Darcie B

A friend's sister asked me to make her wedding cake. They were getting married in the golf clubhouse and played a lot of golf, so they asked for a golf-themed wedding cake. I discussed it with her and came up with the following. I wanted to make the "water hazard" cakes irregularly shaped like real ones, but I ended up running out of time (to reiterate, I'm not a pro, and couldn't take time off to make the cake, and as usual underestimated how long it would take). It turned out OK, but I would appreciate suggestions on how I could have improved it. I think the large golf ball on top is too big, but I didn't have any other size round pans except for the small ones, and the bride didn't want the top ball to be that small (I think it would have been the perfect size.) (please excuse the poor photos. my camera sucks and I'm not much better)

It would seem the Harvard School for Public Health would disagree with you on this point. (Quote from Harvard School of Public Health webpage. ) However, even with that evidence, I still don't think a ban is called for. I really think that we should stop trying to protect us from ourselves. If we made every potential bad health decision illegal, there wouldn't be much left to do. I do think we should try harder to educate people about bad health choices. Then, leave it up to them.

tim, that's remarkable. Hope he shares with you! It sure beats what I found in my grandmother's basement when we cleaned it out this summer after my grandfather died - a case of Sharp's (non-alcoholic beer), of which several cans had started to leak.

I'm lovin' this! For some reason the idea of a single-serving pudc appeals to me. I am envisioning a cherry log (compote? frozen?), with a covering of cake (pinapple sage flavor?), capped off on the ends with pineapple half circles, so the whole thing forms sort of a quonset-hut shape (for those that aren't familiar, here is what a quonset hut looks like), and served with some sort of warm caramel sauce (maybe with a kirsh kick?). I'm not very good at this sort of thing, but I do appreciate the challenge of making me "think different."

I decided to take a stab at the white cake issue since I am doing a friend's wedding cake next weekend. In the past, I mainly used butter cake recipes, but they got too firm when refrigerated (although people still liked them better than the boxed cakes). I decided that I would substitute some of the butter in a standard white cake recipe with vegetable oil to see if that would help. Based on results posted in this thread and other sites, I chose the Cook's Illustrated basic White Layer Cake recipe to adapt. The only changes I made were to replace the almond extract with vanilla, and replace 1/3 of the butter with oil. This cake was a delight! I froze it immediately out of the oven and then thawed it to see what the texture would be like, and it was lovely. It was not at all dense, had some spring to it, and the crumb was very fine. It cut like a dream, too. The flavor was very good, in fact, my husband and I inhaled the test pieces - and I don't even really like cake! I am so excited; I thought I was going to have to resort to a boxed mix to get the texture I was after.

A few quick things, then I am done with this thread. It's getting too he said/she said, as these threads often do. First, I am not accusing any company of criminal activity. You keep saying things like that but I don't get where you are drawing it from, especially from my post. I never said anything about a recall...and where did "money grubbing profits at all costs" come from? Perhaps I am having difficulty seeing where you are responding to my post and where you are just making sweeping generalizations that look like you are responding to my post since you begin by quoting me. I just don't want things attributed to me that are hyperbole and conjecture. I do agree that publicly traded companies are subject to a lot of oversight, more than many charities. I have mostly worked for small private companies that have little oversight so therein lies my skewed perspective.

I don't think Rancho Gordo thinks Monsanto or ADM is engaged in any kind of "plot" to make money. I believe he is saying that major problems are often only addressed when it will make money for someone even though the problems should be addressed for the sake of the people who need help, and even though there may be other ways to achieve the same goals, ways in which the people could become even more self-sufficient. That is far from believing in "plots." Monsanto giving third world nations Round-up ReadyTM seeds so they can grow crops is certainly better than having them starve, but maybe, just maybe, it would be even better if the people could be given open-pollinated seeds that they could then collect and re-use, instead of having to purchase them every year. Call me crazy. As to your quote that "most altruistic endeavors are 'big business.' They too are sometimes corrupted by bad behavior. My guess is no more or less than for profit corporations," I have to disagree. I don't think most altruistic endeavors are big business. Most altruistic efforts are local and small (i.e. church soup kitchens). Most nonprofits also have quite a bit of oversight in the form of intense audits, so I feel there is less chance that they will be corrupt. You say that you are amazed that we are so ready to attack any entity that makes money. I am amazed that anyone needs to jump to the defense of large corporations armed with a bevy of lawyers and spin doctors. Poor widdle Monsanto, sniff. Personally I don't think corporations are good or evil; they are there to make a profit. Sometimes in so doing corporations do things that are not necessarily good for everyone else (pollution being a prime example). They shouldn't be strangled with regulations, but cannot be left to guard the henhouse. That's why I think that it is wrong to fast track the approval in this case. It sets a bad example.

How was the cake covered in the fridge? The fridge will dry out nearly anything that isn't covered well. If the cake was covered, when you brought it to room temp did you leave it covered? If not, moisture could have condensed on the outside of the frosting and messed up the texture.

Personally I feel that we in the U.S. have one of the safest, most abundant, easily accessible and low-cost food supplies in the world. These rare cases of E. coli, etc. are just that - rare, and also generally not the fault of the supermarket. Food safety is quite fine in my neck of the woods.

I'm confused - it sounds like the dried egg mix could be called powdered eggs - what is the difference?

^what she said! Pretty much any moist bundt cake (mini-bundts are easy to package), especially when it's drizzled with alcohol. I like the Guiness Stout Ginger Cake from Gramery Tavern. In fact, I think I am going to make it today!

I'm not real familiar with the ethanol program as my family's farm is too far north to grow corn, but it sounds like the usual BS. As soon as I heard people around here talking about how we should just more ethanol I knew that we didn't have enough farmland to produce near the amount we would need. It's just like saying we should drill in Alaska's wilderness so we won't have to import oil. There just isn't enough. How about we stop driving Stupid Useless Vehicles that get 10 mpg? Nah, that'll never fly in the U.S.

I agree with most of what you have said, but disagree with the "midwestern farmers whose disproportionate political power allows them to extort funding." That would be again be agribusiness like Monsanto, ADM and the like, who own many of the large corporate farms. The few, struggling, small family farmers occasionally get a trickle down effect from these corporate owned mega farms but by no means have political power. (My brothers have a 1,000 acre small grains farm and certainly do not have the power to extort anything nor do they belong to any organization who does). I don't consider a corporation that has 100,000 acres and employs workers to be "farmers".

This is a wonderful course, Kerry. I have a couple of questions. First, I have a jar labeled "glucose" that I got at a cake decorating store. Is this somehow more "pure" or otherwise different than light corn syrup? I want to know if it's worth buying as it is more expensive than corn syrup. Second, on the caramel frame, do you think it would be possible to use polycarbonate bars? I can get them much cheaper than the metal ones (i.e. free from a friend), they are foodsafe and they are safe to at least 115 degrees C. Thanks.

Good luck in your new venture! I am sure that you will do well, and that what everyone else has said about having "life experience" is true and will count for a lot. I hope to follow your blog because this is a dream of mine as well. I'm 37, and it will be a couple of years before I can follow my dream, but I feel like I can still hang with the younger crowd (I have worn out some teens and 20-somethings in the recent past when working on other projects). Remember, "old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill" .

I haven't been baking much bread this year, but am starting to get back into it. This is Pugliese from BBA: The crumb was a little disappointing, because I baked too early (it was 11:30 p.m. and I was too tired to wait any more). Camera batteries died or I would have a crumb shot too. This is what I call my "money" bagel shot from my eG blog early this year: I ended up baking bagels and cinnamon rolls for a small coffee shop near my house for several months this year, and that's why my bread baking at home suffered. Unfortunately, the coffee shop went belly up (bad location more than anything), so it's back to home baking for me.

That's incredible. I am assuming they have to pay TN income tax on the tips, or do they have to pay some sort of employment tax? I don't understand the logic of that one - how did that get through the legislature? And I thought WV had some wacko taxes... All the more reason to tip in cash, directly to the waitstaff.

This isn't German, but how about Guiness Stout Ginger Cakes baked in mini-bundt pans? (I was thinking Oktoberfest=beer=beer cake. ) These are really good and I don't think there is enough alcohol after baking to worry about not being kid-friendly. It's a real good fall recipe, too, with lots of spices. I make them and give them away at Christmas and they're a big hit.

I didn't realize I had this many ladles until I started collecting them for the photo. From top to bottom: First is a ladle we received from a French friend who noticed I had a lot of copper pots and gave me this to match. It is tin-lined and very heavy. I mainly just have it hanging up for display. Next is a little ceramic ladle that goes with my gravy boat. It's just too cute but nearly worthless. The aluminum ladle belonged to my DH's grandmother, and we use it quite a bit. It provides very generous portions of soups and stews. The first stainless one is the one I use most often, although I would like the handle to be more ergonomic. The other stainless one just takes up drawer space - I should give it away since it is never used. I thought I would use the small one at the bottom for sauces and such but haven't used it much yet. The black one at the left I got when I had a nonstick stockpot. I still use it occasionally because the handle is comfortable and because it pours well, but it isn't very attractive. Just realized I forgot the large ceramic ladle that goes with my soup tureen, and the ladle that goes with the sterling! Oh well, I'm too lazy to dig them out, which goes to show you how often I use those. Edit to put in the correct photo.

I don't think you have interpreted federal law correctly. You must pay a tipped employee at least $2.13, and you must make sure that the tips they receive at least make up minimum wage for each pay period. Also, all tips earned by the employee must be retained by the employee except for valid tip pool arrangements. No state law can pay less than the federal law (that's why they call it the "minimum" wage), although they may be more generous. (from the DOL website)

This blog has been just awesome. I have only been to Seattle once, and I was robbed! I didn't get to eat or drink at any of the great places you showed us. Thanks for giving us this wonderful glimpse into your lives, your relationship and Seattle to boot!

I would guess it is to discourage people from taking home unused items that wouldn't have been thrown away. This happened in my school kitchen - the lunch ladies would say the food was gone, refuse second helpings, then bag up the leftovers and take them home to their families. I could see some workers hiding food, claiming good food was bad, etc., so a policy like this gets instituted. As always, it's a very small group of unscrupulous people that screws it up for the rest of us.

So are you saying it is OK to haggle at the farmer's market, but not at the supermarket? Or do you haggle there too? I'd bet not, so why do it at the farmer's market, where the vendors don't have all the resources of a large supermarket? As a small business owner, I know that it is often a struggle to stay afloat, because you really can't take advantage of the economies of scale. I don't haggle with the farmer's market vendors because, at least at our farmer's market, they are all very small businesses and I appreciate their struggle. I don't do it out of any nostalgia or because I feel vendors are above scrutiny - if I don't like the looks of their produce I just don't buy it. Plus, in my experience the quality is usually higher and the price is about the same. I have tried haggling at the supermarket, but with no success. I recently tried to get a deal on a bag of lemons where a couple had gone moldy, but instead of reducing the price, the produce manager whisked away the old ones and went to the back to get some from a fresh shipment. I'd guess the company worries about lawsuits from selling bad produce. Regarding your car buying analogy, haggling IS expected there (although the trend is to no haggle pricing); however, I don't think that haggling is expected in most American farmer's markets. At least that has been my experience, perhaps it is different regionally. And I am sure it is different in other countries.

Do you grease the parchment? For that matter, do the rest of you grease or butter the pan? With what? I thought about using parchment. Glad to hear it works. ← I do not grease the parchment or the pan (I use aluminum half-sheet pans). I've made cinnamon rolls 2-3 times/week for the past six months and have never had a problem with sticking. I try to place my rolls far enough apart so that when they are fully risen they just barely touch. This seems to help with the uneven baking, but the outside ones are always done a bit more than the inside ones.

I agree with jgm - too much moisture in the cinnamon filling. If you wanted to keep the brown sugar, perhaps you could stir in a bit of flour to keep it from running out. I always use cinnamon and white sugar, moisten the dough lightly with cream, and put on enough to coat but not enough so it falls out when cut. I always bake on parchment too, seems to keep the sugar that does leak from getting quite as hard as directly on the pan.