CanadianBakin'

Thanks Guys! It looks like there's a Galloways in New West as well which would be a bit closer. I'll give them a call before I go.

I know I can buy large quantities from suppliers but I've never tried them before and would like to buy a small amount first. At the grocery stores they seem to have regular dried cherries but not sour ones and of course cherry flavoured craisins... don't think so. Any ideas? And by chance any ideas closer to the Fraser Valley? If not, I'll just have to wait till my next trip into Vancouver.

How large are your cookies? I use a 4 oz disher. They do spread well, they're just way too crispy on the outside by the time I've got the center cooked. I've got the temp that low to try and get them to cook evenly. I just realized yesterday that flattening them would probably solve my problem. I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.

That's the one. I think one of the reasons it's so moist is because the bran is soaked in boiling water prior to adding it to the batter. I also use fig pellets (they don't look so nice--like animal turds--but once they're soaked and baked into the muffins, they taste great). I really, really like this muffin and it has a following in my store. ← Do you actually toast the wheatbran?

Betterbaking.com has a recipe for Irish Apple Cake with Guinness in celebration of St. Patrick's Day that looks pretty good. It's a white cake flavoured with Guinness and then has a mixture of sliced apples, raisins, toasted walnuts and cinnamon folded in. She recommends baking it in a bundt pan or a 10"springform. If you're interested and aren't a subscriber let me know and I'll PM you the recipe.

Ling - thanks for the chocolate cake post!! And thanks to you, Mooshmouse and the rest for posting pictures and reviews. I'll definitely make a list to take with me next time I'm in Vancouver. I'll have to see if I can recruit some friends for a "girl's night out".

Check out this thread.

Patrick - I tried that recipe a while ago and I wasn't impressed, neither were my tasters. I guess it depends what you are looking for in a carrot cake. We all preferred one that had pineapple in it as well. And a cream cheese icing flavoured with orange zest is a must for us.

Wendy, thanks for making sure I was aware of the basics. My understanding was that you either drop the temp by 30% or the time or a combination of both. I have been baking my cookies at 275F and I hesitate to go lower. I checked the oven with a thermometer today and it is spot on with the dial although like you said, this doesn't really matter. I guess I'll just have to keep playing although that may take a while because of course if I test with just one pan of cookies the timing will be different when I do several pans.

Mmmm... a crusty sugar cross. I hope someone's got an idea for you. I tried this recipe on epicurious.com and was pleased with the flavour although I'm not sure it's the texture you want. It has a glaze of egg and sugar that gives the buns a crisp outside that is nice. I didn't do pastry crosses though. That just seems yucky to me. I like icing crosses but they usually get a bit gooey so I'd totally be interested in a recipe for crusty ones.

Do you mean Honey Bran Muffins with Figs? When I typed in HBM that's what came up. By the way, good to see you around again! I was just thinking the other day that I hadn't seen you post for quite awhile.

Having been an avid home baker for years rather than doing it for a living, I have little experience with convection ovens. My current problem is trying to bake large 3-1/2 oz cookies and getting them to cook evenly so they are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. This happens with most of the recipes I'm using which is why I'm thinking it's the oven, or my lack of experience with it, rather than the recipes. My recipes work at home in a conventional oven but not very well at work. After cooking them long enough so the centers aren't gooey, the outer 1/2 - 1" is crunchy. I have a 2 speed oven that I always keep on low simply because I don't know when to use high and what applications it is best for. I was wondering if this would be an issue at all. At the moment I have resigned myself to making smaller cookies until I can figure out how to get them right. Any ideas?

Ling...still waiting for the chocolate cake pictures. I need to know where to go next time I'm in Vancouver. No hurry though, it won't be for a couple weeks.

I'd give The Gourmet Warehouse a call. I know they have a locked cabinet at the front of the store that at least has truffle oil but they probably have truffles too, I've just never looked for it. They also have coolers with assorted items so I wouldn't be suprised if they had the butter. Best wishes!

Patrick - Did you use her icing recipe? I really appreciate all the time you take to test, review and post all the recipes you do. It saves those of us with less time from trying out poor recipes. I realize not all of us have the same taste but it gives us a great place to start if nothing else.

I don't know if you're taking suggestions for the next burger to try but my husband says you must try the burger at Feenies. He still salivates when he talks about it and I think it was around August '04 when we were there.

What do you think constitutes a "good" hot cross bun? I want to make some for the coffee house I bake for and recipes seem to vary quite a bit. To start with, I like them best with an icing cross rather than just dough, but as far as the bun... some have lemon and orange zest in them, some currants & some candied fruit. What is "best"?

I've made this twice now and both times it's been dry. The second time I was very careful about testing. It wasn't springing back so I put it in a couple minutes longer and then it was too dry. Should I have used the toothpick method and not worried about it springing back? I've since found another recipe on epicurious.com that's very moist and deep chocolate flavour but if I can figure out why this cake turns out dry, I'll try again.

I think the "dessert teaser" is a wonderful idea! I would totally go for it. I'm wondering if this in part would help with your customers who want "low-cal" since they're only having a taste, not the whole dessert. In regards to finding out how many calories somthing has, I recently purchased MasterCook Deluxe at our local drugstore for $10.00. It's intended for home use but would give you the info you need. You would just start a new recipe by typing in the ingredients only and it will calculate for you all the nutritional info you could possibly need, including food exchanges which might help with your diabetic customers.

Thanks for being honest, Ling! I thought I might be the only one. It's a pain being so far out of Vancouver. I'll have to add Solly's to my list of places to hit next time I'm in Vancouver. Funny thing is, I grew up in Burnaby and didn't appreciate the culinary scene at the time. Now I live out in the boonies and have two toddlers that make it almost impossible to get into town...what can you do?!

chefcyn - if I wanted to use your recipe to make just a plain cake would increasing the water to 1 cup be about right?

Joni - I haven't tried it yet. I was going to add a bit and then taste before pouring it into the pan. fou de Bassan had mentioned 1 teaspoon was good and for you a couple tablespoons wasn't enough. I think someone else mentioned that they replaced all the water that you mix with the gelatin with a liqueur so I guess it'll be trial and error. With that in mind, maybe I'll try small batches to start. When I get it figured out, I'll let you know but it probably won't be for a couple weeks. If you do more testing in the meantime please post your results. Kew - Thanks so much for posting how you make them! Do you find your knife gets gummed up without the oil? Do you have to wash it a few times while cutting?

Thanks so much for all your suggestions. The sourcream was easy to scrape off the raspberry cheesecake. I made a white chocolate ganache and whipped it so it was opaque and was easy to spread on a partial cake. Then I brightened it up by using the same puree that's in the cake but thickened up a bit more to swirl on the top of each slice. It looks nice and no one will be the wiser. From now on, toppings to be done after thawing. Thanks again. :)

Awesome pictures Kew! Your marshmallows look amazing. What size of pan are you using and how many recipes per pan?...if you don't mind me asking. If you do, that's ok. :)

I like them best in hot chocolate but a friend of mine loves to buy vanilla ones with the edges rolled in toasted coconut. She says they're awesome just to snack on. I haven't tried this yet but it sounds great. Also, and I think this is mentioned earlier in this thread but they make great S'mores.