JeanneCake

This happened to me last week with batches of IMBC. I made four or five batches in a row, and one of them had nowhere near the volume of the other batches. All I could think of was that I'd broken a yolk and just didn't get all of it out - it was 30 oz of whites and I don't know how much of the yolk I didn't get out. The whites were billow-y and meringue-like but only came up halfway instead of almost to the bottom of the whip (where it attaches, which I guess should really be called the top) they way they usually do. So maybe it is a percentage of fat (from the yolk) that makes a difference. As a side note, I'm reading Roland Mesnier's "memoirs" from his White House years and he tells the story of making a souffle for a state dinner and has to do it three times because the whites aren't whipping up the way they are supposed to. In desperation, he uses the last batch with maybe some extra sugar or something, and it comes out fine. Everyone wants seconds! What gets me is the eggs where the white is tinged with blood - it doesn't happen to me very often, but sometimes I get an egg that is very red and other times, it's just a faint tinge of color.

And I've been making biscuit, layering with jam and pouring fondant over. I hate doing these with a passion and am always looking for a better way to build this mousetrap. Are you baking the frangipane the way you do for rainbow cookies?

For color, and for the winter when strawberries are not so wonderful, don't forget about mandarin oranges. Readily available all year, looks colorful (especially with a kiwi and a raspberry or blueberry). Brush glaze over all for shine. You're doing great! Congrats!!

I wear the white industrial ones at work, and sure enough, I can manage to get chocolate, cake batter, you name it - everywhere the apron doesn't cover. I can't win!

"Full of lovely stuff" indeed! That's just too cool for words. Just don't let anyone at the Food Network see it - or we'll see a whole new set of Cake Challenge shows...

can you cut it upside down (flip it so the topping is on the plate and you are cutting down through the cake, and can put some body english into the final cut through the praline) Then you can scoop it all up when you put the piece right side up?)

caramelized so now we know with those nuts, all bets are off. what kind of nut? whole walnuts? pecans? chopped peanuts as in brittle? Are they on the surface? Inside? On the sides? If they're only on the sides, you are mostly in the clear.

I'm guessing you tried Meadow Sweets at Candied Flowers and you haven't heard back from them? They're usually pretty good about staying in touch. I got a new Pfeil and Holing catalog and they are selling edible flowers that are crystallized - I haven't ordered them so I have no idea whether they look good or not (Meadowsweets flowers are beautiful) but you could try them here at crystallized flowers Hope it helps....

Spiderman 2! ← Yes! Congratulations

I'm paraphrasing but here goes: "Call Barbara." "why" "tell her not to open the caviar"

I also agree on the cutting frozen/hot wet blade method if you're using the 9x13 pan to bake in. If you're set on having round ones, I'd use the Flexipans or a similar silicone pan. I used to use my mini-muffin pans for this, but it was such a hassle to unmold, I stopped. If you use a no-bake recipe, fill the silicone and freeze, then pop them out onto a cookie round or tart shell if I want to have a dripping topping... otherwise bake as usual, freeze and go.

And if you want to guild the lily for something like meringue sticks, finely grate 2 oz of bitter chocolate (unsweetened choc) or chop it finely and put it in a food processor with the flour/confectioner's sugar and whirl it until the choc is finely chopped. Then add it at the last stage, folding to make sure it doesn't all sink to the bottom. This won't really work for mushrooms, but just in case you were thinking of how to experiment ... I pipe sticks about 3" long with a star tip, let them sit out for an hour or so, then bake about 40 mins or so at 200. Leave them in the oven overnight if the chef isn't coming in (otherwise, he turns up the ovens when he comes in and doesn't always check them first!) Sometimes I even half-dip them in chocolate....

I have an order for a Lady Baltimore cake for a 25th anniversary on Saturday. I baked the cake today and am very tempted to make a Swiss Meringue as the 7-min frosting and filling (not atdding the butter) rather than the traditional recipe I've found. (To fill in the details, a Lady Baltimore cake is a white cake, with a 7-minute frosting filling that contains raisins, pecans and sometimes maraschino cherries. The outside is just plain 7-min frosting.) What I don't know is whether or not I can let this stand overnight in a humid walk-in without having it deflate, weep or otherwise cause problems. Just about everything I do is either italian meringue b'crm or ganache or mousse or something like that. It also suddenly dawned on me that these Lady Baltimore cakes I've been reading about are single cakes, not torted into three cake layers/two filling layers which is what I usually do. With proper support (I use the bubble tea straws for support) it should be ok. It's a three tier cake, 12/9/6. But now I'm wondering if this is going to work at all. Anyone ever done this type of cake before?

Periodically, I get something called "Frozen Desserts" - maybe that's what you remember seeing? It's been a while since the last issue - and it's either PA&D or PastryNet, can't remember which one publishes it...

Do you have any other options available to you? Home equity line perhaps? Another bank or financial group to approach for a student loan? What does the school say about this sort of thing - maybe they can be some help in giving you the names of other companies to approach. Is there a chance they can get you a paid internship while you're enrolled? This way there's a source of income a lender can see some $ coming in (and going right back out to them! ) Good luck. You'll get there!

in a past thread, someone was asking about the percentages of sugar/whites/butter in meringue buttercreams and owing to my inability to do this sort of grade school math someone else figured out that you can add more sugar and more butter to the formula I was using for basic Italian meringue buttercream and it still works. I have no recollection of what the topic was, otherwise I'd reference it here, sorry. For what its worth....: My formula is (for a large size batch that fits comfortably in a 20 qt) is 30.5 oz whites and 10.5 oz sugar for the whites added later on. Then 1# 4 oz or so water in a pot, with 1# 15.5 oz sugar. Turn on the mixer at speed 2 when the sugar gets to about 225 or so (one of my whips does a better/faster job than the other one) and at soft peak add the sugar (the temp of the sugar is about 235 or so). Bring the syrup to 246 and add it to the beaten whites at speed 3 then back to speed 2 and when cooled, add 6# butter in pieces as usual.

RLB on her blog got asked this question about a month ago, and her answer was that overbaking causes the paper to peel away. I have the same problem when I fill all 5 shelves. I get better results using only four of the shelves. Can you refrigerate the filled pans while the cupcakes bake? I think when my shelves are fully loaded, the air doesn't circulate as well. Are all of the butter-based cupcakes peeling or just some of them? It could be the ones on the edges overbaking...

I add the juices together first, then to the milk and cream and (knock on wood) haven't had it curdle..... of course, now that I've said that watch what happens next time I make it!

I've used this type of buttercream to pipe basketweave around a cake, it was soft as I remember (even with the addition of hazelnut paste so it would look like a natural wicker basket) but handled well and tasted equally fantastic. With the additional fat from the milk and yolks in the creme pat, the buttercream will smooth well, it will be more susceptible to warm weather if you happen to have an unusual day on the wedding day! Most people associate the confectioner's sugar, white fat or butter, and milk to be the typical "American" frosting. Meringue buttercreams offer a wider variety of options in terms of flavoring (it is easier to add fruit purees, fruit curds or nut pastes) to a meringue buttercream. I don't use Swiss meringue bcrm, but from photos I've seen of bakers who do use it, I think it smooths a little bit easier (? or better?) than Italian meringue. Every so often, I think I should switch because then I could use frozen whites to make the meringue... but that's beside the point!

GR has the recipe for passion fruit brulee in his dessert book, which of course I cannot find at the moment. But, this is a variation of Sherry Yard's brulee Mix 2 cups milk, 1 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup passion puree, 2 TBL orange juice, 1 TBL lemon juice on the stovetop, bring to a gentle simmer then take it off the heat and cover. Whisk 8 yolks to mix and then add the cream gently to the yolks then strain it. Fill ramekins to the rim, bake at 300 in a water bath about 40 mins until they jiggle (they're set but not brown, and not puffed). You don't want the cream to be too hot, (she mentions 165 degrees as the optimal temp to add to the yolks when she discusses creme brulee in general terms). Chill, then brulee to order.

Thank you for letting us spend the week with you! I've loved it - your kitchen is terrific and many years of happy cooking await you there! You'll have to update us with a picture when your tart on the packaging arrives in stores! Thanks again...

Most wedding clients don't come in with a serving chart and ask "how much will you charge for this size in this design?" To open that proverbial can of worms, I can tell a client that a round 13/10/7 configuration will serve 100 people (serving the entire cake) - another baker may say it will serve more people, say 110; while a third will say it serves another number. And if we're charging by the number of servings, the cost can vary across all three bakers because of that number. And how many it serves depends on who is doing the cutting My first kitchen was part of a banquet facility and the woman who ran things could cut a 12/9/6 to serve 150 - the fact that you could read the newspaper through the slices notwithstanding! People are always going to ask "how many does this serve?" so it seems easier to quote by the serving size. If someone wants more or a larger serving size, they can move up to the next size. What gets me is the whole "let's taste a lot of free cake" during a consultation and "let's have the top tier free too. " It's the expectation that it should be free that gets to me. I don't see caterers or restaurants giving a free meal on your anniversary as a matter of course!

Is she (the bride) willing to have the boxed up goodies put out an hour before the party ends? This way, they're refrigerated almost up to the point of departure and then the guests can consume them on the way out or wait until they are home and refrigerate them. The other thing I'm surprized she's unwilling to consider is that by the time the guests eat these little delights - the eclairs/puffs and cannolis may have softened so they're not as good as they were when freshly made. Maybe you should give her a few to try so she can see what happens to an eclair or puff after 4 hours? Ahh, the little joys of weddings are without number, right?!

Jennifer - I am SO enjoying your blog so far - we've missed you over in P&B and I am looking forward to the rest of your week. Thank you for sharing with us. Congrats on the promotion at work! Remember when you first started there?! I don't suppose you make Princess Cakes and could take a few photos?

How many times are you reheating it? I can get away with once maybe twice over hot water. After that, it gets thick and gloppy - it separates if I heat it too much. At that point, if I still have some left, I have better luck adding some of the "older" ganache to a small fresh batch and stirring slowly.