JeanneCake

I'd use it in a gingerbread recipe, replacing pepper (if the recipe called for it); mostly because today we were making the fresh ginger cake from David Lebovitz and the bite of the fresh ginger reminds me of the bite you get with dijon. I bet you could replace the black pepper and reduce the fresh ginger a little bit to compensate...use a teaspoon or two of the mustard if you go with that recipe.

What do you have to lose by trying? Especially if this is destined to be tossed anyway.... I'd be curious and if it were myself, I'd do a little experiment: divide the mixture in half. Bake one half and see what happens. Then mix a yolk or two with some sugar and combine that with the remaining half and bake that (on the chance that there aren't enough yolks to set the custard. If just baking it works, then you don't need to do this....)

What happens when you reduce the baking powder? Try it with 2 tsp instead of 2.25 and see if this makes a difference. Most cakes fall because of a weak structure due to too much leavening.....

Besides the obvious in how not to behave with people, what are you learning there? When you finish in 4 months, will you be a pastry cook with 24 months of experience or a pastry cook with 20 months of experience because you didn't learn anything in this job because of being paralyzed with fear? If you can learn new skills, or polish your existing skills (becoming faster, more confident) while dealing with the lunatic chef; then ok. I have to wonder: you're spending so much time insulating yourself from the emotional stress of this position that what are you able to learn?

I agree that the stress in this workplace is not doing you any good. You can't learn anything or be productive if you are always worried about what is going to set the chef off and have her yell. The fact that she yells should make you realize she's not going to be a good mentor to you as an apprentice so even if you stay, you won't get much out of the experience. Did this chef interview you for the position? Was she aware that you are a novice? If she did not interview you or hire you, she may be frustrated at her lack of input for a new hire. Chefs who yell are nothing new. To me, a boss that yells is a lousy boss. When a mistake is made, the boss should not be looking to place blame, but to figure out why the mistake happened and how to fix it if possible. When a mistake is made, the employee responsible should acknowledge the mistake and do what's possible to not repeat the mistake and show that the lesson is learned. When doing a new task, have someone show you how it should look, then you do it and have them approve it, then when you have done several, check in again to make sure what you are doing is correct before you do 100 of them and find out they are wrong. Explain you are doing this to prevent mistakes and to save the company money and time. Something you said in your post is staying with me: the "common sense that I lack and need for thorough guidance" - this chef is used to the workers already there who know the routine and do things without guidance. This may be affecting you more than you think. If you forget things quickly, try repeating what is said to you. Tell the chef you need to write things down (keep your notebook in your pocket) in order to stop making mistakes and to learn. Write quickly so it doesn't become an issue. But seriously, look for another place. This place is not going to help you learn anything other than to doubt yourself and that there are some really crappy bosses out there. If nothing else, it is teaching you what kind of boss you don't want to be.

Thank you! Am ordering it tomorrow!

Has anyone had any luck finding the white coloring (the titanium stuff)? PCB doesn't list it any more ....

That looks wonderful! I think I'd like to make these, or at least try. A few of my clients are planning holiday open houses to show their venue space; is there a flavor that is very pale (one of them is having a winter white theme) so that the PdF could be in the winter white spirit? Something like white peach? pear? any other ideas?

Is it possible? I've always done mine in small batches (meaning 14 or 28 at a time) in a regular oven; I am going to be getting requests for 150+ and I would really like to use the convection oven (low fan). I'll have time to try it out mid-Sept when things calm down, but thought I'd see if anyone is making it like that now; or has in the past and can either reassure me it's possible or save me from wasting the ingredients Basically, it's an egg foam (whole eggs beaten with sugar), with melted chocolate and butter that has a hot sugar syrup added to it, then that is added to the eggs and it's baked in a bain marie. I always get a crust on mine, it breaks up when the cake is compressed down after coming out of the oven (I always push down on the whole ones with the bottom of a tart pan, or for my individuals, a smaller round pan that fits inside the 3" round pan. This way, there is little chance the cake will be "sunken" on the sides - but if that were to happen, we'd just fill it out with some semi-firm ganache.

Yeah, blondies are not really white chocolate brownies; there's a recipe from Maida Heatter for California Fruit Bars which contain brown sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla - and then you add softened dried fruit and nuts; my favorite version is with pecans, dried cranberries and white chocolate chips; I thought you'd have better luck tweaking something that doesn't contain melted chocolate or cocoa based on what the OP was saying was going wrong with the recipes already tried....

I don't have a white chocolate brownie; I usually add a mix of white chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips (the callets) to the chocolate brownie we make; but if you're looking for a white chocolate brownie, you might want to consider tweaking a blondie recipe or a caramelita recipe to use more white chocolate. If you are replacing the dark/semisweet chocolate in a recipe you're currently using, you need to adjust for the additional milk solids and lack of cocoa solids (depending on the brand you are using) in white chocolate. I can't think of a replacement for cocoa if you have a recipe that is using cocoa and not melted chocolate....

I remember zapping it in the microwave for a few seconds, just to loosen it; I was afraid it might not incorporate smoothly because it was pretty thick from the container, like peanut butter. Just like Pastrygirl, I don't have to do that to caramel when I make caramel buttercream (the caramel is more like sweetened condensed milk in terms of consistency). Add it until you get the taste you want

I had a client many years ago who brought me canned dulce de leche from Argentina to use in their wedding cake; I warmed it slightly so it was a little more fluid and then added it to the finished buttercream. Because I was doing layered cakes, I could also spread the warm(er) dulce de leche on the cake layer before putting the layer of buttercream on (our cakes are three layers of cake and two layers of filling; they're about 4 inches tall). I don't remember the brand (and it might have been in a jar, it's been at least three or four years) but it worked fine. There is a point where you can add too much and the icing breaks but you have to go slowly. I remember she brought 3 or 4 jars or cans, and I used them all.

Or you could bake the pie crust on curved flashing (from the hardware store). You can shape the flashing (be careful, the stuff is sharp) and then cover it in foil to bake if you think people are going to chip off pieces. You'd probably need a few test runs to see how the crust behaves (shrinking, browning, etc). Use styrofoam cake dummies to form the curves so you have the right dimensions. Then apply the piecrust to the dummies using the royal icing as glue.

I use liquid whites to make pavlovas, meringue cookies and mushrooms (at holiday time); I am using a French meringue (not Italian or Swiss, I think Swiss would work fine but not Italian. In my experience a few years ago, adding a hot sugar syrup makes the commercial whites collapse.) Are you using a stand mixer? hand-held mixer? whisk?

Mine (dark chocolate version) always forms a "crust" on the top, especially the larger size; I think if you're going to increase the eggs, I'd suggest adding an extra yolk or two before adding another whole egg.....

I would probably search for a white chocolate sponge cake with a little flour, and replace that flour with a gluten free flour replacer. The bete noire is pretty much a baked mousse, like Lisa says, so if you don't want that texture, go for a sponge cake to modify....

Sigh. I miss the good old TV cooking shows - the ones on PBS - I mean, the ones that I could learn from; and while I know I can get them on DVD, there's something about watching it while it's being televised. We have all the Indiana Jones movies, yet when they are on TV, we watch them. I loved spending Saturday mornings with Julia, and Jacques, and Pierre Franey......

So, how's about another week of blogging ! This is great!!!

I'm breaking in a pair of Birks, and wishing the cork were more cushioned; I've also got a pair of Klogs, which I am about to start breaking in. I like the cushioning of the Klogs, but I like the width of the Birks; I also bought a pair of Allpros but they are too big and have to go back. Finding the right shoe makes all the difference in this line of work.

Thank you for blogging this week; looking forward to it!

Love this! We just got asked to do "colorful" desserts for an anniversary party and this looks gorgeous. I especially like the little larger size; it would be great for this party. what color (brand) did you use for the purple? Ours fades and looks a little grayish (chefmaster brand). We haven't tried green yet; but have had great results with orange, red, pink, and yellow. Soon someone is bound to ask for the Tiffany blue color.... nice job!

I like to use bitter chocolate in a meringue cookie (not macaron) - from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Christmas Cookie Book; she adds ground unsweetened chocolate to the meringue at the end; then pipes it into shapes. You can also flavor the meringue with chocolate and coffee and that helps temper the sweetness. I don't like things too sweet, but I like the meringues with choc/coffee.....

I would toast them lightly before using them in a cookie; agree about chopping coarsely, makes me think if you look for a pumpkin drop cookie recipe and use toasted seeds in place of nuts. Or a brown sugar bar (like a blondie) and use dried fruits with either type of seed. What about a hermit-type bar cookie with figs or apricots (think Apricot Newton instead of Fig Newton!)?

I am looking at my copy of Maida Heatter's first cookie book; there is a recipe called Sunflower Coconut Cookies that calls for flour, soda/powder,, butter, light brown sugar, tbl of orange juice, honey, an egg, citrus rind (lemon and orange), oatmeal, shredded coconut,raisins and sunflower seeds (the raw ones, she specifically says to avoid toasted and/or salted seeds). They're a drop cookie. Let me know if this sounds like what you're interested in and I can PM the recipe to you if you like.