dexygus

i'll eat off of them if i have to, like at someone else's house, but we don't have any in the house. i really can't stand how much waste disposable items produce. that said, i do use disposable napkins, and if i ever had kids, i'd probably use disposable diapers (thank god that'll never happen). during our christmas visit to my in-laws, my sister-in-law, who put us up for a few nights, used nothing but paper plates and plastic cups. my husband and i cringed everytime, and it took all our strength not to say anything.

I just wanted to add that manufacturing cream has 40% butterfat. And Trader Joe's claims that their regular heavy cream is 40% butterfat, as well.

i'm with lexica. acme pain au levain is my favorite. as for baguettes, i love la farine's rustic baguette. i may be biased though, since i used to work there.

tana, i was at manresa the same night as you. we had the tasting menu. did you? judging from your pictures, we had many of the same dishes, except we didn't get the parmesan churro, or the pineapple soup. instead of the churro, we were served fried cod with romesco sauce. and in place of the soup we had 2 other desserts aside from the wonderful souffle. a spice cake with poached pears with ginger ice cream, and a date milkshake with dulce de leche cream. my favorite dish of the night was the cod with salmon roe. i was afraid we would still be hungry after dinner, given what some previous posts mentioned, but we were almost disgustingly full, all except for my brother, an enormous eater, who happens to be in two of your pictures. luckily, i am obscured by some wine glasses and my husband. edited to add more info.

i concur with the people who mentioned frangipane tarts. also, there's an almond torte recipe in chez panisse desserts that is incredible.

sort of related to the dry hands, though it may be over-use of hands. does anyone else get thumb cracks? by that i mean the splitting of skin, and eventually flesh, that starts near an outer corner of nail and extends outwards. i currently have three, on both thumbs, and my right middle finger, which is where i normally get them. they hurt like mad while in use, and especially while juicing lemons. is there a remedy? i try to wear band-aids overnight with neosporin, but bandaids don't stay on during work. maybe band-aid plus finger cot. so far the only cure i've found is rest.

Jeannecake, if you have a Smart and Final store near you, they carry the Oreo crumbs. Or at least the one near me does.

Di, i use a glaze recipe that i picked up from a previous job i had. it's got chocolate, butter, cream and corn syrup in it. BUT, it doesn't set up firm. if you look closely at my picture, you can see "tracks" on the left hand side from when i set the top cake on the bottom one. the glaze has other problems as well. the flavor isn't as chocolatey as i'd like, but i like the glaze mainly because it has a nice shine, and i can get a thin coating with it. i was recently in search of the perfect chocolate glaze, and i found that there isn't one. you have to sacrifice some characteristics to get the ones you want.

Annie, not quite the end. oh, and thanks for doing the research. well, as sort-of promised, i'm posting a pic of my cake. i delivered it about 3.5 hours ago, and they might be cutting it as i type this. i can't tell you how nerve-wracking this experience was. at every step, i kept praying (not really praying; i don't pray, but you know what i mean) that i wouldn't mess up. this was my first fancy cake, and it was for a big, fancy surprise birthday party held at the westin st. francis hotel in san francisco. and it was being catered by michael mina. i almost turned the gig down because i didn't think i'd be able to produce anything good enough for this party. but i faced my insecurities and accepted the challenge. of course, it didn't hurt that my boss let me make the cake at work (i'm an assistant pastry chef at a catering company), and that he also lent me a hand. he's so great. i'm pretty happy with the results, and i'm relieved that it's all over. i'm also glad that i've got a fancy cake under my belt. maybe i'll be less stressed the next time around. thanks for everyone's help in my time of need and frenzy. i love this place.

yetty, thanks for your interest. i'm very shy when it comes to showing my stuff, but if the cake turns out well, then it's a definite maybe. i shouldn't even hesitate, though, considering how supportive everyone is on this board.

thanks for all the responses, everyone. it turns out i won't have to watch the godfather 3, or 2. it's a good thing especially since i'm not sure which one contains the cake my client likes. anyway, he's chosen one of my designs, so yay, that part is over. now on to the baking...

lannie, thanks for the reply. anne, that's a great idea, charging clients by the hour for research. i'm very new to doing specialty cakes, and am sort of winging it right now. time is tight (cake is for coming saturday), so hopefully he'll go with one of the designs i sent him. hehe, i'm laughing at the thought of my client's cake being in the shape of italy. the cake is for a chinese woman. if i remember our conversation correctly, he liked how impressive the cake was, and i think, how it was presented. was it rolled in on a cart with special effects or something? edited to add last paragraph.

<Sigh> A client wants a cake similar to the one shown in The Godfather, part 3, which I haven't seen. All I know is that it's a sheet cake. Can anyone out there describe it to me? I really don't feel like going out and renting it. Thanks.

nigella lawson has a great flourless or almost flourless chocolate nutella cake in her domestic goddess book. it's really good.

well, i have the recipe from work, but it is definitely not a salty oatmeal cookie, if that's what you're looking for. it's more like the recipe rhea_s posted. let me know if you'd like it.

i tried a recipe at work for oatcakes that were pretty tasty. unfortunately, the recipe is at work. i'll try to remember to get it tomorrow.

wow, thanks everyone. i knew you'd come to my rescue. at least i know i have a few options. it actually sounds like a picnic may be in order. pick up a few things at a few different places. russ & daughters looks great, and the truffled egg toast is making me drool.

hi all- i'll be in nyc oct. 5-10, and my hubby is dying to hit katz's deli. i'm a pesce-vegetarian and was wondering if there's anything i could eat there that's really good. i've checked out their menu on menupages.com and noticed that they have an egg salad sandwich. is it any good? any suggestions appreciated.

wendy, with the heavy cream in the icing, what is the shelf life at room temperature? will the icing spoil or anything? off flavors, etc? i use the dip-the-whole-cookie method too. i was ecstatic when my current boss showed me that technique. but instead of using the offset spatula to smear off excess icing, we just use our index fingers.

memesuze, for the large baking dish, luchetti suggests 55-60 minutes. iirc, the one time i made this bread pudding in a large dish, it took a bit longer than that. but of course, your oven and the dimensions of your dish will dictate how long it will take. as for the small ramekins, i can't say for sure. what i normally do is let it bake for maybe 15-20 minutes or so, then check it. depending on how close it looks to being done, i will check again in 5-10 more minutes. and the checking can go on multiple times because as with most, possibly all, custards, you want to pull them out of the oven as soon as they're barely set, so you get the softest, smoothest texture possible. hope this helps. joni, i hope you get raves.

sure joni, here goes. i use the following chocolate cake: adapted from Douglas Rodriguez' Black Chocolate Cake 8 ounces unsalted butter, slightly softened 2 3/4 cups granulated sugar, plus more for pan 5 eggs, at room temp 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract 2 cups AP flour 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa (Valrhona and Cacao Barry extra brute have worked well) 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1 1/4 cups buttermilk, at room temp. Grease 12-cup bundt pan, or a couple loaf pans, and dust with extra amount of sugar. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter and sugar til light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients, then add to the egg mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Pour into pan/s, and bake until the middle of the cake springs back when you press it lightly. Chocolate Caramel Bread Pudding from Emily Luchetti's Four-Star Desserts 6 large egg yolks 4 large eggs 1/4 tsp. salt 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 3 cups milk 1/2 cup water 1 cup granulated sugar 6 cups chocolate cake cubes, each about 1/2" in size Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Whisk eggs, yolks, and salt lightly in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a saucepan, scald the cream and milk. Set aside. For the caramel, combine the sugar and water in a medium saucepan. (I like to use hot tap water to help the sugar dissolve. It's ok if you use more water; it'll evaporate anyway. Make sure there are no sugar crystals clinging to the side of the pan.) Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase to high and cook until it becomes dark amber brown. (Once the sugar starts cooking, don't agitate. But, once it starts to color, it's ok to stir.) Remove from heat, and let cool for a few seconds. Slowly whisk cream mixture into the caramel. Be careful of the sputter. Slowly whisk this mixture into the egg mixture, being careful not to cook the eggs. Strain. Place chocolate cubes in a 2 1/2 quart ovenproof baking dish, and pour the caramel over the the cake. (I like to make these in individual ramekins. It cooks faster too) Place dish in a larger baking dish, and place in the oven. Fill the outer pan with hot water until it comes halfway up the side of the inner pan. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out almost completely clean.

oh man, my favorite bread pudding is emily luchetti's chocolate caramel bread pudding. it's cubes of chocolate pound cake in a caramel custard. heaven. i don't use her chocolate cake recipe though. hmm, and i can't remember if it's in stars desserts, or four star desserts.

i'll concur with foodie3. these are fabulous, and the crust is so buttery and easy to make.

in case anyone wants to know, 1-800-espresso.com responded to me very quickly, and confirmed what i suspected. the oxiria and the gelato chef 2200 are identical except for the exterior. with the $130 difference, the plastic white housing is fine by me.

andiesenji, thanks for the reply. i think i'll send an email to the website you linked. maybe they can shed some light. i'll post my findings here in case anyone is interested.