CanadianBakin'

Do they have a website that I can't find? ← I think this is the site they were referring to. It looks like they have a $100 US minimum unless I'm reading it wrong, at least for delivery to Canada, so I'll have to do some planning.

I ordered the book Tuesday, it arrived Thursday and I'm about half way through reading it. It looks like a GREAT resource! I'm looking forward to baking my way through it.

Thanks for the offer Wendy! I don't really even have much of a list of components yet. I mean I have recipes for IMBC, chocolate cake, white cake, etc. lemon cream, tartlet shells , brownies, etc. KWIM? but I think there's probably other basics that I haven't delved into yet even though I've been baking for years. Like I've never made almond cake before. I'm sure it's not hard it's just never come up before. So I'm not sure what would be most helpful. I'm sure the possible components are endless so a list would be very long. Are there some basic components that you find you use over and over again? Maybe I could look at that and see what I haven't tried before and give that a go to expand the base of components I have to use. Something I like about Gale Gand's book is that she offers non-traditional ways of putting things together. Like her Lemon Beehives are a 2"circle of pastry with a small scoop of lemon cream on top, frozen, then with 1/4" tip you pipe on meringue to imitate a beehive and torch or broil it and freeze till serving. They look neat and are something people aren't expecting. I find those ideas hard to come up with and although I might use my own recipes for the components, I have an idea to use as a spring board. Another question I had was about price. I don't know of any bakeries around me that sell minis and I know the prices will vary across North America but what do some of you charge for minis? I know what my costs are but since they are more labour intensive than many other things, I wouldn't be able to use my normal mark-up.

Wendy, I'm going to start a new thread since this title specifies books. Hope this is ok.

Bringing this back up with a question... Is your pastry cutter the type with wires, or blades? I've read that one is better than the other, but I can't remember which. I need to bring one back to Japan with me. I've been cutting in the butter with my bench scraper (as we learned in baking class) but I find it too tedious for US-sized crust recipes--especially double crust recipes. Can't get a decent food processor in Japan without spending a fortune, so pastry cutter it will be! ← I recently bought this pastry cutter from King Arthur and am VERY happy with it. I had a wire one for years and this is so much better. It also does a great job of mashing potatoes, avocados, etc. It is very sturdy and comfortable to use. It makes very quick work of cutting in butter.

Thanks for your suggestions! I have Flo Braker's Sweet Miniatures on order and hope to have it next week. I'll work through that first before moving up to the more expensive books. I've bookmarked this thread so I don't forget the titles.

I have made a few of the recipes, or at least used the ideas, in Gale Gand's Just a Bite. I really enjoy making minis and am wondering if there are other books that focus on them? Do you have any recommendations or are there other places you draw inspiration from. I'm not artistic by nature but enjoy creating and adapting... don't know if that makes sense , but I need a place to start.

Chocolate Sparklers might be an idea. The recipe says you can freeze the dough for 1 month and that they stay fresh for 3 - 5 days after baking. Here's a picture Patrick took while making them. I haven't made them yet but if Patrick says they're good it's a safe bet!

Here's a few ideas... Apricot Coconut Bars from RecipeGullet. These are some of the best apricot bars I've tasted because the apricots aren't simmered like they are in most recipes. Simmering totally dilutes their flavour. Pecan Pie Bars are also delicious. They are almost like candy. I was going to post the link to epicurious.com but this recipe doesn't seem to be there anymore. 5 oz AP flour 7/8 oz white sugar 1/8 tsp salt 4 oz butter 4 oz pecans, coarsely chopped 2 oz butter 1 1/2 oz honey 4 oz brown sugar Make shortbread crust with first 4 ingredients. Press into a parchment lined 8x8"pan. Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes or till lightly browned. Melt 2 oz butter and stir in honey and brown sugar. Microwave 1 - 2 minutes at 50% power, stirring occasionally. Stir in pecans and pour over hot crust. Spread evenly. Bake until bubbling, about 15 minutes. Cool completely in pan. **This is also good with a thin layer of chocolate painted on the crust before adding the hot pecan mix. Coconut Bars - this is my own concoction but similar to many others in that it's a shortbread base with a buttertart-type mix on top. It always gets rave reviews! 4 oz butter 2 oz brown sugar 4 1/2 oz AP flour 1/8 tsp salt 2 large eggs 8 oz brown sugar 1 tsp AP flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 2 oz butter, melted 1 tsp vanilla 3 1/2 oz sweetened shredded coconut Make shortbread crust with first 4 ingredients. Press into parchment-lined 8x8"pan. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or till lightly browned. Mix eggs and brown sugar with a spoon. Stir in rest of ingredients. Pour over hot crust and bake for about 20 minutes or till a rich brown. It will set when cooled. I usually drizzle semisweet and white chocolate over these while still warm. If you mix a bit of oil in with the chocolate it will cut easier when cooled. **I accidently cooked these at 400F last time I made them but of course for a shorter time as I could smell they were done. My sister-in-law who loves the original thought they were even better since they were more gooey and candy-like but for your purposes a firmer bar is probably better. All of these recipes freeze well.

Sugar cookies would be perfect. You can cut them in a variety of wedding shapes; bells, hearts, etc. and ice them with pastel coloured royal icing. Then you could finish them with an opal dust to make them really shine. You could freeze the undecorated cookies well in advance and then decorate them a week or two in advance. They should keep airtight at room temp for a couple weeks. Here's a link to pictures of Josette's cookies. She does such a beautiful job. I'm sure she would be able to help with some tips if you want to go this route.

Wow! They all look great. I expecially like how you've arranged the fruit in the raspberry tart. Now if only I could taste everything.

If, as browniebaker suggests, they really like brownies, but maybe you're getting bored of making them, could you try different variations of your brownie recipe? Like swirling dulce de leche on top or using a rocky road topping or mixing in chunks of different types of candy, etc. The only variation on the lemon bar I've seen is adding a layer of raspberry jam on top of the crust before pouring on the lemon. An alternative though might be some chewy granola bars. The ones on betterbaking.com are really good and freeze well.

Cheryl and celenes - this thread for sugar Sweet sunshine might be helpful. It's 2 ladies who aren't pasty chefs who started a shop and appear to have been quite successful. They sell cupcakes, cakes and breakfast items and have their pricing listed. They have a limited menu like you both would like. It might give you some ideas.

While we're talking about things that freeze well, I was wondering about puff pastry. I want to make Gale Gand's Lemon Daisies for an upcoming event and was wondering if I could bake and freeze the puff pastry shells ahead of time and then fill with Lemon Cream just before serving. Will the baked puff pastry be soggy when it thaws?

I don't have much experience with Galettes but I noticed in Melissa's blog that she put bread crumbs under her filling to help soak up the juice. That may be worth a try. I'm sure others with experience will help too.

Holy smokes girl!!! You are a glutten for punishment. You've got 5 kids and you're home schooling so you obviously have energy and are organized. Maybe it's different in a small town but I don't know how you'll pull it off. I'm a bit envious though as that would be right up my alley. Maybe some time in the future. Anyways, I wanted to make sure you've read Mel's thread about her first year setting up a bakery. It's a bit different than what you're doing, but if you take some time to read through it you'll get an idea of the situations that can come up. I did bake for a coffee house for awhile and did all the recipe development, etc. and all I can tell you is customers are very fickle and what sells one day, may not sell the next. We managed to come up with a core of recipes that sold well most of the time and then rotated some other items. Due to a variety of circumstances, mostly money related, they had to close before we really got off the ground but you've got a financial backer so that takes some worry away. Best wishes!!

Fresh out of the oven chocolate cupcakes with coconut flavoured buttercream icing. Mmmmmm...

There's tons of books on this subject. Once a month, once a week, frozen assets, etc. I haven't checked it out yet but I heard there's a 30 day gourmet website that has lots of ideas as well. Aside from that, just double whatever you make for dinner and freeze it if it's suitable. Less work at one time since you're cooking anyways and over a couple weeks you'll have lots in your freezer. Something I found helpful after my twins were born was having good quick breads sliced and individually wrapped in the freezer for eating during the day when I didn't have the energy to even pour a bowl of cereal. Banana, fruit & nut, carrot, zucchini or whatever you like. Use at least some whole wheat and pack it full of good things.

ohmyganache - First off, I wish I was close enough to come for tea!! Oh my goodness it looks good. I'd have a hard time not eating one of everything. I was wondering if you could please answer a couple questions about the chocolate pecan tarts? I don't see any visible chocolate aside from garnish. Am I correct to assume there is a layer of chocolate just in the bottom rather than the whole crust being painted? Also, does your pecan filling use chopped nuts with just a couple whole ones sticking out the top or do you use all whole ones?

As requested, here's what cooks illustrated suggests. (In my words, of course)Hope this helps. :) Boil pistachios in a large pot of rapidly boiling water for about 3 minutes or until the skins start to loosen. Drain and dump into a bowl of cold water. After they've cooled a bit, remove the skins and lay the nuts out on a sheet pan lined with paper towel. Dry them completely on a sheet pan at 200F for 45 - 60 minutes. Remove before you can smell them begin to toast. You don't want them to take on any colour. And that's it. I think this is how you'd get green pistachio macarons rather than brownish ones. I'm going to try it one day but it looks a bit time consuming.

Is this what you mean by "dull brownish-green colour"? If it is, cooksillustrated.com has instructions on getting rid of the extra skin which involves blanching. If you're interested, I can look up the instructions.

It seems a shame to buy new appliances before you remodel since they may not fit the new kitchen plan. However, maybe you could find a small, good used fridge (without freezer) that you could keep in your kitchen and just have a small chest freezer on the porch. It wouldn't be quite as inconvenient. edited to add one more idea: What about adjusting the layout of the pony walls? You could make the smaller one up to 32" or whatever the depth of a small fridge is and then cut 16" off beside the stove so it is almost flush with the stove. Then you could tuck the fridge right into the corner with the side of it towards the living room and it shouldn't block the window. I hope this makes sense. :) edited to add: Except you'd have to make sure it left enough room for opening the fridge. Hmmmm... after changing the pony walls and moving the fridge, you could still move the stove to under the window and that would also give you better access to the cupboards that are currently beside it as well as room to open the fridge. If you change the pony walls you could probably even keep the appliances you have for the time being.

I'm with Patrick on the CI recipe. I'm not (or wasn't) a big oatmeal raisin cookie fan but they are delicious! I don't use any spice and I haven't tried lemon zest yet but it sounds good.

I haven't been to Metrotown/Eaton Center for a long lime but I think there used to be a vendor by Superstore. Also, some of the large movie theatres might have them. I know in Abbotsford, Town Cinema has a pretzel vendor but I can't remember the company name. They are delicious when fresh out of the oven dipped in butter and cinnamon sugar. Mmmmmm...

I can't help from experience but I'm sure "Chocolate Desserts by PH" has a recipe for caramelized rice krispies that might give you some ideas. Unfortunately I don't have the book right now but maybe someone else can pipe up with the details if you don't have it.