CanadianBakin'

This is more the part I thought might concern the health inspector.

I haven't much to input but my first thought was, have you talked to the health inspector? Here in BC, dual kitchens aren't allowed. You have to have a completely separate kitchen that can be entered directly from outside as they don't have the authority to come in to your home to inspect a kitchen.

Just bumping this up in the hope of more input. :)

Jamie Oliver also suggests using 50/50 sour cream and whipping cream in place of creme fraiche. I've used it in pasta dishes with success but haven't tried it just plain on fruit.

I think this is my first post on the other side of "the great divide". My strength lies mainly in baking but I have been asked to prepare a number of freezer meals for a lady who is expecting her third baby. I have not met her but a group of ladies are paying me to do this as a shower gift for her. From the sounds of it she is quite well off and eats quite well. They aren't looking for run of the mill casseroles. My cooking skills are pretty good but I work best from recipes. So, first, I'm wondering if you have any ideas for great tasting meals that you know freeze well. Second, I tried a great recipe from Fine Cooking for chicken breasts that are stuffed, fried 3 minutes per side and then baked. I'm wondering if it would be safe to make them up to the point of being fried and then freeze them, leaving her to thaw and finish baking. Leaving them partially raw makes me a bit nervous but if I begin with fresh meat would this be ok?

Thanks for the great ideas! I was hoping to have a variety of shapes and flavours so you've given me a great list to work from. tarteausucre - the raspberry squares I mentioned were inspired by Maid of Honour Tarts I just wasn't sure if everyone would know what they were. My grandma always made the tarts when I was growing up.

I've been asked to do the "sweet tier" for a mom and daughter tea at church in June. Someone else is doing the "savoury tier" and I don't think they're doing the "semi-sweet tier". It's for 50 - 80 ladies. I'll get a firm number closer to the date. I was wondering which "sweets" you thought would be best for this. I was thinking of doing 5 different sweets. I know in your reviews you mentioned which ones you liked best at those particular restaurants but perhaps there was something you would have liked if it was made better or thought would be a great addition. Would love your thoughts and suggestions. PS At the moment I'm thinking of lemon tarts, a square I make that has a shortbread base, raspberry jam, white cake, icing and toasted coconut, fudgy brownies with a rosette of whipped gananche on top, maybe small ginger cookies and something with nuts to round it out.

Congratulations!! It looks like a beautiful shop.

Joie, did you like the chocolate/lemon combo? It looks like the crust was painted with chocolate before the lemon filling was poured. The colour contrast looks great but the flavour?....

For marzipan bees check out Wendy's Blog. Scroll towards the bottom.

It depends on your recipe. I, like your wife, try to get them to slump as little as possible. I found that mixing by hand rather than machine made a difference. As well, she might find lowering the temperature a bit and cooking longer helps. Mine have so much butter in them that even if I "overcook" them they are still super moist and fudgy but barely slouched. Another thing I've found is when I make them thinner to use as a base for rocky road that they don't slump at all. I haven't tried magi-strips for brownies but they work a treat for loaves and cakes so I imagine they would be great for brownies as well.

I have a package of the Presidents Choice Butter puff pastry in my freezer. Ingredients are as follows: wheat flour, water, unsalted butter, hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil margarine, salt. Not entirely butter but at least more butter than other fats. I haven't tried it yet but plan to in the next week or two for a Diplomat Cake. I bought it here in Mission so I'm sure every where else has it too.

Thanks for the ideas! More are always welcome. I like the fruit tart idea. They take a bit of time to make but the costs are so minimal that it would balance out. If they didn't sell in a day would it be ok to refrigerate overnight and put them out again the next?

I don't have it with me but I can get it unless someone who gets the British version of Country Living can get it for you sooner. I don't think it's the last edition but the one before. It's for a chocolate chip green tea cookie. I imagine it would be a good place to start and you could adjust it to suite your taste. It takes green tea powder. I have no idea where you would buy it.

I don't know if there are dollar stores near where you live but I can usually get them for $1 each. Or at a liquidation store.

Since the coffee house I work for only opened December 2004 we have never been through a summer yet but I imagine our baked goods are going to need revamping. What do you find sells best or what do you like best (besides icecream) during the hot months? At the moment we only sell sweets. The closest we get to savory is a cheese scone. Our clientel is not too adventuresome. The owner makes pizelles and I think those will be a hit. We have limited space for refrigerated displays so most of what we have will have to be ok at room temp. and the shop is air-conditioned. Just to give you a feel for what our clientel likes, our most popular items over the cold months have been cinnamon smear, lemon cranberry and cheese scones; banana & banana chocolate chip bread & lemon pound cake; healthier muffins and rocky road brownies. I just think that some of these items will be too heavy when it's hot or do people like to stick with what they like regardless of the weather? Any ideas?

Thanks Mooshmouse! It's nice to see the whole presentation. I bookmarked the link as a reference as I could do trays like that myself for a special treat for friends and family. But for me, I'll have to go into town for a treat. :)

The Secret Garden savouries tier looks wonderful! Is their sweets tier as good? How much did high tea cost? I googled but it doesn't look like they have a site. Might have to add this to my list for my next trip to Vancouver.

I was just looking at the recipe again and it says the frosted cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container for 2 days at room temperature. Who knows?!

Thanks for all the varied and interesting info. I think maybe I'll compromise and have them brought out at lunch time and then put in the fridge at close until lunch the next day.

I was thinking of making the Barefoot Contessa's Coconut Cupcakes for the coffee house just to have for a weekend. I'm wondering about them sitting on the counter at room temp. Is there a safety issue with the cream cheese icing? Is it ok if they are at room temp during the day and then refrigerated at night? If they didn't sell in 2 or 3 days tops they would be thrown out. I know buttercream is fine at room temp but the cream cheese worries me and I don't want any lawsuits. Any thoughts?

Jamie, if you're heading out to the Fraser Valley this weekend you might want to check out: DEVAN GREENHOUSES 28904 Fraser Highway, Abbotsford, BC V4X1G8 (604) 857-4944 We were there a couple weeks ago but unfortunately I didn't look at the herbs as I'm not planting ours for a month or so. However, their prices are fantastic, the product is excellent and they usually have a wide selection. They carry very few hardgoods and really focus on plants. Many of them are grown on site in their greenhouses. My husband and his family have worked many years in nurseries and this is their favourite. It wouldn't hurt to call ahead to check if they have exactly what you need.

Inspired by this thread I made a trip to Vancouver this week to, among other things, try out some of these wonderful desserts. We went to Pane from Heaven for Chocolate Ganache Cake, La Petite France for Moëlleux Chocolat au Rhum and Opera bar, and Ganache Patisserie for Concorde Framboise and Caramel - Chocolat. WOW!! We don't have anything like these places in the Fraser Valley. I'm feeling very deprived. It's probably a good thing or I'd be there every week and weigh a ton. Except for the Moëlleux Chocolat au Rhum which we ate in, we brought everything home and tried a tiny bit of each at one sitting. All of them were wonderful and I agree if it's a major chocolate rush you are going for the Chocolate Ganache Cake fits the bill but overall we liked the Caramel-Chocolat best. Lovely combination of textures, not too sweet, mmmmm creamy mouth feel... it was perfect! Thanks for all the recommendations otherwise we wouldn't have had a clue where to start with so many wonderful looking desserts. Next time we'll try some of the others now we have an idea of the quality. As a side note, atmosphere-wise we liked Pane from Heaven best.

I tried the sweetened condensed milk version the other day with great success! When boiling it I laid the can on it's side and the boiling water moved it around a bit. I boiled it for about 3-1/4 hours, took it off the heat and left it in the water to cool because I didn't have time right then to deal with it. It turned out perfect! Deep, caramel colour all the way through, very thick and smooth. I used it as a ribbon of flavour through some biscotti.

Thanks Ducky! That was my first thought and I tried to find a website to no avail. I think my mom goes there regularly so I'll give her a call and see if she can pick some up.