JeanneCake

I did a champagne creme brulee (from Roland Mesnier's Dessert University cookbook) recently and it was wonderful - exactly as he describes it. He mascerates green grapes in champagne first and uses those in the recipe (you pour the custard over the grapes) but I just used the sugared grape garnish. There's a thread on it earlier that references the recipe; I think the recipe might be there. It's a stove top brulee, not a baked one; think pastry cream with champagne added.

There's two different canned pumpkin products available - the plain solid-pack pumpkin and then the pumpkin pie filling, which does have spices added. I never realized it until I bought the pie filling once by mistake.

I think the pepto pink came from the conversation they had with Sylvia Weinstock. I had to chuckle as I watched that part - the team member came across (to me anyway) as being totally blinded by the celebrity of talking to the "best cake maker" in the city. Ahem. There are others and they should have done more research. For crying out loud, go on The Knot and look at all the cakes on there for some background info, inspiration or research! Just because Sylvia Weinstock says pink is an "in" color doesn't make it de riguer to use in your design! I did laugh out loud when I saw the expressions on everyone's face at the "fake it til you make it" comment. And I agree, that in the real world, people would have the option to choose a different color and they should have allowed that.

I make perfect IMBC out of frozen egg whites all the time, so I don't think the freezing is the issue -- are you buying pasturized egg whites in bulk? Maybe pasturization is the culprit? ← Sorry for any confusion, I'm not talking about shell eggs that I've separated (that's what I'm doing) but I'm referring to the commercially available egg whites such as Papetti and all of them are pasteurized. Some of the ones I've bought come frozen, others like sysco's inhouse brand are not; but no matter which brand it is, it doesn't work. It's something about these whites - whether it is the pasteurization process or the additives I don't know. I was hoping that Swiss Meringue would work using this type of commercial whites.

If I use all frozen whites in my IMBC, they collapse when I add the sugar syrup (it doesn't matter which brand - Papetti, sysco, the no name brands that various distributors carry). I found I can get away with using them for some percentage (not more than 30% of the total weight, my usual batch is 30 oz whites, of which not more than 10 oz can be the frozen ones or they collapse). So, I was wondering since Swiss Meringue has the sugar and whites heated first before whipping and no hot syrup added, I could use the frozen whites for that. I've never made Swiss meringue bcrm so this might not work either!

I love using chopped dried cranberries and pecans in my macaroons (the haystack kind); and now I'm thinking I could dab the tops of them with some cranberry jam and drizzle with chocolate scribbles for a different look. I know, nothing to do with rugelach, but for them - yes, I bake mine for 25-30 mins at 375. I like the cream cheese dough from RLB's cookie book and the filling from Maida Heatter's dessert book.

Re cream of tartar... I used to use it all the time to prevent the whites from being overbeaten, but when I forgot once, it didn't make any difference so I stopped using it in the IMBC. Re French vs IMBC (vs Swiss) - I like the egg white meringue for stability and longevity at rm temp (I can keep IMBC at rm temp for 1-2 days - not in the heat of summer, but most of the year it's fine.) A whole egg or yolks only buttercream doesn't have the same storage at rm temp which is why I don't use it. I do go back and forth about whether I should switch from IMBC to a Swiss meringue - I could use frozen whites rather than having to separate shell eggs (and there's only so much yellow cake and curd I can make with the yolks!) I know a lot of people use Swiss meringue, but I don't know whether it can be stored for as long as IMBC or not. Anybody?

In class, we were taught to pour the hot syrup directly from the pan into the whites in a steady stream (the stream being about the thickness of a pencil) . If you're using a probe thermometer, let it get to 244 and by the time you get it to your meringue, it will be closer to 248 without having to resort to the greased pyrex (which means another thing to wash/prep). The butter is cool, but not ice cold - if the butter is too warm, it won't emulsify as well and you can get soup rather than buttercream. And about whether it has to be beaten first - my instructor said that it was a step we could skip if we wanted or needed to; it would simply mean a less airy final product.

Here's the spiced cheesecake recipe for a 9" round pan. I multiply this by 1.3 for a 10" pan: 2# cream cheese 1 cup mascarpone 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 2 eggs pinch salt 1 tsp fresh lemon juice 1/8 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp nutmeg Usual method: mix cheeses til smooth, add sugar, keep scraping the sides of the bowl. Add eggs, salt, lemon juice, and spices - mix til smooth and pour into crust (I use a pecan graham crust because that's what I use for the rest of the cheesecakes I make, she called for a walnut crust). I know that you can sub the mascarpone with sour cream successfully (different taste, I know, but mascarpone is more $ than sour cream) and I add 1/8 tsp allspice to this for a little extra oomph. Bake at 325 for about 45 mins to an hour depending on how your ovens behave. She uses a water bath, I don't. Now that I think of it, my cranberry orange cheesecake recipe comes from Mary Crownover's book - it uses cranberry juice concentrate, fresh or frozen berries (cheaper than the craisins) in a basic vanilla cheesecake recipe with some fresh orange zest. It's a great recipe! I'll look for the choc chestnut mousse recipe and my copy of the cake bible. Congrats on the new house!! Jeanne

My health inspector never wrote anything about the mixers, it was a discussion when I first opened and I was hoping he would tell me the used 20 qt I bought was not suitable for food prep - I'd bought it at an ebay auction and the seller did me wrong and I had to go to small claims court to be reimbursed for the expense of bringing it up to code. At the time, the inspector said that MA state law called for having an inspection when any new equipment (regardless of whether it is new or used at the time of installation) was brought into a food business before it could be used (remember, we're looking a a perfect world here in the gov't regs, not reality). But, maybe you could ask someone who teaches the ServSafe class (who may well be a health inspector moonlighting) to look at your operation and check out the federal food code and see what the problem could be (I know you can buy a copy of the food code, but it is probably expensive). That at least gives you a place to start. I know from some chefs that if it doesn't say NSF on it, their health inspector won't allow it, end of sentence.

I've had the KA 5qt ones in every class I've attended; and I've got some in the shop (three, actually - 2 6qt Pro models and one old 5qt). I'm trying to remember now what my health inspector said about them - it wasn't about the cage or no cage it was something about how the paint can chip from the flat beater? In any case, he never said anything about them not being acceptable.....the 6qt models have flat beaters that are burnished, not painted, and the finish on the mixer is different but who knows if that's the reason. After my health inspector visits, he leaves a written report - did yours do the same? What did it say about why the mixer is no longer acceptable on this visit and it was ok on all the others?

There's a pear pastry cream recipe in The Cake Bible (I haven't tried it). And there's a preserved pineapple recipe that could work as a cheesecake topping. I've been making the apricot-pineapple jam from the Pike Place Market cookbook - it calls for crushed pineapple and fresh apricots that would be nice as a cheesecake topping. I also like the spiced cheesecake from Emily Luchetti - it lends itself to lots of possibilities for garnish. It's a vanilla cheesecake with allspice and cloves (those are the only two I remember off hand, will look up the recipe), and is wonderful with a topping made from frozen summer blueberries but would be just as nice with supermarket frozen berries probably. I'll have to dig up my holiday recipe book; I have a chocolate chestnut pave that could be made into a round (it's basically white choc mousse and chestnut mousses layered into a plastic-lined loaf pan, chilled and then glazed with chocolate and garnished with marron glacee. Maybe you could rework it as one of your winter chocolate cakes... layer the mousses between chocolate cake layers?

For the table set up, everyone gets an 8' table with white linens/skirting- and my original thought - if I was using the flameproof containers - was a long silver platter piled up with sugared grapes, a bowl of sugar with the spoon and my little torch (not the industrial one from the shop) and then my cupcake stand lined with lemon leaves with all the creme brulees on it (this is what the stand looks like with just cupcakes on it cupcake tree so people could take one off the stand, present it to be torched and garnished. If I do the sugar on the silpat, I'd put the sugar on them before I leave the shop; but that means less "show" at the table unfortunately . Admittedly, I've been spinning in circles about whether to do tartlet shells or the cups. I really liked the idea of torching at the table .... but wasn't crazy about the pie pan things. Pidy has some puff pastry shells that might work for this (I don't have time to make my own) and are not too expensive (click on products when the site opens: pidy shells - but I don't know which one I'd go with - the bouchee? mignardise? zakouzi? maybe I should revisit this idea.... ahh, indecision, indecision!!

Thank you, everyone, for the carmelized sugar/bubble sugar/shards idea. Now I can go back to using the 5 oz clear plastic cups (no expense because the caterer I share with is willing to give them to me!), and use the silpat/torched sugar for the garnish along with the sugared grapes. Thanks again!

I had PM'd Chiantiglace asking about the free standing brulee technique, and then I remembered the brulee tarts from somewhere.... and mini tart shells are easier to find than these pressed foil pie pans. (they sell 500 tickets, and I was planning between 200-250 of these). The recipe calls for champagne-macerated grapes in the bottom, which wouldn't get covered up in a tart shell, but the sugared grape garnish will look nice. Wendy, when you made this, what brand of champagne did you use? What about torching them to order (right in front of the guests as they're wandering table to table) - any reason not to? Thanks for all the pointers, everyone

This coming Sunday, I'm participating in a charity event along the lines of a "Taste of " with lots of other restaurants (but there's only two dessert people - me and someone who's doing apple pies). I want to do the Champagne Creme Brulee from Dessert University but need to find a source for a disposable cup (like a 5 oz size - these don't need to be huge, they're not supposed to be a regular dessert size) that I can use a torch with - the usual plastic ones won't survive so I think I need something like a foil cup but it would have to be sturdy (this is a stovetop recipe so I don't need to bake them) OR If you've made this recipe, can I skip the torched sugar and just use the frosted (sugared) grapes as garnish....? I had even been thinking that I would sugar/torch them to order for a little flourish at the table but maybe the best thing is to skip the burnt sugar altogether and just do the grapes...

I've always added cooled caramel sauce to a finished buttercream; depending on the temp of the caramel when you're adding it, seems as if the yolks could scramble or worse (caramel is 300+ when hot vs a soft ball stage at 244). But I live on the edge and don't use a thermometer when I make caramel - I go by how dark it looks. So I don't know what the temp is after you add the warm or hot cream - maybe it could work. If you try it, let us know what happens Back to the original icing recipe... I wonder if this is the sort of icing Mignardise was after for those cupcakes a while ago... I've never run across a recipe like this either, but the milk/flour is really just a roux, which would bind the rest of the stuff. How can you flavor this? Can you add purees or curds or compounds to it with out it breaking?

Here's to your dad, and to your wonderful memories.... For me, my dad is growing older and it is hard to watch him struggle with every day things; it isn't easy to see your heroes become human. But sharing your memories makes me remember hot summer nights with us sitting on the stoop with a popsicle each (quite a treat, when you're 4, to be awake when it's dark and definitely past your bedtime! My father finished his degree at night so sometimes I would get to stay up and we'd stay outside and have ice cream but the big treat for me was a double-stick popsicle. Blue was my favorite!). I am also recalling making "gravy" (what we called red sauce in our house) with our own tomatoes and basil; and watching my parents roll out tons of ravoli on a Saturday night every few months (these were the days of the mandatory Sunday dinner at the grandparents. We always brought the ravioli. They'd make enough to fill the freezer, so the ravioli exercise was rare enough to be an adventure to watch. Plus the thrill of how long would it take for me to get caught! I would get out of bed, with my pillow and a blanket, and open my door just enough so I could watch them and eventually, they would see me and the gig was up. So, thank you, for sharing your dad with us, and for giving us a moment to remember those dear to us. I hadn't thought about those popsicle nights in a long time....and now I want to make some ravioli....

In Maida Heatter's Book of Great American Desserts, she puts chunks of brownies in her vanilla cheesecake - back then, it was during the start of the craze for mixing things into ice cream. But in the recipe intro, she talks about making chocolate cheesecake brownies (and how her husband came up with brownie cheesecake idea). In this choc cheesecake brownie recipe, which is made a 8x8 square pan, she prepares the brownie mixture, pours it into the pan and then preps the cheesecake mixture and pours it over the unbaked brownie. The whole thing bakes for about 40 mins or so. I've made this successfully in a round, removeable bottom cheesecake pan.

That's exactly right! I haven't figured out how to upload pictures yet, and the Swiss Chalet site doesn't have a photo of it online; but it is in the catalog if you have one.... For what it's worth for anyone not familar with it: picture a sheet of fairly rigid white plastic, with squares, circles or oval shapes cut out in the exact alignment of the shells (the shells are contained in indentations in a clear plastic sheet). You put the tool over the shells, and then with a spatula, sweep your (soft) filling into the cavities. Faster than having to use a pastry bag, and the clean up is relatively easy. I think you can also bake these still in their sheet - I know you can bake the Albert Uster butter shells - the clear plastic just sort of shrivels up and flattens out.

I call it stunning- gorgeous work, Annie! Nice choice of color and design, and the flowers are perfect with it. Curiousity compels me to ask... what sizes are the two tiers and how many did it serve?

JeanneCake's thoughts: JeanneCake I was wondering what you didn't like about the Cephalor? So far they are the only other brand I've been able to find in our area. ←

There may or may not be time for this to dry, but use squares and circles with the centers cut out. If you use straight gum paste, it will dry faster, and if they're not too too thick, that will help speed the drying too. You could make small ones and put them on wires so they're "bouncing" on the top of the cake and provide some movement as well as color; you'd have to use a heavy weight wire if these are bigger than 1" square or round. I prefer white wire when I can get it, it "disappears" better. Or you could make larger shapes (3" squares and circles) and then attach them at random on a bamboo skewer tinted brown or blue (with food color) - sort of like an art sculpture - and put the skewer into the top of the cake. When I use shapes with wires on them, I always put a straw in the cake so I'm not putting the wire into direct contact with the cake. I most frequently use the little brown coffee stir sticks that are round and hollow, I can also get the individually wrapped straws in green (like the ones Starbucks uses) from my paper distributor - these are larger and are perfect for bigger flower arrangements. Great design - hope you'll post a photo of the finished cake!

What gorgeous flowers - the cake is going to be *stunning*! Can't wait to see the rest (and so true about mother and child ... I once made my husband switch sides of the bed with me so my son would wake *him* up in the middle of the night if need be... didn't work. He toddled around to where I was, claiming that Daddy wouldn't get up!!!! )

Pam - I need freezer space at work (the walkin freezer is small, and there's not a whole lot of room for my stuff in there) and am considering a single door reach in; what brand do you have? I'm looking at Arctic Air (22 cu ft), Northland (29 cu ft) and maybe a True (but that is a huge leap in price as I would probably get the 35 cu ft two door)- but probably the Northland because it has more capacity in the same footprint as the Arctic Air for only $200 more. Anyone familiar with these brands for reach-ins?