alligande

I attended a wedding in Positano, and after a superb meal we were served a croquembouch style cake as the wedding cake. The bride(american) and groom (Irish) had not specified what type of cake and this was what was served.

I stayed out of the last round...because I found it rather insulting I use rolled fondant on all my cakes and have never had any one complain, most don't even ask what is covering the cake they just want a cool looking cake. Lets face it there are cakes that you would get from a patisserie and then there are sculptural cakes... different specie. There are many things that I don't find tasty but I don't insult the chefs that make them I just order something else and compared to some of the weird sience projects going on in the savory world I don't think fondant is particularly fake, the ingredients used appear in the everyday pastry world. Enough... End of rant.

Ok someone wanted a european opinion, I am a Brit living in the States, but my opinions are a little warped from being a restauraunt owner (in the US) I grew up with this and it has never seemed weird just what formal establishments do. Clearing plates... Having been on both sides of this, in the UK part of our table manners training includes placing your knife and fork together in the center of the plate when finished, now as a kid I thought this was just one of those silly rules invented to torture children with, now as some one who has served plenty of people I get it.... you are informing your server that you are finished. I have had many times when I have watched carefully thought the whole table was finished and someone starts eating again ..... belive me its a guessing game. Which raises the other part of clearing tables I hate it when serves start clearing plates before the whole table is finished. Over friendly servers.... THIS really freaked me out when I started living here ...Hi I am Sandy and I will be your server etc I think that the level of service requested by the first post is the hardest of all to achieve, good service looks easy but it is not.

Just wanted to say good luck today..... hope all goes well

crisp (chip) sandwiches. plain prefered but salt and vinegar can also be good, I have had this taste since been introduced as a kid.

I live in a resort town and a few years ago there was a series of letters written to the local paper, regarding dress code. The one that started the commotion was a letter complaining that a party had been turned away from a nice restauraunt (for lunch) because of attire, one of the group (male) was wearing a "wife beater" for want of a better term and how this was ridiculous in a seaside town etc etc. Not a single follow-up letter supported this position (and there where lots) and every one supported the restauraunts decision, mostly based on who wants to eat an expensive lunch looking at a pair of hairy armpits. There is nothing wrong with a dress code I have lived in the Carribean where the island had a dress code, no beach attire in town, and you can spot a tourist at a restauraunt by their attire as residents also make an effort to dress. I strongly believe that if an establishment has created a certain ambience then you should make an effort to look appropraite so that your fellow dinners can enjoy the enviroment to the fullest, if you do not want to dress that night, then there are usually other options.

Me to...... I havent even found a un-reasonably priced one!

I have never used joint compund for cakes, but I have done a lot of home renovations with it. When you apply it thickly the compund will crack, thin coats help with this. But........ all is not lost you can apply additional compound to fill the gaps let it dry and then sand smooth. To keep the dust down you can use wet/dry sand paper and this will help you get a nice smooth finish. Works on walls!!!

Thanks for everyones help with this cake, it was delivered July 4th and ended up a very rich dense chocolate cake. There where some very interesting sience projects first including a couple that had such a horrible smell I did not even taste them. So thanks for all the imput.

I am staying out of the fondant debate, but I will stick my nose in on the "american buttercream" debate making it with butter is not unusual all my English cookbooks use a butter + powdered sugar buttercream, and that was what my grandmother and knowing the tradtions in my family her mother, used so I wondering if american buttercream started out with butter, but the birth of crisco gave rise to the current "monster".

I would not be scared of the Health Dept. in Rhode Island I have always found them very helpfull. Ask lots of questions, I have always found with all gov. depts if you ask before doing they take the time, as I think they spend alot of time dealing with people who just went ahead. Make sure you talk to someone knowledgable When I went to the dept to inquire about the space I am going to be sub-letting the ladies behind the counter said this and that, and I kept asking questions (which they could not answer) so they gave me a supvisors # and he was great, and cut out half the paper work.

This is a comment regarding the restaraunt bus. in general, when I went to shows ( as owner) talked to reps etc. if I had a male in tow then all reps addresses them, I do feel that there is an underlying perception that the man must be in charge, this despite that all know women in levels of the industry. That said I fully agree publicity is a self generated and it is all about how you put yourself out there, maybe the art world would be a good analogy, as we all know many of the "great" modern artists where not neccesarily the best of their generations but they were damm good at publicity and self promotion. I have read many articles regarding women in business (general) that talk about how women culturally do not thrive in the corporate world, because they play as a team not as indivual competitors and so do not get singled out. Which would apply to this situation. Personally I always thought that was BS and everyone is responsible for their own acheivements. (which explains why I have spent my life avoiding corporate situations) Karen

First stop should be the health dept. because they will know what licenses you will need for food in your state. For instance I dont need a food handlers cert. for cakes because I dont handle meat, but I did need one as a restaurant owner. The SBDC is a starting point but from personal experience it is not always correct, remember small to them is 300 employees not 1. There are programs that target women enterprises as well I beleive there is an organisation called women in enterprise. In Rhode Island there are programs geared for micro business, have a look for them. Also in RI the Secretary of States office has a program that provides you with one stop shopping for forms etc, you tell them what type of business and they put together a package (not always complete when it comes to food see above!). Regarding SCORE I have heard of people having sucess with them, my experience was horrid, they knew nothing about the food bus. and where shocked that I (a mere woman) could crunch an excell spreadsheet! I was trying to get a loan through a womens enterprise program, they um and ahd, so long that the deal almost fell through mean while I got the loan directly from a bank with no fuss.

only ones I use, would never go back to dealing with nylon bags.

I make one with mayo, honey mustard, apricots, almonds, rosemary and a hint of curry powder.

As I mentioned further up I got a great price on ebay, brand new for about half of what I could find it for elsewhere.

I agree with K8memphis and have found the best thing is to talk to your local agencies, Health, fire, zoning, if you start out up front with your plans I have found my local inspectors really helpfull. Hoods are a fire code requirement and the codes var,y I live in Rhode Island and we have had alot of changes since the Station fire so check with your local marshal as only he knows what he will approve.

I agree with K8memphis and have found the best thing is to talk to your local agencies, Health, fire, zoning, if you start out up front with your plans I have found my local inspectors really helpfull. Hoods are a fire code requirement and the codes var,y I live in Rhode Island and we have had alot of changes since the Station fire so check with your local marshal as only he knows what he will approve.

Good Luck with your book, my mother has my grandmothers handwritten cookbook which I used extensively to develop ideas for tradtional afternoon tea service, but it took lots of trial and error, I often would find a modern recipe that was close, if it was a technique I was unfamiliar and use those instructions using Grans ingredients. Then kept my fingers crossed. I think the custard was undercooked from your description.

I have a question, slkinsey mentioned the classic version using bechamel and not riccotta, before I came to the states all the lasagna I had was made this way (but I have never had lasagne in Italy), then I came here no bechamel but riccotta, so I use both! (but no eggs) So is riccotta an american addition? or a regional variation I have been very curious about this for years

White choclate is out, contains dairy, I was also concerned about using ganache as the crumb coat as I wondered if it would make the fondant less white, and as jeannecake said will it provide the sticky surface for the fondant to stick to, I was also worried if you can get it smooth enough for the fondant covering. Any one tried ganache as a crumb coat?

Thanks for the input Cheryl, I am going to use regular fondant, so the buttercream is just for the crumb coat, I just didnt want it to be the shortening, powdered sugar variety, I will give yours a go.

Thanks for the info, I dont use crisco because I dont like the taste of that style of buttercream, So I was hopeing someone could recomend a version that wasnt bad. thanks

Thanks for all tha assistance on this posting "cake ideas for a Bride with allergies" got the cake sorted now I need to figure out the butter cream for the crumbcoat. The cake is going to be Choclate with a choclate ganace filling made with Soy. The Bride is allergic to wheat, cow dairy, and eggs. Normally I use IMBC or french buttercream, does any one have any suggestions on what to use, I never use crisco for icing so I am clueless Thanks Karen

Just a quick note, Bath and York are not alike, although both were roman towns. Bath is a magnificent Georgian city, and York is a walled medeivial city, Bath has the roman baths and York the minster. Like all English cities they are full of buildings from diffrent periods. Hope this helps