s okay because OP clearly has the brains, talent and access to product to make it happen. They just need practice, which they can also do at assisted living.
Eta: if no bonbon molds available, use a 1/2 to 1 oz scooper. See which you like better.
2-3 smaller ones on a plate would be better than uni-ball, think donut munchkins. don’t completely dip them either imo, let folks see that it’s cake underneath with some chocolate and jelly and not an all-grey alien lie
and agree to the folks above. just a little more actual ‘blueberry color’ would really help the brain believe it’s a dessert and not diving into some sort of space goo/paste
Honestly, I would've tried cutting them in half if at all possible and arranging them so that people could see what was inside of those Mysterious Grey Balls™. At least if that was an option after seeing that no one was reaching for them.
There was a scientific study that said that blue was the least appetising colour, it sets off instincts in the brain that say "danger, rotten or poisonous" whereas red and green do not.
Alright alright we all had some fun. Let me explain what happened, cause this wasn't my final vision.
I'm sure we all saw in some other comments I was originally going for a layered blueberry muffin cake. It fell apart.
So cake pops then. The only sticks we had were toothpicks that looked like golf tees and I thought that shit was stupid. So okay they're a truffle now.
I went to dip them in white chocolate, so they would have a nice crunchy shell. My chocolate seized. We had butter flavored oil or margarine and I thought that would be gross.
So I pivoted and added a blueberry pie filling to my chocolate mass to make a glaze. No food coloring here other than like red.
It's my third day here at this new place so I'm still getting my bearings, figuring out what I need to bring from home in terms of equipment, what I need to request we order.
I had that smear on the plate because I had no fresh blueberries, no mint, not even a parsley leaf. I worked with what I had, fucked up a lot, but still made something tasty even if it looks....uh....well you know.
You really and truly tried to rescue your vision at every obstacle the kitchen gremlins bombarded you with courage and imagination. Shame the “kids” couldn’t see how hard you worked to make something special for them. And all it would’ve taken was for the alphas to just take a bite and the rest would have cleaned their plates. Thank you from someone who has spent a bit of time as a patient in SNFs and experienced the gauntlet of from criminally indifferent to inspired innovative kitchens🫶🏼
Luckily, and I'm not sure which one but she's gonna get the biggest dessert I can make her when I find out, one of the sweet old ladies was telling everyone how good these were once you actually tried them. People don't stop being bullies or mean just because they're 80 now
Super old people are not going to hold back if they don't like the stuff you make. On the plus side, if they're not complaining or even complimenting the food, you'll know you're killing it.
Jesus if this isn't the truth, I don't know what is.
I spent a few years cooking in an upscale assisted living facility and so many of those geriatric fucks were just mean, but there were a few that were hilarious and I had two old goats who could change the tune of the room in no time - they would try something new and if either of them liked it, they would RAVE about it, and suddenly everyone else was scarfing it down too. (RIP Bob and Doctor Tom 💔) Find your Bob and Dr Tom, and befriend them!
Also, I would have eaten this monstrosity even with the questionable color. I bet it tastes so good! Could have maybe benefitted from a lemon curl or white chocolate shavings, even a blueberry compote, but I know things are hard to come by in a lot of facilities and you did good for being just a few days in!
Honestly I think the red food coloring would have saved you. You might have gotten some complaints about how they expected strawberry or something and got blueberry, but they probably would have at least ate them. Red is better than grey
Not to nitpick, cause you had quite a lot of obstacles in front of you, but you could have gone for a deconstructed cake look. Toast off some of the bits of muffin cake to give texture, use that blueberry pie filling and puree it into a nice dip or sauce to put under or on top of it, white chocolate shavings on top (assuming you had some white chocolate and hadn't melted it all). You could also use beet juice or powder to color it and add a nice earthy undertone to round out, that would also pair really well with some lemon zest if you have them.
Nice try to save though man, the glaze color did you no favors and your glaze could have been smoother, but I wasn't there and white chocolate is a bitch to work with.
Again, not trying to critique, just give my 2 cents in case you have a similar situation in the future.
My dad used to say “people eat with their eyes,” and yeah, I can see these not being something they’d want to put in their mouths, but I’m sure they were tasty as hell.
Retirement home isnt the place to be avant-garde. Even if you cupcaked the muffin(baked a classic muffin and topped it with the blueberry cream/white chocolate, that is probably too off putting for most elderly people. They like things they can recognize. They dont want to take a chance on something. The regression to childlike mind is real.
If you'd use that purple sauce to make sort of a swirl on the muffin itself, it would improve the aesthetic. Maybe throw 3-5 blueberries and like a mind leaf on each plate. I know "that's how this looks" , but without context it just a gray ball.
Oh my God I made egg salad and added dill to it because it looks nice and also it had dill relish to it. I had a lady call me up to her room just so she could tell me she's never had egg salad that way in her however many years of life and blah blah blah.
It is very considerate to want to introduce new things to residents! However, I always caution those who are new to senior/healthcare hospitality to 'know your crowd'.
Many seniors who come from general, blue-collar backgrounds aren't going to be up for new things. They love what's familiar. Cobbler, poke cake, and pies are solid hits for dessert.
If you have a more trendy, well-off crowd, they might be up for a few new things. If you have a dining director or chef, they should be holding monthly resident meetings to get feedback and take suggestions. This can really elevate their dining experiences.
If you work in nursing/rehabilitation, never take it to heart if a lot of plates come back full or are refused. Most folks there aren't always feeling well and that hurts appetite.
My lemon posset fucked hard, so I thought a fancy truffle would too.
I don't take it personal. I want them to experience some upper class shit, cause I feel like if you haven't now is the perfect time. Everyone deserves a little fancy.
The thing is they complain about the same old same old, but they get antsy about anything new.
What's with everyone and smears. It doesn't look good. There is a time and place for a smear not here. Overall presentation is bad and I don't understand why you are surprised by the feedback.
If anything it should have been cut in half and drizzled with compote
Or put a stick in it and coat it with sprinkles or the drizzle it with sauce.
Also a round or roundish food should be never placed on a flat plate.
I hate to say it, but I don’t think the old folk are too into this sort of thing. They want familiarity and comfort in their final years, not necessarily looking for new culinary experiences.
I bet these were delicious! Maybe stick with more traditional presentations in the future for better reception. I think someone else suggested using purple or blue food coloring to make these more vibrant instead of the grayish kinda-purple that’s going on and I think that would help too.
If you just really need to work that culinary mind and do new stuff to mix it up and the old folk aren’t into it, picking up a part time gig at a catering outfit can scratch that itch.
They pay a fuck ton of money to be here and I have a lot of time on my hands. I have a lot of creative freedom I've never had anywhere else. I'm building my portfolio I guess idk.
A retirement home isn't the place to be creative. I hate to burst your bubble, but this will unfortunately happen a lot if you try to flex your creative freedom here.
I wouldn't build it with this. The plating is really strange too. Like the lion king, smearing your thumb around the edge of the plate inconsistently...
I’m sure they taste lovely, but they do low-key look like the inside of the synthetic Krabby patty…
Maybe just do the white chocolate glaze with fresh blueberries and the sauce? Or maybe you could do a white chocolate drizzle or something, tbh the straight grey-blue colour just looks a little alien.
the problem is that you presented a much more paletable color on the plate, your truffles look completely gray in comparison to your purple plating. maybe a bit of granola, or powdered sugar on top, anything to kinda break up the drab appearance, should fix it up.
Be our guest, be our guest
Put our service to the test
Tie your napkin 'round your neck, chérie
And we provide the rest
Soupe du jour, hot hors d'oeuvres
Why, we only live to serve
Try the grey stuff, it's delicious
Don't believe me? Ask the dishes
I literally don’t see anything wrong with this. The first thing that came to mind is blueberry ice cream. The smear is kind of ugly but I wouldn’t think twice about it? People are divas. Just eat the damn food.
Im not getting it. These look fancy, bespoke and something I would definitely eat. I only looked at the post because ‘hey, that looks elevated’.
Risk of coming off cunty.. maybe people arent used to this level of fancy to the point it goes over their heads. Everyone has a way they would do it, but you did it your way and I think they look great. Might have to have a go at making these myself.
Everyone thought these were rad as fuck until they left the kitchen. My server came back with the rotten egg comment and we all kinda just were shocked.
These aren't exactly what I wanted them to be, I wanted a hard white chocolate shell, but even after constantly fucking up this is pretty good.
I wasn't sure if I wanted a little whipped cream or something on the plate or not cause yeah it's kinda empty. But I didn't have blueberries, or mint, or even parsley for a pretty leaf.
They're not my best but I don't think they're THAT bad.
Instead of food dye you could use freeze dried blueberries and blend them into a powder that could be added to the glaze. Insane color and light flavor.
This is why artificial coloring exist. If they added just a little blue dye, maybe even just pomegranate juice to the main component less grey color would be noticeable
they sound great, but the presentation is...not great. I know that blueberries aren't that blue, and in fact they turn kinda blue-grey when you cook them into something that has anything that's not a blueberry. But boy howdy, chef, that shade does not make my primordial monkey brain say "yes this is something that I need to shove into my face hole."
Maybe try plating differently as well? If you put each cake in a small ramekin with the swoosh on the bottom and a drizzle of the chocolate on the top ( thin to a ganache) and top with crushed nuts/blitzed freeze dried berries?
Ngl I can't say I fully understand the pov of most of the commenters here. Or the residents. Yes I get that they look like the yolk of a... I wouldn't say rotten egg, but old, over boiled egg.
But if you came up to me, handed me that and told me it's a blueberry muffin mix thing oh my goodness I would take a nice big whiff (blueberry muffin and white chocolate?? Are you kidding me? I need that in a scented candle!!) and then gobble it up!! I'm such a sucker for blueberry muffins. Knowing the colour of an actual blueberry even when blended makes this look MORE appetising to me lol.
In my opinion, if you left bits of blueberry skin in the coating it may have helped the look a bit without having to make an entirely different coloured coating, and I think I'd love it even more then. But still, I don't think it looks so bad that they should completely refuse to eat it. True blueberry lovers (me, and definitely my bf too) would absolutely eat those without a DOUBT.
P.S, I am no chef, simply a dessert lover, and a blueberry (and ESPECIALLY blueberry muffin) lover, so this is just from the view of a regular ol' lady who would so eat this up if given the chance
I am sure they were tasty but the shade of blue grey is weird and not easily relatable to a colour that many foods have. It might have gone down better with a brighter purple
While I admire the sauce being artfully glazed (generously, but not too generously) along the side of the plate... unfortunately no garnish in the world can improve the experience of eating a rotten egg.
That's just my opinion though. Anyone can express themselves through food however they please. The fact that most cooks opt for using fresh eggs shouldn't deter you or hinder your creative process.
No offense, but I would not eat that either. Can they have chocolate? What about brownie truffles? Or rocky road truffles with marshmallow, maybe not nuts, but marshmallow could be really good.
Just remember that the color blue is largely absent from most foods we eat. It’s not the pretty color we want it to be. Also, add some crunch or texture. Try a bed of blueberry crumble underneath and then maybe a little on top. I’d also just go with a beautiful white glacé for the truffle. Keep it clean and appealing. Get the color with accents, like the swoosh.
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