Tweety69bird

I am not sure if that will work. I crush up amaretti cookies or ginger cookies and place them on the bottom of the pastry and place the apple on top of that. I fill my apples with pastry cream and then cover them with puff pastry. I serve it on a base of creme anglaise. ← It sure sounds good though... I would try it just to see.

What she said.

My go-to cookbook is the wonderful Fannie Farmer cookbook. It's got all the basics in there. Next on the list is Martha Stewarts Living Cookbook. Great recipes in there. Her Beef Bourgignon is great!

Beautiful dessert Ling, and as for the off centred ice cream the fact that it isn't perfectly aligned is kind of nice.

Desiderio, your chocolates are just beautiful! Wonderful work.

How about putting some warmed ganache at the bottom of the dish and leaning a skewer of fresh fruit into it. This will give you some height, and give the illusion of a healthier dessert

Kerry, Great blog so far... I don't know how you find the time to do it all... I was wondering if you bake like this and spoil your team only when in Manitoulin or do you do this at your regular hospital also?

I had a similar problem with one of RLB's white butter cake recipes sinking in the middle when I was making it and I wrote to Rose to ask her about it. Her reply said that perhaps I should develop the gluten a bit more, and also to try reducing the baking powder a little. Well, I let the mixer go for a full minute more than I have in the past, and I'm a little light handed when measuring the baking powder, and I haven't had a problem since her advice. Maybe one of these suggestions (or both) may help you out. ...although, I agree with K8 too, adding melted butter to whipped eggs seems to defeat the purpose....

do you know if that 5 a7 will be open to all and if he'll do a small "demonstration"? ← From the Bon Appetit Cookbooks Website Hervé This is an internationally renowned chemist, a bestselling cookbook author, and the only person to hold a doctorate in molecular gastronomy, a cutting-edge field he pioneered. This uses recent research in the chemistry, physics, and biology of food to challenge traditional ideas about cooking and eating. What he discovers will entertain, instruct, and intrigue cooks, gourmets, and scientists alike. Join M. This at the store for this FREE event.

How about old reliable cheesecloth? That's what I use and it works just fine.

Looks great!

Hi Natho! Welcome to eGullet! Your combinations sound very interesting. Can you post any pictures of your creations?

Are they the plastic ones? If yes, then for sure you can reuse them over and over, but once you cut them they're cut... so maybe you want to think twice before you do that. You can always just cut (well, melt through) off the portion of chocolate that you don't want with a hot knife so you get the size you want.

It's $100.00 with an 8" knife included...although I can't see what brand knife it is. Just wondering if anyone has taken this class and what you thought of it. Feedback? Classes offered

Well, I think it's flattering that someone searches you out to offer you a job. Head hunters are in every field, not just the food industry. Where I work, the receptionist won't pass calls to people who only ask for titles, not personal names of people, which is one way around it, but I don't think there are too many receptionists at bakeries et al... I would just keep saying no thanks and hanging up. And as you mentionned, where else are these hunters supposed to find potential people who are looking for another job? I'm sure you would be much more irritated if they were calling you at home, no? And it's great that you are happy in your job, but there must be people who are not and would jump at an opportunity of a job falling into their lap.

If you look closely to the third slice on the first photo, you can see where it has started to weep a bit also. I say they're real...

Perhaps less ripe strawberries ooze less than the ripe ones?

Good luck in school! When I was a student in pastry school, the ages went from 18 to 60, so you are right in there. Don't worry about being nervous, that will be over with after the first day. There is something very special about being in the company of so many others that (hopefully) share your passion for food. You will finally meet people that you can discuss all your pastry issues with (um... kinda like here!) and that understand where you are coming from. Age doesn't matter in class, seriously. My best buddies in school were 13 years younger, and 12 years older than I. And deffinately take pictures of all of your creations so you can build your portfolio, as well as memories. It was really one of the best times in my life so far. Have a blast!

Thanks!! I agree with K8, I would leave the cremeux alone, since the small amount of sugar in there is really for the caramel flavour and the end result isn't sweet. I think you could modify the gelee layer and the bavaroise without any problems at all. And I'm sure if you reduced the sugar in the cake too you'd be ok...

So I finally completed the Exotic Orange Cake! Here is it, I'm so pleased with how it came out. I took it to work to hand out samples and the reviews were great! As Patrick had mentionned, the vanilla cremeux (which I remade after the bitter version that I wrote about earlier, and this time it was very nice.) is not too sweet at all. I didn't modify the recipe to sweeten it up, as I wanted to taste it first to see, and I'm glad I didn't. The majority of the comments I received were that the cake wasn't too sweet, and that they liked it like that. I couldn't find passionfruit puree anywhere, so I just used mango puree for the gelle layer, and maybe this balanced better with the non sweet cremeux as it didn't have the tart edge of the passionfruit. I didn't add the white chocolate spray either, but will have to look into how I make some sort of spray tool for that. I have a vague recollection of us doing some sort of class with spray bottles and chocolate/cocoa butter mix in school.

Yesterday I made macaroons from Martha Stewart's Living Cookbook and they were fantastic! And so simple to make. I then tried a batch replacing the sugar with Splenda and they came out a little dry and brittle. I'll try them again, but will increase the egg whites and see what happens.

I don't know how long you could keep it, but I would think it won't go bad quickly. I made a recipe from PCB Creation that had lemon mousse with candied lemon peel folded into it as a component. Here is the recipe. ← That looks cool, but a bit beyond my available baking time and energies at the moment, unfortunately. I was thinking I could fold some chopped rind into a lemon pound cake, but it sounds good in a mousse, as well. ← You could just make the mousse part and eat it straight!

I don't know how long you could keep it, but I would think it won't go bad quickly. I made a recipe from PCB Creation that had lemon mousse with candied lemon peel folded into it as a component. Here is the recipe.

Thanks Patrick, it makes sense. I'm home now, so I'm going to give the one I made a taste to see how it is, but i'm going to remake it regardless. I dont want to regret it later on when it's too late.

I am attempting this cake for the first time and am making the components over a few days. Last night, I made the caramel cremeux layer, it came out quite bitter. I followed the instructions as given. I think that there are 2 steps that may have given me the bitter flavour: either I over caramelized my sugar (it was just a touch over the perfect dark amber colour and didn't smell burnt before I added the cream) or the vanilla that I (silly move) added before putting the yolks in and returning the pot to the heat. I am unsure, and thought that even maybe the fact that I tasted the mixture while it was still quite warm may have enhanced the bitter flavour. It set up quite nicely in the fridge overnight, and I think I might taste a piece of it later on to see if it tastes different now that it's cooled down and set. Any advice?