JeanneCake

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

Bailey's cheesecake? cupcakes with baileys irish cream frosting? bailey's truffles?

RLB suggests reducing the juices left from thawing the berries (in a sieve) in a microwave - the microwave cuts the risk of caramelizing the sugars in the juice by cooking on the heat.

I can get a bow to be dry enough to handle (but don't apply too much pressure on the curve otherwise it will break) in a few hours using Albert Uster's gum paste. Make sure you roll it thin enough - run it through the pasta machine if you have one. I've made the bow loops (like for a loopy bow, not a tied shoelace bow) in the morning and put them on a cake that went out the door that afternoon. For a tied bow, you have to be careful about handling it - the center is where it wants to break when you go to move it and it's not completely dry. But the loops will hold up after an hour - I fold up a paper towel to support the loops for an hour or so and then I can take them out and the loops stay in place. If you added more gum trag to whatever gum paste you are using now, it should dry faster. Or white chocolate plastique - stick it in the cooler and it will firm up enough to handle in 30 mins. The problem I have with this is usually it's an ivory color.

What part of the decorating are you struggling with? The idea? Or not having a smooth coat of buttercream? Well, there's always a basketweave finish if you want to avoid having to smooth the buttercream. Fresh flowers always look great on a cake; you can add some dots here and there and it will look beautiful. I worked with someone who was absolutely amazing when it came to smoothing buttercream; her secret was adding fluidflex to the italian meringue buttercream - just enough to make it more supple and easier to smooth.

There might be time to see how they'd respond to you. I'd encourage you to write them a polite note (completely objective, no slamming them or embellishing the details), and repeat all the good things about your dinner youi've said here. Mention that you were surprized to see the entrees included on your check and although you didn't bring it up at the time, you've been wondering that perhaps it was added in error. Or send it via email if they have that type of contact on a website. This opens the door for them to address it by refunding your $, giving you a gift certificate for a future visit (even if you don't use it, you can give it to someone else) or ignoring it and confirming your suspicion that they are not up to par and you shouldn't go back.

Well, I'm still kind of confused. When the manager who wants to make things right asks what the customer wants, I think it was appropriate for the diner to say "no, we don't have time for the meals to be redone, but if you could just bring the check that would fine." I think the manager would have removed the entrees then. But the manager wants to make things right, so she pushes on in that effort and offers dessert, which is accepted. From the manager's perspective, she found something the customer agrees to to make it right (giving the customer dessert and comping it). Why would they comp both the entree and the dessert? Sometimes you have to ask for what you want and not guess that the other person knows what that is.

I love all the suggestions so far .... you could use passion fruit juice from Goya if that's available in your area and make a passion curd to fill a pie shell I was going to suggest Shoefly pie - Maida Heatter has a delicious one in her Great American Desserts book. It's a molasses pie but that description doesn't do it justice. It's really good, and around here in New England, very unusual. Good luck!

I think it depends on what you're painting. Luster dust/petal dust mixed with lemon extract dries quickly, either of these mixed with vodka takes a little bit longer to dry, but not forever. Gel or paste colors painted on fondant or gum paste will stay tacky. Airbrush colors will dry completely, and you can use them to paint in the same way you would the dusts/gels/etc. If you are coloring flowers that are premade, you can use the dusts dry. The opacity will be how much liquid (extract or alcohol) you add to the dust or gel or whatever... The more liquid you add to the dust, the more watercolorish your paint will be; the less you add the thicker it is and more concentrated the color. HTH

I'm sorry, I can't help myself based on what I've been reading on the other thread about saying something or not..... What did you do about the tip? Did you tip the wait staff on the total amount of the bill (regardless of whether they should have taken off the $45 in entrees or not)? On the other hand, they asked what they could do to make it right. You said that there wasn't time to do it again, but you did have time to eat dessert. Did you ask them at the time to take the entrees off your bill? Or was that just your expectation it would be removed and you would not be charged? (I'm not trying to flame, just trying to understand). So the difference between what dessert cost ($12?) and what the entrees came to ($45) is $32? I wonder if you had said to charge you for dessert but not for the entrees, what their response would have been.

I have a few Fat Daddio cake pans, and I'm not impressed with the quality or the way they conduct heat. Maybe their cookie pans are better, but based on my experience with the cake pans, I'd choose Magic Line first. I have a few Cooks Dream pans as well, they've held up pretty well.

Well, I found the site - Hometown Favorites - but they don't have the Peanut Plank or anything similar....