JeanneCake

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?

Sometimes the ovens are full (these ovens are single full sheet size, not like the pizza deck ovens where you can get two full sheets side by side) - I've got two and the caterer is using the other two; or I'm baking 15" tiers and I don't want to crowd a bunch of other pans in. Sometimes I can start making the next batch of cake as soon as the first is in - so the second batch can wait in the walkin for a little while without harm or maybe it is just that there's extra batter that I don't want to waste but it won't fit. I'd never tried it until one day I had an extra 9" pan full of cake batter and no space, so I figured - why not see what happens if it waits? It took a little longer to bake because it was cold but otherwise it was fine.

I also share kitchen space and sometimes the chef will pull my butter and eggs for me at 6 am before he leaves (this is usually only when I remember to ask!). But most of the time, they sit in a bowl of warm water while I'm setting up so they aren't ice cold when I'm using them. Annie's got it right, IMHO; I think you pulled them out before they were really set. Not enough leavening (or too much, or too old to do much good) will also cause a cake's structure to collapse. The other thing you can do with the extra batter is pour it into a smaller cake pan or muffin tin and refrigerate it while the rest of it is baking. I only have four oven decks to use and when I'm pressed for time, I'm scaling the rest of batter into pans and keep them in the walkin until the ovens are ready. I can honestly say I've never held batter overnight, just for one maybe two hours and it works fine.

Regardless of whether your cakes are two, three or four layers of cake with buttercream filling, make sure that as you're building the cake, the corners are level and straight (it is easier to correct any sagging as you're building it). Spin it around so you see it from each side - make sure the table you're working on is level, too. I use a #8 Ateco tip to fill cakes with, and start by putting a big blob of buttercream in each corner first, then piping lines to fill in. Do you bake in 3" or 2" high pans? If you use 2" pans, and torte each one in half, you have two bottom layers to work with - it may help to use one of those as the top of the cake. Use a paint scraper or bench scraper to smooth the sides and top (there's a picture in chefpeon's thread on the flower pot baby shower cake of the paint scraper thing - I used to use a bench scraper but got a paint scraper at her suggestion - it's longer so it is better/easier than the bench scraper). smooth the icing on the sides first and there will be a top edge of icing that extends above the line of the cake. Use the scraper at the corners and swipe it toward the center of the cake to eliminate that top edge. If you haven't used a scraper before, it is good to practice to get the hang of it - maybe make some 6" square cakes to practice with before you do the client's cake. Good luck!

a long time ago, I tasted the most fantastic passionfruit jam - but the jam-maker refused to part with the recipe. All I was able to get out of her was that she used fresh fruit ... it was a deep amber-gold color and absolutely sensational. Wish I could point you in the direction of a recipe!

maybe if you PM Kerry (Kerry Vincent, who organizes this show) she can either provide some helpful hints or point you in the direction of other participants who are coming from a distance and they can offer tips on how to safely transport your work. If you're flying, you might end up buying your dummy cake a seat on the plane!!! - or possibly plan to do your finish work once you arrive. Check out the past thread (end of May) on the Cakewalk display (50 wedding cakes) sponsored by Modern Bride or Bride's magazine for other designers to contact who flew their cakes in (Ana Paz, Laurie Lucov). Good luck! Let us know how things work out!

Carole Walter's Great Cakes book has a recipe for Pineapple Chiffon Cake. It calls for baking in an angel food pan, but if you have the time to play around with it, perhaps it can work in regular cake pans. I've never made this particular cake, so I can't offer any suggestions, just the recipe if you don't have the book. Her recipe has the pineapple in the cake, where a lot of other pineapple cakes have a pineapple filling between yellow or white cake layers and a marshmellow fluffy icing.

I've been using the King Arthur brand whole wheat flour which is definitely similar to graham flour - (it doesn't have any cracked grains in it), but the original recipe calls for the stoneground whole wheat. Although I'm sure you can, I've also not used dry yeast in this recipe, too much fun playing with the fresh I get from the whole foods store... come to think of it, I wonder if the King Arthur site has some recipes for walnut bread King Arthur

This is adapted from Linda Collister's Baking book - originally it was Nut and Raisin Bread but since I didn't like the raisins.... 450 g stoneground whole wheat bread flour 230 g unbleached white bread flour 2 1/2 tsp salt 15 g fresh yeast 340 ml cold tap water (I use bottled because of the water in our area) 1 1/2 TBL honey extra flour for kneading 170 g raisins 170 g nuts (toasted) Mix flours and salt in a bowl, make a well in the center. Mix into a paste the yeast and half of the water and all the honey. Pour into the flour and mix just enough of the flour to make a sort of "sponge" or thick batter; let it sit for 15 mins. Then add the rest of the cold water and gradually work in the remaining flour until you get a nice soft dough (you might need more water or more flour, depending). Knead until smooth and elastic, then sprinkle the nuts and knead in (I like to spread it out a bit like pizza) until evenly distributed. Shape into a ball, into a greased bowl; let rise til doubled; punch down, knead, shape into two loaves and let rise again on baking sheet til doubled. Oven at 425, slash the tops; bake 15 mins then lower temp to 375 and bake til done. I like to make rolls out of this instead of loaves (I was looking to replicate the walnut raisin rolls at the local organic market; this comes close. I did use to use golden raisins in it but I hate when they burn if they're on the outside so now I don't. I like a lot of nuts so I usually use about 350 grams or so of roughly chopped nuts).

Not being "dainty" myself, I've had better luck with the Chefwear pants - have been unhappy with the jacket and pants I bought from Happy Chef for what it's worth (you get what you pay for). I'm so sorry to hear about your cat; my son and I desperately wish we could have one but with my husband's allergies it would come down to him or a cat .... Thanks for letting us sit on your shoulder during your work day! Sounds like you're enjoying it - and wishing you all the best....

Next week, I have a client who wants the bottom tier of her wedding cake painted in the style of Mondrian; black outlines around rectangular shapes painted in primary colors - blue, red, yellow. I've been playing around with some options and am not satisfied with the results so far. Luster dust has too much shimmer, petal dust is too flat; painting with straight paste or my liqui-gel colors stays tacky. The plan is to mark the outlines with a scribing tool, paint the blocks and then do the outlines in black royal icing. I know if I got really desperate, I could do the edible image thing, but I really don't want to because the rest of this cake is pretty wild and it just wouldn't look right. Has anyone ever used a cocoa butter/powder color "paint"? Any guidelines.. advice.. warnings? Last night, I was flipping through channels and caught a brief segment on the FoodNetwork - the show was at Disney and they showed someone painting a floral vine on a fondant cake and I thought they said cocoa butter....

Last two weeks, there have been a lot of chocolate cakes going out the door with a milk chocolate toffee buttercream filling... people love the unexpected crunch of toffee in the otherwise smooth buttercream.... A caramel ganache would be heavenly

or Perfect Puree is ok too - Perfect Puree and see if they sell retail or can put you in touch with a local distributor.

when you grind whole or chopped cookies in the food processor, you want to make sure they are well ground. When I was having trouble with Oreo crusts (for cheesecakes) last year, (the crusts would weep when I was unmolding them; I use a removeable bottom pan lightly buttered before pressing the crumbs on), one piece of advice talked about the texture of the crumbs and sure enough, the problem went away when I left the crumbs in the processor for longer than usual so it was more well ground.