CanadianBakin'

This is way after the event but I finally got pictures loaded on my computer. With not a lot of time or brain power I ended up having to do something quite simple. I remembered that he has written poetry over the years so I got his housekeeper to track down one in particular that he had shared with us. I printed a verse from it on rice paper which was held on to the cake with sheer ribbon. Some errors made but overall I was pleased with the results. I should have made the top tier a bit smaller so I had room to finish the bottom edge of it properly.

I bet it had eggwhites. They still whip up well with fruit. Whip together for 8 minutes or till stiff: 3 large egg whites 3 cups strawberries, sliced 10 1/2 ounces sugar 1 1/2 ounces lemon juice Whip till soft peaks and fold into berry mix: 12 ounces heavy cream Pour over crust and freeze 6 hours. This is from a recipe called Frosty Strawberry Squares and is put on a walnut cookie crust but it might give you a place to begin. It suggests if using a tart berry like cranberries or raspberries to replace the lemon juice with orange.

My thoughts exactly.

Thanks Mark! And thanks for doing the math, I hadn't got that far yet.

I'm only asking because I haven't done it before and I'd like to avoid wasting a bunch of time, eggwhites and butter if it's a bad idea. I have a cupcake job coming up. 1/3 will be covered with Italian Meringue and left, 1/3 Italian Meringue and torched, 1/3 IMBC. Is there any reason I can't just make up a big bowl of IM, take out what I need to use plain and add butter to the remainder? It makes sense to me but I may have overlooked something.

It reminds me of Amaretti so I'm wondering if it has ground almonds in it.

I have a friend who is going to be opening a Coffee Shop in downtown Vancouver in the next year or so and is doing all his research at the moment. He is looking for clear bakery-type boxes and we aren't having much success. He will be selling mini's and wants the boxes clear so the mini's are visible. They need to be about 2-1/2 - 3" tall so chocolate boxes won't work. He was hoping to source them in BC, but anywhere in Canada would be fine. Any ideas?

You're awesome!! You always make me laugh!

I've done it successfully as long as you do a slow thaw overnight in the fridge before glazing.

Those are exactly what I was looking for, thanks. Wish they had a better bulk size than 25g, but it'll do. The reason I'm looking for sicilian pistachio fragments is because they are far cheaper than the whole selects. ← I think they do most of their packaging themselves so it wouldn't hurt to contact them and see if they could sell you a larger package.

http://www.businessvision.net/Edge/Main.as...133%2D0032%2D05 Link to Galloways Foods. It's Canadian but they ship to the US. I've been happy with their products.

Another fantastic meal at the Hammy this past Saturday. Excellent service from Jude and of course, fantastic food. We began with a complimentary amuse bouche of salmon gravlax and as our friends hadn't been before we also had yam fries and my husband's favourite, the Ahi Tuna as well as the phyllo wrapped prawns. Two at our table had the blackened ribeye, one had the blackened sirloin and I tried the New York with BC spot prawns which I hadn't had the pleasure of trying before. Well worth trying, the prawns had such a sweet delicate flavour and were cooked to perfection. We finished up sharing a Gingerbread Pudding. Although we don't get into Vancouver much, eating at HSG is well worth the drive from Mission. Thanks again, Neil!

I haven't found success using chocolate chips. As Rob said you're not dealing with pure chocolate. I believe chips have additives to make them hold their shape after enduring time in the oven. Of course, the chips you have may work but I think you'd have a better experience if you bought chocolate.

Thanks Eileen! Yes, I torched it for a lemon meringue effect.

Do you always torch Italian meringue or can you use it much like a 7-minute frosting? I made some great cupcakes this past weekend, vanilla filled with PH's lemon cream and chocolate filled with one of PH's ganaches, and I topped them with Italian meringue which turned out to be a good compliment to both. I torched them all because I thought, "that's just what you do". When I do them again it would be nice to have them look different so I'd like to leave the chocolate ones not torched. Will they hold up as well?

I am so jealous! I look forward to reading your thread. I love Mitch's articles in Pastry's Best and have had great success with his recipes. Thanks for taking the time to report.

I think Tri2Cook's fries would taste awesome. Potato donuts are delicious so it's not much of a stretch. Another option... google "Granny's Apple Fries". They had them at our local fair for the last couple years and I see they've made their way around to quite a few fairs.

thanks for your input Annie! I can see it would be pretty messy. I guess it's best saved for pouring over a cake like you would a chocolate glaze.

If I'm reading correctly, this could then be used for coating petit fours instead of using a poured fondant?

What about a sable cookie with currants added. The slice and bake kind found in Dorie Greenspan latest cookbook might do the trick.

I had this problem when using a Pyrex bowl. You must use metal and you'll have no problem at all.

Congratulations on a successful genoise! I am still working on it. How about making a simple syrup with orange juice?

I was going to suggest the CI cookies too but I also had some excellent ones in the freezer that I decided to try for you. It took every bit of will power I've got to leave it on the counter for 2 days . I'm happy to say it kept well but it might be a bit expensive to make for a store as it has a lot of pecans in it. It's Oatmeal, Raisin, Pecan Cookies by Claire Clark in her new book Indulge http://www.amazon.com/Indulge-Perfect-Dess...06460685&sr=1-1. Except of course I don't use raisins, dried cherries or cinnamon but replace them with 9 oz dark chocolate chunks. When you make the batter it almost looks like apple crisp topping but they bake up lovely. Crisp on the outside chewy on the inside. She divides her batter into 20 cookies which makes them about 2-1/2 oz each, probably about 4" and a good thickness. I'm sure they would still bake up well if you made them larger. BTW I had the same problem with the CC Cookies from betterbaking.com so I don't think it's just you.

This recipe is also delicious with chocolate wafers or ginger snaps.

Annie - would you be willing to part with your vanilla recipe? I haven't found a great vanilla cupcake yet. For chocolate, I have two I use but the Epicurious one in the best of chocolate cakes thread works great for cakes, cupcakes, sheet cakes, etc. It's oil based and holds up very well. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/101275 I have it in weights on my other computer. I can pm it to you later if you would like.