K8memphis

If you're lucky enough to have a good baker show you, you'll be a pro in an hour. if you try to figure it out on your own by trial and error, or from sketchy instructions in a book, it will be a long road. And many have given up! So yeah, it's not hard, but it's technique intensive. Especially if you're using butter, which requires much more precise technique. All complaints about butter crusts are the result of imprecise technique. ← Mary wouldn't lie to us. You cut cold fat into salted flour, toss with cold water, chill, roll, bake. Viola. Apparently there's more than one way to make pie dough--it takes less than five minutes.

Pie crust is not at all difficult, does not take a lot of skill, hence the phrase, 'easy as pie'. I mean you can goof it up for sure but even Mary Poppins agreed when she said, "Pie crust promise, easily made easily broken."

I think the world is a better place with shortening. I made a beautiful rustic apple pie this year for Thanksgiving using six lovely pounds of apples. I used agave for most of the sweetening and for the crust, two parts flour to one part toasted ground pecans. It was a wonderful thing. I did use half butter & shortening. Shortening is great in pie crust. I agree it's 100% in the method.

Now Wilton makes an edible silver & gold powdery product. It sucks compared to the non-toxic variety but there is that avenue.

I'm not smart enough to be scientific but your engineer buddy is. Luster dust is non-toxic so if ingested it doesn't roto-rooter your gizzard. However it is not an edible product. So it should be used sparingly on decor rather than on edibles.

I usually color mine, I can't remember ever airbrushing it but I've painted it with color and alcohol. I don't use anything to roll it out--it's a temperature thing. It just depends on how big your figure is. A 'not huge' topper probably would not need support. It's hard to be specific. Once your figurine is complete you can firm it up in the frige for sure--but you want to be careful of humidity and condensation issues which I don't have any when I put this substance in & out of my frige but it's not the same everywhere. Not easy to be real specific for you.

Oh you did Good!!! For your first baby blocks with ribbly icing?? You da bombshabomb!!! <insert clapping hands smilie face>

Great advice everyone had given. One other idea is to bake twice as many real short layers and assemble thusly. The cutless method.

And it's a great idea as I said that's one way to do it. I'm glad it works so well for her. Thanks for sharing. I cut the top of the cake off so it's open to the soaking. I did use the word squirt but my idea is not sprayed--you just turn the squirt bottle aka ketschup bottle with the pointy lid--turn it upside down and the liquid comes out, squirts/pours out the hole in the lid into the cake.

That's one way to do it. I just use a squirt bottle and go 'round and 'round once over. No fuss no muss. Especially no extra dishes to wash! Some splashing thoughts for you.

I thought you were using round cakes to cut 8" squares out of--my bad. The dowel need to go where they will bear the weight of the tier above--place them in from the perimeter. If you don't board and dowel the middle tier you will have eight inches of cake stacked all on itself and I don't think it will make the trip. I might have misunderstood that part too. But you need to dowel every 4 or 5 inches of cake height. So two sets of dowel in the 8". I tell my daughter that flourless cake is easy because it is, yes? But the first time she makes it she wants to kill me because the first time someone makes something it's unknown ergo difficult. So these are your first baby blocks and they ain't easy. Just be advised. I know you'll do good especially if you plan on using lots more time than you have planned. Maybe you will be the exeption to the rule and be fast and wonderful at it. Great!

Let me hasten to say 'the bridge is out' on this one. In the first place, you cannot cut an 8" square out of a 10" cake. You will have 16 right angles to make and 10 surfaces to get smooth connected by the 16 right angles. Then decorate 9 surfaces. This is not a project for beginners or the timid. I understand how deceptive baby blocks appear. Believe me they are engineering nightmares. So you definitely need two sets of dowel in a cake that will be 12 inches tall--a 4" cube on top of an 8" cube. Plus you need to secure the insides of the 4". No board under the 4" cube--you gotta be kidding. All the manipulation for the smoothing smoothing smoothing--I have a friend who I admire who is a very accomplished sought after wedding caker and one of her baby blocks crumbled--she's a pro and pulled it out of the fire but still. Baby blocks send shivers down the spine of most decorators who have attempted them. They are very difficult. Do not use freshly baked cake--use frozen cake--I don't know if I would jetison the chichi foofoo fillings and cake--this needs to be made from sturdy stock performance cake that can be mangled a little and survive. I mean a pro could do it but fill a 4" cake? Why? You're gonna have like 2 inches of filling in there and why add the slippery factor to your list of things to have to watch out for. I think you should bake your lovely cakes and put some chocolate baby blocks on there or something. Or practice this first. It's much more than you think it is. But I mean plan on taking three times as much time as you originally planned and you should be fine. They are very deceptive.

I agree with Baroness--good thinking--you have to chose your tinned items carefully--for example avoid using a mint item in there that will dominate and envelope other items. But it would be great on a tray.

Taste and texture all aside, cheesecake must be refrigerated.

Yes I make it week of then assemble the cake and I keep it refrigerated all the way through delivery. I tested this filling frozen but not with the gelatin as I currently make it now. I know it does well defrosting without the gelatin. But the insulating strength of corrugated cardboard cannot be underestimated. If you stick in some of those frozen freezer packs, your creation will stay fine for four hours. (I mean if it is already chilled firm.) For example I wire those freezer packs into the corners of the box. I wrap them in a paper towel to absorb any moisture and place them in a plastic bag and wire that securely to the corners of the box. Keep it out of the sun and keep it sealed shut. Makes a nice environment for delivery. I use all butter icing and deliver all over Memphis in the summer and no worries. PS. Things have come up this week so I might not get to those testings like I thought I could...sorry...maybe another time.

If I was doing Christmas baking for sale, I would do a large and small size tin and large and small tray each with an assortment. I would have two 2-day pick up times, one set before Thanksgiving and the other before Christmas. I would offer to ship (if possible with whatever legalities involved--or if we might wink at them just this once) but you gotta have your stuff together to get it packed good and kaching kaching for that overnight shipping too. So that would be three bakings--once for Thanksgiving, once for shipping purposes maybe, once for Christmas day. So you do people's thinking for them: Having a party? Order a tray. Need some employee gifts, teacher gifts, mailman, neighborhood, doctor's office gifts? Order a tin. Can't make it to the party? Send a tray. Need to make nice with your vendors and business associates in other businesses? Send a lovely tray of goodies. I would allow substitutions in the assortment if they buy at least five--otherwise they get what you make. But I'd try to come up with some delicious names for each of the four different offerings. Like classic Christmas tin/tray for the small, decadent Christmas tray/tin for the large--something like that. Y'know what? I would also offer a large pretty fruit bread type muffin with a flavored cream cheese option in a pretty wrapper for a gift to be given to single people too. If it's a couple then they can purchase two. I have those rose muffin pans that I love and those are beautiful made up into fruit breads. Or put a nice thick struesel topping mmmm That way you have a lot of gift possibilities covered. And market it that way. Just some Christmas baking thoughts pour vous.

Just checking in here--haven't started my experiments yet--but I just remembered that Bronwen Webber uses buttermilk in her American buttercream (ie non- merigue buttercream).

My first thought is that the high water content in those ingredients might make your icing too thin or maybe weep even. I've never used it in a meringue icing. Of course cream cheese is added all the time--see the difference in water content though? But I have a cream cheese filling that uses sour cream and I add gelatin so it holds better and the water has somewhere to be--held in the gelatin. But I have these products and ingredients leftover from a recent project--I'll test & report back.

Kerry, don't you have to get the cocoa butter in temper to begin with? It doesn't come in temper already does it?

I freeze most of my cakes. I've used those same products and frozen similar concoctions with excellent results. Now the outside icing of the cake might not fair as well with the change in atmosphere. But it will be fine for your family. Watch for ice crystals and brush them off so they don't spoil your nice icing.

Y'know you're gonna do what you're gonna do--- but after five years and you can safely say your business is surviving and you're looking to salvage some form of personal life. Dude, do the partnership. I mean location location location is the key to any business--especially an impulse business--especially in an anti-carb freaked out world. If you get it wrong, like she did, no amount of good vibes and hard work can correct that. If you blow the market study and there ain't enough people/sales to go around, there is no shame in admitting that and moving on. Oh yeah sure it might not work. But if you keep doing what you're doing hopefully in five years your business will still be surviving and I mean if you beat your brains out for five more years like I know you did those first five years you'll have a total of ten years of beaten brains. Mazel Tov. I could never figure out how you were making it without some proteins and salads and stuff. Just some K8t bakery thoughts for you, Baking Buddy. I still say go for it.

It's really a stunner opportunity. I like the idea of a well thought out prenup but that will be vital mostly in a break up not in operating. Mostly you gotta remember that each of you is crazy and allow for that. Being an entrepreneur requires it or creates it. So I think the way you speak to and treat each other is key. Communication yes? There will be no more important person in the life of your business than each other. I mean it seems all the other desirable qualities are already there. Each 24 hour day consists of warm and sunny as well as chilly and dark. You guys gotta purpose to keep the exchange of words at a mutually agreed upon temperature far beyond the fevers, viruses and cancers of running a business. At the same time each one willing to empty bed pans, discuss the chemo and brave for the prognosis. Not to mention heartily celebrate the wonderful successes!!!! I love the progress. I am so happy for you. Go for it.

I can see why the brownies could be a problem. It would take very little to overbake that tall skinny shape and accidentally dry them out. Which also leads to a brief shelf life. Fortunately the one we got was nice & moist. And I mean their redeeming factor is the chocolate chips in there--otherwise it's just a very small very high priced brownie. I mean that odd shape makes it hard to eat too. C'mon, Thomas! Brownies ain't hard. , But Dude, those sticky buns are the bombshabomb! Curious to me were the croissants already loaded with ham just sitting on the tray on the counter. Maybe they were in process of packaging up a phone in order or something.

Just got back from St Helena. We drove--we had a fabulous time. We had the chef's tasting at Meadowood. It was beyond fabulous. I mean I am not fine dining guru girl by any means, but wow was this special. I will apologize for no pictures and we also forgot to get the menu to take with so I can't remember all the courses because there were so many but man it was super. We were seated on the spacious open heated round sliver of balcony/porch overlooking the golf course and the mountains with a breathtaking view surrounded by window boxes over flowing with beautiful white flowers. The service was flawless. Absolutely flawless. A beautiful large white rose adorned our table. The boys, my husband and Chef-boy, had wine with each course. I just took a little sip of theirs except for the Hungarian one that was served with the fois course. I took many sips of that one! The fois was awesome. It was served several ways, crispy and layered with plum jelly, brioche toastlettes. Each course was an oil portrait by a master coulda hung it in the Louvre. We had kobe beef with specialty eggs and a potato tuille --their take on steak and eggs. Lovely. Oh we had this really good lobster soup with sweetbread ravioli--sooo goo-od! We had this beautiful beautiful toro course served with sake. The presentations were each just stunning. Had a great chicken course, served with a chorizo wrapped egg white mousse inside. Chef came out and spoke to us--he actually offered me a (tongue in cheek) position on his team, but gosh the commute from Memphis--lol!!! Don't miss Meadowood. Can't say enough good things about our special time. On a completely different plain, we ate at Taylor's Refresher a couple times for lunch. I couldn't order anything but the special--heirloom tomato sandwich on a cornmeal dusted roll with fresh mozzarella and pesto then sweet potato fries on the side. mmm We also ate at Ubuntu in Napa--Chef very kindly got us a reservation there. Wow that was great too. Caulifower never tasted so good! Ubuntu is one of the top ten new restaurants in the US I was told. Very good. All vegetables. Man we had chickpea fries! Fabulous. Down south of there we ate at Dukes in Huntington Beach too. Beautiful view great food. We missed the In and Out burger joints but not to worry we ate at a ton of McDonald's. All I can say is we gotta get back there soon. Oh yeah the only Keller we did was the Bouchon Bakery on our way home. The brownie was good, small for two dollars but real good. The sticky bun was great.

I agree with Sugarella. 25% is absurd. 10-15% of net profit maybe. But again, her idea of the shop tacking it on as a surcharge is the best idea.