hannahmontana

I grew up Noth Dakota, haven't seen many replies from my part of the country. Rhubarb cake, or pie is really good and a sign of spring! A cozy winter treat was raspberry or plum dumplings. The fruit was cooked in the bottom of a heavy pot and then drops of sweet dough were added on top, served in a bowl with lots heavy cream, mmm. And of course pie, lots of pie.

These cookies are incredible-I want a cookie press! Do all of them have the ratchets for uniform size? Does anyone have a brand they really like. I love the fact that is so easy to experiment with different flavors. This looks like fun, although I do remeber my mom using some not so christmasy phrases when she made spritz!

Fantastic! My husband and I are at the end stages of opening a bakery in montana. More of an artisan bread, with some breakfast pastries type of bakery. We are at the opposite end of the timeline-hopefully we will open our doors at the end of next week AAAAaaahh that is just 8 days away! What am doing on the internet?! We enlisted the help of friends, family, people we didn't know. Literally! I walked up to the owner of the business three doors down, introduced myself, explained our situation and asked if he could help us move some heavy things-we've since become friends. I'll do my best with advice-keep in mind no matter how much you plan everything will take longer and cost more. People told me that and said oh no, I've gone over these numbers so many times, I've called this person and that person and triple checked. It still cost more and took longer! But it's really fun. I think it helps that my husband and I are equally focused, its all we ever talk about. REally nothing else. One day we went for a short walk and decided no bakery talk. We walked for 15 minutes without saying anything, and then changed our minds! Please take lots and lots of European bakeries, if you have any good bread pics we would love it! GOOD LUCK!!!

I work in a health food store and scoffed at the vegan/wheatfree deserts, but after tasting them I was impressed. I don't know where they get the recipes-I'll try to find out. I have had a really good chocolate frosting-actually the best I've ever had made with almond butter. I don't know what else was in it but it was super creamy and not too sweet. I'm sure some wonderful things could be done with cashew butter as well. There are some useable margarines out there ( I know the horror) but a few brands aren't hydrogenated and it would expand you options-fruit crisps and there's oil based pie crusts. I think tapioca is ok as a thickner for fruit and I'm sure flour and cornstarch are. Good Luck in your creative pursuits.

Oops, I'm a little embarassed, I think I just quoted some one rather than writing a reply, I hope this works! First thanks for all the replies, they have been really helpful. Practise does help and co-workers will eat anything free. I should have taken pictures of my last batch. They are improving. Someone told me a great trick for the egg wash-strain it and put it in a spray bottle. It works really well. I think my problem had to do with some hot weather. Summer in Montana can be very hot- it was in the 90's. I've been using the bread bakers guild recipe-Team USA-I believe from 2000.I think I was using to much dough and I couldn't roll it out fast enough before the butter started to goosh into the dough rather than stay in distinct layers. Mell- why do use 1/2 cake flour and 1/2 AP? Is it to cut back on the gluten? I also think that I was using a bit to much flour when I was rolling out the dough. How does everyone feel about shaping croissants. Do you put the noche in the end to facilitate a more crescenty croissant? A lot of books including Julia talk about stretching the triangle before you shape it-why? And what size of croissant does everyone prefer, after baking (either in ounces or by inches)? big as your head ones or little guys? Thanks again for all the hints help Hannah

Well this is the first time I've written in egullet. I'm a little intimidated by everyone's skill level so please be patient. I'm trying to get croissants down. I've tried a few recipes, it seems that the traditional amount of butter rolled in is 28% of the detrempe. So far my croissants are flaky and tasty but distinct layers are lacking. When I try to peel my croissant apart ( my preferred way of eating them!) I don't get the really thin layers, instead they seperate where I rolled them up. Also most recipes say to cut the triangles and then stretch the triangle out further, why is this. I really want to understand the science of a really good croissant as well as shaping techniques and recipes. Speaking of which has anyone tried the whole wheat croissant from the Pie and Pastry Bible, are they heavy? Looking for flaky perfection, Hannah

O Jeez this is such an eye-opener. I started following this thread when mel just started. I found it on the net looking up starting a bakery-which is what my husband and I hope to do. I feel like we aren't going into this blind- he worked at small bakeries for about nine years before getting a good paying job he hates. For the last two years all he can talk about is getting his hands back into some dough.I've worked at a local restaurant for the last seven years-up front, I'm a people person, so we realize the amount of work. I love reading this because it reminds me of the nitty gritty, day to day grind. What I could also use a good healthy dose of is the nitty gritty business aspects. If any of you bakery owners out there have ideas on where to find good current stats about the industry or any helpful info we would really appreciate it. Mel thanks on the heads up of vendors to avoid!