JeanneCake

This is just a random thought based on prior experience... if there is any electrical work being done, get more outlets installed than you think you need. Sometimes, where I am, the circuit blows (it's an old building) and I've had to move my mixer table from my space to the main kitchen prep area. The mixer table is on wheels - just about every table I have I put on locking casters which makes it SO much easier when washing the floors. I put them on my shelving units too but I think most shelving units now come with casters. Good luck! What a great opportunity for you, congratulations! PS... did you have the Thunderbird 10 qt mixer? I got $ off on the one I looked at and bought it. What I wish I could do is permanently disengage the guard. I found that if I put a pen cap or pair of tweezers into the male side of the guard, I can get it to run with the guard swung around to the left. But I would prefer to do something more permanent and wondered if you had jury-rigged something.....

They have liquid candy colors - I like these much better than the powdered ones only because if there are clumps in the powder, the color becomes splotchy in the chocolate and no amount of kneading or gentle heat will help that! I get the liquid candy colors from Pfeil and Holing here. Just a little bit will do ya - especially for red, black and violet!

You could create the "label" (the written portion) in a document (Word, Powerpoint) and bring it to your local supermarket bakery and ask them to print it out for you. Make sure they give you a heavy duty baggie to store it in, otherwise it will dry very quickly and become unusable. If you were closer, I'd offer to do it for you, I have one of those set ups from KopyKake. I agree about using modeling chocolate (aka candy clay, chocolate plastique) for this project. Do a search on modeling chocolate - Chefpeon posted her recipe for it a long time ago and I've used it since then and it's great. As long as you don't add too much corn syrup, it will be a perfect consistency. It holds color better and looks great (better than painting with a deep color like red or black). Use candy colors - I like the liquid colors rather than powdered but either will work. If you go the fondant route, I'd buy pre-colored red fondant from Satin Ice or Cal-Java - they come in small containers (less than 5#) so you're not buying a ton of it. But I would use the modeling chocolate myself - you can cut it to precisely the height and length you need, it won't sag like fondant will and it will stay where you put it. Put the bottom part of the label on first. Then the red top half. Then the lettered part of the label. The lid goes on and gets painted silver and you're all set! You could also buy modeling chocolate if you want to - Cocoa Barry makes a great product - the white is an off-white, more of an ivory color so that might be an issue for you. If you are stacking multiple 8" round cakes to get height, remember to use supports every 4 to 6 inches of cake. This is just like a tiered cake, except all the tiers are the same dimensions. You need to support it so it doesn't collapse under the weight.

sometimes you'll see dessicated coconut referred to as "macaroon" coconut (when I order it, that's how it is listed in the order guide from my distributors. It comes in 25# bags). For retail, I've only seen it at whole foods type of groceries. Sometimes the local donut shop will borrow some when they run short! The sweetened, shredded coconut comes in 7 oz and 14 oz bags at the market.

I've been reading this thread with interest over the last day or so; and by now I'm thoroughly confused about what the real issue is we're debating! Having said that... I have to wonder: if BryanZ listed all the restaurants where he was served wine as an underage patron, and someone in authority was reading this and took that list, they'd be able to assign liability and penalties because after all, you have a minor acknowledging he'd been served. Is this application of the law different just because most of us think that a glass of wine with dinner does not in any way equate to drinking to get drunk that most minors are trying to do? This discussion has brought to light the fact that drinking alcohol while with a parent or guardian in a place of business is not distinguished in the letter of the law so sadly, either we work to change the law or we obey it. The places where underage minors have been served is playing the game that they won't get caught - and they might in the future, or they might not. It's a risk they are taking and only they can decide if it's worth it. But don't fault a restaurant who decides it isn't worth it! And if they start to legislate this, at what age do you draw the line? Ten? Twelve? Two? Just like those of us who drive over the speed limit on a regular basis and don't get caught; or jaywalk and don't get caught - we're still breaking the law. Someday if and when we are caught, we shouldn't fuss about it just because we've been "doing this for years". And asking or expecting someone to give you a pass "just because" isn't right either. How is the server supposed to know that if he breaks the law on behalf of his employer, that you'll come back every week and spend more $ and expect to be served all those other times. Everyone has a first day on the job (it might not have been the server's first day, I know) but you have to give people the benefit of the doubt when you can see they are new at their job. The next time the server is faced with this, he'll learn from his experience and handle it better. In a few months (or at some point this year), it won't be an issue for BryanZ but it will still be an issue for someone else. Where are those legislators who are trying to ban trans fat and fois gras? Give them this to do!!

Miller's is fantastic for lobster, it's just past Owl's Head in Spruce Head, close to where you are going to be. Check it out here: http://millerslobster.com

It's better to give it a few hours at rm temp but if you are stuck, this method might work for you. If you can, refrigerate it in ziplock bags - press out as much air as possible. When you're ready to use it, break it apart into chunks into the mixer bowl. Take no more than 1/3 of it and zap that in the microwave until it is soft (not melted into a liquid, but very soft - it should take only a few seconds). Using the flat beater on low speed, add a little bit of the softened buttercream and let it go for a minute or two. Then add more of the softened buttercream. If it doesn't seem to be coming together after 2-3 mins, take a little more out and zap it again. If it breaks, it might not come back at all so you have to be a little cautious. (If the kitchen is quite cold, it will take longer than if the kitchen is warm.) Sometimes I've been known to wave the blowtorch around the outside of the mixer bowl for a few seconds just to help it along. But you have to keep it moving constantly or you risk scorching. You're just trying to warm up the sides of the bowl, not trying to melt it.

At our local Home Goods store, they sometimes have the silicone baking pans and muffin pans - I bought the mini-muffin size to make bite-size cheesecakes. I'm going to experiment with some ganache just to see if it will work - much cheaper than what the forms are selling for in the link! I would guess I'd have to freeze them a bit for them to pop out as easily as they would out of a flexipan, the silicone in these pans seems a little thicker.

I bought a commercial freezer a while ago - the brand is Artic Air and it is perfect for what I need to store. No door storage. The other alternative I was thinking of is a used True, but the new Arctic Air was a lot cheaper and not much more than a household appliance would cost. You can have any color you want as long as it's white! Here's a link to their site for more info: www.arcticairco.com or click

For one of my restaurant clients, I created a goat cheese tart filling in a walnut pate sucree crust - they serve it with a pear compote and a wild honey drizzle. The goat cheese is a pleasant, undefinable flavor that keeps you eating it - it's pretty good and I was a little skeptical myself at first! The filling starts off like a pastry cream - combining yolks and sugar, boil cream, temper yolks - strain it over the goat cheese and add some vanilla, salt and gelatin and into the prebaked shell it goes...

I don't have any reservations about corn syrup! (well, ok, I don't like it in my kid's juice but that's a different story) RLB recommends the Lyle's in the recipe and after trying it with the Lyle's and the dark Karo, I think it tastes better with the Lyle's. It gets rave reviews with either one but if there's a choice, go with the golden syrup. That's an interesting twist with the coconut. Today I made brownie tarts (a rich cocoa, bittersweet choc combo with all the usual suspects baked in a tart pan) and adding coconut will be the perfect touch for the next time I make it.

WOW! Well done. Beautifully described and photographed - congratulations!

Everyone will have their personal favorite, and mine comes from the Pie and Pastry Bible by RLB. She bakes it in a tart pan, rather than a pie pan so the filling is less deep (fine by me but because it is so good, I wish there were more of it or bigger pieces!) So if you're thinking you'd like to try another version, I'd go with that one. It is basically yolks, brown sugar, lyle's golden syrup (or dark karo syrup but it is far better with the Lyle's), cream, salt, butter cooked on the stovetop then poured over toasted pecans in a pre-baked shell, baked for 30 or so minutes. The top gets "foamy" and starts to settle down toward the end of the baking period so all you're left with are glossy pecans which you can scribble all over with dark chocolate if you want, or you can add cocoa to the filling and go for a chocolate version. If you need the recipe from that book, PM me.

I made my first one yesterday too... it was for a client, and I was a little anxious about it holding together especially since I got started on it later than I thought. I ended up using white chocolate as the glue to assemble the sides - it set pretty quickly and held enough so that I could overpipe with royal icing and add embelishments to the sides (I used candy canes along the roof line to hide the white chocolate). It was a great learning experience - now I'm hooked!! I would say that you don't want a royal icing that is too stiff, but you don't want it soft enough to run. What I used yesterday was like the consistency of creamy peanut butter or maybe marshmallow fluff - made great snow drifts! The Franky's attic site had a lot of good tips. Good luck and have fun!

I wonder if you can rework that chocolate (guiness) stout cake to use the root beer instead of the stout; I don't know the recipe so I'm just thinking out loud. I know a lot of people here have had great luck with it and think it is wonderful. You don't taste the Guiness per se, it just gives a full flavor to the cake.

One of my former instructors teaches in the pastry program and the pastry program is well-regarded. I don't have any information about the savory side, though. What other schools/programs are you comparing it to? There's the school in Cambridge, but I can't remember the name of it (brain lapse!) at this second.

I use Rose Levy Beranbaum's gingerbread cookie recipe, it's the best one out there IMHO; it calls for baking soda (no powder) which is there I think more for managing the acidity of the batter than for leavening. For this dough, I make it in big batches, then scoop out a big scraper-full and plop it on a parchment sheet dusted with flour. I roll it around on the flour for a few turns, then sprinkle a little more on the top of the dough, then put another parchment sheet on, and roll it out to the thickness I want. Into the cooler it goes and it's ready for cutting into shapes, etc. I've noticed that I have a tendancy to not use as much flour so with this dough, if it is not well mixed enough, it will puff and bake poorly; when I use liberal amounts of flour it bakes perfectly, with no puff and no spreading. And then I go and gild the lily by dipping these guys in chocolate before decorating them! Edited for typos

Try the No Fail recipe without the baking powder, and use some flour when you roll out the well-chilled dough. I use a similar recipe (it has a little milk in it) from Toba Garrett and once I stopped adding the baking powder, I had no trouble with the slight puff that can occur. I use parchment on the sheet pans so I don't have to wash them as frequently and there's no sticking.

Ah hah! Now I know what happened to me yesterday! Bad baking karma! I have had some samples of cake mix from my distributor who has been bugging me every week to try it. So yesterday I decided I would. What a mistake. At first I thought I did something wrong with the chocolate variety - they looked like hockey pucks. So I made some yellow ... hockey pucks. Then just to keep them all company, I made some white ones. I can't wait to see him again and tell him that this isn't going to work but I think I must have weighed the water/oil wrong (I won't tell him that though!!) - I mean people use this stuff all the time and they aren't selling hockey pucks. But I feel better knowing that others had problems too. Alanamoana - loved the performance anxiety quip!

When I first read the list of spices, I wondered how they might work in a hot chocolate (a la Sherry Yard's Campton Place Hot Chocolate, which is in the style of ganache, served in a mug). Maida Heatter, in her book of Great American Desserts, tells about a cookie made with melted vanilla ice cream. It takes the place of butter/cream, spices and eggs in the cookie recipe. Maybe the speculaas ice cream, melted, could take the place of the dairy in your favorite cookie recipe?

You also want to specify how problems should be reported (if an order is short some number of items, if something is not ok how is it refused - at delivery only, or within 24/48/72 hours?) And on the subject of payment terms, you want to also specify what happens if they are behind on payments - when do you shut off their orders so you don't lose any more money.... how often will your pricing change and do you give them 30 days notice for price increases or just reserve the right to change prices more immediately. Is there a charge for delivery or is delivery free with a minimum order amount. Be specific about the ordering process, too. Detail how long it takes between placing the order and delivery, whether there are any additional charges for rush orders.

Ok, NO. Don't do it. Now that we have that out of the way, I'm first nervous that she hasn't done any type of market analysis or study. I'm not talking about something you pay high-priced consultants for. Why would people buy her product? What's so special about it? What makes this area the right area for this product? Is the places listed the right places to be? I wonder whether she's approached a health club or yoga studio to ask their input as to what their clients want (whether there's a snack bar there to sell this product) and whether they'd be interested in being part of the "market analysis." No risk on their part, we want to test market the products and see the response. Then if there is a good response, move to the next step (this would be part of the business plan that she really should be doing. To go to retail locations, she must be fully approved/licensed/insured. Otherwise, it's like jumping into a river head first from a rocky ledge....

Will you share your recipe for egg nog truffles? I'm going to a truffle making party this weekend, we're all bringing 100 centers of various flavors and dipping/finishing them at the party. Then we all go home with some number of boxes of mixed truffles, just like a cookie party.... I'm making white chocolate passion fruit truffles and a milk chocolate cranberry one. Others are making caramel, black raspberry buttercream, chocolate chip, a peanut butter version, and a grand marnier one is in there too. I'd love to do an egg nog truffle! Thanks!

I was after a candy cane cheesecake last year - I crushed them and used them in the batter as well as a garnish - they melted on top just like yours - as alanamoana said from the humidity in the fridge. (They eventually melted inside too). This year, I found Andes peppermint bits in the supermarket, but I haven't bought them. It is probably along the same lines as what alanamoana is describing witthe candy cane bark. If you celebrate Easter, and try the same thing with jelly beans - same result!

They aren't blue, but here are some gold ballotins from a company I've dealt with for a while and have always had excellent service from: Spectrum Ascona Spectrum Ascona Gold Ballotin If the link above doesn't work, go to www.asconapkg.com