chefpeon

I've had my ganache covered cakes crack also, but only because they were getting old and dried out. Then it's time to toss 'em or put 'em on the half price shelf. Here's my thought (could be wrong) but...... my ganache has never had butter in it. The times I did try using butter, I found the ganache to be a bit too thin, or I'd get a weird bloom on it once it set. I have never used butter since. And never had a problem. My ganache is just cream and chocolate. That's it. No cracking....no bloom. My theory is that adding butter adds extra fat. When solidified, fat is somewhat hard. This extra "hardness" in a set ganache cake with butter in it is probably what is causing the cracks. If you leave the butter out, the ganache is probably somewhat more "flexible" and won't crack. This is just a theory. Try leaving the butter out of your next batch and see if that works for you. And report back. I'd like to see if I'm right......

Oh, most definitely. I think the lightness of a chiffon cake begs for fillings like that. That's what i use mostly in my wedding cakes. The buttercream only goes on the outside.

Here's a picture of a cake I did that incorporated animal prints. In this case, leopard and zebra. The cakes are covered with fondant of the appropriate colors (the zebra was white, and the leopard was kind of an orangish beige-ish). I cut random strips of black modeling chocolate to create the zebra stripes, and for the leopard print, I just piped on random squiggly "circles" with black-colored white chocolate (note that the circles aren't completely closed-I had a swatch of material to work from and studied it very closely). I filled in the circles with a lightly brown colored piping gel. I was very pleased with the final look. The neat thing about the animal prints is that the method to create them was very low-tech, which I believe is what you're looking for. In your case, all you really need to do is color some buttercream black, pipe on your squiggly unclosed circles, then fill it it with a brownish buttercream (or piping gel)......no special equipment needed! If you're wondering what that cake was all about (and who wouldn't) it was for a woman's 40th birthday. Her husband ordered it from me as a surprise for her. He wanted it to be sexy and to reflect her passion for sexy underthings and jewelry. She had a passion for animal prints. He also wanted it somewhat "kinky". It's hard to tell, but there is a black lace bra draped over the bottom tier (I made it with modeling chocolate), and little pieces of gold jewelry. The bottom borders for each cake are modeling chocolate recreations of a "cat 'o nine tails" (there's the kinky part). I made the shoe out of modeling chocolate also, then painted it with watered down piping gel to get the patent leather look. Instead of a designers name in the shoe, I painted the birthday girl's name. And of course, there's that "Polly Schoonmaker" inspiration to the whole thing. These are the cakes that I love to do.....the ones that are really different and "out there". I love the challenge of saying, "How the hell am I going to do this?" It feels so good when you can pull it off too.

Mel..... I swear to God you're gonna make the big money by writing that book about all the dirt we don't get to read about for free here on the 'gullet. Your writing style is hilarious anyway and you've got a lot to say. Put me on the list for the advance copy. Hardback. We need a bakery version of "Kitchen Confidential" big time!

Hey TePee.... What's a chiffon cake pan? I've never heard of that. Do tell!

Don't want to turn this into an Election thread, but gee it's good to know there's others who feel just as hopeless and bummed about it as I do! Port Townsend is LiberalLeftVille. I swear, on Wednesday the whole town was moping. Our business was good since people were coming in to buy treats to try to cheer themselves up. One of our customers came in to pick up her order, and she was sort of in a daze. She said to us, "It's the Bible Belt and it's getting fatter.....that's gotta be the reason.....there must be something in the Twinkies....." That cracked us up...... but....sigh......I guess it's four more years of "nu-cu-lar"

Why? I've always found that the lightness and the type of crumb in a chiffon cake makes an IDEAL wedding cake. They're easy to split, fill, and stack.....I do chiffon whenever possible.....and I always try to steer the bride to choose it..... now carrot cake, on the other hand, is not my favorite for wedding cakes! It's so heavy.....hard to deal with! I do carrot cakes a lot....they're just not as close to my heart as chiffon. Regarding yellow cake, I had always thought that it was your standard butter cake with more yolks and/or less whites. Hee hee....in fact, I worked in one bakery where the difference between yellow cake and white cake was a couple squirts of yellow food coloring......!

Hey whoa..... I'm truly sorry if you thought my post was an attack of any sort. I'm also sorry you viewed it as arrogant. NOT my intention! Please accept my apologies. I'm not here to attack or question people's credentials, really. I just was puzzled.....I mean, you're taking a pastry course and I would assume that the instructor would be fully qualified to teach it....I'm sure you're paying good money for the school and you're working hard.....and I'm sure the teacher is too. It's not easy, I know. My husband is a teacher....it can be a thankless job sometimes. The reason I questioned the abilities of your instructor is that I got the feeling you had no confidence in her response to your mousse mess.....otherwise, why would you be asking questions of us? Deep down you knew there had to be a reason for what went wrong and she couldn't provide it to you. She was THERE....we weren't. If she didn't know, why would we? Also on another thread, you had mentioned that you made Concorde Meringues in class, but the teacher hadn't made a demo or provided any type of picture regarding the classic appearance of a Concorde. That puzzled me too, because it's pretty easy to explain and demonstrate (without making a demo) how a Concorde goes together without a picture. If you are all making them in class and she's there, why isn't she taking you step by step through the process? I'm baffled. It's just one of those things that make you go, "hmmm", but granted, I don't know the whole story. That's why I was asking. No, I don't have all the answers. Sure wish I did. The day I stop learning is the day I die. I learn new stuff all the time, and I love to pass on all the things I've learned to others. Which is the main reason I post here. This career, and life in general has made me somewhat cynical also......I question everything, and by doing so, I realize I may piss some people off. But again, there was no vicious intentions in my question to you....I was just wondering...that's all. Again, I'm really sorry if I offended you.

No worries.....it totally works. You're right on the money.

I used to make chocolate mousse at one bakery I worked at that was exactly like yours...... except a little bit in methodology...... I didn't heat the yolks and syrup together. I melted the chocolate and put it on the mixer with a whip. I got my syrup boiling, and while doing so, I added the yolks (they were just whole yolks-unwhipped and unheated) to the melted chocolate with the mixer running. The chocolate seized a bit, but I just scraped down the bowl a few times and kept whipping and it all smoothed out. Then I streamed in the hot syrup, scraped down the bowl a few more times and whipped til smooth. Then I folded in the first part of my cream to loosen it all up, then folded in the second part of cream and finally the whites. This mousse was somewhat soupy, but it was supposed to be, because that's what we used to fill our cake rings. Once set up, it was nice and fluffy and smooth. Now about this: I must ask, what kind of "chef" is instructing your class that doesn't have a clue when it comes to troubleshooting? One of the main reasons an instructor is there is to help you sort out any problems you may be having. If I were the instructor, I would certainly never give my students a recipe to use that I didn't know inside and out. The better you know a recipe, the more you know what it's supposed to do and look like. That said, one would know exactly what went wrong when a student had a problem with it. Why your chef couldn't help you is a bit of a puzzler to me!

Since I had to make so many of them, I didn't bother making a meringue buttercream...I just made a "straight buttercream" where I mixed powdered sugar, vanilla and hot water to a thick paste, then added butter and whipped it til fluffy. It was very rich and stable, and had less tendency to crack when refrigerated. When I do sculpted cake work like that, that's the buttercream I like to use. For the praline buttercream filling however, I use a french buttercream (whip yolks, add hot sugar syrup, then add butter, and whip). For flavor, I like french buttercream the best, so that's why I like to use it in fillings exclusively. Yeah, just imagine this time next year I should be pain-free! I don't know what that's like these days!

Yep, believe it or not, Ganache can get moldy in the fridge. It takes quite a while though. Personally, I have never had a problem using previously frozen ganache as a glaze coating. To me frozen ganache is as multifunctional as the fresh stuff. However...... when I take my ganache out of the freezer, I let it come to room temp before I rewarm it. One time (ok, lots of times), I have taken it directly out of the freezer and stuck it in the micro to rewarm, and it seems when you're trying to warm it up quickly from a frozen state, it has more of a tendency to break and get all weird because the micro puts hot spots in it (even if you do stir it a lot). The really funny part is.....that it takes less time to make a fresh batch of ganache than it does to stick frozen ganache in the micro. D'oh!

Jeepers....thanks for the compliments everyone! But genuflecting? Nah! Stop it before you hurt yourself! Send me money instead. Totally kidding. Sort of.

Just chocolate buttercream, believe it or not. I discovered that when I went over the grooves with my warm hand, it left darker streaks as I went over it, which turned out to be a PERFECT effect! I love it when stuff works out that way.

I fashioned him out of modeling chocolate that I colored red using a combination of powder and gel paste. I used to make a lot of birds at once. I'd weigh out little globs of modeling chocolate, so all the birds would be the same size, and then I'd quickly model the body and the head and tail out of one piece...just a few pinches and rolls here and there. Then I'd cut out the wings and texturize the wings with the back of a paring knife. Add a beak and a black "mask" and I'm done. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I sprinkled edible clear glitter on the top of the whole thing to give it that wintry frosty look. Fa-la-la-la-la-la!

Here's one of my many Buche de Noel's I've done over the years......I can do 'em in my sleep.... I wasn't a big fan of buttercream as a filling either, so I sometimes use ganache, whipped ganache, or some sort of mousse......but when I discovered praline buttercream I started using that. It tastes SO good, plus I have the convenience of a buttercream. Sometimes I don't even do the jellyroll thing, because I don't really like the texture of that sort of cake. What I've done many times is bake off half sheets of really good chocolate cake, then I will split and fill them with whatever I want (praline buttercream!), then freeze. Once frozen, I cut the half sheet into "logs"-generally just cutting the cake into strips. I round off the edges, cut both ends off in a bias, then pipe chocolate buttercream on it with a large round tip. I add my bias cut ends to create the branch thingys, and pipe over that with my choc. buttercream. I apply a light coat of ivory buttercream to the ends of the "log", then I use an airbrush to create the rings in the "wood". Then I let it all set up in the fridge. Once set up, I take the tip of a paring knife, and carve deep crooked grooves into the buttercream. Then with a very clean or gloved hand, I run my hand over the grooves, smoothing it out. The warmth of my hand smoothes out the buttercream but ALSO discolors it a bit, creating a wonderful natural wood look. I discovered this by accident, but it's great! I don't use meringue mushrooms.....I do holly leaves and berries and a red cardinal on top. The cardinal is made out of modeling chocolate. All for the low price of........$125! I had the advantage of working in a cake shop in the middle of the Microsoft campus and most people who ordered from me didn't even blink an eye at that price. Sometimes they bought two...... Now.....however.....'tis a different story! Up here in Tinytown, people would say, "$125 for a cake that looks like a log? Heck I can get a log in the woods for free!" They'd probably think it would taste good too. These people like Sesame Flaxseed Cookies....wood is probably an improvement. Oh, but I kid......you gotta love your customers. I suppose.

That's what I was suggesting in my post (above). Sour cream is not a good idea. It will turn your cream cheese icing into soup. I guarantee you. Yes, cold is a great tool. When you have control over your cake in the shop, it's invaluable. But once the cake leaves your kitchen (like when you go to deliver it), you don't have that tool anymore. Cakes need to be created with the idea that they will be sitting out at room temperature (or hotter) for a while. Customers are NOTORIOUSLY careless. In my career, I have always tried to plan for the worst contingencies and spell things out VERY CLEARLY for them, but they always seem to amaze me with idiocy. It's always something. Trust me when I say, "you can never be too careful"!

The thing about cream cheese icing is that it's not quite as easy to work with as buttercream is. It's harder to apply a nice smooth coating with cream cheese icing, and due to the translucent nature of it, darker cakes tend to show through it a lot. It also doesn't set up as nice and firm as buttercream, and if you do stick gumpaste flowers and leaves directly on it, as the cake warms up they will have a tendency to slide down. My policy is that if the customer wants cream cheese icing, they can have it as the FILLING, but the outside will be decorated in buttercream/fondant/marzipan/modeling chocolate-whichever they choose. I always tell them that not everyone gets an "outside piece" of cake when it's cut anyway, and if you have cream cheese icing as the FILLING, then EVERYONE gets some. When I present it to them that way, they always go "Oh yeah.....I never thought of that." Then it's easy for me, because I don't have to deal with the headache of cream cheese icing as a finish. I would tell my customer, "Ok, Red Velvet Cake, cream cheese filling. The outside will be finished in buttercream (or fondant or whatever) and I'll decorate it with fall flowers and leaves. I don't finish my cakes in cream cheese icing because as a finish it doesn't look as nice and there's a risk that the decorations could slip off." Usually if you tell the customer WHY you need to do things a certain way, they understand. They only tell you they want certain things because they don't know any better. You need to educate them a bit. Hope that helps!

Now THERE'S something to frame and hang on the wall! So profound....so so true! I used to have job paranoia.....because the places I choose to work are always very small family run businesses. Most of them operate "on the edge" because they're trying to "live the dream". They have a vision and want to achieve it. I like to work for those kinds of people because they have the same kind of dreams I do.....to create wonderful pastries and MAYBE make a living at it. The first is relatively easy to do.....the second....well, that comes much harder. I've worked at three establishments that never had to lay me off.....they went out of business instead. Went down with three ships....but see......I'm a great swimmer! I no longer have job paranoia.....because I know I'm the kind of person most employers are looking for, and when they get me they realize they've hit the jackpot. I'm loyal, I CARE, I do tons of things "off the clock" without being asked, I bring lots of knowledge, and I'm dependable as hell. I have an immune system that knocks out everything....I never get sick, and I never call out.....I'm so lucky that way. The key to job security is to make yourself so damn valuable that your employer wonders how they got along without you. And.....if they do go out of business, you'll get a hell of a reference...... You can create your own job security I believe.....you may not stay at one place as long as you may like to, but if you're good, there always seems to be a job out there for you. That's been my experience anyway.

Another bummer about being a PNW'er......spoiled on the chips! When we do buy chips (not often) it's always Tim's. If we can't find Tim's, we don't buy potato chips. One time Safeway had a sale on Tim's, and by the time we got there, they were GONE. So we bought some Lay's. It was like eating an old stale chip. We didn't even finish them. I've actually enjoyed eating the "no salt" Tims. You can really enjoy the "potatoeyness" when there's no salt.

I reviewed the recipe and took note of the fact that it calls for 2 teaspoons of baking powder. One of (many) reasons for a cake falling is overabundance of leavening. A general rule of thumb for cakes is to keep your baking powder at about 1 teaspoon per 1 cup of flour, and baking soda at 1/4 teaspoon per one cup of flour. Noting that your cake uses one cup of flour, I would think that you would want to try one teaspoon of baking powder instead of the two that the recipe calls for. Bet that will solve your problem.

Boy, there's a brain teaser. A binder that isn't too sweet. Gotta think about that. I used to have the same problem as you. I LOVE cereal. All kinds. But I never had time for a bowl because I slept til the last minute then had to rush to make my bus. What I did was buy a lot of those 1/2 pint milks at the store, and then put my cereal in baggies. Before I rushed out the door, I'd grab my baggie and my milk. When I got on the bus, I'd eat a handful of cereal and wash it down with a gulp of milk. That was my commuter breakfast. Yum.

You should just trust yourself and your judgement....it's what makes you you. Your judgement and the decisions you make are what shapes you into the PC you are......and somewhat defines your style. Taste is so subjective. You can ask a million people for their opinions, and they'll all be different. Go with your gut. Go with what you like.....if it pleases you, it'll please a hell of a lot of people too. Except in the case where I'm working with stuff that I don't like, I don't really ask for other people's opinions, because I know if I do, it's just like opening a big can of worms. I'll get lots of feedback both positive and negative and it ends up stressing me out and making me second guess myself. Don't need it. Generally it's pretty simple. I make something. I taste it. If I like it, it goes out, if I don't, it's back to the drawing board. It's all part of stress-free zen baking.

Did y'all eat it with a spoon or spread it on something?

Yours is exactly the opinion I seek.....one who loves pumpkin and who may want to buy a pumpkin flavored item. I'm sure your opinion on the cranberry/pumpkin combo is right on the money. Pumpkin cheesecake is kind of a delicate flavor.....I'm sure the cranberry would overpower. I just never trust my own opinion when I'm working with stuff I don't like. Regarding the "tiramisu-like" approach to the cheesecake, I'd be more daring if I were working in a different market.....such as a larger city. Here in Tinytown, there's a lot of older folks who like their "familiar" food, and I find things sell better when I keep it "down home" and simple. When I get all fancy and complicated with things, people get scared because A) they don't know what it is, and B) they won't pay the premium price to try something they may not like. So, *sigh* simple country desserts it is....... I went with the caramel pecan topping......a little different, yet something familiar enough to try. Turned out great. Now, we'll see how it sells........ Actually I do like sweet potato! I've already made a couple of batches of sweet potato pie. Kind of a slow seller up here.....that one surprised me. I'm going to try again a little closer to Thanksgiving.