CanadianBakin'

Thanks guys! I'm just gonna scrape them and put a new topping on as per your suggestions. Now, for the future, obviously we'll steer away from sourcream but how do other toppings hold up in the freezer? In this case one of them has a strained raspberry reduction swirled through it so it would make sense just to thicken it with a bit more cornstarch and use it for a topping as well. Or would I be better to add a bit of gelatin? Will it freeze and thaw ok or should I stick to adding the toppings after they thaw? This will be a bit of a pain since we are only thawing a few pieces at a time. On our plain cheesecake I liked the suggestion of a white chocolate ganache. That won't add much flavour but will finish it nicely. I believe ganache freezes well but if it doesn't please let me know. I'd rather learn from your experience than at the expense of the coffee house.

Thanks Anne! I can do that. What about the texture of the covered sourcream? Will it be different enough that anyone will be able to tell?

In a thread awhile back everyone said that cheesecakes froze really well. So, to offer our slowly growing clientel more options I baked 3 flavours but only put out a third of each cake and froze the rest. So we thawed one of the frozen portions last night and the sourcream topping is all cracked and looks awful! I checked another one that's still frozen and it looks like it'll be the same when thawed. I left them in their pans, covered them with foil and put them in a freezer container for extra protection. What did I do wrong? Does cheesecake freeze well but not sour cream? Any way to "fix" the cracked top or is it pretty much a lost cause? Any help greatly appreciated.

I love scones!! One recipe that I really enjoy is by Fine Cooking. I think it's in their last years Holiday Baking issue. Classic Cream Scones 9 oz all-purpose flour 2-1/4 oz white sugar 1 Tbsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2-3/4 oz dried currants (optional) 3 oz cold cubed butter 6-1/4 oz heavy cream 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten Same instructions as TurtleMeng except lightly whisk together the yolks and cream before adding. Form into a disc measuring about 7"across and 1"thick. Cut into 8 wedges. Brush with 1 large egg and 1 Tbsp milk beaten together. Sprinkle with sugar. Separate onto parchment lined pan. Bake at 400F for 18 - 22 minutes. It's easy to vary. Using the same basic recipe I do Maple Pecan with a maple glaze and Lemon Cranberry using dried cranberries, pure lemon oil and a lemon glaze. Both are mmmm.... good! And for the cinnamon bun lovers that don't have the time to make them, this recipe at King Arthur Flour has all the cinnamony goodness but in a scone that's quick to make.

Sounds like a good recipe. Orange zest makes cream cheese icing fabulous!

Very nice Gary! You did a great job! I bet your co-workers were impressed! Last night I did up bags of 4 in cinnamon and vanilla (separately of course), tied them up with raffia and put them in a basket to sell at the coffee shop I bake for. The owner has priced them at $3.95/bag for the "cinnamon hearts" and $3.25 for vanilla and they are selling. (that's in Canadian dollars) It seems like a lot of money to me but what the heck?! If they keep selling well I'm going to make Creme de Menthe ones for St. Patricks day. Mmmmmm...

Once again, you guys are AMAZING!! Thanks so much for the quick response. And transfattyacid... you're pretty funny!

On the pastry & baking forum there's been a lot of talk about Homemade Marshmallows. I'm planning to sell them at the coffee house for which I bake. I found some really nice cello bags that fit about 4 1-1/2" square marshmallows at a local party rental place but they're $0.50 each!! The regular flimsy ones this size are only $0.10 but they look exactly that, cheap. Does anyone know of a wholesaler I could buy these from? The $0.50 cello bags I think are intended for wedding favors. They fold out to about 2-1/2" square and about 9"tall with a small piece of silver coloured cardboard at the bottom to hold it firm. I've tried the obvious (to me :)) Michaels, dollar stores, etc. Any ideas would be much appreciated. I live in Mission but am willing to drive or arrange something by mail. Thanks.

Gary I had a couple wrinkle tonight although the others I was completely happy with. I had two observations. The ones that wrinkled were the last 3 I piped but don't know how that affected them. I think they may have wrinkled because they were piped a bit thick and ended up undercooked and deflating a bit causing the wrinkles. Hope this helps you with your experimenting.

Ajl92 - thanks for posting your pictures and what you did to correct the problem. I just tried my first batch tonight using jgarner's recipe as well and mine look just like your first picture. It's amazing what a difference the grinding made! Did you pipe them the same way or get a larger tip?

What an eyefull! I just googled "Canadian Bakin'" and it came up with a variety of things including gay porn. Soooo I might just stay away from my handle and head towards Mission Baking Co. or something like that. Thank goodness you guys suggested some options.

WOW! Thank you so much for all your input. I really appreciate the time you've taken to let me know what you think and give guidance to a newbie. This will be a huge help!

I bake for a higher end coffee house but also have the opportunity to develop my own business on the side using their kitchen. I plan to do custom orders as well as sell things like nightscotman's marshmallows, macaroons, etc at the coffee house which would require my label. My husband's family thinks I should use some form of bakin' as my name. Whether it be lower case, upper case, plain font, fancy font, whatever. It doesn't really grab me or reflect me but I guess what's more important is whether other people like it or think it's marketable. I thought I would come to you experts and see what you think. My name is Tina Bacon so obviously this name is a play on what I do and my last name. I'm an avid home baker not a trained one so I bake simpler fare. For the coffee house I do muffins, scones, cookies, cheesecakes, squares, etc. In time we will likely expand the dessert side of things. We live in a suburban area so I'd like something classy but not too far out there. What do you think of bakin'?

hayasaka.k - Mailboxes, Etc. is great with getting things from the US. They have a PO address at locations just across the border and will receive even very large items. Then you just have to cross the border, pick up your parcel and head back, of course declaring if needed. Can save a lot of money with shipping although it would probably cost you more than $12 in gas and time for the vanilla beans so it might be worth it just to pay.

Lysbeth - that's what I had in mind originally. Could I reduce the mango enough to make it similar strength to a compound? And how much reduction do you add to how much buttercream. And at what point do you add it?

Thanks for the recipe Chris. It looks great!

I can't help you but I'm so glad you asked. I've only been making proper buttercreams for about 6 months now and I've never added fruit to it before. I'd like to make a mango buttercream and pastry cream and would like to know how much puree to add.

What about marshmallows?? Check out the marshmallow thread. Nightscotsman offers an excellent recipe that you can make in any number of flavours. I do half a recipe in an 8x8 cake pan to get about 25 squares. They keep a long time just airtight at room temp. One thing I've noticed people here suggest for a successful buffet is variety not only in flavours but also textures. It's not something I'd thought of before but it makes sense.

I just posted this question in the Pastry forum but I think it might be more useful to ask you who have tried the Diplomat Cake. My other tasters don't like rum. I honestly don't know if I would like it in a cake and I don't want to be left eating the whole cake myself. For those of you who have tried this cake do you think it would work with Kahlua instead? Or do you have another suggestion?

I just talked to the people who would be helping me eat this cake and although they like the buttercream and cake they aren't keen on rum. One of them suggested Kahlua might be nice. I know it won't be a proper Diplomat cake but I would still get to taste it's buttery goodness. Any opinions on whether the Kahlua would work and would I use it the same strength as rum?

Patrick, you've got me drooling...that lemon "curd" looks amazing.

I'm bumping this as there has been some conversation about this cake on one of the Canadian forums and I wanted to see if anyone has tried it and what they thought. vogelap has since updated the recipe a bit on his own site www.overtherhine.com. I haven't taken a close look at the two but one change I noticed was all butter in the buttercream instead of shortening and butter. There were very few links online for this cake so I was wondering if it is a Canadian creation that has been overlooked. It's apparently a very popular cake in Vancouver, BC. So, has anyone tried this recipe or something very close?

My best tip for the lemon pound cake is to get a flavour injector or a syringe to inject the glaze into the cake and then brush the remaining glaze over top. It makes it absolutely to die for. I bought a needle with a large syringe from our local veterinarian.

I have found the best Lemon Pound Cake!! I'm not a big fan but this recipe has converted me. It's in Fine Cooking's Holiday Baking edition from Christmas 2003 although they have dated it winter 2004. It's actually an Orange-Poppyseed Pound Cake that I adapted to just lemon. It has a wonderfully tart glaze and a rich cake made with butter of course and a bit of cream cheese. I guess since I've changed some of the ingredients I could probably type it out for you. If you're interested, let me know.

Does this recipe look close to what you've all tried? Diplomat Cake If it does, I might give it a try. It sounds delicious, if not a bit rich.