JeanneCake

The wedding was Sunday, we had to deliver the cake Saturday evening. I wasn't working as a pastry chef at the time (I was still in high tech but I took the week off before the wedding to handle stuff. This was before the WWW, cell phones and the consumer use of email (yes, dinosaurs roamed the earth then too 🤣). I started baking on Thursday, assembled the cake on Friday then covered it in fondant on Saturday morning. It was a four tier vanilla/raspberry design from The Cake Bible; I bought the marzipan roses but still. Not being in a commercial kitchen with lots of space to spread out, I basically emptied out my fridge so I had room for the cake and despite having practiced all summer long, things still took me longer than I estimated. If you are working out of your friend's commercial kitchen it won't be as bad; if she covers the cake in fondant and stacks it for you, you're in great shape. Plan 2 days for the decorating so you have extra time in your schedule already built in; if you don't need it, you have time to relax. If you do need it, the additional time you built into the schedule doesn't force you to choose between finishing the cake and doing something else. I don't know how much experience you have in cake decorating so please don't be offended by my long decorating time recommendation. I would especially recommend you doing the painting on dummy cakes covered in cheap fondant to practice. You can buy styrofoam dummies and yucky fondant at the craft store (Michael's, AC Moore, Hobby Lobby, etc); for the good fondant you can buy from AUISwiss, get their Massa Grischuna with white chocolate (it's firmer than plain fondant, it has a slight ivory cast to it compared to the Americana, which is paper-white in color or the Neutral, which is more like a soft white). This is the only brand of fondant I use; it is easy to roll out (use cornstarch, not confectioners sugar, sugar will dry out the surface of your fondant more than cornstarch will); it tastes good as far as fondant goes, and it handles well.

I think they are using the immersion blender to mix the color and cocoa butter together; it's "emulsifying" in the way that you combine oil and vinegar for salad dressing and they want to spray this through an airbrush to color the chocolate molds. You can also use an immersion blender to make mirror glaze (which contains chocolate and gelatin as @pastrygirl mentioned above) so that's what I was thinking you were covering the cake with too!

A glaze is poured over the cake's surface (usually you put a coat of buttercream or even ganache on it first), while fondant or modeling chocolate is rolled out to drape/enrobe the cake. Some people use the paneling method to cover the cake - you cut a circle to fit the top, then you cut a band to go around the side and then you finesse the seam where it meets. I myself would not use glaze on a tiered wedding cake; there is no room for error when stacking it, and you pretty much have to have border of some type to mask the seams where each tier meets the one below. I've done it enough times over the years with ganache (as a glaze) to know that it's a headache I don't want to deal with (so the price would be in line with the aggravation factor 😁). If this is your own wedding cake you are working on, you don't need or want any extra stress before the big day. (I am admitting to a bias here: I made our wedding cake and my husband - to this day - will tell you it ranks right up there with one of the dumbest things I've ever done. There's so much you're dealing with in the few days before the wedding that you don't really have the luxury of taking your time with the cake. And that's when something will happen and you will be frustrated and stressed, which you don't want to be!)

I've used vegetable oil to hydrate colored dusts to paint on wafer paper....

I would seriously consider using a white chocolate fondant, or a white modeling chocolate as a means of covering the cake. You will be less likely to have problems as you paint on the sides, you can fix errors far more easily on those than you can on a glazed surface. You might also want to consider exploring a new trend similar to impasto, that is uses a painter's palette knife to apply buttercream (it could also be a colored ganache) to form impressionist-style flowers. If you are going to paint on fondant or modeling chocolate, you can use airbrush color (it will dry better than thinned gel color; which always remains a little bit tacky if you go in that direction). If that video showed using an emulsifier, maybe it's to make the "edible paint" more pliable, like paint? Does it show what it looks like before and after they mix the emulsifier in? Can you post a like to the video (I'm curious about the technique myself!).

Late to the party but I see that little nook as a place a couple might become engaged... you might want to consider having that area available for reservations in case someone wants to!

well, first I'd bake it in the 9" pan and use the thermapen to see what it registers since you know it is fully baked in that timeframe in that pan. I'd probably buy a second pan to be honest; there are so many variables to consider when you are doubling the recipe. And just to make it easier, weigh the final batter amount so you can still double the recipe when you prep it but scale it correctly into two different pans.

😢

Let me ask my AUI rep if she can get me some samples. Which ones would you want (in order of preference)? I can send them to you if she can get them.... will PM you with my email address. For compounds, I've used the orange, triple strength espresso, toasted coconut, Irish Cream, Amaretto, Frangelico, white chocolate (years ago, that was a big waste of $ but it was only a sample so not really a lot of $ wasted!), champagne (it's just sweet wine so what's the point); I used cotton candy once, and it was quite good - not fake tasting at all!; and mango. The mango compound was excellent and I'd buy it again if I need it. Over the years I've used banana (meh), gingerbread (very good) eggnog (also good), chai (ok) raspberry (also good), wild strawberry (good), strawberry champagne (good but I hate the way it smells). Amoretti also makes extracts - water soluble and oil soluble. Of these I've tried toasted marshmallow (don't bother with this one), maple (these are good, I've tried both OS and WS), Rose (I don't really care for Rose flavoring so I was neutral about this one); Hibiscus (which was good)

@Jim D. something like this? Chef's Essence Flavors https://www.aftelier.com/category-s/1820.htm I've never used them so I cannot say if they are good or bad; and I don't know anyone who does use this brand, but they look like they are cheaper than the Sosa essences from AUI though so maybe worth a try?

Yeah, you do have to buy 12 at a time for the puree. The Ponthier stuff is wonderful; I remember when Swiss Chalet brought them in; the blueberry and the coconut blew me away with how flavorful they were. The other thing is that Ponthier comes in tubs or in pouches and I always got either one and they always came in frozen when I was buying them from Swiss Chalet. AUI on the other hand, sells the pouches as refrigerated and the tubs frozen.

Thank you everyone! I already buy lots of things from AUI (Felchlin, Ponthier purees, tart shells, hazelnut paste - the Akacakoka is amazing; fondant, gum paste... sometimes my rep refers to my kitchen as her second warehouse ) but I'd been using Amoretti compounds before AUI introduced their compounds. Compared side by side; the AUI orange turns whatever you add it to a bright, day-glow orange that visually is not appealing; whereas the Amoretti orange is a more delicate color, a truer orange flavor and has little bits of zest in it for texture. I'm using compounds mostly in cheesecake batter, in amaretto panna cotta (so I don't have to use alcohol, although at the price Amoretti is charging it might be cheaper to use the booze!), sometimes in italian meringue buttercream (when I need a strong coffee flavor but I don't want to use so much coffee syrup that I end up changing the texture of the buttercream; or for when I want to boost the caramel flavor but don't want to add so much caramel sauce that the buttercream becomes too soft). I did get the OSA fillings from Felchlin when they started carrying them; I liked the coffee one and we still have some of the strawberry. I've never used the OSA fillings before so I'd love to hear what other pastry peeps do with them..... besides melting them and dipping the tops of cupcakes in it, or using it as a drip edge on an occasion cake (which is popular now!). I got some of the kracklin filling (with the feuilletine in it, so good!) but it contained nuts and I didn't want to start adding it to everything and then having to worry about nut allergies...

Update: On a whim, I emailed my former Amoretti rep, who is now located in Germany (I've been buying from them for at least 12 years). I told her what was going on and asked if there was someone I could talk to because I wasn't getting anywhere with the social media "messages" (they were polite but it was canned answers). I was able to speak to a management person in CA who agreed that the promotion should have had clear guidelines and was able to help me get the order processed AND to my shock and amazement, the shipping (for at least 30 pounds of stuff) was only $25. I was almost on the floor when she told me that. I fully expected shipping to be at least $150 for that much stuff (I had at least 13 2.2# jars). They will be clearer about promotions in the future so I won't have to worry about this next year LOL! I'm happy to say they did their best to resolve the issue and it worked out to the benefit of both of us (I am still a loyal customer and they got a big sale from one person

That's good to know about Sosa; AUI offers a 10% discount on orders over $750 and shipping is free with orders above $300 (I think. It could be $250, I'm not sure). If I don't go ahead with the Amoretti order I might just start getting the Sosa compounds from them. Amoretti's compounds are very good, but the arbitrary application of rules after the fact more than annoy me. It makes no difference to them, I'm a small business and my $1700 isn't appreciated and the lack of an order won't faze them in the least.

Hi ... question for professional pastry chefs .... Amoretti has been my go to for compounds for years, despite their rising costs over the last four years. They've got much more of an online presence now, and they are trying to push a lot of selling through their website. They are running a "Black Friday" sales promotion - you buy so much, you get so much off your order good through Nov 30. Since most of their compounds run between 70 and 100 for a 2.2# jar, I can really only afford to buy when there's a promotion. So I stock up once a year and get everything I will need for the next year. My order is currently up to almost 1,700 and when I asked if this qualified for free shipping, I was told no - because it was an online order. Free shipping was offered only for orders placed through a customer service rep and over $300. But, you can't use the promotion if you call in an order. I pointed out that the promotion does not contain any restrictions, nor does it say for online orders only but they are adamant that they will not allow me to place this order through a customer service rep and get the discount and if I go ahead with the online order, they'll give me a code for free shipping on my NEXT order. Are there alternatives to Amoretti out there with the same or better quality? I don't want to play this game with them any more. I'm a small business and to me, a $1700 order isn't chump change for such a specific product (I spend this on regular stuff like flour, sugar, dairy, etc on a weekly basis) and with so many other companies offering free shipping and sales promotions maybe it's time to explore other players in this space.

We didn't get a lot of cold cereal when I was a kid, either. I remember Kix and that's about it. Mostly we had the instant packets of oatmeal and I was allowed to boil the water for it myself from a young age (of which I was very proud. It was an electric stove - microwaves hadn't been invented yet - so my parents probably figured not much could go wrong). I did get the cinnamon frosted flakes but didn't really like them and no one else in house did either. My husband loves to snack on the flavored frosted mini wheats and the kid has been known to make an entire box of the blueberry ones disappear in a day.....I cannot keep enough Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds in the house either - and I'm not eating the cereal! LOL.. When I'm craving breakfast for dinner I want buckwheat pancakes or eggs in any way, shape or form.

I found them in the local Market Basket grocery store, but they weren't with the other Oreos in the cookie aisle, they were on a merchandiser up front with other holiday stuff. The package is small - smaller even than the usual specialty flavor packaging but I have to say I like these better than the mint ones At the rate I'm going, I'm going to need to buy several more packages in the next week!

If you like mint and chocolate, the peppermint bark oreos are quite good. Out of all the flavors they are throwing out there, this is the only one I've really enjoyed. (I like mint oreos so this isn't that far off; the mint in these is not as overwhelming).

Do you mean one cake that has three layers of cake in it? It would probably be anywhere from 4 to 6 inches tall in total. Or three stacked cakes? This would definitely need dowels in the bottom tier (to support the middle) and the middle tier (to support the top).... you can use bubble tea straws or the plastic dowels you can buy in the craft store. ETA: if you are doing a stacked cake, you also want to make sure the cake board (aka cake drum) is strong enough to not flex under the weight of the tiered cake. Each of the stacked cakes are built on a cardboard round that exactly matches the size of the round then you tape the bottom tier to the cake drum; etc...

I've made Black Cake a few times - it is *wonderful* and now I am wishing I had this thought a month or so ago so I could have started the fruit. Which brings me to a question for all of you seasoned fruitcake makers: how long can you macerate the fruit - maybe it would make sense to buy a pound or so of different fruits and just keep them in a glass jar with the alcohol year round so you can make the cake when you want to and with your favorite fruits (I am not fond of citron or the green cherries LOL) ?

Agree with pastrygirl; the springform pans aren't essential to the recipe (they probably use it so you can release the sides and get the cookie out more easily); you could probably use a small rectangular (quarter sheet) cookie or brownie pan if you lined it with a foil sling so you can remove the cookie easily.

She thought they were trying to fill the box too much; that seems like she thinks the problem was theirs? You can't fix a problem if you don't know about it and I would much rather a customer tell ME about a problem with my product than to tell everyone else online who can't help fix it! I'd be frustrated too, as a business owner.

There is such a wealth of knowledge here in the various threads and topics! Have you gone through some of the ones you are most interested in, as far as type of recipes? I'm not a chocolatier, yet I learn something every time I read a thread; people are very generous here with their time and knowledge.

cut down on the amount of gelatin and reduce the mixing by a minute each time to see where you want that product to be. I've been using Nightscotman's recipe for years and burned out two small KA mixers when I first started making it; then over the years I started to cut back on the gelatin and the mixing time. Now when I make a full sheet (pan, by doubling the recipe) of vanilla marshmallow; I'm using 1 5/8 ounces of powdered gelatin and beating for only 6 minutes. I get a firm enough set that I can still cut it (or pipe it in to a kiss shape) but sometimes it's still very soft (this happened a few times this summer and I suspect user error more than anything else and it was too "flabby" to cut into squares.)

@gfweb, I agree with your assessment! I really like the specialist I am working with now; but I feel like they nickle and dime you every possible step of the way. ADP is worse. I thought about doing Patriot Software but I really need someone else to handle this. I have too much on my plate and too terrified of mistakes!