JeanneCake

If you can buy or borrow The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, there is a recipe for Neoclassic buttercream. You boil corn syrup and sugar until it comes to a hard boil and add it to beaten egg yolks. Some people do not like using a recipe with yolks because the syrup is not hot enough to bring the yolks to a safe temp but you could use pasteurized yolks if you can get them. Back to the mousseline buttercream, though: When pouring the syrup in, you want to hit the "sweet spot" just between the whip and the side of the bowl. If you hit the bowl too much/too often, you'll get a little sugar syrup dam eventually and have less buttercream at the end. If you hit the whip, it spins the sugar around the bowl and you could get those hard threads you mentioned earlier. When you add the syrup, you want the mixer at speed 6 (on a KA) or 8 depending on what you used to beat the whites with to begin. Check out your local Home Goods or discount shop for a probe-type thermometer. I see them every so often for about $16 and buy them when I see them (that price is about what I pay from the restaurant supply) because if you let the probe thread come into contact with a flame, it fries it, thus rendering the probe useless.

The lack of digestive system in the Jolly Red Fat Man makes me think of my son's current favorite movie, Santa Clause 2; when the real Santa has to find a wife, someone makes a "clone" Santa who can't eat/drink so no one realizes Santa is on a field trip. But I can't remember anything about pork pies and sherry in that movie!!

I've had good luck with my local supermarket bringing in special orders from KA for me; try asking and see what happens. You might have to agree to a huge amount, though (50# or more) but give it a shot.....

I use my Atlas pasta maker to roll out fondant, chocolate plastique, and gum paste. I've had it for almost a year, and I probably use it once or twice a month (it has a motor). To clean it, I usually run a damp paper towel through it (although the first time I wasn't paying attention and was wiping it with a dish towel, which promptly got stuck in the rollers! I had to cut it away and then it worked like a champ.) Now, it doesn't "grab" the dough, no matter what setting it is on. The rollers move toward each other when it is on; they also slide wider or narrower depending on which setting is chosen. The fondant (think dough) doesn't catch automatically, so I try to guide it, but it doesn't grab even then. Any clues? Is it hopeless? This is the first sign of trouble, it's been fine up to now. The motor still works, maybe I should just get another pasta machine...?

Maybe that person gave them the display dome (not that I am suggesting you do the same!) How much do you want this client? Brian's right - some places are always going to do things this way and they might not make it worth your while. Did you ask them to try your stuff? If they were open to that, maybe they'd be open to more suggestions? I don't know of any "how to" book on marketing desserts, but there's a monthly restaurant magazine I've seen on occasion (Restaurant Today? something like that) - and maybe that's a good place to start. Or the Modern Baking magazine - I think that web site is www.modern-baking.com but I'm not at all sure, sorry. Right on about the tent cards!

It may be that they've "always done things this way" so they didn't know to do something different. They slice and pack the cakes so it's easy to handle at the point of sale. It takes time to cut a piece and pack it up for a customer to go (I'm guessing this is to go - otherwise, it doesn't make any sense!! Why waste the plastic container if the client eats in? Had you been a customer or maybe watched the customer flow in the shop before you started to sell to them? This will tell you a lot about what the staff is able to do . A restaurant I sold to didn't want me to mark the tops of the cakes but the wait staff couldn't cut straight, or evenly and there was a lot of waste. Eventually they agreed to let me mark the tops of the cakes. Maybe it's the same here. If they want to show slices, then offer to create "tent cards" to place alongside the neatly lined up containers; garnish the case with some silk leaves or flowers to add some color and polish to the display to make it look more enticing in general. Why are they buying from you to begin with? To offer something new to their clients? Replace the in-house baker? Increase sales? Approach it from that angle and see if they are responsive ("I know you wanted to increase the amount of dessert sales with the product you're buying from me. Could I suggest that next time I bring two of each? You can pre-slice one cake and show the other whole and see if that increases the sales of that item?") Or "other clients of mine have found that people can't resist seeing the entire mousse cake displayed - would you like to give that a try?" Or suggest they slice just half of the cake, leaving the other half whole so it can display well. Pull the slices just a little bit out from the cake to make it easier to handle.

I've done a pear buttercream for a past client, using the Perfect Puree pear - but it is a pale yellow/gold, not at all green so I'd go for tinting it if you do it. Pear is such an elusive flavor to capture - I used practically the entire bottle of puree and wished I'd had some compound.

Hi Pam.... Have you ever subbed out different nuts and fruits in the biscotti? I'm thinking about pistachios or hazelnuts and apricots; as well as a hazelnut and dried cherry (with lemon zest instead of the orange) version. I didn't know if you'd already tried this and did it work or not work....

You could dip vanilla marshmallows in white chocolate that's been tinted a pale green; or dip the lime ones into plain white chocolate and then into tinted coconut...

there have to be other factors in your decision. Is your prospective retail location going to cut into your wholesale accounts (are you selling to restaurants? gourmet stores? other retailers?)? In its former life as a supermarket (if I read that right), parking is easy, the location is accessible from major thoroughfares in town and it has been known as a food location previously. So those are helpful plusses (compared to being out of the way and limited parking. People don't want to carry boxes of pastries or heavy cakes any great distance.) Have you been operating as retail to the public from your current location (if so, why bother moving?) Does this location give you the opportunity to offer eat in meals? Are you at all interested in that or is your hope that it is take out only? Would you need to add that or if you had to, could you? Can you hire to handle that load? Do you want to offer breads and savoury baked goods in addition to your sweet line (just like Gayle's did in Capitola, CA)? All food for thought.... you'll either decide to do it and be happy with the decision or if something comes up and it doesn't happen, it doesn't mean the end of your business.

Yes! The remake. Congrats! My favorite part of the movie is when the housekeeper, Chessie, waves goodbye to the Dad, twins and fiancee and says "I would pay big money to see that woman climb a mountain!!"

CLUE for #73: Can someone hand me my Evian? They're outside. It's daylight. There are two kids, and two adults.

well.... I found a source for Kosher for Passover gelatin - and its $20 a POUND!!! Minimum order is 5 pounds. They say it is made from kosher slaughtered animals at a plant specifically designed for this; and it has circle UP (for passover) certification. Supposedly the shelf life for powdered gelatin is something like 5 years, which means if I buy this, I will be making marshmallows ... forever! Would you buy flavored marshmallows for Passover? I'm thinking raspberry, strawberry and passionfruit flavors.... I'd have to order this tomorrow to get it early next week so I can market this.... whadda think?

Is this Ghostbusters, where Signourney Weaver comes home and begins to unload her groceries. The eggs in their carton start jumping out and cooking on the counter while her refrigerator starts making noises and when she opens it, she hears the word "Zule!" and goes racing out of the apartment. Cue music!

I thought maybe the mycryo would work, but it's pricey for this particular application. I'll see about finding some kosher gelatin - it seems like there are more and more products that are KfP every year. Pam R, do you know about Pomona's Pectin? I used this years ago for jams and jellies, so it's really a pectin, but I wonder if it would work for marshmallows. Provided I can even find it!

I brought up your idea today in religion class with my 11-year olds and they loved the idea. Next week I am going to give them a recipe for beans and rice that they can help make at home; and even the Rel Ed director thought it was an inspired idea that she will work to incorporate into next year's curriculum and help us with getting it off the ground for the remaining weeks of Lent. This is completely off topic, but I went a little further on the topic of "giving up something for Lent" and told them their assignment was to do something nice for someone, without them asking and they are not allowed to tell why they are doing it; we will talk about it in class next week so they have somewhere to share their accomplishment. Maybe by the end of Lent, it won't be so much assignment as force of habit. Thanks!

there was a thread looking for black cupcake liners that mentioned the confectionery house; I know that you can get brown ones from Cake Deco in Australia, but maybe they can tell you where they get them. I can't get the link to work, so if you do a search for: cupcake liners in black http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=76536&hl= you might find it.....

Since I don't celebrate this holiday, pardon my ignorance in asking: Is there anything in the popular nightscotsman's marshmallow recipe that makes it inappropriate for Pesach? Maybe that's the new and different for this year....flavored marshmallows dipped in chocolate. Or present them as long traditional french ropes rather than the square shape?

Would you be willing to share the recipes for the biscotti? That carrot cake looks amazing! I offer macaroons (four varieties: choc chip, cranberry-pecan, plain, and topped with a bit of rasp jam and drizzled with choc), a flourless chocolate cake and meringues (some filled with ganache, but most of them have chopped unsweetened choc chunks in them- the RLB recipe from her cookie book) and it would be nice to offer more choices!

ask the restaurant if if they'll take care of that detail for you - remind them it should be a surprize so they don't mention it if anyone confirms details.

Is this from My Cousin Vinny?

Who keeps filling up the stupid candy bowl?! The grandparents feel they are being criticized; the parents are getting free day-care (it's a pay me now or pay me later situation - the pay later will be higher dental bills and medical expenses - the pay me now is paying for an un-related care giver) so I can't imagine this situation will change any time soon. If the parents don't care, there's not much that can be done about it. I feel badly for the kids. An older generation of child care-givers can be a tough crowd - just think about the re-education process with the "back to sleep" campaign to cut down the incidence of SIDS - this is similiar because they're using the same "we did it to you, and you're ok" rationale. Regardless of what we think, these kids are still going to be force fed junk. I'm surprized they have any appetite for their regular meals after hours of candy snacks!

Here's another movie: "Can someone hand me my Evian"

You can refrigerate it for 7-10 days; you could also freeze it. I typically use ganache as a glaze or cake filling, so your mileage may vary. You can remelt it and let it firm up again the next time you use it, but be careful about reheating it or it could break and not come back.

Is this from Real Genius? Val Kilmer and a bunch of teen geniuses at a school for the uber-smart figure out how to circumvent a professor's planned theft of a laser type of weapon. They aim it instead at the professor's house, which has been outfitted with a giant Jiffy Pop popcorn sort of thing. When the laser fires, it cooks the popcorn and there's so much of it that it pours out the windows and doors, and the kids in the neighborhood play in it like it's snow!