CanadianBakin'

Thank so much JeanneCake! Your recipe worked a treat. I've figured out what I've been doing wrong...you mentioned firm but not dry whites. I think I've been beating them just a touch too long which is why I have to fold them so much to get rid of the streaks and in the end wreck my batter. My mother-in-law is the queen of sponges and she said this one was good.

Thanks so much JeanneCake! I'm going to try it tonight. I've always wondered why you have to spray twice?

This is just a start to your trouble shooting but are you sifting the baking soda to make sure there's no lumps?

Annie - Can you please repost a picture of your Buche de Noel? I can't get the image to appear. I was wondering if I can use a thin layer of the Epicurious chocolate cake in the Best of thread or do I have to use a genoise of some sort. I don't know what it is with me but I haven't mastered sponge type cakes yet. I think there might be something wrong with my folding technique. Maybe I fold too long or something. So, can I just use regular chocolate cake in a sheet pan?

I use the method from Baking Illustrated. Preheat oven to 500F with a pizza pan or cookie sheet on the bottom rack. Put prepared pie on the pizza pan and reduce temp to 425F for 25 minutes, then rotate and reduce temp to 375 for another 30 - 35 minutes, cover edges with foil if necessary. This is off the top of my head, I'll have to double check times and temps but starting at 500F with the pan on the bottom rack has solved my soggy bottom problems.

I can't help you as I'd never heard of the Mr. Bento lunch box. What a cool product!

I'm not sure why but when I think of the crowd at a Grey Cup game (I realize you'll be watching from home) I think of jello. You could layer the blue and gold, make a thick layer of green and make it finger jello consistency. Then you could cut it out in the shape of each team's logo.

It looks fantastic! I love chocolate and cherries.

That looks delicious! Do you think it would work with dark chocolate (~60%) instead of milk?

I can buy dark or milk Callebaut at our local (very large) grocery store for $1.08/100 grams or $4.90/lb. That's a really hard price to beat so that's what I use. It works well and I enjoy the flavour. Most people use baker's chocolate at home so it's not hard to beat.

You could use equal amounts of potato starch, corn starch or if using flour I think you need to double it. The bonus of tapioca starch is that it holds the filling firm when it's warm but the others will thicken just as well.

I haven't had a chance to bake much from this book yet but I did make the Schnecken a while ago and they were amazing. Unfortunately they disappeared before I remembered to take a picture so I can't show you. I made them the size she suggests and also in a mini-size, with raisins & nuts and without. They are the right sweetness for me (I don't like really sweet cinnamon rolls) and oh so buttery. Everyone that tried one raved.

It also sounds like a lot of eggs compared to butter, sugar and flour.

Great idea! Obviously unblinded comparisons are not terribly useful, since it is well-established that products perceived as prestigious or expensive or rare are usually rated higher in such tests. Another idea, which might seem like blasphemy to a chocophile, is that all those subtle, complex flavors in an expensive chocolate -- blackberry or coffee or what-have-you-- are not actually considered desirable qualities by some people. Some people really do prefer a plain-jane, Swiss Miss chocolate flavor. ← My thoughts exactly...I'm hoping dejaq makes it a blind test. Can;t wiat for the results.

I made the Korova/World Peace Cookies today and OH.MY.GOODNESS are they delicious!! I've made them to be a part of my Christmas baking to give away so I'm going to have to get them in the freezer fast before I eat them all. They are a CHOCOLATE cookie. So often chocolate cookies are kind of blah or they verge on the flourless chocolate cake kind of concept. These are so good! Thanks for the recipe. edited to add: so I left them on the cookie sheets for about 8 hours, I lost track of time, and now they are just verging on chewy rather than sandy. They still taste good but not as good as they did. Is there any way to get the sandy texture back? For the moment I've just put them in an airtight container and put them in the freezer. I'll know better next time if nothing else.

I'm making this recipe ( http://www.canadianliving.com/food/marzipan_bars.php ) and I'm wondering if I could use diced almond paste instead of marzipan. I've made it before and it's delicious but I can't remember what I used. I happen to have quite a bit of almond paste at the moment. Can you see a problem with this?

Check out this thread on cupcakes http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...778&hl=cupcake*

I'm a fruitcake newbie...do you then freeze it or leave it at room temp?

Honestly, I don't think I'd order it. I might be more interested if the peanut butter layer was maple flavoured instead.

Did you warm the lemons? If you put them whole into the microwave for about 25 seconds, one at a time, you will find you get a lot more juice. I almost always need less lemons than the recipe calls for to get the juice.

Did you like it? I've been eyeing that one up as well. I had an occassion I thought it would be perfect for but it turned out the guest of honour doesn't like apricot so I'm still waiting for an opportunity. I might have to make it just because.

I've just found a possible answer for you! It's called Apple Friandises and is found in Pastry's Best magazine Nov 2006. If you don't have it, let me know and I'll PM you the recipe. In brief the process is as follows: Poach in a syrup of water, sugar, rum, lemon juice and spices for 8 - 10 minutes. Chill for 24 hours in the poaching liquid. Make your coating syrup. Drain apple pieces, roll them in poppyseeds and shredded coconut. Dip them in the syrup using a wooden skewer and then replace it with an Isomalt skewer. This may be more involved than you hoped but it looks like one method that works.

Thanks for the recipe. It is so good and so easy! I just enjoyed a bowl of it hot from the oven.

Thanks for the great post, Mary! You've given some great ideas. Having stuff handy in the freezer is great even for the home baker. Just the other night I was to bring dessert somewhere and it didn't quite work out so an hour before we had to leave I made up a couple dozen mini tart shells. I had lemon cream and a burnt sugar chocolate cream in the freezer ready to fill them so dessert ended up being wonderful in a very short time.

I just found this awesome pan for mini's. http://www.nordicware.com/store/products/d...82-0002B3267AD7 Now I just have to find it on sale somewhere so I can justify yet another pan that I won't actually use too much but would love to own.