CanadianBakin'

I didn't notice too many flavour combo's with caramel. Any ideas?

I think with our employee discount it's about $24 CAD + tax. Glad to hear you like it for kitchen use. I'll pick one up for myself tomorrow. WOO HOO, a new gadget!

We sell the UltraBlue where I work so I'm not worried about getting propane for it. I just want to know if you feel it's safe for use in the kitchen. It has all these warnings on the can which makes me a bit nervous. I've seen it in flame though and it looks like it would work well. Please let me know your experience.

It sounds like you all (in this thread and others) are using just the normal propane torches they sell at the hardware store. Do I need to make sure it says on the package that it is suitable for use in the kitchen? On the turbotorch site they specify that some are but not all. I know not to buy the mini ones at the kitchen shops. We sell one at work called UltraBlue that is used for plumbing. It's a really nice size and I'm wondering if it would be ok? It says not to store in the house, not to store the trigger on the propane bottle, etc. which makes me a bit nervous. Any advice?

Beautiful job on the "cupcakes"! What did you use for the cupcake liner? Also, wondering about their names...I have 3 year old twins named Katie and Lauren. It looks like your grand-nieces names might be close.

I also always have the kettle on my stove because my mom did. I don't even drink tea! It's fortunate my husband has started drinking tea in the last year so I have a reason now but it's been on my stove for 13 years. And it happens to be my mom's old kettle. I think she microwaves her water now.

You need to check out a thread in our Vancouver forum. A few of the ladies have visited some of our local tearooms and posted pictures. This link starts you at the first tearoom picture. It is on page 5. You will also find pictures on pages 6 and 8. At least one of them links to the menu for the tearoom which may give you some ideas as well.

Another thing you'll need to think about is commercial liability insurance. And if you rent space the landlord can require you to have a considerable amount of insurance. I have found that they really bite you in the bum all the way around when you're trying to do something the right way. I've been looking into setting up a kitchen in one of my basement bedrooms. Talked to the heath, building and fire inspectors and everyone said it was fine except... I need to have a door that enters directly into the kitchen from the outside so that the health inspector can come once (maybe twice) per year. This door is going to cost $3000!!! It's partly underground so concrete has to be cut and that costs a lot. I haven't decided yet. In the meantime, my largest customer is a private school and they have offered me the use of their Home Ec room for their orders.

You marshmallows look beautiful! I haven't tried adding colour but you've inspired me. Did you fold by hand or do you think I could just add a few drops to the mixer on low when I think they're done whipping?

I was trying yellow (butter) cakes today and thought I would give your suggestion a try. I baked 4 different recipes, 1 of each in a 9x1.5 and a 9x2 and weighed the batter for precision. For every recipe the layers turned out exactly the same height reardless of the pan size. They were both heavy-gauge non-stick pans that I sprayed and lined with parchment. Maybe it's the type of cake that responds differently to the different heights of pans or the fact that they were non-stick. Who knows?! Just thought I'd share my results.

I find jam too sweet. I would add puree to the buttercream and if you had some raspberry liquour or Boyajian raspberry oil, you could add a touch of extra kick with those.

I don't know from experience but I happened to be reading up on Chiffon cakes this evening and thought this quote from "Baking Illustrated" might be helpful: "If the whites are not very stiff, the cake will not rise properly, and the bottom will be heavy, dense, wet, and custard-like. Better to overbeat than underbeat. After all, if you overbeat the egg whites and they end up dry and "blocky," you can simply smudge and smear the recalcitrant clumps with the flat side of the spatula to break them up."

Did you stop beating when it started separating? If you did, I would bring it back to room temp and try beating it on low for a couple minutes to see if it comes back together. Hopefully some of our experts will chime in.

This sounds wonderful! However, I seem to have a hard time with white chocolate going gummy when I melt it. Can you please be a bit more specific on how you turn the white chocolate and cream into ganache?

I've found this to be a pretty forgiving recipe. 3 oz chocolate chips is 1/2 cup (84gr) Imitation buttermilk would be fine since this flavour is not "featured". Or you could try sourcream if that's more readily available. Definitely don't need a coffee maker, instant is fine. Make it up according to the package instructions or just throw a tablespoon or two into your water. I always guess.

I haven't had another cupcake job come up yet so I don't have an answer for you yet. I appreciate the question though as I meant to order some cupcake inserts from KitchenKraft to try them. What I like best is the plastic clamshell packages at icingmagic.com but I can't see needing 100 anytime soon so I'll try the inserts instead.

Michael's sells a plastic cupcake tray holder that doubles as sheet cake holder. Tupperware also has one. There were some other ideas covered in one of CanadianBakin's threads. ← Here's the link.

They've also just opened here in Mission and in Abbotsford. What's going on? ← Let me guess: Are they located adjacent to a Safeway? ← They are. Are they an affiliate?

They've also just opened here in Mission and in Abbotsford. What's going on?

Ruth, I love your cookies! Can you please tell us about your icing? What type do you use? Does it dry hard? It looks like you've covered them with 2 colours. Did you just outline with one and flood with another or are there 2 layers? Thanks.

I would definitely try it first. I think I've eliminated that option anyways. Instead I'm thinking of the cocoa nests in Baking with Julia. I have had good success freezing crisp meringues in the past. I will try it with this recipe to make sure. The event isn't till the end of April so I've got time to do some experimenting. Thanks for the caution! Does anyone know if I can have success freezing already baked squares of puff pastry and then crisping them in the oven just before using? I'm thinking of piping diplomat cream (with blueberries folded in) between the layers. I'm looking at a variation of Flo Braker's millefeuille royale.

The mousse is a great idea! I don't think I can do anything with icecream as it may have to sit out a bit before serving. With the fruit tarts, would you just have all the the pastry shells made up ahead, then fill with fruit and glaze them the night of? Would you fill the bottom with a pastry cream?

Briefly, DH's school asked me to make desserts for 2 concert & dessert evenings with 200 at each evening. I already do quite a bit of baking for them but not on this scale. Most of it has to be prepped ahead but can be assembled the evening of. They had asked for cakes but after having a think I suggested individual desserts. I was thinking it might be easier for storing and would look more upscale. I was thinking about Pavlova and cream puffs that could be frozen until the event and then finished on site. Maybe a Napoleon kind of concoction. They had asked for chocolate cake. I was thinking I could make up sheet cakes cut into squares ahead, then layer them with piped buttercream and drizzle the top with ganache. Do you have any other suggestions? Which fillings could I prepare a day or two ahead, pipe onto or into a dessert the evening of, and then have sit at room temp for an hour or two until they are served? Can I do that with a mousse that has gelatin in it? My guess is not, but I could be wrong. How do pastry creams hold up? Any ideas or suggestions are welcome.

...just waiting for your report

I always use salted butter. I prefer it. I've never had someone say it's too salty.