chefpeon

Me. As hard as I've worked this week, I deserve at least that. No money, just fame please.

Checked out the leaf lard at the Flying Pigs website.....the downside is that you have to render it yourself. The lard I get from Dietrich's is already rendered.

Actually the crust I make now is about 60 percent butter, 40 percent leaf lard.....I should probably see what it's like going 50-50.....I've never done it since I like what I'm making so much. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, as they say..... And yeah, leaf lard is the fat found around the pig's kidneys if I remember right. I special order my leaf lard from Dietrich's Meats in Pennsylvania...... Oh yeah, Carolyn.....I'm all over the duck fat thing.......YOW-ZA!

I'm a huge fan of lard, leaf lard to be exact. But in my experience, I think crusts need to have at least a little butter in there for flavor. I wouldn't go 100% lard. I figure that all that flakiness isn't so great if you don't have flavor to go with it.

Nope! /raises hand

You can get a nice clean cut if you freeze it first, then slice with a hot, wet knife. Wipe knife off between cuts.

I agree with Mark. I've successfully made meringue mushrooms from swiss, italian and french. But go french, because why cook something twice when you can cook it just once? Since the shrooms are baked, you don't have to go to the trouble of making a meringue that heats the whites. Work smart, not hard!

Please God, no, not the Red Velvet Cake!!!!!!

You would use the PCB biscuit transfer sheets, just like you were using parchment paper. Put the transfer sheet on the bottom of your sheet pan. Spread the batter evenly on top. Bake. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, sprinkle the top with rice flour (my preference), put a piece of parchment on top, then put another sheet pan over that, then flip the whole thing over. Remove the sheet pan, then carefully peel the transfer sheet off. Hope that helps!!!

I bake off Joconde almost every day. I have found that whether you use your own cigarette paste or are using a transfer sheet, if you peel off the paper or silpat when the joconde is warm it always works best, and; like you said, make sure your cigarette paste isn't too stiff or dry. The difference in textures will make the pattern want to come off, if not sooner, then later. Also, don't make the pattern too thin. Thin, yes, but not TOO thin. I have found all of this information out by trial and error. I ordered Joconde Biscuit transfer sheets from PCB Creation in France. They are SO COOL. Definitely easier than making your own patterns and it saves time. There's lots of neat patterns to choose from too. The website isn't the easiest to navigate if you speak English......click on PCB Store, then click on Entremets on the left hand side, then click "transfer for biscuit". Anyway, with the transfer sheets, it's VITAL to peel them off while the cake is warm. I learned that from experience too.

If you scroll down, the Foose Tinsmith site has a do it yourself cookie cutter crafting kit too.

I would just like to clarify......I and others are NOT saying school is BAD.....definitely not. It's a GOOD thing. What we ARE saying is that you can get JUST as much out of a program that is not quite so expensive. The bottom line is, what you put into it is what you get out of it, and if you're dedicated, you can benefit greatly without going into any sort of debt. In my opinion, 20K for a culinary school education is crazy.

Yes, I say, listen listen listen to alanamoana, ChristopherMichael, K8, and John DePaula! They just said everything I was going to say, and here's my 2 cents on top of it. I too, went to one of those "community college" technical type trade schools. Early 90's. Total cost including books for over 2 years of culinary and pastry? $3000. The BEST thing school did for me was help get my foot in the door of potential employers and prepared me for what the work world MIGHT be like. Even then, school is NOTHING like work. Most of the best education I've had in the field has been ON THE JOB. The first thing a potential employer looks at when reviewing a resume? Your work experience. School is secondary, and as K8 put it, a "blip". A good "blip", but a "blip" all the same. I'll bet you that your experience as a home business will be more valuable on a resume than a Le Cordon Bleu blip.....and you want to pay HOW MUCH? That stuff they are telling you about being picky whom they accept? That's a line. Don't buy it. Literally. You have money? You're accepted. Can't get more simple than that. I've been a pastry chef for 16 years now. I'm highly skilled, and I'm happy to say I've finally gotten a little respect for who I am and what I've done so far.....but money? I make $13 an hour. After 16 years. That's right. So just think about possible earning potential and how much you want to spend for school.......and sit back and re-think this really. Cordon Bleu isn't going to get you anything that past work experience and a good attitude will. Save your money. And by the way, with my li'l ol' trade school training and work experience, I've been able to kick the butts of many a LCB or CIA grad........

I used to work with a pastry chef who would leave the 11 lb blocks of chocolate in their original wrapper and climb on top of the walk-in and drop them on the floor. That was enough to get started...the chocolate would be in large chunks and he would chop them smaller from there. You could also send the chocolate blocks to David Letterman so he could drop them off a 5 story building.

Remember, Bourdain was a chef first, writer second. He's very articulate for a chef, and not only that, he's hip on kitchen-speak. I love Tony. Seeing that picture of Bobby Flay with the Colonel Sanders impersonator......now THAT'S cruelty (to Bobby). I can't believe what a sell-out FN has become. The Rachael Rays and Sandra Lees are there as a link to hooking up with convenience food advertisers if you ask me. Tony the Tiger at the Food Network Awards is like the cast of Gilligan's Island at the Oscars.

When it comes to little kids, keep it simple. Save the big effort for when they're older and will appreciate it more (hopefully, anyway). Trishiad's idea for the cupcakes with animals was great....kids love yummy things and stuff with toys....they're also into instant gratification in a big way. They just don't appreciate the nuances and work that goes into a decorated cake like adults do. As a pastry chef, I think it's a blast to do stuff for little kids. I can let my hair down and do fun kid things with candies and wild colors and plastic toys, which is so unlike the adult cakes I do. The BEST part about little kids though is the appreciation they show towards those fun little simple things....also so unlike adults.......sigh.

Dirt cake is "too loose" to be eaten as a cupcake, but can be served in little individual plastic flowerpots! They are cheap!

This may be cheesy and cliche, but I think the PERFECT earth day dessert that pre-school kids would LOVE is one of those dirt cakes!!!! You know, the ones that are made with gummi worms and put in plastic flowerpots..... Like the one right here. I mean, c'mon.....is that EARTHY or what???

Pavesini?!?! Anyone? Anyone care to tell me how it compares to savoiardi or sponge cake? And regarding using egg yolks.....I saw pasteurized eggs IN THE SHELL at Safeway yesterday. They've finally hit the market!!!

K8's ice idea is a fine one indeed. I'd consider that for sure. Problem solved. Regarding what people do with the pastries once they've left the premises.....I'd put stickers on the to-go boxes stating that you assume no responsibility for mis-handling of the product once it's left the premises. State that the pastries should be kept refrigerated.

This is one of those topics that could turn into yet another debate about how the actual incidence of people becoming sick from spoiled dairy and the actual occurrence of spoiled dairy are two different things. A cream puff sitting on a sweet table in an air conditioned room is NOT going to spoil in 4 hours, and that's all I'm gonna say about that. I know we now live in a paranoid liability filled world......if there's even a 1 in a million chance that somebody could get a little bit queasy from something of yours they consumed, then you don't even want to take the chance, as small as it is. Sigh. A couple of things I will mention: Ultra pasteurized cream. Sure it's more expensive, but I use it exclusively, not only for safety reasons, but because it's stable as hell. I never even need to add stabilizers to it. I do believe there are non-dairy custard mix options for you, if you really want to go there. I don't know about you, but I'm brutally honest with my brides. Sure, they want what they want, and if they can't get it from you, they will probably go elsewhere. That's never bothered me. If they want the impossible or the un-doable, or they want something for nothing, or they want to put me in a bad position disaster-wise or liability-wise, then I have no problem saying, "see ya". If you are totally uncomfortable with the whole perishable-desserts-on-the-buffet-table idea and just don't want to take any chances, just tell the bride "no" and tell her why. Her options are to go elsewhere, or to take your suggestion of making non-perishable desserts. Take the angle that you are "looking out for her and her guests' safety". When you come at it that way, they tend to back down a little. You can say something scary like, "it wouldn't bode well for your wedding experience if you have guests barfing in the table centerpieces....." That vision alone might get her to re-think her whole idea.

I've never had Pavesini before. What makes it different than ladyfingers or savoiardi? What say, Desiderio?

I've never had Pavesini before. What makes it different than ladyfingers or savoiardi? Is it sweeter? Spongier? Crunchier? Less sweet? I make a pretty good tiramisu (the Annie version), but I'm always looking for improvements. I sure wish mascarpone wasn't such a bitch to find sometimes.

If you do attempt your own pop rocks, promise to document your experience in a thread, 'cause I really wanna see this. Don't forget to wear safety glasses.

I always find that if I use a ganache that's made with butter or corn syrup or anything else in addition to the standard "cream and chocolate" recipe, separating becomes an issue. If you stick to just cream and chocolate, you'll have far less trouble. If you want to use a ganache with butter or other things in it, use that ganache for fillings or truffles or anything else that isn't really "seen". If you want a nice dependable shiny ganache for the outsides of things just stick to cream and chocolate. Less hassle.