CanadianBakin'

Joie, you've got my husband drooling over the Mu Shu Pork Wrap so I'll have to give it a try soon. What kind of sauce is drizzled over it? And do you guess amounts for the pork or is there a recipe you could please post?

I received mine last Tuesday. They were supposed to be 7" or longer, they are all about 7", not longer, but that doesn't bother me. I've never used vanilla beans before because of the expense so the only thing I have to compare with is what I see in vials at the grocery store. They are definitely plumper. There are no crystals and the flavour isn't strong but I'll have to try another brand in order to know how they compare. I've been using them more for looks and adding a bit of pure vanilla extract as well.

I have some of these pans. They are made by Glad but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to torch or broil them. I think the maximum temperature they can handle is about 400F. I'm sure the Glad site will have the details.

Thanks for sharing your experience, digigirl! I've been thinking along that line as well although I haven't had a chance to try it yet. I was going to use the same crust as you used. Then I know I've got a recipe in one of my Fine Cooking magazines for a peanut butter tart that has a ganache topping. I think the peanut butter was thicker than mousse, more like the consistency of ganache. So I was going to do a layer of the peanut butter filling, a layer of gananche and then somehow garnish it so it was obvious it was peanut. The mousse is a great idea too. It would look nice piped in a rosette but you're right about the chocolate overpowering it. When I've made pb mousse in the past I've found the flavour isn't very strong. Delicious, but not strong. I'll have to keep that in mind. I can't help with your crust yet. Up until now I've been using RLB's crust with ground almonds in it. It's perfect for lemon tarts. But I have a job (I'm not a pro) that needs to be more economical so I'm trying Flo's. I have it all pressed in the mini muffin pans in the freezer. I haven't baked it yet, so I don't know how it will turn out. When I do, I'll let you know. How much pastry did you use for each cup? She says 1 tsp but that's for those tiny tarts. I used 1-1/2 tsp for the mini muffin pan and that seems to be about right.

Sethro, thanks for sharing what you came up with! I'll have to add it to my "list of things to try". It sounds delicious.

Anne, chefette is definitely on to something. Here's the link. I think I might even get one. Thanks chefette!

WOW!! I googled it and found one as high as $908.99 on sale! I looks like an awesome tool but oh my goodness! It looks like the pastry chef one is the best price.

You might want to look at some sticky toffee pudding recipes and see if they can be adapted. They are usually served with a caramel sauce but it probably isn't necessary. Or some type of steamed pudding. I think those usually come out quite sticky too.

Now I've really got to try your brownie recipe...seems like we have similar chocolate tastes. I've gotta tell you though, I think the Epicurious batter makes even better cupcakes than cooksillustrated.com's. I only cooked the cupcakes 15 minutes and I think it suggests 18 - 22 or something and they were still dryer than the others. They did rise nice and have good flavour but not quite as moist and bit more trouble to make. I need to know which Pecan Pie you've chosen as best.

Thanks Wendy!

I'd love this recipe if you have time to type it out. ← Black Bean, Corn, and Salsa Dip tortilla chips 2 pckgs. (8 oz. ea.) low fat cream cheese, softened 3/4 cup low fat mayo 3 T. combination of southwest spices, i.e., cumin, chile powder, etc. to taste 2 green onions, thinly sliced 1 cup diced red pepper 1 can (3.25 oz.) pitted ripe olives, drained and chopped fine 3/4 cup salsa 1 garlic clover (I use 2!) minced 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed 1 can (15 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained ← I tried this sunday night and I really liked it. I especially liked the contrast of the sweet corn with everything else. Will definitely make again. Thank-you!

Big cheap slab cake...hit Costco.

I've got a question... I've got an order for "tea things" coming up end of next week but I just started a part-time, not baking related, job so I've got to do as much ahead of time as I can. One of the items I wanted to do is a layered cake in small triangles, about 1-1/2". I'm wondering what will hold best. I was thinking of a genoise with a thin layer of seedless raspberry jam and almond IMBC in the middle, topped with almond IMBC or, almond cake with vanilla bean IMBC. Which of these two types of cakes holds best in the freezer, and it will have to sit already cut but airtight overnight, with or without refrigeration. I'm a bit worried about the edges drying but don't have this type of experience with either cake. Any ideas or suggestions?

I'm a bit behind... sunday night, fresh peach pie (from Baking Illustrated) with vanilla ice cream. Tonight, Dark Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla bean buttercream from Cooksillustrated.com. I had some vanilla beans arrive in the mail today and my husband loves cupcakes sooo....they were very good. Peach pie is better though.

My husband and I don't have the priviledge of eating out much but we decided to take a trip to Yaletown to visit Neil's Hamilton Street Grill on saturday. You guys keep posting about the hangar steak and gingerbread pudding so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. We started with prawns wrapped in phyllo and stuffed with mascarpone, etc. They were excellent. They had a particular flavour that I only remember tasting at an authentic Chinese restaurant. Can't tell you exactly what it was but it made me want more. We also tried the much acclamined yam fries since it will be awhile before we can go back. My husband expecially liked these. A really nice change from regular fries. Next, we both order the hangar steak and were not disappointed. WOW! What great flavour and texture and the peppercorn gravy really complimented it. And of course, the gingerbread pudding. Again, you guys were right. It's wonderful. I wasn't as keen on the pumpkin icecream but that's just a personal preference. I'm not a wine drinker but my husband enjoyed an after-dinner scotch. All in all a great experience. Great atmosphere, and our server (aka Barrett) was great as well. I'm sorry we didn't get to meet Neil but maybe next time. There will definitely be one.

Thanks for the demo. You've made it look very simple! I've got a couple packages of store bought puff in the freezer but when it's gone I'll give your recipe a try. From personal experience do YOU find it makes a difference if you go to 6 before freezing? Or should you always stick to 4?

Thanks so much! I'll give them a call today.

I want to try duplicate the croissants The Secret Garden has and it looks to me like a mini croissant that they have cut in half crosswise before proofing. I could just make them but that takes more time than I've got. I know I can buy a whole case of mini croissants (unbaked) from a wholesaler but I don't want a whole case just yet. I checked at Safeway to see if their bakery would sell me a few but they said no. I know Costco used to sell the large size frozen unbaked but not mini's. Any ideas?

Pies and pie fillings have been a sore spot for me over the years but since trying some of the recipes in Baking Illustrated I've been having great success. One of the biggest things I discovered even prior to reading this book is that the crust turns out way better if cooked on the bottom rack of the oven. This way I never have gooey, half-baked crusts. This may be common knowledge but it was new to me. The best tip I found in Baking Illustrated was using potato starch instead of cornstarch or flour. It is quite a strong thickener but you don't notice it like you do sometimes when you have to use a lot of another thickener. Gotta love fruit pies with the glommy flour thickened juices.

I was just looking through Sweet Miniatures by Flo Braker and she suggests using some whole wheat flour in her Blitz puff pastry. Her recipe calls for: 1 pound unsalted butter, chilled 1 pound (3-1/4 cups) unsifted AP flour 3/4 tsp salt 1 cup ice water **Her notes say, "It's easy to make Blitz puff pastry with whole wheat pastry flour: substitute 2 cups unsifted whole-wheat pastry flour for 2 cups (280 grams) of the unsifted AP flour." Hope this helps.

Any ideas for other coatings as an option to coconut? I use sweetened shredded coconut on the strawberry marshmallows and it not only tastes good, it looks very pretty. Gives the impression of fairy cakes for tea time. But reading through this thread again, I see caramel and chocolate which would be delicious but not suitable for my purposes, and toasted coconut. Has anyone tried something different? Or do you have ideas that would work well with the marshmallow texture? I'm just looking for some brain-storming to give me options.

Wendy, I love your dragon cake. You are amazing at sculpting! It must have taken quite awhile to make?! I'm sure the birthday boy was pretty excited. And my daughters would love your daisy cake. I'm going to keep that in mind for their birthday next year.

I've wondered for awhile about the differences and haven't asked but Wendy's Joconde demo brought them to mind again. She mentions using a banana emulsion and a raspberry compound to flavour her buttercreams so obviously they can both be used in buttercream. Can you use both in mousse and pastry creams or is the difference that certain flavours are more accurate when used in one or the other?

Your cake looks beautiful Patrick! You are so brave. I would have been very nervous about doing a wedding cake. Did you arrange the flowers as well?

I know what purees are but I'm not totally sure what compounds and emulsions are and what applications are best for each of these. Can anyone please educate me?