CanadianBakin'

WOW!! It turned out great! I'm sure the recipient will be amazed. Thanks for showing us the process.

I love mint meringues sandwiched with a dark chocolate ganache. If the cream to chocolate ratio was low, they should be fine at room temp for quite awhile. And what about marshmallows?

Do you have a bundt pan? I think you would need to make the full recipe to fill it.

I think you might be looking for something like this recipe from Marcy Goldman (www.betterbaking.com). Icing 1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted and cooled 3/4 cup unsalted butter or unsalted margarine 1 teaspoon vanilla 3/4 cup cocoa, measured then sifted 3-4 cups confectioner's sugar - measured then sifted 1/2 cup water or half-and-half With paddle attachment, cream together melted chips, butter, vanilla, cocoa and 1 cup icing sugar till well combined. Add remaining icing sugar and beat on high till light and fluffy, gradually adding in water till the right consistency. If you chill it before using, be sure to re-whip first adding a bit extra water if neccessary. The combination of cocoa and melted chocolate gives this icing a rich chocolately flavour. This is my husband's favourite icing. I've used it for piping onto cupcakes and it works well. Enjoy!

I'm pretty sure I saw them at The Gourmet Warehouse for about $13 I think. They are just a regular pan without non-stick coating. I've seen the silicon ones at Home Sense.

I got mine at Michaels Craft Store but I just saw some last night at the dollar store.

Check out these Carrot Muffins from a previous thread. I gave you a link to the post instead of directly to the recipe as it notes adjustments the poster made to the original recipe.

We were at West last night and had a wonderful meal! The atmosphere was good, our server was fantastic, I wish I knew her name...tall, slim, short blond hair. My husband was taken with their beautiful wall of wines, etc. We had resos for 5:15 so it was pretty empty when we arrived but hopping by the time we left. For appetizers I had COCO BEAN SOUP WITH CHORIZO AND PARSLEY OIL and my husband had WILD SALMON GRAVLAX WITH A OYSTER BEIGNET AND CRÈME FRAICHE DRESSING. The soup was smooth and peppery, I really enjoyed it. My husband said he could have eaten about 10 servings of the salmon and oysters. The oyster was deep fried but not greasy and still tender. Entrees - we both had ROAST RACK OF PORK WITH NUTMEG GNOCCHI AND QUINCE. It also came on a bed of sweet and sour cabbage. Delicious! The pork was absolutely perfect texture. With the gnocchi a bit salty and the great flavour of the cabbage, all the elements complimented each other well. Dessert was a hard decision. I would have been happy with sharing one of each but my husband wasn't as excited about the cheesecake so we went with CHOCOLATE SEMOLINA CAKE WITH CINNAMON CHOCOLATE MOUSSE BANANA ICE CREAM and MAPLE ROASTED APPLE WITH BUTTERMILK PAIN PERDU MAPLE WALNUT SAUCE AND APPLE TARRAGON ICE CREAM. I only got a tiny taste of the chocolate cake but it was good. The apple dessert was very good! I'm a major chocolate fan but I would choose the apple dessert again. The apple icecream was a bit tart and offset the sweet apple and sauce very well. Our table saw at least 5 staff over the course of the evening but we never felt hovered over. Their timing was excellent and we never waited too long for anything. All in all, a very good evening! Will definitely go again.

I've got a great lemon pound cake recipe that has a sour lemon glaze on top. It would help use up the rind as well as some of the juice. I have my recipe sized to bake in an 11x4-1/2 loaf pan and it uses 1/2 cup of lemon juice. I can resize it if necessary though. Let me know if you're interested. Oh, or another favourite is Pierre Herme's lemon creme. Oh my goodness good!! You could use it in a layered cake or in tart shells or just eat it right out of the bowl.

Those look great! I think I'll order one set and see how they work. If I like them then I'll get more to have on hand. Thanks so much!

I know it's not a drop cookie but what about a sugar or shortread cookie with crushed burnt caramel on top?

Thanks everyone for the great ideas! Now I'll have to figure out which is easiest and most cost effective. I really like the 1" foam board idea. Then I could choose the spacing and I could probably punch out the holes with a round cookie cutter. They for sure wouldn't bump, tip over or moosh into each other.

Thanks for the great ideas! I will be able to use those for personal use. I should have mentioned that I bake for other people. So I need to be able to package them in a way that either I can deliver them or so a customer can pick up the order and transport it safely to it's destination. In otherwords, they need to be in a container I don't need to get back. Any additional ideas?

I've never found a good way to transport cupcakes and I was wondering if anyone has a tried and true method. I did some for a friend's wedding and as we were using mini Pannetone liners it was no problem since they (the liners) were large enough to encompass the cupcake and icing. But those colours aren't suitable for everyone. When I have to use normal liners I have had some problems with the icing getting bumped. Freezing them helps, but they thaw quickly. If they are top heavy and the box isn't totally full, they can fall over and I haven't found anyone who sells those plastic cupcake holders they use at the grocery store. What do you do?

Can you please post pictures when you're done?

That sounds delicious! Can you please post the recipe? I tried googling but didn't come up with anything.

What a beautiful cake! I've got to admit I've never tried making a chiffon. I'll have to put that on my "to do" list.

I put each one in a ziploc bag and freeze them. They thaw very quickly even just on the counter. If you are freezing them longer than a week or two, you might want to also put them in a plastic container or individually wrapped and then into a larger ziploc for a bit more protection.

These Carrot Muffins from one of UBC's cookbooks are really good. The person who posted the recipe has adapted it a bit. The original has 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of vegetable oil. I made them for a coffee shop that I baked for and they sold really well. I think if I reduced the oil, I would replace it with applesauce to keep the moisture the same, especially since they are made with all whole wheat flour.

These are being discontinued in Canada, maybe not the US. If it interests you, you might want to look into it sooner than later just in case.

Your hose should have a weight on it. You may want to check first that you have one, and second that it is in the right place. It sounds like it's too far down the hose to pull it back in tight.

I've worked in the plumbing wholesale industry for many years so I'll give you my 2 bits worth. Really think through how you use your sink. If you seldom wash dishes, get whatever you like. A larger sink is wonderful (and necessary) for those of us who have large dishes and pans to wash. If you decide to go for what we would call a sink and a half, one of the biggest things to consider is what you will use the smaller sink for. I have limited counter space so I needed to make sure that the smaller sink was still large enough to fit a dish drainer in, many are not. If you are just using it for your disposer then a smaller one is fine. Most manufacturers have a number of accessories available to fit specific sinks. Take a look at what's available and what you think would make your life easier. For instance, Blanco has a deep colander that fits over 3 edges of one of the sinks. It ensures that you don't tip it over when you're draining your pasta. Another thing to consider is depth. Some feel that deeper is better but if you're over 5'4" and have to wash a lot of dishes bending over that far you will get a very sore back. And if you decide to undermount the sink that means the bottom of the sink is even farther away. If you have a larger than standard bowl, the depth isn't usually as important. Again, it depends what you are washing. If it's large cookie sheets and bowls, then 7" or 8" is tons. If it's tall stock pots and vases, then maybe you want deeper but consider your back. I'm primarily a baker and I find 7" enough with a large bowl because most of my muffin pans, cake pans, etc. sit flat in the bottom so I don't need the depth. My sheet pans obviously don't but they are about 3/4's covered and that works for me. Gauge of steel...20 is standard, 18 is even better. Don't be confused by mineral composition. They will advertise 18/10 steel. This doesn't mean it's 18 gauge. I'm drawing a blank here, but it means 18% something and 10% nickel. Cast iron or stainless...personal preference. Stainless steel is stainless, not scratchless. It can still scratch. Make sure when cleaning you wipe the direction of the grain. If you get a satin or silk finish, the scratches aren't as obvious as on a mirror finish. Cast iron is very durable but can still chip. It depends on who is using the sink. If you have 10 year olds dropping cast iron frying pans in it, then stainless would be better. If it's just the two of you, or children who are reasonably careful, then cast iron would be fine. They have completely different looks and only you can determine what look you prefer. Faucets, I would recommend the pullout. There were some problems when they first came out a number of years ago but they are very reliable now. With a side spray, the water is diverted from the faucet through a tiny hose which generally doesn't offer a lot of pressure for rinsing the sink or vegetables. With a pullout the same amount of water that comes through your aerator will come out the spray providing more pressure and covering a larger area. I've never had a customer come back and say they were sorry they bought a pullout. Make sure you buy a well known brand that offers a good warranty. If you buy your faucet from a big box store and it is defective, it is my understanding that you have to bring the whole faucet back which often requires a visit from a plumber. If you buy from a wholesaler, they will either supply the parts you need or have them mailed from the manufacturer. They can be easily installed by the homeowner. Many wholesalers have showrooms that the public can visit and buy from. The staff are usually very knowledgeable (sp?) and will make sure you get the best thing for you. I have listened in horror at some retailers making a sale because they really don't have a clue. I'm sure there are some retail salespeople who really know their stuff, but how do you know who is who? And last but not least, make sure the faucet you buy will fit on the sink you buy. Many sink and a halfs require a single hole faucet rather than one with a plate underneath. You can usually still have a soap dispenser, hot water dispenser, etc but they will all install towards one side or the other, not evenly centered across the back. I'm sorry this ended up so long, but I hope it helps. If I have missed anything please ask. Good luck with your reno!

I managed to get in at West, but for 5:15. Nothing else left unless I want to eat around 9:30 or 10 and then drive back to Mission. We're also going to make reservations at the Irish Heather.

If you haven't already, you should look through Wendy's blog to see her marshmallow carrots, etc. for her Easter themed sweets buffet.

I heard back from West and they said they hadn't finalized their Dine Out menu yet but would post it soon.