JeanneCake

Please! Share the recipe

Using fondant will give you cleaner lines than if you did this in buttercream; what I've found from people who say "no fondant" is that they've had the fondant from a craft store which is not to their taste. I've never used marshmallow fondant to know how it would compare in terms of ease of handling or taste; the commercial fondant I've used has been really well received by clients (even the "no fondant" clients). You can use Bakels Pettinice or Albert Uster's Massa Grishuna - both of which I've used and like; FondX is made by Cal-Java and a lot of people like that one; some people like Satin Ice but I only use that brand for the precolored fondants, it seems much drier than other brands when I use it. You could even use modeling chocolate for the entire thing; it might be more of a challenge than fondant depending on how firm the chocolate is, but it can work.

You could do a fruit soup, but I wonder if the banana brulee is going to count as "hot" since it's only the top that's torched - the custard itself is cold.

So it's ok for you to be angry and post about a private conversation - but MW doesn't get the same courtesy? I am also appalled that you would take that step (of escalating matters and making a private call public); in anger we do and say things we cannot later take back. Let's be clear about things: This would not have happened if you had never posted about the call.

Yes. Grilled steak. Of course, tonight we're having chicken and now I want steak!

From the Guardian quoting Marcus Wareing: "I felt I could call them because we have spoken before - we then had a private conversation which I am saddened to see has now been posted." MW was given the opportunity to respond and didn't refute the CC's claims - he was just "saddened" to see it posted. Just wanted to point that out. It was a private conversation. CC should have asked his permission or notified him prior or during the call that they would make this public. He is under no obligation to respond to inquiries regarding a private conversation. With the way the CC people are behaving, who knows what they would do with his response?! It served them well, to get their 15 minutes of fame. We don't know what was said during that private call so we are in no position to start wondering about why he was "saddened" - he doesn't need to refute anything, just like the CC isn't refuting their claims regarding what they posted (they had said they would address the issues raised in this thread, but so far have not).

This looks divine! What a great job Isn't being a mom fun?! Most fun I've had so far....

We only know one side of the conversation, and not much of that, either. My objection to this is the fact that the chef most likely has no knowledge that the CC were making it known far and wide that they received this call. No one likes to be blindsided and no one should. In my opinion, true professionals do not behave like spoiled children stamping their feet and saying "look what bad things have been said about me". In this thread, we have the CC making their experience known and the chef taking exception to that (first tantrum), and then the CC have a tantrum by saying "the chef spoke rudely to me, wahh!" I 'm not suggesting that we all behave perfectly all the time, but when we behave badly, do we have to shine s spotlight on it and keep probing the wound? Do you want your mistakes at work to be broadcast far and wide? Mrs CC should have informed the caller that she would be making the call known to the public; and included a transcript (OK, I'm being pedantic about this); but the bottom line is that they blogged about their experience, the chef called to discuss it and we only know what Mrs CC wants us to know about this call. What's the motive behind that? I can't find a shred of professionalism in that action and this action (posting about the call) from Mrs CC is equally as unprofessional and childish as what she claims Chef Wareing's behavior was during the phone call.

And posting this fact (about the chef calling) isn't unprofessional?!

the recipe I use calls for equal amounts of sugar and butter (mixed together but not creamed - no adding air); then eggs, vanilla, flour and some milk. The original recipe called for baking powder, but I didn't like the puff it gave so I leave it out. If I were making just round, crackly type of sugar cookies, I would add it but for my cookie cut outs, I leave it out. The recipe is at work and I am at home, so I am trying to remember the quantities for the small batch size, it would be 18 oz of butter, 18 oz sugar, 3 eggs, vanilla; and I can't remember the flour but it is probably 2 pounds perhaps? And 3 tbl milk. I am just guessing on the flour, I will check in the morning. But something else that helps is rolling the dough between sheets of parchment and letting the dough rest overnight. I also notice that I get a smoother cookie (more shortbread like) when I roll the scraps together - it's almost as if I could use more flour or leave it in a disk and then roll it out the next day.

The truffles look to be coated with sprinkles (also called "jimmies" here in New England!), you probably know them as vermicelli (these are more rounded than paillettes, which are tiny squares - at least, that is how I get them from my distributor.) Our standard ganache recipe is 2# chocolate (chopped, coins, callets, chips), 8 oz butter, 2# heavy cream; put choc/butter in a bowl, bring cream to a full boil, pour over choc, stir, let firm up.... so you could use that or whatever your own favorite recipe is.... I would say to use your own favorite cake recipes - a layer of chocolate cake, a layer of chocolate ganache; a layer of white or vanilla cake and a layer of white chocolate ganache (you could use the same ganache as above, just use 1# choc to 8 oz cream).... I have never had this, but it looks wonderful! At first I thought you were going to make tiny, tiny little truffles and put them in the filling! Please show pictures of the birthday cake! It will be lovely, I'm sure!

I have to wonder about whether or not the OP told Chef Wareing that the conversation would become a thread on a public forum. You know, sort of like the message at the beginning of a call that says "this call may be monitored and/or saved for training purposes". At least then you know that whatever you say has the potential to be recalled and reviewed. Sometimes the answer we get isn't the answer we want. I haven't read the review, I don't know the restaurant but I have to wonder about the intent of the poster in making the phone call so very public. Once, when I made a mistake with a customer's order; I fixed it and still the woman was irate and let me have it. I calmly replied that I hoped her boss would be as kind to her as she was being to me when she made a mistake at work. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Even when they are wrong and behaving badly!

I used to buy the most delicious apricot jam from Agrimontana through the same distributor who I buy my chocolate from (Sparrow in Boston). They stopped carrying Agrimontana and now I want to make my Apricot Linzer again for the holidays - and I'd like to use this brand because it was so good. I don't want to buy this retail; I could never sell the tart if I were to buy a small jar through Salumeria Italiana..... Anyone buying Agrimontana? From who? Or where...?

if you microwave the pumpkin, take the stem off first. I've heard that it can really be smelly or messy (can't remember which). Canned pumpkin would be easier to work with, with kids. Just demo the roasted/microwaved pumpkin if you can.....

Lava cake is another option... make them in advance, bake or not, then freeze and either rewarm in a microwave or bake to order

Maida Heatter has a recipe for Indian Pudding in one of her cookbooks and the intro to the recipe says something along the lines of "this requires long, slow cooking so if you are planning a slow cooked meal, it would be a shame not to make room for this too". Her recipe calls for 5 hours of baking, and while I've been wanting to make this recipe for at least 20 years, I haven't because of the baking time it needs. I just never seem to think of it on a snowy evening! My neighbor makes baked beans all the time during the winter, maybe I will coordinate with their efforts this year. Her description makes me think it is like a spiced custard but not heavy; maybe akin to grapenut custard? Or maybe a cheesecake.

Hmmm.... you could also use the Silver Palate carrot cake recipe; it does call for crushed pineapple but this disappears into the cake so you cannot tell it is there. Leave out the nuts and coconut and you're all set. You can add additional spices (that recipe only calls for cinnamon). I mention this because I routinely use it for wedding cakes (we have four this weekend and three of them are carrot cake) so I know it scales up easily. (My regular batch size is 4x the original recipe because that's as big as will fit comfortably in our 20 qt Hobart). How purple does she want the flowers? You could just make them white and brush them with the purple petal dust for a very soft effect - or even airbrush them if you have one. (the more delicate the flower, the more they will fly around and not cooperate when you are waving around the airbrush

I have never tried that. But now I want to! I don't have a hand held burr blender, just a regular Waring blender. I wonder would there be much difference.....

I like my food processor for making purees, some doughs, and a few batters (cheesecake pretty much.) The slicing blade makes nice slices for some things but they are thin slices (like for a gratin). When my child began to cook, I bought one of those chopper gadgets so he could put an onion or some garlic or herbs in it and I didn't have to worry about him with a knife. He's older now and more proficient with a knife, but he still likes to use the chopper It's a small one so it doesn't have much capacity, I don't know how useful it would be to you in your situation unless you were able to find a larger one. Best wishes for a speedy recovery...

As kids, my brother and I clamored for the pasta in a can - maybe it was the Chef Boyardee stuff, I don't remember. When my mother finally gave in and bought a can, my brother and I refused to eat it after one bite. I know it doesn't fit the loved it as a kid, don't like it as an adult theme we're on, but your story reminded me of that day. It was pretty funny!

I bought a hundred or so 3" round rings from Parrish's in Gardena CA many many years ago; they have website but there's no product list on it; they have a paper catalogue but I usually just call and ask them for what I want and get a price. I bought 2" and 3" cake rings (in various sizes - 8, 9 and 10 rounds mostly) from Pfeil and Holing because they are conveniently located in NY and anything I order pretty much arrives the next day (thank you UPS). Try Pfeil and Holing (www.cakedeco.com) or JB Prince, or NY Cake and Baking - they have have a web presence so you can browse through the products and then call in an order or do it online. Good luck!

Darienne, any advice you can offer would be very much appreciated! Of this I am confident: I will be asked on Wednesday to make lollipops for Friday. I have never made lollipops before, but I make Italian Meringue buttercream nearly every day so boiling sugar does not make me nervous. I also like to make caramel in a dry pan (ok, I rub it first with a cut lemon) so while it makes me nervous because this is a busy week for us, I am more worried about making them then finding out the next day they are too sticky to handle. And, they want clear lollipops, no color. I don't know if that makes any difference at all...

these look pretty cool! I sent the link to the blog below to the account and told them that this would be what the lollipops looked like. I probably won't hear until the last minute that they want me to make the lollipops I cannot begin to think why the client is saying that lollipops in France are paper thin; maybe it's just personal preference on their part. I would think a paperthin pop wouldn't ship without breaking anyway....

One of my accounts asked me today about making an ultra-thin lollipop - their client says that in France, lollipops are paper thin, or perhaps just a whole lot thinner than lollies made here in the US. I told them that I only have regular sized sticks (the 5/16ths width) so any lollipops I made would be thicker, just to hold the stick in place. I don't have a source for thinner sticks, and plus they want these for next Friday. I tried doing a google image search on "french lollipops", ultra thin lollipops but can't come up with anything that looks like what they are asking for. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Any ideas? I've never made lollipops before, but I imagine it is similar to making caramel and then pouring into a mold or onto parchment or a silpat.....

There's nothing wrong with that. I love Oreos in all flavors; I am not so crazy about the blonde ones and I do not like the cakester things. We just started getting the vanilla/chocolate cookie version (blonde cookie on one side, chocolate cookie on the other, vanilla filling). The most popular flavor of cheesecake I make? Oreo.