JeanneCake

what a great story (first chapter of your book, maybe? So... where's the picture?!!

What was this author's point? Did his article mention a problem or what his issue was? Any chance there's a link to this madness? I'm fascinated by how people are applying the standards and norms we learned at PBS (how to cook by pros like Jacques Pepin, Lydia Bastianiach, Julia, etc) to the Entertainment Food Network. I was talking last week to a past contestant of a Food Network challenge and she said, it's all about TV, not the cakes. Just like there are tons of TV channels now, people aren't just watching PBS anymore to learn to cook. They're watching the Food Network as well, and some of the shows do take the viewer by the hand and make cooking seem less intimidating to young adults who didn't learn at their grandmother's house how to cook. What PBS cooking shows did (and do) was teach - not entertain; and some Food Network shows do some teaching, but virtually all of them are about entertainment. There are hundreds of TV channels and TV stars - all the stars ride out their popularity as long as they can. This network just happens to feature food in all their programming. Would that article's author have taken to task the writing team that produces all those copycat crime shows (is it Law and Order? Or CSI? One of them is on almost every night featuring a different city.) Maybe he's just trying to make some publicity for himself by picking on an easy target?

CookieBoy, your croquembouche is wonderful! It gives me an idea for what I can do for our local "Taste of the City" event. Last year I did a panna cotta with a red wine berry sauce, but this is far more eye-catching and unique. Can you explain how you attached the macarons and how people were able to remove them? Thanks!

Are the paper liners coming off completely or partially? Are you buying the liners from a distributor or from a craft store? I ask only because the last time I bought cupcake liners from Perkins (paper wholesaler), the size wasn't right, it was a little small. But I had bought a bunch of pans from the local Home Goods store, and these cupcake pans are shallower and just a touch narrower - which means the too small liners fit these pans. The problem is I hate the pans!! I've been tempted to buy new pans from the restaurant supply store but haven't made the effort. Anyway, back to your issue. Do the cupcakes that come out look bad or are in any way mis-shapen? Could you possibly put new liners on and tie them with a pretty ribbon (it's the same amount of time if you have to re-bake them)?

a chocolate marquise is a type of mousse - it has eggs, butter, chocolate and cream....

This is very true. Most people don't associate feeling sick with something they ate more than 24 hours ago. My only knowledge about how this sort of thing happens is anecdotal: About 4-5 years ago, a large well-known baking company in the area was cited for food borne illness. Several guests at various weddings in the city had become ill (including the bride and groom at one of the weddings) - some had gone to hospitals, which is how the city health dept got involved. They began to investigate and eventually narrowed it down to the wedding cakes. It turns out the mixers hadn't been thoroughly cleaned (I can't remember what caused the problem - it wasn't E. coli and am not even going to hazard a guess). But what happened next is that the city's health dept put out an alert to all the other health depts in the area (I am 30 miles north of the city and my health dept got a notice). My city's health agent calls me to tell me about it and even faxed me a copy of the alert notice. The notice didn't say who the company was, but everyone found out eventually. Because they were such a big company, they were able to recover and have done well since. But if it happened to a small business like mine, who's to say the outcome would be the same....

Is this kinda like a game show, where those of us on the sidelines can offer suggestions?! As in - Ling check out the Cake Bible for a great pineapple treatment. I think it has something to do with pink peppercorns but I can't remember and if I could find the book, that would really help things along! But maybe we're supposed to be silent spectators.... The game's afoot! This is gonna be so much fun! Great idea, Kerry!

Hi Sarah - Thank you for commissioning the study - everyone will benefit! It would be useful/interesting to ask the expert how long the frosting can be held at rm temp (measured in hours, or days) when freshly made - not how long it can be held on a cake because you could make the frosting on Wed and not use it until Friday and then ... (e.g., in Colette's books, she routinely suggests that one recipe or another can be held at rm temp for 1-2 days; or RLB's Cake Bible also has storage times listed in the recipe itself).

I loved this! Keep writing! Keep writing!

You also have to consider that Rosie's book is intended for a home baker and her website also is talking about things you're taking home to consume. But, if you are a professional selling to the public, you have to be more than careful. There's a lot of anecdotal information that we take for granted, but if the health dept comes calling, someone has some explaining to do. And what I learned in food safety class regarding the 4 hour time/temp window is that it isn't the 4 hours in your control. It's cumulative. You can't start the clock over again if you put the X (whatever it is) back in the fridge after it has been out for 3.5 hours. So leaving something out when it's just your family that will eat it is one thing. If you are selling a product, it is better to err on the side of caution. Just look at that whole bagged spinach issue last week!

If you visit their website they suggest you can let a cake sit out for up to 24 hours if necessary..... Rosie's Website Look under serving instructions (not all cakes are to be left out for that long, she gives a list of what can be held for how long)

Well, that must mean something is wrong with mine. I can run a batch of buttercream and because I have to turn it on so far in advance just to get the meringue made properly, it slows and stalls when I'm adding the butter (this is about 20 mins continuous running at speed 6 with a min or two at speed 8 when I add the syrup). It doesn't happen every time, but often enough. I turn it off, wait a few seconds and then it goes right back on as if nothing ever happened. But it's 2? 3? years old so I'm sure I'm out of luck as far as it goes.

I'm so glad it worked out for you! The next time you order, buy extra bottom plates - they come in handy. I won't buy anyone else's pans any more. The Magic Line ones are better than anything I've ever used. The worst part? They'll custom make any shape/size/depth you want! What I'd love for them to do is make all those shapes you can only get from Australia (the ovals, comma, emerald, etc....)

I've had the 7 qt mixer for a few years. Originally I bought it because a client was allergic to nuts and wanted carrot cake for her wedding - her allergies were so severe that I didn't want to chance using the regular equipment (well, I guess I just needed the excuse to buy a new toy!). I have a 20 qt Hobart, a 5qt KA and 2 6 qt KAs and this one. I don't like it for a variety of reasons - the stuff at the bottom of the bowl never really incorporates well without a lot of bowl scraping. Now I use it pretty much for buttercream, and it is awful. Despite the power and capacity, it takes longer to whip egg whites in it than my trusted KA 6 qt. In fact, I have to start beating the whites (on speed 6) as soon as I put the sugar on to boil if I want them to be done by the time the sugar is ready. After only 3-4 months, the whip broke while beating egg whites (it was replaced and has since not had a problem). It will stop after 20 or so mins of continuous operation. I bought it because I needed another tabletop mixer and wanted something with a bigger capacity but didn't want to spend the $ for a 10 qt Hobart. It was a mistake and a waste of $.

I've used rolled fondant on a few occasions for cookies; if you can apply it while the cookies are warm, it adheres better and is less likely to come apart from the cookie later. If the rolled fondant becomes an issue, I'd suggest using the food processor poured fondant recipe from the Cake Bible to cover the cookies with. (You can buy this stuff ready made but it comes in a huge bucket.) You might need two coats for better coverage - it would depend on how thinly it goes on.

It's a little pedestrian, but I've sent the California Fruit Bars from Maida Heatter's Book of Great American Desserts pretty much all over the world. It's a sort of blonde brownie but with your favorite dried fruits (I've experimented with just about every type of dried fruit: apricots, figs, pears, plums, cherries, cranberries, golden raisins....) and nuts (I like to change the nut depending on which kind of fruit mix I'm using). It also works with just one type of fruit and nut (like cherries and hazelnuts or cranberries and walnuts) or only all nuts/no fruit. The other recipe that I know travels well is the Golden Grand Marnier cake from RLB's Cake Bible. Ditto for Maida Heatter's Best Damn Lemon Cake (from the New Book of Great Desserts).

Well, there's cookbooks which are full of wonderful recipes and then there are books for inspiration when decorating cakes (these books also provide recipes, but I think it is only because the author feels obligated!!!) All of the ones mentioned above are good baking resources (I love the Art of the Cake, Great Cakes, The Simple Art of Perfect Baking - which has lots of other recipes not just cake recipes - anything by Maida Heatter and I have a few British cookbooks too) that will serve you well if you get them. Re the Cake Bible... it has a couple of good recipes that are useful for when someone wants something unusual... like the pistachio marzipan for making green apples and pears; or the food processor poured fondant, an eggless milk choc buttercream, a nice pound cake recipe that I've spiced up a little for autumn, a few good chiffon cake recipes that have never failed me. I think you should borrow a copy from the library and see what you think. For decorating inspiration, I'd suggest some of Colette Peter's later books, Margaret Braun's Cakewalk (just to oggle the pictures), anything by the British authors Debbie Brown or Lindy Smith for children's cake ideas.

This reminds me of something that happened when I first started out on my own.... I was converting the carrot cake recipe from volume to weight for large scale: 3 cups of sugar (21 oz) and 3 cups of flour - and I mis-read the chart in the Cake Bible and thought it was supposed to be 4 oz per cup, so I routinely used 12 oz of flour. The cake never came out the way it did in class - the top crust was always very crisp but I never put it together that it was because it was too much sugar and not enough flour. It wasn't until I was reading a Cook's Illustrated that answered a mail-in question about flour weight and it said that cake flour was 4 oz/cup and all purpose (scooped) weighed 5 oz per cup that I realized I had been using the wrong amount of flour. When I went to 5 oz/cup = 15 oz flour, that's when things went back to normal. So with this thread (and the one about to sift or not to sift - AKA the Eighth Circle of Hell), I checked the Pie and Pastry bible (because I need to make a tart for tomorrow and can't decide which one I want to make), and there's all purpose bleached/all purpose unbleached, bread flour, cake flour and pastry flour! All of them have different weights based on how they're measured, with the biggest difference between sifted and dip/sweep. The range for a/p bleached is sifted 4 oz, lightly spooned 4.2 oz and dip/sweep 5.2 oz - so that's quite a swing and enough to make a difference in what you're making....

I've been using a probe digital thermometer - and I've gone through one a year for the last five years. The problem is if the "thread" part (which attaches the probe to the base) gets exposed to an open flame, or bent (the new ones are flexible silicone of some sort; the older ones are wire). I set the alarm at 244 or 246 so by the time I get the pot off the stove top and over to the mixer, the temp rises to 248. (My instructor had one for years because we had induction cookers in class so no risk of open flame.)

I have good luck finding Kaiser and Nordicware pans at Williams Sonoma; you might try Ebay. Does it have to be springform? Have you tried the removeable bottom pans from Parrish's (the Magic Line brand)? I use these and they're great - they hold up pretty well as long as you don't drop them right on the side !

It would probably help to find out what's causing the crystallization, too. When you boil the sugar, keep the thermometer in the syrup, don't pull it out and return it to the syrup - it's this agitation that can cause crystallization, or if there are deep cracks or pits in the pan you're using, that gives the crystallization a place to start forming (try using a nonstick pan if you are at home). The wet pastry brush tip is a good one. you could also keep a cover on the pot for a little while to use the condensation to wash down the sides. With a french buttercream, the temp of the butter is also important. I have better luck with cool (not ice cold, but not soft either) butter - the buttercream is firmer and handles better. You want the yolks to be fluffy - I usually start the mixer at the same time I start the syrup (at least with RLB's neoclassic bcrm. I use pasteurized yolks which always handle differently than shell yolks) so I know the yolks are ready. Depending on the batch size, it can take 15-30 seconds or so to add the syrup.

Or, you could just tell us more here!

What Annie said! Get a pasta machine with a motor and use that to roll the fondant - the blocks aren't going to be large - maybe you can even size the cakes to match the largest square Ateco cutter. If you have two people helping, one can knead/roll the fondant, the other can cut it. Use a very lightly dusted sheet pan to hold the cut out fondant squares and set up an assembly line. Maybe even a third pair of hands to put the fondant squares on the cakes. For 60, it would definitely be worth it. I'd use royal icing to make the edges - you can color it, it will dry (and not smudge like buttercream would and is less labor intensive than trying to make a fondant rope or something like that). Are you putting these on individual boards or? ETA: typo

Laurie, I like that you included his message about the wedding industry (and I'm in it, so I'm not flaming anyone and don't want any thrown over here either!). It's so true that any where someone can add on a dollar, they will. I've had people cancel their orders with me because the venue is charging them $3.50/person to CUT THE CAKE! (they get the cake from an outside vendor rather than use the inhouse pastry chef, and this is how they're penalized. As if spending $140 per person isn't enough...and the room rental on top of that). I also hate doing cupcakes because people think that they should be cheaper because they're small. Anyway, this show is sort of like reality TV for the baker - what they say isn't anything you or I haven't said (out loud sometimes!) at work. Mary Alice and that "c. u. t. e." comment about the delivery guy - hee hee. And the woman who's check bounced and begged them to take her order (this was the $3K Spiderman cake), she was pretty funny telling Duff every time she heard from her.

You could also just paint it on - mix the copper dust with lemon extract (I like that better than vodka) and paint it on to white or colored fondant. You could play with it first - use a pink, orange or yellow base and see how the color comes up. The downside to painting is the brush strokes (but that might be a plus if you need that silk duiopponi look) - the only way to avoid them is to make the paint a very watery consistency but that might dilute the color you want. You'd probably use a little more dust that way but the color would be just as intense...