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If I don't have Vodka, can I use any other alcohol?

Gee, that was great idea of putting in on the inside as to my idea of using the outside. Thanks

I am going to replicate the Chocolate Stout Cake mentioned a while back with the bottle cap decoration. I would like to know that if I pour regular melted white chocolate over a bottle cap, then refrigerate it, will it separate from the metal cap without a problem? Any tips appreciated. I will have to visit a bar where there is supposed to be a bunch of tops so I can do them all at once instead of one at a time. Thanks

I have it (the recipe)saved on the side, so I can make it soon. Since you've made it, what do you think?

It was! and still is! I have served it at many meals so far and still have a quarter of it left in my freezer ... never gets stale ... the $40 was well worth every penny! ← Isn't it amazing. All their stuff looks like that - so good and apetizing, thats why I asked if anybody tried their products. I haven't any vegan baked goods that tasted half way decent, where I would be willing to bake it myself. I guess if it tastes as good as it looks, you are not as likely to beat yourself up for having another piece.

Has anybody tried these buns that were featured on an episode of Road Tasted on FoodTv? How about anyone in DC area been to Sticky Fingers Bakery? They looked so good, no fat and no cholesterol, and I am not a vegan, but I occasionally would like to try something that might be healthy for me and look great. The other items they have really good aswell. http://www.stickyfingersbakery.com/sweets.html

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nice slippers, oh, and the cake looks great.

Now of course, while I'm baking this thing, I'm thinking how I'm going to finish it. I like to have the cake finish reflect what's in the cake, and I'm going, "beer...hmmmm.....how do I reflect beer?" THAT'S IT!!!!! Chocolate bottle caps!!!! Funky? Yes. But cool. I made the bottle caps out of white modeling chocolate using a real bottle cap as a mold. Then I painted them with edible gold powder made into a paint with a bit o'vodka. Yeah, ok, a bit over the top for a family dessert, but sometimes I can't help myself. Once a PC, always a PC..................... ←

I filled a wedding cake using the egg-rich recipe I posted a while back, and it worked out fine -- no squishing out of lemon curd when the cake was cut, even on the 12" tier. But if you want a lemon filling that is pretty much gauranteed to be firm enough, you could do a cornstarch-thickened lemon filling, as you would do for a lemon meringue pie. ← Patrick, do you have any pix of the wedding cake to show off? I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd love to see it! ← Thanks, Ruth, but me showing off my wedding cake here, in the company of true cake decorating black belts, would be like entering a rusted-out 72' Ford Pinto in the car show . . . I'd rather not! I'll describe it though -- three tiers, 6", 9", 12", each tier filled with lemon curd, and covered with vanilla mousseline buttercream. A small red ribbon was around the base of each tier. I was asked to do the cake like 2 days before the wedding (nephew's shotgun wedding), so it was rushed. ← Aw, come on. Your photos are always great, I'll bet your just being modest. Your decorating is probably better than most, and with a little creative posing, you could bring out the best in the photo of the cake I know its definitely better than mine.

Wow, what a wonderful photo, good enough to eat the picture. Its amazing how people can make such beautiful pictures. I can't post mine because I am still practicing to get to the appropriate level of quality. Bainbridge is so much like Port Hardy, where I still remember my mom cooking for the men that would bring the whales ashore to process. I must come up to explore and see if its a good place to retire.

Yeah man....vanilla bean specks are cool! They say, "Hey, I'm a real vanilla bean, and I'm in this dessert! Neener neener." ← Some people will ask, "what are those black specks?". Doesn't bother me, but I was thinking of a cleaner look.

FWED, do you have a picture of the cake with the mandarin oranges you used for decoration? I am curious what that looked like. Did everbody who made this cake have little black specks from the vanilla bean, in their gelee, or did someone find a way to remove vanilla bean specks?

No problem. I weigh out my yolks and whites in disposable cups. If I need 8.5 yolks, I put in 9, and then take some out. ← What do you think of this product, and would you think it would work in this cake? It is available at Whole Food Markets, so I wouldn't haveto mail order From their website: Goya.com Fruit Pulps In several delicious tropical varieties like Passion Fruit, Papaya, Mango and Tamarind, these frozen fruit pulps are 100% natural, low in fat, high in Vitamin C, and cholesterol free. Used in smoothies and frozen desserts, Goya Fruit Pulps are the key ingredient in tropical treats. And now Fruit Pulps are available in convenient packages with four individually-wrapped, single-use servings.

Looks really good the recipe from Spago's, I just wish the photo was better, so I could get a better look at the decoration on the top.

Wow, you remembered my problem. I impressed, because I am not a big poster more of a lurker. Don't get me wrong I am just a lurker here, but not in real life. Well, anyway, I have someone from my department whose family lives in S.F., and when she went for a visit and a side trip to the CIA, I asked if she wouldn't mind stopping in at Dean & Deluca. I had called Purfect Puree and they don't sell to walkins, but Dean & Deluca were the only people in Napa that carried it. There is another place in Culver City that carries Purfect Puree but when I was there they didn't have passion fruit. Here's a question. When I received the product I noticed that the container says Passion Fruit concentrate, so I am wondering if I should just keep adding concentrate until the gelee tastes right, according to my palate? I pronounce, bavaroise, as: bavaros

I am going to make this for our department party and I was wondering if anybody have trouble getting exact egg yolk and egg white weights. I find the eggs are slightly more than the recommended weights.

The lemon sponge recipe was from Rosie's All-Butter Baking book (the title is something like that). If you want the recipe, let me know. It was rolled in a sugared towel while still warm. I bunched up a little of the towel in the middle (at the end of the sponge where you start to roll), so the turning radius wouldn't be so small, and the cake would be less likely to crack. Also, as you can see in the picture, I didn't fill the roll the way you would normally. Patrick you've got mail. ←

Proportionally, the gelee layer is quite thick. Its slightly thicker than it should be, because the gelee was molded in an 8" pan rather than a 8 3/4" mold, as the recipe called for. It didn't overwhelm the other layers, but I personally I think it would be best if all the layers were about equal thickness. This was my first time using this recipe, and I'll probably reduce the size of the gelee layers next time around. ← Patrick, what is that dark ring around your cake in the photo, or is that a metal ring that you used for assembly?

I just got some Passion Fruit concentrate from Perfect Puree in Napa. They don't have passion fruit puree, just concentrate, so I hope I have the right stuff for recipes calling for passion fruit puree.

8" rings are what I used to cut and to form my cake. As far as white chocolate, I used Trader Joes block white chocolate which I think is Ghiradeli.

You'll do well and you'll see how easy it was.

Very nice. I mean the picture. I have tempted for some time( years) to make a jaconde, but for some reason, I am somewhat reluctant to try.

yes, you can achive a very good result with a coffe grinder. I have a good recipe but I am not allowed to post recipes in this forum, right? And I don't like to post in the recipe box, I find so unpersonal. So the greatdane, if you want pm me and I will translate it for you. ← I have tried with a food processor, and ground for like literally half and hour, and still never got a result as creamy (or delicious, IMHO) as Nutella, so I would be surprised if a coffee grinder makes a big difference. But I'm willing to try anything, so please do post the recipe! The ingredients you can post as is, just put the directions into your own words. ← Patrick, I think you used Gianduja, in a recipe recently, and I am wondering if I use the recipe that were talking about here, if that would work in any recipe requiring Gianduja? ← Hmm. Well I've used Gianduja chocolate before, but not recently. And I haven't tried Franci's recipe yet, so I can't say how soft it turns out. So, maybe/maybe not. I'll be sure to post how the recipe turns out for me after I try it, though. ← Thanks, because that stuff is hard to find other than on the internet. Its also rather pricey if my memory serves me right.

Next time you come down to L.A. you should make it a point to go to Michel Richard's which is not too far from Sweet Lady Jane. Also in Glendale and Burbank is a really big bakery and deli, is Porto's. Victor Benes is also very nice and they are in the Gelson's Markets. The best one is in Sherman Oaks.