JeanneCake

Brides tend to travel in packs which include mothers, maid of honor, sisters, aunts, the whole cast of characters. And everyone wants to taste . You don't want to run out of samples, but you also don't want to take tons back with you. Find out how many are registered for the show, figure out if there are other bakers or others providing food and go from there. The last time I did an event like this, it was an an upscale downtown hotel, big name sponsor, more than 250 people were registered and I did 600 mini cupcakes. They were gone in about 30 minutes (this event was planned like a reception - people had drinks first, then apps, then the main course and they came back out for dessert. I was the only baker so I made more than enough, so I thought. The hotel came out with petit fours and mini pastries - one bite things -just as the cupcakes ran out. If you are the only one in your booth, you can't serve and sell at the same time; if you have help, you can let the other person cut and serve cake while you talk to clients. If you are having family or friends help you, talk about what you want them to say in response to some standard questions: price range, delivery charges, flavors, etc. I agree about the groom's cake - do a Texas Aggies cake design or Texas A&M and you'll be golden PS - Because most of the brides attending this event were having their reception at a downtown hotel, most of them already had their wedding cake arranged. I got very few orders from that event - not enough to break even. I stopped doing these events because my expenses in booth rental, providing samples, etc just didn't make it worth the return.

Mini cupcakes are easier to handle and serve than slicing and plating cakes if you are giving out samples. With the cupcakes, you can do a simple swirl of frosting and arrange them on a tiered stand for people to help themselves to and have a stack of napkins nearby. If you go with cake, you have to slice and plate it, provide forks, etc. If you have lots of help, it isnt' a problem, if you are alone, cupcakes give you more time to interact with people. Stick to two flavors - one chocolate, one not; stay away from nuts (hazelnut, etc) if you can. Have a list of your available flavors so people can see what the range is. Try to sample something a little out of the ordinary - most people know what strawberry or raspberry buttercream tastes like but may not have had passionfruit or caramel buttercream. Sample your best stuff or your most popular flavor. Have plenty of business cards. Have several stand-up portfolio books to show your work. Put one at each end of your table(s) so you don't have two people hogging a book at any one time. Put your dummy cakes on stands, preferably out of reach of curious minds and fingers but take pictures of your cake dummies before you put them out in case the worst happens. You don't have to do huge dummies, but make them eye catching. One traditional looking and one out of the ordinary. Try to make your booth noticeable by adding height or color, or lights. Also show a non-wedding cake - some of the brides will get their cake through their hotel and therefore aren't in the market for a cake (but they'll taste anyway - but they can use you for other events and celebrations and you can plant that seed now. Have a trash bin close at hand otherwise your table will be littered with napkins or plates or what have you. Most brides are so overwhelmed with the stuff they get in the bags, they usually just throw it out. But they keep things like coupons or pens, or magnets..... make your business card into a magnet to hand out.

A home fridge is drier (not humid) than a commercial walk in or reach in. I bought some pre-made royal icing flowers and after a day in the cooler, they had absorbed some moisture and started to drip. If I left them in there longer, they probably would have started to melt. I'm sure that the way the royal icing is made has some effect too (using shell whites, pasteurized whites, or a meringue powder).

Yesterday I got a call from the gourmet store (at 4:30 no less!) saying "I know I told you 2 Princess cakes, 2 Lemon Delice, 2 Decadence, 2.... but listen, I don't have any orders and I don't want to get stuck. I want to pull back my order." At 4:30?! This was stuff due to be delivered Saturday morning. So I told her she had to take the occasion cakes and Princess cakes. (it was all I had done then!). But I was really looking forward to the rhubarb tarts.... It will be a long, hot summer. Here's hoping all of us survive.

I find Callebaut bittersweet callets to be very viscous - more so than other brands. It also firms up much faster than any other brand I've tried.

How big is the image? Would it fit on a bar (a large bar) of white chocolate? Or do you have any white candy melts? I use this edible image stuff periodically, and for message plaques, I print something with a fancy font and appropriate graphics, print it out and then wave a torch in the vicinity of the back of a bar of white ghiradhelli (usually because the dipping chocolate I use I keep in a bowl and never remember to spread it out on a piece of acetate when it's fluid), peel off the backing from the image and put it on the chocolate. Then when the cake gets to it's destination, the client can position it (this helps guard against breakage in transit). Do you have any fondant? You could do the same with a piece of fondant. Dampen it ever so slightly and then apply the image to the fondant. By doing this, you can put the image on when you get to your destination and not worry about it on buttercream or whipped cream (the bakery is correct, the image will start to break down on whipped cream overnight.)

If you have Maida Heatter's Cakes book or the first Great Desserts book, she has a recipe for Haleakala Cake. It's a basic white cake (with beaten egg whites) layered with a pineapple filling made from canned crushed pineapple. here's how I would make the filling: Stir together 2 TBL cornstarch, 2 TBL granulated sugar, a pinch of salt, and add 2 cups pineapple juice. and some vanilla. Put it over medium heat until it boils, then simmer for two minutes (remember to stir this to prevent lumps) then let it cool and add the crushed pineapple. You will probably need 2 19 oz cans of crushed pineapple. You can use this as a spread for toast, too

On the way home from elementary school (we walked, no buses!) there was a penny candy store, and I remember the wax bottles with syrup, licorice whips, fireballs (I hated those), wax lips, the candy cigarettes (if you snapped off the pink part, you could fool your friends into thinking you were eating chalk ). Blow pops. Mary Janes. My favorite "chocolate bar" was a toss up between Skybar and Chunky.

I agree about the sensationalism of the news; by reporting it, and adding a bit of drama to the report, people start to think about what other things might be in short supply. People who might not otherwise be buying rice now suddenly want to have it. Maybe the journalists should suggest they donate their purchase to a food bank....

Or shave ice maybe?

For home use, I like the TFAL brand (it's nonstick). At work, I have one or two Bourgeat saucepans, and a similarly heavy pan that looks a lot like the Bourgeats but I got them at a rest supply store and can't remember the brand. They don't dribble...

I can hear when the sugar syrup is ready before the temp alarm goes off (similar plopping/popping sound ); I can also hear it when I'm beating egg whites for buttercream. But mostly, I can hear when something doesn't sound the way it should. I'm embarassed to admit that yesterday I was making a tiny batch of cheesecake batter and I was really distracted. I walked away from the mixer after scraping the batter, thinking (just like Miss Clavel!) "something is not right" and realized that I'd forgotten to add the eggs to the batter. It just sounded wrong, and I'm glad that kicked in before I poured it into the individual rings I was baking them in!

I had a chance to do a side by side comparison of the espresso and tiramisu between driedopple (those are the only ones I have) and Amoretti. This was for buttercream, which is pretty much where I use a compound to boost the flavor I'm after. Amoretti won, hands down. Not even a contest, really. For coffee, I originally used the Medaglia D'Oro powder, but found it could be really bitter. Then I found the AUI coffee paste and loved it, but had a hard time with the peanut oil. In school, we used Sieben and I went with the Driedopple based on feedback from other pastry chefs. I have to say that their orange wasn't bad, but I like using orange curd better I have the MEC3 pistachio. It is to die for. If I couldn't get it, I wouldn't offer a pistachio flavor at all. (I once opened a jar of Hero pistachio and gagged on just the smell of it.)

I remember an older cousin in my husband's family making what I thought she called "marzarine" - a short pastry dough with an almond filling (like almond paste). She gave me her recipe, and basically, she rolled the dough into a rectangle and then put the filling in, and brought the two long sides up to the filling. I can't remember if she covered the filling or left it exposed. Then I think there was a glaze drizzled over it after baking. I did a search for dutch almond roll (the family was Dutch) and found something on cooks.com called swedish mazarins. For individual servings, they call for muffin tins so maybe you don't need a specialized form to make these.

I was talking to the Amoretti rep this week (I also got a big box of samples - I hadn't bought from them in a while and so they sent me a present!), and asked her the difference between their compounds and extracts. The extracts are more concentrated, which is why they list it as 1% by weight, rather than the 3-5% for the compounds, but she said they can be used interchangeably in whatever you are making (batter, buttercream, filling, etc) as long as you remember to add the right amount. I also find that with their stuff to start on the lower side. When I use Seiben or Dreidopple, I need more for some of the flavors. For years, I used AUI's coffee paste because it is so wonderful and concentrated. But it lists peanut oil as an ingredient, and with all the allergy issues around, I had been looking for a replacement and Amoretti's coffee compound is equally as good and the rep said all their compounds/extracts/etc have no peanut oil in them.

I have this problem happening on my flourless chocolate cakes. I think it has more to do with the case they're stored in sometimes, but this is just a guess. I used to use a water/choc with a little butter glaze and it cracked horribly, I had to use two coats to get decent coverage so I stopped using that kind of glaze. When I go with the cream/choc/butter, the coverage is perfect (only one coat) the shine is acceptable for a few days and it doesn't crack in my walkin. But at this one customer's site, it might crack. I played around with the proportions of cream/choc/butter and found that if I used more than 2 oz corn syrup, it would break, especially if I rewarmed it. It would break if I didn't weigh the butter properly - it has to be the 8 oz (or 4 oz for a half batch). Not all of them crack, and they tend to crack as they sit there (like, the cracks appear on the third or fourth day, but not always). It drives me nuts.

It doesn't increase the shine factor when used as a glaze for a cake (you'd want a mirror glaze for that kind of shine) but it can help hold the glossy look for longer than it would without the corn syrup. Usually I sub about an ounce of corn syrup for an ounce of cream in a small batch (2# choc/2# cream/8 oz butter) if I am going to glaze a cake with it or fill tartlet shells or dipping cupcakes. If not, I don't add it.

Happy Birthday! How'd it go?

What problem are they trying to solve? And is it something they can even begin to address at school? After all, they have one (maybe two if breakfast is offered) meal and limited time for snacking. Do the powers that be really think they can make a difference by banning junk food in school? What'll they try to do next, search the lunch bags and boxes upon entry? And where is the $ coming from for the contraband? Are kids spending their lunch $ on candy instead of the meal? That's when the lunch card system makes a tremendous difference. Our school district did that this year, and it works very well. No more forgotten lunch money - you load the card (a virtual card to be honest with you) and you can choose to limit the choices your child makes as he/she goes through the lunch line and it helps. Every little bit helps. The school is now offering much more freshly prepared items, and a salad bar every day. Huge difference from the frozen chicken nuggets and fish sticks that were a staple on the school lunch menu. We keep saying we want to combat childhood obesity, but the problem stems from so many sources: lack of exercise (limited PE classes, no afterschool activities perhaps?), lack of healthy choices in foods (prepared foods are easier to get on the table and easier to get a kid to eat if that's all they're used to because of a parent's working schedule or limited resources), filling up on juices and soda and fast food from the kid-friendly restaurants like McDonalds, BK, Wendy's , etc.. Like annecros says, once you make something forbidden, it becomes much more desireable than it was before. Banned books, food, wine... suddenly the allure of not being able to have it when you want it makes it more glamourous.

I wonder if sometimes it has to do with the local shoppers - in my town there's one grocery market that has a high elderly clientele. They want a ton of bags, or they want a double bag - paper and then put the paper bag in a plastic bag. Some of them are walking next door to the apartment complex but many are still in their own cars or use the courtesy vans from the retirement communities they live in. So I bet it is easier to bag every customer's order the same way than to ask each one in turn. I also notice that there's no rhyme or reason when the bagger is a teenager - the ice cream goes in with the bread and even if I have loaded the conveyor with all the cold foods/frozen/dry/etc in groups, they get mixed up when bagged. That drives me nuts. Not a quarter mile down the road is a Whole Foods who has done away with plastic bags completely. I don't mind them using two or even three paper bags because I use the paper bags for newspaper recycyling.

My experience with happy chef pants is that they are not made (constructed) as well as chefwear pants. They didn't stand up to the wash after a few months. By contrast, I've got a pair of chefwear baggies that is over 5 years old and is still going strong, despite all the washing. I don't like the traditional check so I go for plain black or a black/white small print. No chili peppers for me so I look for what's on sale and buy a half dozen or so pairs when I can, which last me quite a while.

If he decides Boston looks inviting, the site www.bostonchefs.com has a restaurant job section.

I'm not trying to play devil's advocate; I'm just not sure how all this semantics is working out and I am asking honest questions below, not trying to flame the fires here..... What does it mean to have a blog underwritten by a company? Does it mean the blogger uses a computer or internet access provided by the company? Why would someone need or want a blog underwritten by a corporation? Is it just the exchange of money that defines a relationship between a blogger and a sponsor/underwriter or whatever it is called? Should the blogger be asking questions about how the blog is presented to the public or is that not done? Is it like writing an article for a magazine and then the author doesn't get to see the edits made by the publication before it runs? Again, I am asking because I don't know; I'm not trying to incite any riots here or ask any rhetorical questions. I really would like to know!

Your fastest option might be to make your own. Is there a vocational school near you with a metal shop? You'd get something sturdier made from them and could probably get several. A few people I know use a type of flashing to make their own cutters; I just don't know what kind of flashing or how long it lasts without warping. Sounds as if you want the little notches on the sides, but in a pinch, would a plain square cutter work? Ateco makes a nested set of squares (largest is 3" I think, smallest is 1.5"?) that you could probably find from a local restaurant supply place, or from the above mentioned Pfeil and Holing or even online at places like Sur La Table or Williams Sonoma. (A plain square looks more like a pullman loaf. It'd be way too much work to have someone else take the notches out of the square with small rounds!)

Pfeil and Holing have one; they are a commercial distributor near NYC. Here's a link to their item: Handled Dog Bone cookie cutter I like the copper cutters from CopperGifts.com - they make them to order and you could ask about adding a handle to any of their items. I've found they're very nice to work with, and their cutters are rugged enough to stand up to commercial abuse....