CanadianBakin'

rlevine - thanks for the mini-demo! That looks like a great way of making them.

Yes, I was going to mention Nikuya Meats too, hum'd 'nd haw'd to myself if I should....... thought it was such a great discovery also. Two great little shops in that little strip mall, with the Gourmet Castle and Tom & Jerry's too! ← So it's in the same strip mall as Tom & Jerry's?

Thanks for all the recommendations. I grew up a few blocks from Valley Bakery but my mom made everything so we didn't go there much. I did try a few squares from them not long ago, including a brownie and wasn't all that impressed. Maybe they're better at cakes and breads. The brownie didn't really taste like chocolate, it was just "brown". I'll look up the others that were recommended and see which fits best with the route I'm taking. Thanks again!

Every couple of months I make a trip into Vancouver and hit the restaurant supply shops and some of the wonderful bakeries you have. My husband has been asking for things like Eclairs and Napoleons, as well as chocolate croissants. I know the chocolate croissants have been covered in this forum but can someone please recommend a good place for the other items? Preferably in the downtown area or close to. I usually go to places like Pane de Heaven and Ganache Patisserie and I don't recall them having the simpler fare.

Strawberry marshmallows cut into flowers and sprinkled with a bit of clear edible glitter, wrapped in a cello bag tied with ribbon.

Thanks so much for everyone's quick response. I left home just after McDuff posted and followed those instructions. It did deflate a bit, which is to be expected, but it started firming up a bit right away. I won't see it again until tomorrow night when I need to use it so hopefully all is well. It's one of 4 plated desserts I'm doing for a school dessert and concert evening so if it totally flops I can use the other 3 desserts thursday night and remake the mousse to use the next evening.

It's a coffee mousse that will be piped between two 3" squares of chocolate cake and then chocolate glaze will be poured over just to cover the top and dripping down so that the mousse is still partly exposed. Anyways, I made up the mousse last night and when I checked it today it has set up a bit but I don't think it's quite firm enough to hold up the top layer without squishing out. I must have miscalculated the gelatin. I need it for an event tomorrow night and I work at my real job all day so I don't really have time to redo it. Is there an easy fix?

That is an amazing price! I have 2 Salters and they were both around $70 CAD.

Oh.My.Goodness!! Was there a language barrier?

Thanks for posting about the mousse. Do you stick to the amount of gelatin in the recipe, or increase it as some reviewers recommend? ← I did it as listed and it was perfect. It kept well in the fridge for a couple days so you can make it ahead and assemble later.

I haven't made the cake yet but I wanted to let you know the mousse is delicious! I'm using it for a dessert event this week.

Beautiful croissants! I haven't tried them yet either.

I've used Alice Medrich's Molten Chocolate Cake recipe with great success. This link is to baking911.com but the recipe is from "The Baker's Dozen". She also printed this recipe with a white cake & raspberry truffle center in a back issue of Fine Cooking magazine.

I've bought it at Save-On before. I'm pretty sure it was in the produce section with the pre-cut/washed salads.

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing your thought process. I'd love to try them.

I just went to Save-On at Metrotown. Selection was so-so. But I did find enough for a present. Got doubles so that I could try some too. Opened up one sauce tonight to go with our homemade yakitori: Tiger Sauce. It's got the neato tiger on the label. Pretty good! Almost sweet 'n sour type sauce. Very mild, but still tasty. I'll have to try Lougheed Save-On to see if they have more ← I think The Gourmet Warehouse has a reasonable selection. Maybe someone else can confirm this?

I also grew up with aprons and can't cook or bake without one. I get the full bib aprons at Russell Food Equipment on Clark and Venables for $5. They have a heavier one with a pocket across the front for about $10. I have both, the $10 is definitely better quality but the other one is fine too. I always get white so I don't know if they have colours.

I did a little more research online before attempting again. I decided to stay with the same recipe as it had worked well in my home oven. I thought the sugar not being completely dissolved, as MamaC suggested, might have been part of the problem so I was extra careful about any graininess in the mix. Also, as she suggested I lowered the temp to 200F. They turned out just about perfect. I found 2 hours to be about right. A couple trays I left in longer but turned the oven off. A couple of them began to form sugar bubbles around the bottom again so we decided 2 hours was good and then cooled them on top of the stove. Thanks MamaC!

Thanks for your input MamaC. I think I'll try your method. Just wondering if anyone else also has experience or tried and true.

I'm using the recipe from cooksillustrated.com 4 1/8 oz white sugar 2 5/8 oz icing sugar 4 large egg whites Although I'm doing a triple batch at a time. The problem, they seem to be taking forever to bake and there's sugar leaking out the bottom. Cooksillustrated says to bake them at 225F for 30 minutes, rotate pans and then bake another 30 - 40 minutes. They seemed to still be pillowy in the middle so I kept baking them. They baked for well over 2 hours. Even after 30 minutes the pan on the middle rack was starting to leak sugar bubbles out the bottom. I'm using ovens in a Home Ec room that aren't likely calibrated correctly but that's what I've got. I need 120 of these. I'd like to re-make them tomorrow evening. Any tips for success? Should I bake them a shorter time and then shut the oven off. Also, any ideas for the 60 nests that didn't turn out?

Both beautiful cakes! Thanks for posting the pics.

I don't know about the frozen fruit but have you looked in the ethnic section of your grocery store for canned mango puree? It has great flavour!

I have 2 different Salter scales and have never had that problem. I did have to exchange one of them although I can't remember what the problem was. They have a 10 year warranty and Salter is very good about honoring it.

What a lot of work, it looks delicious! Thanks for posting pics.

I don't know if this will work, but have you tried a toothbrush? We used them for spattering paint when kids.