JeanneCake

Thank you both; carltonb - did you brush/spray the flexipan or did you use a regular mini cupcake pan (because I have enough pans to make about a thousand mini cupcakes and *that* would be a huge help in production!)

I've been making marshmallows for a few years with the recipe Nightscotsman posted long ago; it's easy, reliable and we usually always make it in slabs to cut. pull the mixture off the heat at 234 and cut back a little on the gelatin; I mix for 6 minutes in the 20 qt hobart and the mix is much easier to spread and get flat. I saw a website advertising marshmallows that looks like they form theirs in mini-muffin silicone pans. I can't imagine piping this though; it seems as if it would set up by the time I got halfway through one flexipan. So with our accounts already asking for holiday menus, I'm thinking I'd like to do the same - formed marshmallows that I can stuff maybe; or put on a stick and dip..... I have five of the flexipan mini cylinder molds so I wanted to get some feedback about whether it's the recipe that makes it easier to pipe or if there's another technique I can use to fill several sheets before the marshmallow sets up too much to pipe. TIA!

Is the cake or tart recipe in a book? If so, which one? (I don't have any of his books. Yet.) We do a chocolate caramel tart (choc pate sucree, layer of caramel, topped with ganache) and it would be nice to have a fun variation on that kind of truffle tart.

Those look wonderful! I think the best part is the burnt part; I use potato starch instead of 10x; and sometimes I mix cornstarch in, but usually I am not that organized. A torch is better too you can have more fun with it!

Can you cross post this in the asian forums? Maybe someone there will know but doesn't frequent this particular forum... and I'd love to see a photo of the can!

Sarah, how are you storing them after baking? When the humidity is high here in New England, I try not to make macaron or at least do it first thing in the morning before the air gets really bad and put the shells away in an airtight container and into the freezer for storage, even if I am going to fill them later on or the next day (my walk in cooler is also somewhat humid). Even an hour or two out on the speed rack on a very humid day makes for some stickiness/softness after baking. I'm using the italian meringue method from Herme's book.

I found the Word document template margins are just the size for the smaller sheets so whatever images the client provides (as long as it is jpeg) I can resize within Word to fit and then print them out. So technically I am not using a ready-made software product to get an edible image to print. It takes a bit of planning to use the pre-formed business card and circles frosting sheets but I do those the same way when doing a corporate order.

My assistant was playing around one day when I was doing swirled buttercream for the top of cupcakes and she took two colors of macaron batter; put each color in a separate bag, then put the two into a larger bag with the tip (it was a little messy because the batter is runny and you have to cut the bags before you put it into the larger one) and she made swirled macs that looked very yin/yang. We use the Herme recipe, and it doubles well, you just divide the batter after you do some initial mixing; add the color and continue the macaronage til it's ready.

I will sneak funsize candy bars from Halloween into the freezer to surreptitiously eat them when no one is looking.....

You could also try Pfeil and Holing (out of NY) at www.cakedeco.com; you'll pay freight when shipping to a residence but they have a lot to choose from.

and to follow up Michaela's suggestion for marshmallows, we cut them into squares, dip one end in chocolate and then roll it in sugared almonds (sliced almonds doused with simple syrup and sugar then baked til crispy and golden and very addictive). And, in one of Maida Heatter's books she has a recipe for chocolate pepper pretzels which are very nice indeed. Made them one year expecting them to be christmas ornaments (along with other sugar and gingerbread cookies) but we ate them instead because they were too good to put on the tree they're a nice change from the typical pretzel....

When you mentioned "bark" I immediately thought of mendiants (they're like bark, but in circles, with dried fruits usually) so if you can get kosher dried fruit, this could work... I also love the idea of pretzels, as well as a box of assorted pate de fruit (upscale jelly candies!)

I ended up buying another C88 because I can get the ink cartridges overnight (free freight) from a distributor in NY; I could get a larger/better printer but I'd have to do a much better job of inventory for the ink cartridges

I thought exactly the same thing - what was the feckless turd trying to do taking video of it and then posting it. As if they were trying to bring them down. Agreed, way too much time on their hands.

Maida Heatter's California Fruit Bars are an easy bar to make; you mix brown sugar and egg over heat until the sugar melts, add flour and plumped dried fruit (the original calls for fruit and nuts, and there's a variation with just pecans) and bake in a foil lined pan. It's basically a blondie with yummy fruit. I like it best with apricots and it was always a hit when I brought it to our Thursday lunch seminars. The recipe is probably available online but it's in her Book of Great American Desserts I think variations of cookies would be excellent. Going back to the book above, the Chocolate Gobs are divine. As are the Raspberry Brownies.

I bought it from Food Industry Technology, 545 W. 37th St, Miami Beach, FL 33140 I don't have a website for them, and a google search turned up empty for them. But I found this other place: http://www.jiliding.com/fish-gelatin.html that looks helpful....

If you are prohibited from using gelatin derived from beef bones, are you allowed to use a fish based gelatin? Years ago I was researching gelatin for marshmallows for Passover and I found a place in Florida that sold fish based gelatin (in powder form) that was approved for use during Passover.

Would anyone know where to find Agrimontana apricot preserve? I can do mail order for small jars, but I used to be able to buy large cans many many years ago from a distributor. This was the best tasting apricot jam I'd ever had, even better than what I made myself!

You can add a bit of gelatin to stablize the whipped cream so it holds longer; but if you are keeping the cupcakes refrigerated until just before the reception begins they should be fine. (Is this an indoor or outdoor-in-a-warm climate reception?) You can buy a whipped cream stabilizer from Albert Uster Imports (the bottle will last you forever) and this will keep the whipped cream from watering out for at least 24 hours. You could also use a white chocolate mousse that would have a longer shelf life. Or you can get that stuff in a carton that you put in a mixer bowl and whip until it looks like (and behaves like) whipped cream. I want to say it is called Pastry Pride but I think if you ask for any non-dairy whipped topping kind of product, your distributor (or Restaurant Depot) would have it.

I'm right there with you on carmel/caramel; that grates on my nerves whenever I hear it. It's like being from Boston (thankfully without the accent) and wanting to say "there's an A in the middle of that word, don't forget it!" I don't know why it happens, maybe people think they are being correct when it's not?

I keep any leftover baked puffs in the freezer in a ziplock freezer bag. Refresh for a few minutes in a hot oven to recrisp them if you need to. I personally go with Pichet Ong's recipe, it is fantastic and browns beautifully even without egg wash and tastes great unfilled even. And I was not a fan of pate a choux until a friend used that recipe and shared it.

Would you consider covering it with chocolate fondant? There's a recipe for it in The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum or you could purchase it ready made..... I find chocolate fondant to be very different from the white fondant - less sweet, for one!

You can bake cheesecake in cupcake pans, with paper liners in them; I'd bake them the way I do the individual ones in rings - at a low temp, like 225 or 250 a nd for a limited time (20-30 minutes, checking at the 20 minute mark). When I bake the individual rings, i don't use a waterbath (I'm using a convection oven and I turn the heat down to 225 and turn the pan a lot). It's easier to get them out of the pan if you bake in liners. If you bake in cupcake pans, you can place those pans in a sheet pan of water to simulate a water bath if your recipe works better that way. You could also bake a sheet of cheesecake and then cut the sheet into rings (or triangles, or what have you) that will fit your paper liners, and if you want a more secure footing, you can place the cut circles onto cookie bases. I bake off half-sheets (because I make cheesecake pops) and if I am feeling very self assured, I'll bake at 300 for 35 minutes having poured 6 pounds of batter into the pan (using a pan extender). It's 250 for a little bit longer if there's lots of "stuff" (like oreos, heath bar, other cookie types like Girl Scout Samoas) - I am also modifying the recipe to make a firmer, denser cheesecake that can withstand rolling.

Looks beautiful! what did you end up using for the chocolates?

@ ChrisZ: Swiss Chalet is selling a chocolate glaze with metallic sheen in in both white and dark; I don't know if they only sell to the trade or if consumers can buy from their website. I've been seeing pictures of cakes that have animal prints inside the baked layer (leopard); and ones where people bake cake balls in that special pan and then put the baked balls into a pan of cake batter and create a cake with polka dots in it. You can buy sparkle airbrush color, which you could use to color cake batter (think red velvet), but honestly, the sparkle will be very very faint because it's a shimmer color not a neon color. But it's worth a try.