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Everything posted by JeanneCake
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Or wrap the sides in a clear acetate strip, and tie with ribbon - put a few sprigs of currants on top and 10x it....... I like all of K8's suggestions and the one about masking the sides with toasted almonds. They look delicious, don't stress over what you might see as a less than flawless finish but to our eyes is an invitation to dig in!! ETA: you could spread an apple or red currant jam on the sides to make the almonds cling if you didn't want to use buttercream.
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In the interest of research for you (yep, that's what we'll call it), I bought a container of creme brulee ice cream from Haagen Daz yesterday. It's vanilla ice cream with swirls of burnt sugar throughout and the label identifies it in this round-about way: Cream, Skim milk, sugar, corn syrup, egg yolks, caramelized sugar swirl (sugar, corn syrup, caramelized sugar, pectin, natural flavor). So, I'm with Swisskaese here - make a rich vanilla cheesecake and either put some caramel shards on top and serve with a clear caramel sauce (a la Maida Heatter). Hmm, maybe you should call it a flan instead or maybe creme caramel!
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Another alternative is to make caramel, let it cool on a silpat or foil, smash it up then grind it in a robot coupe and add it to the finished buttercream. The burnt sugar of the caramel comes through and the finished buttercream isn't too sweet - I live dangerously, though (having burned myself more than once, you'd think I'd have learned by now) and make the caramel pretty dark - almost but not quite to the bitter edge.
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I looked for the recipe in my copies of Maida's books, and it's in the newest book of great desserts. The instructions for beating the eggs reads: "In the large bowl of an electric mixer beat the eggs with the vanilla and sugar at high speed for 25 minutes or until the mixture is pale and falls in a slow ribbon when the beaters are raised." She uses a Sunbeam Mixmaster stand mixer, which I don't think is as powerful as your Kenwood (probably where she got the 25 mins from, she also uses cold eggs) and to Annie's point, the eggs are beaten to the ribbon stage - then the COOLED melted butter is beaten in at low speed and then the dry ingredients only until incorporated. She says that adding the butter and dry should only take seconds. This reminds me of a genoise. She does caution that this is easy to mess up either by over or underbeating the eggs or beating too much after the butter/dry.... she ends the recipe with "good luck" Annie, PM me if you want me to fax over the recipe as written ....
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Unfortunately Maida Heatter doesn't always include weight measurements in her books (usually she does for nuts, and sometimes butter, but not always flours). So if I need to "convert" a recipe quickly I use 5 oz as the standard weight for 1 cup of a/p flour and 4 oz for cake flour; and 7 oz for a cup of sugar, 4 oz (1 stick) for 1/2 cup butter or 2 sticks for 1 cup. I've never made the recipe for Light Pound Cake, but if she has you beating eggs for 25 mins, she means 25 mins! I've made a lot of her other recipes and haven't had any "misses" yet.
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Culinary bequests: what will you leave behind?
JeanneCake replied to a topic in Food Traditions & Culture
As a professional baker, I was first going to say my collection of well-worn, well-annotated cookbooks and recipes. But as a parent, I realized that what I want my child to know is his culinary heritage: the cooking of his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. It's what my paternal grandmother gave ME, and that is more priceless than anything else I have of hers. It's the memory of being too small to stand at the counter, but big enough to sit in a tall chair and roll meatballs; it's fishing the sausages and pork and brasciole out of the gravy (that's what we called tomato sauce when I was growing up. We didn't call it pasta either, everything was macaroni!). It's being able to recreate the ricotta and spinach stuffing she used in her roast chicken when my mother wanted to taste it again after my grandmother died (my mother never managed to get that "recipe" out of her!) It makes me realize that I have to start teaching my child how to do all those things and say "this is what your great-grandmother showed me how to do" so he has a connection to a generation he only knows through photograhs. And it wasn't until you posed the question that I realized it. Thanks! -
A client of mine wanted to use an acrylic stand sold by Cake Deco in Australia. While browsing their site, I found these cupcake liners I don't know whether they're useful for you or not, or whether they'd sell you just one color but it can't hurt to ask....
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Way, WAY optimistic! for a 12/9/6 round configuration, I calculate 80 servings (including the top. I give them a certificate for an anniversary cake so they can serve the entire cake at the wedding. Too many times someone forgets the top tier, or whatever so a few years ago I changed my policy. Works out much better this way.) I use Earlene Moore's serving chart and find it works really well.
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where are you installing it? At home? In a commercial kitchen? Sometimes your options may be limited by where you are putting it - for example, in a home environment, you might have to go with an electric oven because an electric oven doesn't have to be vented; but a gas fired oven (regardless of convection, conventional, deck or otherwise) must be vented to the outside. Some local BOH will mandate no open flames in a particular kitchen - the local gourmet deli had this as a requirement but I never knew why (e.g., no burners, you have to use an induction top) and others have no such rule. So you might be looking at electric ovens rather than gas ovens; and at least where I am there are more used gas ovens than electric. A long time ago someone told me about the Deluxe company as a good source for a home-based operation - you can check them out here: Deluxe Ovens I once asked the local repair company about which brands they had to service the most - they said Baker's Aid.
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I have sets of odd-shaped pans from Australia (hexagon, octagon, emerald, etc) and they are 3" deep (my rounds and squares are 2"). For the larger 3" deep pans, I've used a heating core (it's hollow on the inside and you use some batter to fill it to plug the hole it leaves behind.) All the flat-head flower nails I've seen have a little curve or lip to them - when you use them, do you flatten them out so they sit level in the pan?
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In my sleep-deprived haze, I have a vague memory of a Food Network show where they were at Disney for a bunch of weddings and there was a behind-the scenes shot of a chef peeling the fondant off of a cake tier before it was cut and plated. I remember thinking "I can't believe he got that off in one piece!" and from the brief glimpse of the stripped cake, it didn't look like it lost any buttercream under the fondant. Does anyone else remember this or am I hallucinating? Again.
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I found it makes the function manager nervous when I arrive 30 mins before the guests are due to show; usually I get there about an hour before so I can do some last minute stuff or I time it to be there same time as the florist. I hate not being there with the florist when it calls for fresh flowers - I have been burned with flower dregs that look pretty awful and it bothers me to no end that some florists just leave the loose leftovers for the cake when the client paid for nice flowers for the cake. Everyone looks at the cake, while only 8? 10? people are looking at a table centerpiece. I just don't get it. But that's another story. Just about all of my wedding cakes are three (sometimes four) tiers, stacked, and 3 tiers are what I can safely manage to carry by myself and they are all assembled before they get delivered. Most sites won't let their employees help carry anything in - just last week I wrenched my neck lifting a tiered, square cake that was enormous. I could just barely get it from the truck to a cart before my arm went numb and the chef was good enough to help lift it to the table. So, three stacked tiers is my limit; for taller cakes, I have to put the rest of the tiers on at the site. Plus, driving with 4 tiers stacked (the center of gravity is higher) always makes me nervous - I can see the top tier wobbling when I go over a bump or take a turn! The weather this weekend is hazy/hot/humid, which means condensation for sure. It's a 4 tier, square stack - two bottom real and two top styro - the 10" square is the pastry cream cake. I can cover the styro tiers tomorrow, it's whether or not to do the real tiers Sat AM and chill them or do them at 2:30 Sat PM just before I leave at 3:30. The design is minimal - lavender fondant, a few random dots, fresh flowers. I am very seriously considering doing the pastry cream tier as a styro just to be safe; I don't want to take a chance on the pastry cream with the weather (not that I think bad things will happen in the 30 mins it takes to get there, but it's a holiday weekend, traffic can be unpredictable....) Yep, I do that! Cheers. ←
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I've always wondered about this so now I'm just going to ask.... if I fill a cake with pastry cream (and chopped fruit), how long would you safely leave this at rm temp? I ask because a lot of my clients love the pastry cream filling option I offer, but I usually encourage them to use a buttercream for a wedding cake because it stands out for so long (figure it takes me 1-2 hrs for decorating - and yes, it's covered with fondant, no flames from the other thread please! - then it's delivered an hour or two before the reception starts, it stays out for another 2 or so hours before it is cut/plated). I'm always careful about pastry cream because of all the milk/yolks, etc and I'm nervous about it being out for 4+ hours the way a wedding cake is. I don't typically refrigerate a fondant-covered cake, because I don't like how fondant behaves after refrigeration, and the walk-in I share is humid anyway - but if I had to, I could. I just would hate handling the cake afterwards (no matter what brand of fondant I've used, it always gets condensation on it after refrigeration. The condensation makes for fingerprints when you go to assemble the tiers.) Would it make any difference if I used a mix (the only mix I've seen for pastry cream calls for adding milk and optionally, whipped cream to the powder. I don't think that changes anything, but as I have no experience with pastry cream from a mix....)? Or should I still encourage clients to go with a buttercream with chopped fresh fruit filling in lieu of a pastry cream filling for wedding cakes?
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Many years ago, one of my instructors was featured in PA&D, and I asked her how that happened. She told me she had a PR person who specialized in the food business and their "plan" was to send out press releases, announcements, etc. to appropriate media outlets (TV, newspapers, magazines, etc). And now, six years later, she's still in the local bridal magazines that come out twice a year, quoted on new trends in cake design and how to put together a dessert station. Very similar to what Confetti Cakes did with PR and communications. Another cake stylist sent a portfolio "book" to PA&D after attending the World Pastry Forum and one of her photos was used there and also in Chocolatier. So I agree that the point is if you want people to know about what you're doing, you have to tell them. Over and over. Wasn't there a quote about the music business ... you're only as good as your last 3 mins and 21 seconds?!! If what you want is the recognition from the media or your peers, you have to give them a path to find you.
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I think you should use some red fondant (Satin Ice sells pre-colored fondant - www.rolledfondant.com; or you could use Sweet Inspirations brand www.cake-visions.com) for the vertical stripes. It's easier to deal with than coloring icing, piping it, etc., and since it comes in 2# or 5# pails, you could definitely have some to practice with first. You roll it out, cut the strips and apply..... For the logo.... well, the easiest shortcut is to take a jpeg image of the logo to your local "edible image" maker bakery and ask them to print it out on to the edible sheet that you can then attach to a piece of fondant, or chocolate plaque (even one of those Ghiradelli bars they sell in the supermarket could work). Or get some of the food color ink pens and a piece of white fondant (suitably dry so you can color on it) and recreate it if it is not very intricate...
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Or chocolate plastique, which handles like fondant in that you roll it out and apply it to the sides of a cake. In a thread on wrinkly sugar figures, chefpeon wrote out her recipe for modeling chocolate and this is her post on it: You can use anything to color modeling chocolate, because when you add the corn syrup to the chocolate to make it in the first place, the chocolate in essence has already seized, so adding liquid color to it won't make it seize any more. However, the more liquid or gel color you add to it (especially when you want deeper tones), the more slack it gets, so I usually use a combination of gel/powder color to maintain consistency. I get most of my powdered colors from Country Kitchens SweetArt. My modeling chocolate recipe is as follows, and it's based on using Guittard White Satin Ribbon. Other brands of white chocolate behave differently, so adjustments may be needed (such as using a little more or less corn syrup). In micro, melt 6 lbs white chocolate. Stir often! Remember WC burns easily! When melted and perfectly smooth, heat 2 2/3 cup corn syrup for about a minute in micro. In a large plastic bowl, add your corn syrup to your melted chocolate and stir rather quickly, making sure you scrape the sides of the bowl often. I use a big rubber spatula. The mixture will seize and clean the sides of the bowl. When completely mixed, press mixture into a flat pan that has been lined with plastic wrap. Fold the plastic wrap up over the top. Put in fridge to set up, then bring out to room temp, break off pieces and knead it smooth. If it's cold out, I put it in the micro for about ten seconds so it doesn't kill my arm off to knead it.
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thanks, that's what I thought. I guess I was wondering whether the customer would notice. Usually I crumb coat, chill, cover with a slightly thicker layer of bcrm, chill and then if I need another coat, I go over it again, otherwise it's decorating time. I've never been crazy about the icing tip, it's faster and easier for me to apply the icing by hand. Good night!!
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Happy Birthday!
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I'm exhausted from the weekend's wedding work, and tomorrow I have a small 8" cake due. It was a last minute order and I should have said no, but I didn't. I have several "leftover" layers from half-sheets I did this weekend (I do three layers of cake when I build my cakes, and I use 2" pans so I torte each one in half). I could cut 8" circles from these sheets and assemble the cake order without having to bake a separate 8" cake (which would mean getting up very early tomorrow). Aside from not having the browned crust "edge", is this a bad thing? We do it for little 3" cakes all the time, but I've never done it for a larger layer cake. Whaddya think? Can I sleep in a little longer tomorrow or do I get up and bake....?
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I'm actually quite an attentive parent--probably too much so--but clearly I did something really bad in a previous life, as the following will attest: The whole family has gone out to dinner at a new, funky restaurant. One of the specialties of the house is a kids' drink that's super bubbly and produces lots of smoke (courtesy of dry ice.) Naturally, my kids think this is the coolest thing ever. My 7 year old daughter takes a sip of her green apple concoction and pronounces it "Yummy!" Then she burps REALLY loudly. (We try not to laugh, because we know it's not funny to be impolite--but we really can't help ourselves.) Then my 5 year old son takes a sip of his bubbly, smoky, cherry drink. "Ooooooh," he says, a little too blissfully. "That's so good, it tickles my pee-pee!" Needless to say, we made all the other parents feel very proud of their offspring. ← OMG, that's too funny (I'm the mother of a boy a little older than yours, and trust me, it doesn't get any better in the coming years either!!!) I'm still laughing....
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chocolate and zucchini is fantastic! Chocolate and Zucchini
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Congratulations on the new job! Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone - I am heading to Home Depot for the engraver for the sheet pans; and to see if they have the plasti-dip for my spatulas and/or cable ties for the rubber spatulas.
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I rent space from a caterer and we share the cost of a dishwasher who is usually pretty good about knowing what stuff is mine and which is not. But for those times when it's busy, all bets are off. I need a way to mark my rubber spatulasand icing spatulas so they find their way back to me. One of my teachers used red duct tape, but that washes off; I've tried hooking elastic bands to the loops on the rubber spatulas (they fall off when they're washed), but I am tired of losing my icing spatulas - especially the small offset ones. I have both wooden handles and the plastic handles. I've given up on the sheet pans. I've been at this space for 3+ years and came in with 50 brand new sheet pans - all of which have been subsequently shared and beaten up over time. So, any ideas?
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I won't go back to the nylon bags for anything. Waiting for them to dry... having the old ones crack .... making sure they're clean.... no, I don't miss that at all. I've used Hygo, and Thermohauser and both are fine. There's another brand, KeeSeal that seems to be very good too. I use the 12" and 18" sizes. Sometimes I get lucky with production so that I can start with plain buttercream, then go on to lemon, then raspberry - this way I use one bag and get three uses from it, which is especially helpful if you're only filling a small cake.
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Sometimes when you add a lot of color to fondant, it becomes slack and hard to roll out because it is so much stickier than it was before the color was added. This could be part of your difficulties. I like to use cornstarch (I put it in a bouquet garni bag and use that to dust the work surface) instead of confectioner's sugar - with the sugar, I've found it dries the fondant out faster than the cornstarch does. If you use too much of either one, the fondant dries out and starts to crack. I use a stainless steel table to roll out fondant on (I don't use the silpat, it sticks no matter what), and if your fondant is as sticky as I think it might be, you might want to try icing down the table to cool it first (and just to state the obvious: drying it off so it isn't wet) then dust w/cornstarch and use a heavy wooden rolling pin. On a chat with Ron BenIsrael on PastryScoop, I asked him how he handled the SatinIce brand of fondant - which I find to be incredibly soft and hard to work. He uses the SS table and makes sure it is very cool. Which brand of fondant is it that you're using?