JeanneCake

That made me think of Great chocLakes for some reason!!!

can you give us more info on the kind of buttercream (swiss? italian? veg shortening based?) and how you assemble the cakes (two layers cake/ three layers cake). Does the bubble happen only on the same kind of cake (variety) and not on others? My first thought was it was an air pocket in the filling layer and as the cake settles, the air pocket pushes on the outer layer of buttercream.... and that's what makes me ask about whether it happens on all kinds of cakes you make or just a certain type.

Caraman - Albert Uster just started carrying this brand. The containers aren't too sturdy, though. The corners are susceptible to breaking/cracking in shipping.

bring them some Guinness cupcakes

OMG I have the opposite happen. We get invited somewhere, everyone is bringing something and I really don't want to bring dessert; but no one else will bring dessert because they are afraid of making a dessert when there's a pastry chef on the guest list!!! Sheesh. Usually I just smile and ask them where they got the recipe and then comment on how I like that particular magazine or food page of the newspaper and say how I wanted to try it myself and start asking them about how they made it and pretty soon they're off on a different tangent.

the one from Roland Mesnier in Dessert University - he has a Champagne version and an orange version. I've done the Champagne one as tartlets, works great, as long as you don't burn the crust when bruleeing PM me if you are interested in the recipe

So Food4Thought/Mr Roberts, I can't help but wonder what your goal or intent was in starting this thread. The Cafe owner doesn't give you permission in her response to post her words on other internet sites or to use it in any other way or form than a response to a posting on your own site. I agree with TheFoodTutor, there's more to this than meets the eye....

The reality is that people are going to copy a design they see in a magazine, another wedding, whereever the photo happens to appear. So regardless of how the original artist feels about his/her design, the ability to enforce an intellectual property decision is impossible. If you are near the bakery who created the cake, it would be nice if the customer went to that bakery and got their "signature" design. But if people are shopping on price, there is always someone who is willing to do (try) the design for less money. Some places ship cake, and there is one bakery in Portland (I think) who encourages people to buy from the original artist and will ship nationwide. I know this artist contacted a competitor and told him to remove a picture from his site as it was an exact copy of one of her copyright designs. There is one organization who makes fake cakes. When I asked them if they copy designs from bakers, they said that they put their own spin on any design someone asks them to copy so it's not really an exact copy. What would be nice is if bakers and cake artists acknowledged a design was inspired by or came from someone else on their web sites.

passion for making people happy with good food that creates a taste memory. I also like creating art, out of cake. There are people who travel a long long way for the Chocolate Decadence cake I make; and every year at Passover, I hear from people who say they have to have the macaroons we make.

Tell her you'll pay her what SHE paid for it.... zip!

If I could get a word in edgwise here... I agree that Michelle's cake was beautifully done (clean work), and it's also the kind of thing she's done before (the swirls, the squares with mini separations). The sentiment was nice and I could see how it "spoke" to her and why it was important. But even she said - when she looked out over the other cakes "We're going home." I also think the editing is done with an eye for the dramatic - they're all tired at the end of the day and BAM! (sorry ) another twist! now they have to vote someone off the island. I think they came across as surprized and stumbled over their words. I don't think they intentionally meant to hurt Michelle's feelings (as opposed to some of the judging comments on that show - and not just this episode's commentary. I wonder if they give them "good cop/bad cop" direction before they start each show!!). Remember the tag team cakes? When the first one ran, and they paired Margery with Lisa and Margery tore Lisa to shreds (now that was mean)? And FN did it again - and paired the two of them together again!! And then when the Pink Cake Box lady did the tag team bride episode - that bride was mean (notice how they completely cut the bride from that portion of the judging comments?.) I wonder if this is going to be the end of the Cake Challenge shows.

I've shared three different kitchens in the last ten or so years; one had no music at all; the second had an AM station that seemed mostly like talk radio from what I remember and the third has Sirius Radio - and you can tell who got in first by what's on. Today we were talking about how some chefs don't allow music in the kitchen while others do, and sometimes there's an occasional exception for a significant event (sports game, inauguration speech, etc). So, how is it in your kitchen? Do you have music or no? Why or why not?

Try making Andie's recipe again - using 6 whole eggs and maybe one more yolk and beat with the sugar to a ribbon stage. Just as if you were making a biscuit then continue on and see if that gives you the more solid structure. You might also want to bake this in a water bath. I like to use bittersweet chocolate when I make a flourless choc cake.

Or a version of clafouti - it would be a nice surprize at a brunch - almost like a frittata with the peppery taste

Sometimes, even when you refund a customer's money, or comp something off their bill, or do the right thing, they are still going to tell everyone they know about their experience. They won't be objective. It will be a complaint. They may skim over the fact that you did what you could to correct the original error or problem or whatever it was. People who have a complaint will talk about it for much longer than people with a compliment, it's human nature. Probably for years longer!

Can you leave out the flour for passover? Or sub cake meal?

In The Cake Bible, RLB has the flourless Chocolate Oblivion Torte. As far as structure, it's pretty solid and sturdy (not crumbling or melting the way some flourless recipes are) and one of the variations calls for adding Kahlua. It's basically chocolate, sugar, eggs and butter.

Princess Cake! Sponge cake split, spread with raspberry jam, then a layer of pastry cream; the other layer of sponge, then an upturned bowl shape of whipped cream or wh choc mousse, then freeze. Roll and drape the marzipan over it. Usually the marzipan is tinted a pastel shade, and there's a rose in the center and a dusting of confectioners sugar....

Sometimes, don't you wish there was a site where you could tell the other side of the story? And not just a thread on eG

The slideshow on the site shows a wedding cake separated by pillars with fresh flowers hiding the pillars. That might be a start. Each cake can go in it's own box for safety and you can use the same fresh flowers as the wedding decor,. and a dark blue ribbon at the base. It's a beautiful location, I can see why they'd want to celebrate there! I've never flown with a cake before, hopefully others can chime in about the best way to do it. Can you just bring the cake layers and make the buttercream and assemble there?

Make some anyway! We all want to know what happens!

This could be awkward! After all, your father looked at the bill but didn't mention that gratuity was included (which could be because it wasn't listed on the bill, maybe it's just on the menu?) and the restaurant can't be faulted for that. It could be said that your party knew gratuity was already added (meaning your dad) by virtue of it being printed on the bill) thus it was your choice to add another 20%. Any chance your dad remembers if it was on the bill? I wish I had the words to help! I can't imagine how to begin the conversation, but guessing that your bill could have been $200, they added $40, and you added another $50.... it adds up.

I missed the part where you said square forms, sorry. Are they hollow (no top/bottom) or do they have a removeable bottom? For baking inside the forms, I wonder about cutting tiles (quarry tiles or pizza stone types of tile) to fit, cover them with foil and use those instead of rice/beans. Or maybe it'd be enough to use by putting the dough on those stacked and covered tiles. Would one of the new square muffin tins be the right size for your forms? Those could fit inside or you could bake on the outside of those too.

maybe empty cans would work in the same way that stacking two pans together, although finding the right size can is probably not going to be easy - I'm guessing tuna cans are too big

Well, the recipe book is at work so I googled some ideas - the first one is like my original recipe but I don't think there's enough Bailey's in it; the second has more Baileys, chocolate chips instead of a chocolate marble running through it and a coffee cream topping: Baileys Marbled Cheesecake recipe This one sounds more like it (although I haven't made ours in a while) but I would leave out the pecans in the crust - we use just plain choc crumbs (oreos actually) and not do the coffee cream topping. Baileys Cheesecake Recipe #2 Use your favorite chocolate cake recipe, make cupcakes and then I just eyeball an amount of Bailey's into my Italian Meringue buttercream (too much and it will get too soft, though). Replace some of the cream in a ganache with Baileys when you make it. I will bring home the book tomorrow and give you another cheesecake recipe