chefpeon

Wow.....no kidding! $149.95 to torte a cake? No thanks! Doesn't look too easy to carry around either. I'll just stick with my serrated and keep my knife skills up!

Ok, here's what you do..... It's easier with a turntable, but if you don't have one, no big woop. Place your cake on the turntable or on a flat surface on top of a piece of parchment or saran wrap. Place your serrated knife at the halfway point on your cake where you want to split it. Place your non-cutting hand on top of the cake (you may want to use a little piece of saran between your hand and the cake), so you can spin it around as you slice. Using your knife, just cut about a half inch in, and spin the cake as you do so. All you're trying to do here is make a small cut all the way around to mark it evenly. It helps if you get eye level with the cake when you do this. When you've gone all the way 'round, just keep turning the cake with your one hand, and slicing into the initial cut you've made....don't try to cut it all the way through in one swipe, just keep turning and cutting. Keep your knife level. Pretty soon your cake will be cut all the way through. Nice and level. Another tip: use a nice smooth sawing motion....let the knife do the work for you.....don't try to press the knife in as you cut. Hope this works for you!

I did a stint for several years as the production manager for a wholesale/retail bakery with four locations in Seattle. I had to do a lot of hiring....and some firing. Here are my thoughts regarding attire, etc. As jgarner said, really, the first concern the interviewer has is whether or not the person can do the job. What they wear only tells you miniscule things about the person, and they may be false. You might think, "Oh they are wearing a nice suit (or dress)". This could mean one of several things: A) they really want this job and are doing everything possible to help get them hired; B) they own a lot of nice clothes; C) they just went to a seminar on job hunting and learned that dressing nice might help them get hired even though their resume is less than spectacular; D) they are people who have been to a lot of interviews and are "old hats" at it. These people usually talk to you to make you believe they are the employee of your dreams....but you get 'em out on the floor and it's a whole DIFFERENT story! Of course, you hope it's "A", but it isn't always "A". My judgement of their interview attire lasted only a half a second, and I knew it might be "A", but it could be "D". Basically, when it comes down to it, what they wear to an interview doesn't mean a whole lot in the end......unless..... they are unreasonably unkempt, or looked like they showed no thought at all about what they wore. Yeah, I probably wouldn't hire you if you walked in in a "Dead Kennedys" t-shirt, cut-offs, and sandals. However, if you threw on a chef's coat, and your resume looked ok, and you kicked ass on the floor, then I could give a rat's ass about the "Dead Kennedys" t-shirt. Like I said, the clothing is such a small part of it. What you wear to an interview won't make or break you. I had written a story on Mel's thread about one lady who had fingernails from hell. That told me a lot.....it was an interesting experience....not to mention funny. When I interview someone, this is what I look at first.... 1)I hope for a resume......sure, we have job apps that people can fill out, but I'm immediately disappointed if there's no resume. Some people think they don't have enough job experience to warrant a resume, so they don't bother to write one. A resume tells me they had the forethought to think about and highlight their skills.....whether they have experience or not. How the resume is laid out and written tells you a lot too. It also helps you figure out literacy levels, which is really important, since readin' and writin' is a big part of the job. The first thing I look at on the resume is "job history"....everything else secondary. If there is no job history, then I look at the schooling if any, and I ALWAYS call references! 2) What they say and how they say it is also very important. Body language tells you a lot. I usually ask a bunch of technical questions that might throw them if they are feeding me any BS. If I then determine they can talk the talk, then I throw 'em on the floor to see if they can "walk the walk". If they can walk and talk, then I may hire them. Personality and general attitudes about life also influence my judgement about a possible hire. So I guess my point is that I look at the sum of a person's parts. In one instance I might hire a sloppy dresser, and in another instance I wouldn't give 'em a chance. It sort of all depends. Not that I'm advocating sloppy dressing...hell no! I always say, look neat, clean, and put together. Anybody "on the ball" should know that. As an interviewer, the number one attire that gets my attention is the chef jacket...bar none. You always get bonus points with me if you wear one or bring one. This shows that you might anticipate an audition and you're ready to go for it. I like that......A LOT. Self motivated people are hard to come by and probably one of the best personality traits a PC can have. Truly.

Woo hoo! I get to taste some of Mel's stuff this weekend! My tastebuds are already doin' the happy dance! There's a big eG BBQ goin' on this Saturday in Seattle. It so happens one of the attendees will be driving up through Portland and he's stopping by the Criollo to pick up treats! Can't wait! Can you put a danish in there for me, Mel?

What do you mean by that, exactly? Of course we do. In any kitchen I've been in that required a uniform, we wore the same thing the hot side did. Are we any less "chefs" than the savory people? Heck no! The only difference my uniforms have is short sleeves. My arms are down in giant mixers of batter a lot, and long sleeves don't quite cut it.

A good thread on that topic.....here.

Here's what I've done..... In instances where I wasn't exactly sure what the interview entailed, I would wear my chef's jacket....my reasoning for this was that they may want me to audition "on the spot", and in that case I was ready. If they didn't ask me to audition, I would offer to and tell them I was ready to go, right now. Even if I didn't have to audition right then and there, it impressed them that I was ready to back up what I said immediately. I never wore a skirt or heels.....just nice neat casual clothes, and sometimes I'd have my chef jacket over my arm. Either way, they knew I meant business! Good luck....I know with your passion and enthusiasm you should have no problem finding a job!

I've experimented with 3 kinds of thermometers in candy making. I've used a dial-type thermometer, a digital thermometer with a probe, and a good old fashioned bulb thermometer. The dial type and the digital, while being much easier to read, were inaccurate enough that I could tell by my finished product they were off by maybe 5-10 degrees (or more). The bulb thermometer has been the most reliable and accurate I have found. That's kind of good news, since they're pretty cheap and easy to replace, but sort of a bummer, because they're not really "reader friendly". But since accuracy is most important, I'll give up on the easy-read for now!

I LOVE beautiful breakfast pastries! You should be able to transfer pics from your camera phone to the 'puter, but I don't have one, so don't quite know how. Hopefully the resolution will be high enough.

Ok kids! Time to fill in the blanks! 1. I like to fill/frost _____cakes with pistachio buttercream. 2. Pistachio buttercream goes great with _______. True or False: 1. I charge more for desserts with pistachio buttercream. 2. I toast my pistachios first before I grind them to use in pistachio buttercream. 3. Every time I say "pistachio", somebody says "gesundheit". Multiple choice: 1. Pistachio buttercream is: A. As good as chocolate buttercream B. not very attractive C. expensive D. worth making E. the best ever You will not be graded on this test. I'm using it only for personal research purposes....

Here's one of my favorite hiring stories: I was looking for a baker to do a bread/muffin/scone swing shift. One woman came in for the interview....nice resume....showed up on time....dressed appropriately.... so I looked at her resume.....it said she'd gone to pastry school....and had done some work at food establishments..... Then I see her hands. She had LONG, and I mean LONG, clawlike, beautifully polished fingernails. I asked, "Are those real?" I was thinking they MUST be acrylics, because she had just been "let go" from a sandwich shop, and she couldn't possibly have been allowed to work with food with fingernails like that. My assumption was she put acrylics on in between jobs or something. She said, "Yep! They're all mine!" Surprised, I said, "And they were ok with that at the sandwich shop?" "Yeah" she said. And I'm like....no way. So I told her, that I liked her resume, and most of the interview, and I was going to schedule her for her audition the next night. BUT. The fingernails had be much shorter, because she was going to knead bread, I didn't believe it was sanitary, and I didn't want to risk broken nails in the bread dough either. She protested, saying no one had a problem with it before. I told her I had a problem with it and for very good reasons. If you want this job, the nails have to go. Period. She didn't look too happy, but agreed to come in the next night. Apparently, she had a change of heart, because the next day, I come into my office, and there's a message on the machine from her. She sounded angry, and actually accused me of persecuting her because she was African American. She told me not to expect her that night and that she was going to report me to.........the ASPCA. I'm pretty sure she meant the ACLU, but DAMN that was so freakin' funny! I saved that message for a long time.

Anyone know the difference between clafouti and Far Breton? Other than the fruits are different. All I know is that they're both awful, no matter how they come out. I will never like Clafouti. It's like it's trying to be something, but who knows what......yipes.

Ok, so I gotta tell ya..... There's what you should do, and what actually happens. A lot of folks won't cop to it, but hey, I figure I'll tell it like it is......like Mel does. I have worked in a LOT of places where cream cheese icing was left at room temp, and no one sweated it. As a matter of fact, the place I work now leaves their carrot cakes out all day, AND those exact Contessa Cupcakes you were talking about.....out all day. The icing never turned, no one got sick, no lawsuits....nothing. One place I worked at a few years ago, did these things called "Pink Cookies" wholesale, for espresso stands. Have you ever seen them? They are a giant shortbread cookie covered with pink icing. The pink icing is made of nothing but cream cheese, powdered sugar, and pink food coloring. It was my job to mix the icing and ice up dozens and dozens of those suckers. They had to be done the day before they went out because they had to be allowed to sit at room temp and form a crust so we could pack them and deliver them. So they're sitting out 24 hours right off the bat. Then we send them out, and the espresso stands keep them out at room temp til they sell, so there's a couple more days. I worked there for 3 years.....iced up thousands of dozens of them.....left out at room temp for days....even a week. No sickness, no turning, no lawsuits.... nothing. Truth. I must say, when I first got there, I questioned the cream cheese icing/room temp thing, because I wasn't long out of school and you're trained (of course) to think "safety safety safety" (I still do). I asked the chef about it......"these pink cookies are ok, sitting out like this?" He said, "Heck yeah!" and kinda chuckled at me. So I figured if he wasn't sweating it, I wouldn't either. So, after all that....... and knowing that leaving cream cheese icing out really isn't that big of a deal, and that I regularly pull cream cheese out to sit at room temp overnight before I mix cheesecake batter..... would I tell people "Hey, it's OK!" No. I'm afraid to for some reason. I have no problem doing it myself, and I have no problem when I see other people doing it.....but I stop short of telling people to do it. I kinda think it's the same principle as the raw egg thing (like people concerned about caesar dressings and certain mousses).....the truth of the matter is the incidence of salmonella in raw eggs is ridiculously low. I also think that any sickness that may come from room temp cream cheese is even lower than that. I've never seen it happen and I've never heard of it happening. That's what I know.

Here's one of mine........ This was one of about 5 pastry trays I did for a fundraiser to raise money for a Maritime center project. You can see what the theme is! From left to right: White chocolate raspberry mousse "Life Rings" Mini Gianduja "Anchor" cakes Lemon Curd Meringue Tart "Sailboats" Caramel Cream and Chocolate "Compass Roses" I love themes.

Hee hee! Those are the guys that get most of the barista jobs in my town....... I don't know what I would do if I couldn't utilize my freezer to the fullest. That's the secret to my production actually. I'd never get anything done otherwise. I find the only people who actually turn up their noses at the thought of freezing are customers. Not that I freeze baked product..... no, just pre-formed cinnamon rolls, cookie doughs, tart shells and the like. They would be surprised to know I pull it out of the freezer, thaw, proof and bake-off. What they don't know won't hurt them. When I talk to customers, I never mention the word "freeze". I like to maintain the illusion that everything is "right off the mixer fresh". I know you didn't ask me personally, but I thought I'd put in my two cents. Besides, I'm off work for two weeks after having my second carpal tunnel procedure, and if I can't bake, I gotta at least yap about it.

That's why I love your blog Mel. You just tell it like it is. A lot of us enjoy and relate to it in a big way. Sure, people are gonna pop in and give advice, and you may see it as perhaps criticism, or people spewing stuff without having walked first in an owner's shoes......but it's all well-meaning, I'm sure of it. We're totally rooting for you Mel. We know how hard you're working and you're kicking some serious butt. I, for one, am jealous a little bit......your little pastry shop is a dream of mine too. But I know I don't have what it takes to get one off the ground. I had to honestly ask myself if I wanted to dedicate that kind of time and risk that kind of money.....and unfortunately, for me, the answer is "no". Perhaps earlier in my life maybe, but not now. It's so cool to see you pursuing what you set out to do and be successful at it. You know the next time I'm passing through Portland, I'm taking the exit to Criollo!!!

Um, I choose "A" most definitely. Kudos to you Mel, for even having the patience to show her twice!

Oh my, that's an awfully strong statement. When you're spread as thin as I believe Mel is, mentoring is probably something she doesn't have a whole lot of time for. I think she's doing as best she can, especially considering the recent kudos her place has gotten. One of the catch 22's we face in the biz, is the wage issue. Usually we can't offer the type of wages that brings in higher quality people, so you're stuck trying to choose from the best of the worst. I've been there. It's very frustrating.

Thanks for sharing the link to "Beard Papa's", Wendy! It's so funny.....the name.....the logo. Never in my wildest imagination would I look at a picture of an old fisherman type dude, and the name "Beard Papa's" and think it was a pastry place. All I can think of is "seafood"!!! But those cream puffs sure look good! I think they're successful because of one very important thing.....the best cream puff is the freshly filled cream puff. No time for the custard cream to soften the lovely crispy outside, and it doesn't take long for that to happen!

I've never made it before either. My question is, do you have to add so much of it "to taste" that it makes the buttercream quite greenish? Probably not recommended as an outside coating, but just as a filling? I think I remember that Mel posted once about Pistachio paste. She was looking for the MEC3 brand, and I think she said it wasn't green.

In addition to what jskilling and chromedome said, my reply to your question is "maybe 2 hours". One very important piece of advice I'd give to ANYONE in this biz is to always "audition" your potential employees. My interview process has two steps......the interview, and the audition. I invite them to come in and work with me (or my crew) for a couple of hours, paid. It's pretty amazing how quickly you can figure out if what they said in the interview jives with how knowledgeable they are in the kitchen. They talk the talk, but do they walk the walk? I've weeded out many a BS'er that way. On the other side, when I interview for a job, I ALWAYS offer to audition for my employer, which impresses them. Only a few have taken me up on it, but the ones that have usually hired me on the spot. Also, sad to say, I've never been in the position where I can afford to mentor a person that has little experience. I know I was there once, and someone gave me a break, but I've always needed someone to come in and "rock and roll" right away. Given what we've read in Mel's blog here, we certainly know she doesn't need to be hiring someone who's gonna be asking "How do I crack an egg?", no matter what the context.

Exactly right, jg! Way back when, my pastry instructor told us, "I want you to know, I'm teaching you 'Darrell's Way' but that's not the ONLY way. Whatever way your employer wants you to do it, is the way you should do it. Learning does not end here." Other comments: Generally I agree that the only stupid question, is the one not asked. BUT. Having been in this biz as long as I have, and with as many employees as I've had to deal with, I would say, actually, YES, there IS such a thing as a stupid question. I've had to answer them. In 100% of all cases, if the person had just stopped to think for a moment, they would have (should have) had the answer themselves. I'm not real big on hiring people that I have to babysit all the time.

Then I suppose the better worded question would be, "How would you like me to crack that egg, sir?" "How do I crack an egg?" is indeed laughable. And I would not hesitate to have a good chuckle (in their presence) before I answered the question civilly and diplomatically. Then I would go in my office and bang my head on the wall.

See Wendy? I told you the paint masker thingy was the thing to use! I'd discussed that eons ago! Justcake, I was surprised that you said you cut yours at an angle and rounded it off......I buy mine that way.......see?

The yellow tanks are MAPP gas, right? What IS MAPP gas? I thought about buying them because I was told they burn hotter, but wasn't sure if it was "safe" or not......guess it is, huh?