TurtleMeng

Thank u. I think Rose's recipe just has way too much cocoa. I will try to cut it in 1/2 to see....

Thanks. I am making cake fondant. It goes like bloom the gelatin in water, then heat to dissolve, then add glycerine, shortening, corn syrup, vanilla. Pour the mixture into sifted powdered sugar/cocoa and knead until elastic. Let it rest o/n. Most fondant recipes I have seen for cake have the gelatin. Most main ingredients are the same. I think it might be the ratio....

No reply? Am I the only one trying to make fondant?......

I had never made fondant. Then I made 2 batches.... They both tasted great, but the cracking, man. I have looked thru internet over and over. I own the Rose Cake Bible and the second one is from her recipe. I will list the ingredients below 1 T gelatin 1/3 c water 2/3 c corn syrup 1 T glycerine 1/4 c shortening 1 t vanilla 1 lb 9 oz powdered sugar 7 oz cocoa I will not list the method since if you are helping me you would know...I think the problem with this recipe is too much cocoa. 7 oz was an enormous amount (more than 2 cups). So the fondant would try to crack no matter how much I kneaded and tried to rub in extra shortening/glycerine. The first recipe I made was a simple white fondant with 2 oz melted chocolate mixed in. Even this did not crack as badly as Rose's recipe. Everyone sings praise of her recipe but I have found many recipes in her book to have a problem. Can anyone help?

I know, that's why I wonder he wrote the recipe like that, creaming butter andoil together does not make sense to me, and I thought maybe someone else has done that.

Hi everyone I have not been here forever. Anyways...please give me some good advice. Bobby Brown has a fantastic looking Red Velvet cake in his book. It calls for... Creaming 12 Tsp butter and 2 1/4 c sugar ( no problem)...and 3/4 c canola oil together. I kept reading the direction...really? It specifically states the oil adds the cake's moistness. I sighed and tried. It came out ok, but there were grease spots on my parchment. I even reduced the oil to 2/3 cup. So.... (1) would u cream butter, sugar, and oil? Would u do that all in one? ( I creamed the butter and sugar, then slowly dripped in the oil while praying) (2) Or would u dump in the oil with the wet stuff (1 1/2 c buttermilk in this case)? Any other suggestion on RV cake more than welcomed.

Hi Thanks for all your help. Ruthcooks and Swisskaese, I would like your recipes, I guess you can PM them? I actually am testing out all these recipes from Epicurious. The current project is "Sunshine Cheesecake", and I am stuck on something crazy--getting very thin orange slices to make "candied orange" to put on top. I am sure if this is done right it would be fantastic. You know the problem? "paper-thin slices"? Orange? I am beginning to believe my old knife is better after 2 mandoline tests (even tried a very expensive one). either that, or I don't know how to use a mandoline. I am getting crushed pulp mostly. BTW, taking the side off too early did some cracking for me too, as seen here in my cappucino cake. I told the lady to use the 2 cracked slices for her own taste test.

I was wondering if "Cook's Illustrated" is the same as "Baking Illustrated", which is a book by the same people (the big yellow book). Anyways, because that's the recipe I use, except I use 5 eggs instead of 6 plus 2 yolks. But this one has a baking time of 1 1/2 hr, which is just about right for me. I cannot test the temp since I have to take it for sale (or can I? invisible hole?), but I have played with the timing for a while. I also find the 500 then 200 (actually I use 215) degrees beats the 350 all the way thru (as in some other cheesecake recipes). I also put in a pan of water underneath as a semi bain-marie. I don't know if these help, but cracking was avoided...

Well, I am just an amateure and envy all here who are either professinal or have lots of time to bake. My family don't even eat much sweet stuff But one day I ate in a cafe and realized the owner is mother of this boy that plays ball with my son. We yakked and I asked her if she wanted to try some of my cakes. She said cheesecake since she currently buys they from CHEESECAKE FACTORY and sells some for afternoon tea service. Ah. So I took my regular NY cheesecake (which I really believe is pretty perfect) to her and she raved it. I almost had tears swell up in my eyes as she called me for more and when I took another one in she put it on the glass display. Talking about melodramatic. Today I took another one to her, "cappucino" flavored with espresso and Kahlua, I decorated with whipped cream and chocolate espresso beans also. Looked nice. I would also like to try an orange cheesecake recipe and a lemon-ginger recipe I have on hand. I'm wondering, anyone else wants to share any recipe? I am just a little home baker and won't sell your recipe for $$$.

This might not be helpful since I have not made the Cake Bible way (I use Nick Malgieri's recipe)but I just looked over the recipes and they are pretty similar (his uses whole eggs and a little more sour cream, and the streusel is simpler). The only difference I can think of is kind of dumb--I have alwlays made this cake in a TUBE. That means quicker rising all around and perhaps the streusel somehow doesn't have a chance to sink. (Gees, and I took college chem and don't know what I'm talking about.) But maybe try it next time. I've never contemplated making this cake in a springform. It is one of my most popular cakes also. edited for typo

I know people are gonna add this: get a scale. They are not that expensive. Get one that can zero with containers on. It is amazing how much easier weighing is than measuring by cups. You don't have to wash so many containers, you dump everything into your mixing bowl, you are ALWAYS accurate, blah, blah , blah.

Hi Andie, are you still there? Where is your Vallarta market? I could not find one around here. I will ask my nurses since they know all the Mexican markets.

Oh, I have a black and white recipe, but I don't have time to bake...friends are coming to town, husband left town, son is having open house....argh. Please, others, share some more cookies.... BTW, brownsugar, I quickly read your other thread and question, perhaps weighing can help? I weigh most of my ingredients (actually with Carole Walter's book she didn't list weights, which is an ARRRRRRRGH)

I think it might be too much work for me to render my own. Don't know if there is a Vallarta market around, will have to search (I'm near Pasadena), but 99 cents a pound sounds very reasonable. Being Chinese, I should know how to render my own fat (no pun intended), but I am lazy. So many Asian pastries call for lard. They taste much better with it.

It dawned upon me that lard might taste better than butter in some cookie recipes, I know it's often used in pie crusts also. My questions are (1)Where do I get it? I know "kidney fat" is the best but have no idea where to find it. The boxed lard stuff...is that any good? It seems a little scary sitting on the shelf without any refrigeration. (2) Does it cream like butter? (3) What is your experience with it?

Made the madras cookies. These are really kind of exotic with the hint of curry and a small kick. I think a cup of Earl Grey would stand up to their pronounced flavor. I can actually recall the recipe from my head, definitely won't violate copyright this way. I halved the recipe. 1 1/4 c AP flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (or is it 1 tsp? will double check when I get home) 1/2 cup toasted unblanched almonds 1 tsp mild curry powder, toasted on low heat in pan for ~ 30 seconds Put all the above in food processor and pulse about 10 times, then grind ~ 1 minute until finely grounded 1 stick butter 1/2 tsp orange zest cream the above, the slowly add 1/3 c granulated sugar, then 1/3 c brown sugar, cream for about 1 minute, then add in 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches and mix just until moistened. Fold in 1/2 cup of sweetened coconut flakes. Chill the dough until a little firmer, roll it into 1 inch balls (should make about 25-30 cookies), press a whole almond into each one, flatten into 1-1/2 inch disks, bake @ 375 ~ 10 minutes.

Just made some Sesame Coins. I was curious how these would taste compared to what I grew up with, the stuff you buy @ Chinese stores. I am pretty sure the stores one are not made with butter and thought home-made ones would taste better. Here they are They taste good, but the sesame is so overpowering that they still taste kind of similar to the bought sesame cookies. Having said that, there is nothing wrong with store cookies, just I was thinking I can beat them by 2 miles.

I did her chocolate chip cookies, where she used the little trick of adding finely grounded quick-cooking oats to keep cookies from spreading too much. It worked well. I also made the White Chocoate Whalers with rice crispies, my son had to be told to stop eating them (they are big cookies also), but I forgot to take a pic. Next I think I might do the "madras" cookies with curry powder, the flavor combo sounds attractive.

Of course those photos were taken by ME....don't they look that way? OK, the recipe goes 2 c AP flour 1/2 t baking powder 1/2 salt 1/4 baking soda 1 1/2 sticks butter 1 T lime zest 1/2 t lime oil (this is what I could not find and did not use, I put in a little lemon extract to substitute) 1 1/4 c sugar 4 yolks 1 T lime juice 1 t vanilla extract 1 c chopped pistachio nuts 1 egg white beaten with 2 t water, as egg wash (I didn't even need this much) Sift the dry ingredients Cream butter first on low speed with the lime zest and oil, then slowly add sugar, cream for about 2 minutes then gradually add the yolks, vanilla, and lime juice On low speed add the sifted dry ingredients in 2 additions. (I found this dough pretty sticky) Divide the dough into 4 portions and shape into 6-inch logs (about 1 1/2 inch in diameter). I put them in fridge for a while before brushing on the egg wash and rolling them in the chopped pistachio because they were hard to handle. Once rolled and covered in chopped nuts wrap them in Saran and put the logs in fridge for at least 1 hr to firm up (I left them overnight) Slice the logs diagonally (so the cookies are kind of oval) into 1/4 inch thick slices, these 4 logs supposedly make 3 dozen cookies, I got about 10 each log. Place the slices on cookie sheet. It says "moderately buttered" but I just used parchment. They do expend so keep them apart (guess who did not just trying to save space) Bake @ 350 for about 9-10 minutes, until edges brown.

I don't know if anyone will be interested in this, just a try. I have been highly unambitious and baking cookies. The thing is, there's really nothing wrong with making them instead of making fancier things. Besides, my son loves them. I am trying various recipes from Carole Walter's Great Cookies , and having some fun. If anyone wants to put pictures and recipes here.... These are "pistachio lime thins" There are pecan tassies I had trouble finding lime oil for the lime thins, but they still tasted great without it. If anyone is interested, I can put up the recipes. Hmmm, is that legal? I committed the crime of scanning photos, so I want to be sure that's ok.

where can you get one of those?

Thanks, guys...but I don't know where to buy these coverture chunks. It's not a big problem for most part because I hardly do cookies. The grain thing though, is really interesting, but my Calebut is a small fat block, not the 11 lb thing (I'm not @ that caliber yet). I ended up using some old chips and chopped some much thinner Ghiradelli, no offense, but their chocolate is really....ugh....well, it's old and now it's gone.

Not having enough time to make anything fancy, I started baking some cookies. Last night I did Carole Walker's chocolate chip cookies. (BTW, her trick of grinding oatmeal finely with sugar works well. The cookies are soft and delicious and did not spread excessively). So I said, I would put in some GOURMET chunks. Apparently I had never done this. Took out a fat block of Callebut and started chopping with a chef's knife. Well, I got SHAVINGS. Trying with a serrated knife, then 3 more not-any-better knifes, I sustained a nice <1cm laceration to L 2nd distal digit. I opened a bag of chips. I know if the room is warmer it would probably be easier. But what are other tricks?

I don't think so. If you go to a Chinese market now, like ranch 99, they have both pastes actually. The Korean kind is in a squarish jar. The Chinese kind is (usually) in a can. If you go to a Korean market...I need to check it out (my office is right next to one), I think you are gonna find the Korean kind.

I can try to help a little. The Korean chiachiangmian I've had is very different from any Chinese one I've had. I grew up in Taiwan, married a Shanghainese, travel to many parts of China, but the major differences of Chiachiangmian to me seem to be: Korean one uses their special black sauce. Chinese one uses Toban sauce or Tianmian sauce (my phonetic translation), Toban sauce is brown, Tianmian sauce is black but still different from the Korean kind. The Korean kind if laden with oil, the Chinese one (if you let me cook it...) is not. The korean kind often has pork, zucchini, sea cucumber, shrimp, onion, all cubed. The Chinese kind has pork but grounded. very tiny pieces of cubed hard 5-spiced tofu. no seafood. When the sauce is done, raw shredded cucumber, carrots are added on top. Some might add bean sprouts. The Chinese noodle used for Chiachiangmian is the thin kind, not as thick and chewy as the Korean one. Finally, I enjoy both. But the Korean one is just often on the heavy side. (When I was in medical school, I cooked mine with spaghetti, added mushroom, onion, and zucchini. Hey, this was midwest. Guess what, everyone wanted me for potluck. Now, that is UNAUTHENTIC, how many minds I poisoned, don't know)