JeanneCake

Your response is coming across as grouchy. I'd say this cook had been left exposed by the Chef (who was not present at the time, and given the holiday, I venture to guess the Chef hadn't ordered much because of the restaurant and hotel closing for 3 days) and was more unhappy about not being paid for working past closing time on a holiday. That's something your post didn't mention.

I think JohnT and Lisa are on to something - the picture looks to me like a pastry version of hasselback potatoes (where you cut slices into a cooked potato then insert slices of cheese and then bake again). It looks like there could be a second egg wash after the apples are placed and then some crystal sugar to finish; I definitely hope those are not red apples! (more for the mush factor they would result in)

I loved her books; her writing was so inviting and her recipes are wonderful to work from. I have all of her cookbooks and realized yesterday how happy I was that I never loaned them out to friends who asked; because I feared not getting the book returned and not being able to replace them (I'm still annoyed at not getting back my copy of Jack Ubaldi's Meat Book after loaning it to a chef-in-training. And Nick Malgieri's Great Italian Desserts). I am glad her spirit will live on in her writing and she will continue to bring joy, by way of cooking, into the lives of her fans.

Can we ask them to just go back to coffee, please? Knock it off with the food already. Or go back to just the large cookies (I had a molasses cookie there that was ok) I had a "bistro box" once about a year ago and it was not at all good. It was well within the sell by date, but the "wrap" pieces were soggy, the grapes were mushy and I don't remember what there was for a sweet, or even if there was one. At something along the lines of $5 or $6 to boot it was an utter waste of money. I did have an almond croissant there that was decent (for what it was. I'm not comparing it to a freshly made croissant obviously but for something made far away and shipped in, it wasn't bad. Way better than that bistro box, to be sure!) I haven't seen these "pies" here in the US so do let us know if you try it!

I would do a google search for Wowie Cake; it's an eggless chocolate cake (best made with Hershey's Cocoa not the more expensive cocoas - it will still work if all you have is a high quality cooca powder but it's not necessary) and you can add chopped oreo cookies to it. My mom made this all the time when we were growing up and I use it as the vegan chocolate cake in our bakery. It also works as a vanilla cake if you sub out almond or hazelnut flour equally for measure for the cocoa (as long as you can have nuts, that is).

I don't sell chocolates, I'm in the pastry/dessert side and we sell to caterers, restaurants, etc and have a small retail (very small) space. Most "wholesale" clients are asking for 20% off and that depends on the volume they do. If you want 20% off my retail for a wedding cake and you're only going to order 5 cakes over the course of a year, then no, that doesn't qualify for 20% off. If that number goes to 100, well then yes, that makes it worthwhile for me to discount the retail price. When I sell to gourmet shops, I have to consider that their customers may overlap my area and if someone walks into the shop and sees I'm selling a flourless chocolate cake for $38 and the gourmet store wants to sell it for $50 that's a problem. (Mostly for them because I can't control their margin/markup requirements. You sell for what the market will bear, and your margin on different items is going to be different, which means the markup is going to be different. I can't get $50 for that cake in the town I'm in; but in a more affluent town, it could very well be considered a bargain at $50!!) Something I've heard other vendors mention is buy-back - if something doesn't sell do you buy it back or not? How do you handle problems (quality, storage, shelf life, missed deliveries, missed deadlines - meaning they don't get their order in to you on time and now you charge a rush fee to fulfill an order)?

I didn't want the Pectin NH and I told the rep that; she checked with the corporate pastry chefs and was told that's what to sell for PDF..... the apple pectin I got (from the same distributor as the Boiron) is from Pastry Star and normally I won't buy anything from that brand (I've been disappointed too many times in the past) and now that you say it, Kerry, I strongly suspect it's for jam!

If it's ok, I'd like to hijack the thread back to a traditional PdF and my troubles We bought a jar of pectin last summer from AUI, and it worked ok for a few flavors but it didn't set as firmly as I would prefer but we didn't get a lot of orders for Pdf so our interest waned a bit. Then since Christmas, we've had orders for assorted mignardises and I got a lot of Boiron purees (local distributor). It's been nothing but trouble (guava doesn't set up At All), raspberry set up but just barely and it was frustrating for the staff making it so I got in some apple pectin and that made things far worse. Completely and utterly ruined a batch of blackberry, cassis and another flavor that I can't remember using the apple pectin. On Saturday we got in an order from AUI and they are now selling the Sosa line from Spain and the rep suggested we use their Fruit Pectin NH so I got a jar. The staff pulled out a Mandarine Orange for me so I could make a batch this morning before having to leave for an event; but they didn't realize they needed to pull a Pear as well (the Boiron recipes specify using Apricot or Pear as a base for some flavors like Passionfruit, Mandarine, kalamansi...) anyway. I went back tonight to make it. At one point I was ready to fling the pot into the trash - it was only 325 gm of pear, brought to a boil, then adding sugar/pectin, and then in stages adding a total of 1550 gm of sugar (and after that is incorporated, you add the glucose then 1000gm of warm Mandarine puree). That is so much sugar for the little that was in the pot and I struggled after only adding a third of the sugar and ended up scorching some of the sugar (I was using an induction). It was a nightmare but I kept stirring and then in desperation because it needed more fluid added the glucose before all the sugar was added. It all came together in the end; even though I forgot the tartaric acid (fortunately I remembered that as I was pouring it into the pan and put it back in the pot and brought it back to 225 and then added the acid). The rep said that the Sosa fruit pectin is thermo-reversible so I knew putting it back on the heat wouldn't mess things up. It set up really well in an hour so I'm not expecting any problems when I cut it up tomorrow. What I noticed is that the Boiron recipes suggest the use of "pectin E440" and this Sosa product has (among other things in it) "pectin e44011" and now I want to know more about that. Can anyone elaborate please?

It's a GE Advantium over the range "oven" and it has separate selections for convection bake and speed cook. I used the convection bake feature when I first got the oven a few years back, and I just didn't like how long it took to cool down (and I own a bakery with commercial convection ovens so this isn't something I should have even batted an eye over!); then I discovered the speed cook function, and well who needs convection bake anyway! For what it cost, it does a lot more than I ultimately ended up using it for.

We have a combo convection/uwave. I like it best for the speed cook function - being able to cook a casserole in half the time for example, without heating up the oven (or waiting for it to preheat). I don't use it for baking, and I don't use it as an "oven" per se - and if something were to happen to it, I would replace it with the same thing. The usual uwave functions are there (cooking fresh or frozen veg, potatoes, reheating a serving, there's even a bacon setting that can make an unholy mess in the uwave if someone tries to cook more strips than you're supposed to (leaving child's name out!) The speed cook function kind of reminds me of the InstaPot - I can cook something faster with that speed cook setting than I would in a conventional oven and that for me is worth it.

I hope your father in law had a wonderful birthday! I also second the recommendation for the Silver Palate recipe. I make it with a few changes: I use vegetable oil instead of corn oil, make sure the pineapple is well drained, I use chopped pecans instead of walnuts and I've won "best dessert" type contests with the recipe. Later versions of the recipe cut down the sugar a little but I like the original version best. It scales up and down easily (I can get a 4x batch to fit in our 20 qt Hobart with a little room to spare). And also from personal experience: don't forget the vanilla, you'll notice it (yes, I was surprised too). Don't mess up the baking soda (too much or too little or you forget it altogether - I have done all three on separate occasions and you don't want to do that). Peel the carrots before you cook/puree them (I didn't think this would make that much of a difference but it did and I will never not peel the carrots again). You can leave out the nuts or the coconut but not both (one of the nice things about this cake is the texture). Don't leave out the pineapple; while you won't really notice it unless there are huge chunks, you need it for the moisture. This cake really does turn non-believers into believers

Personally I don't like this meringue buttercream when it's made with margarine (I don't like margarine or shortening but sometimes that's what the client wants/can have, so we do); but I think with soy butter it might be better and adding the fruit powder (with Kerry's excellent advice about a little citric acid to help) is an excellent idea.

Even with just a few turns of the mixer, it seems to separate. In RLB's Cake Bible, she uses a stand mixer fitted with a whip and a very small amount of granulated sugar to make a mascarpone cream; we tried this and the first time it worked, but not since. Her recipe notes that her first attempt at it, it curdled drastically and she just kept beating it and eventually it emulsified and became smooth. *That's* never happened to us (the smooth part!) I wonder if it needs something else in there besides sugar. When you make a tiramisu filling (with egg yolks, a few tablespoons of liquor maybe, some sugar); it doesn't separate. Even the BelGioioso site has you whipping it for a minute with a hand or stand mixer when making a tiramisu dip so I just don't have an answer

We have a dessert for one of our clients that calls for a mascarpone filling; made simply with the cheese and confectioner's sugar. Every time they're beating it to death and it separates/curdles. (We are usually making big quantities, 10# of cheese at a time and using a 20 qt hobart). Yesterday I had to buy another case of mascarpone because it happened again. Is anyone out there that makes a smooth (like a meringue buttercream smooth) mascarpone filling that is willing to share a recipe/technique? I think this stuff curdles/separates because of the fat content and temperature (like when you try to whip buttercream that is still cool) and how long it gets mixed but I can't figure out a good solution.

Can you make an italian meringue (or swiss) buttercream and use a non-dairy butter substitute like a soy or rice butter? We do that for people who are lactose intolerant but they know, for instance, they can have a certain type of margarine (like Fleischmanns') so they will ask us to use that in place of butter. As for cake, another recipe to experiment with is one my mother made frequently for us as kids; it's called "Wowie Cake" (easy to find online), it is dairy free and egg free; and if you want a vanilla version, you can sub out the cocoa powder with almond or hazelnut flour.

Thank you @robirdstx! When I made it, it was just the Velveeta and drained tomatoes, and I did one batch in the microwave and when it cooled it was not so wonderful; so I did more on the stovetop and it did the same thing (clumpy when cooled). Now that I know where the Velveeta is, I'll try it your way!

I think the only reason(s) I have to watch the game (who am I kidding; I don't understand football. At. All.) is 1) for the commercials and 2) to actually see this Goodell person have to be polite to Tom Brady - because if even *I* can understand the science behind "deflating" footballs, this guy shouldn't be in charge of making ice cubes, much less a football organization. Anyway I know people have strong feelings about the Pats (I myself am neutral, but it is a welcome diversion from politics), I do not. Our game day menu will be very similar to previous years: Havana Moon Chili (from the epicurious.com site) minus the almonds and with extra olives, over rice for most of the guests and over spaghetti for my husband. I am partial to teriyaki chicken wings and veggies and hummus; a few years ago someone wanted the Velveeta/RoTel tomato dip and I embarrassed myself in the supermarket by having to ask where the Velveeta was because I couldn't find it with the other cheese in the dairy aisle so I might be asked to make that again. How do you keep it from getting clumpy after a while? Anyone remember the artichoke dip that was popular years ago? I might make that if I can find a recipe.....

Oh my goodness, I'm late to the party! I just today ordered an Instant Pot and it will arrive Wednesday. It's not wedding season (I'm a baker) so I am looking forward to learning all about this over the course of the next two winter months! I originally thought I wanted a slow cooker but I just could not get past the leaving food in it for a few hours before it actually started to cook (assuming an 8 hour cycle); several people recommended the IP so I took the plunge! I'll be going through the entire thread(s) this weekend and thanking you all in advance for helping me to shorten the learning curve. And, I did buy a glass cover, but not an extra gasket so that's on the wish list for next time.

I'm thinking of the good old "Wowie" cake - it has the open crumb you're looking for and if you short the oil in it, you'd be close to the right texture. You can sub out a nut flour for the cocoa and get a non-chocolate version. If you bake it in a half or quarter sheet pan, you can get a shorter cake without having to torte it and it should hold up (not disintegrate) when you soak it, providing you're not drenching it.... what's the big picture for this dessert - is it layered with mousse or cream or something? How it is served (sliced like a cake or pie)? Glazed with something?

I saw this shared online but my French is very very rusty and I can't figure out how to get it to display in English. Can someone help me figure out how to get an English version of this article? http://www.lemonde.fr/m-gastronomie/article/2016/10/14/les-dessous-de-la-patisserie-de-luxe_5013853_4497540.html

Thank you for the pictures, that's exactly what I want to do. There's a plastics fabricator in the next town who can cut a shelf for the bottom too (I've had them make acrylic bases for cakes). We had a really good year this year so I have $ to do this and I'm happy to know about the free shipping from D&R, thank you @pastrygirl. I'll measure the frames tomorrow to make sure they'll fit on the table. Thank you all for your help!

So years ago I bought a used double Martellato guitar; and I'm thinking of getting a guitar cutter table for it; I am tired of moving it around and I don't want to give up space on a work table (plus keeping the other frames safe is a challenge). It doesn't fit on a speed rack and I think I need to just bite the bullet and spend the $ for a table specifically built for a guitar. I saw on the tcf sales site a table meant for a double Dedy and it's half the price of another place I'd seen advertising a table on line ($1500). Do you use a dedicated table? Does Martellato make a table for their guiltar and I just can't find it? Any opinions? Comments? Advice?

How did you decide on a name for the new restaurant?

I shake the previously cut/dusted marshmallows around in a strainer to get the potato starch off and then dip them. It helps to keep some potato starch around just to keep your fingers from getting sticky; we usually torch the tops before we dip them. I dip them just before they get delivered; usually we don't hold them (after dipping) for more than a day....

thank you, everyone, for sharing your most painful moments here with us; being an emotional sort myself, I want to reach out and hug each of you in an effort to shift the pain for just a moment. All of you have reinforced how fragile and precious life is and to show love and kindness always.