sugarbuzz

I'm curious as to wheather these are plated desserts or something that is to be done buffet style..that makes a huge difference in the type of dessert you can make.

fruit empanadas..coconut filling is good. mini pineapple raisin tamales. never mind tamales..doing for 600 would be murder.

Wendy the chocolate water is as thin as you make it. It depends on how much water you've added. Also you should let it cool to just above room temperature before using it so that it can set up a little. If you use it while it's still hot or even a little warm it will coat way too thin. I use it for glazing layer cakes as well as molded mousses or bombes ..and always use a thin layer of buttercream on the cake before coating to get that smooth,even finish. I like using this glaze for cakes mostly because if you make a mistake writing on it you can chill the cake & then peel the glaze off, remelt it,strain it & use it again. Also it gives you such a smooth shiny surface...where as ganache tends to be somewhat dull. One thing is that it will crack after a day or two..especially if there is alot of moisture in the cake.

I've used chocolate water as a cake glaze almost exclusively. You just keep adding hot(almost boiling) water to the melted chocolate..keep whisking it( it'll look lumpy) while slowly adding the hot water & you have your glaze. No butter or corn syrup. I always use bitter or semi sweet.

it's amazing what you can find on google..or from Baked's own web site. New Yorkers are sweet on desserts-only venues. No wonder the founders of Chocolate Bar, the hit West Village confectionery, teamed with the pastry chef of Blue Fin and a designer to create a Brooklyn bake shop and bar whose vibe is all about nostalgia. Joseph Murphy used to be at Blue Fin if I'm not mistaken.

Congrats Mel! I know very well what you're going through. I just went through it last year. My son Rylan was born last month & now I'm back to finding a job. It wasn't easy but I managed to work up until a month before I gave birth. As for the cravings..I couldn't get enough mashed potatoes!

Well..I have alot of caramel mascarpone left so I'm making a chocolate tart shell..filling it with the caramel cream & slicing some vanilla poached pear on top.

I usually will get some salmon..marinate it in a garlic,lemon,spinach,yogurt marinade..and wrap it in the phyllo. My youngest daughter loves this.

I just did a tasting for a place here in Berkeley so now I have tons of leftovers..so tonight I'm making an apple strudel with a dollop of caramel mascarpone cream & candied pecans.

I have to add this recipe from a SF chefs blog. One of the few blogs I look forward to reading. She posted this recipe for gingerbread on the local PBS stations blogsite. gingerbread

I would think that all of that extra liquid in the filling wouldn't emulsify with the buttercream. I don't think beating it more would've helped..it would've just ended up looking like a curdled mess swimming in water. Maybe next time just add some mascarpone after the buttercream is beaten & marsala in place of the vanilla?

David's Fresh Ginger Cake is simply wonderful. Make it exactly as he says & you won't be disappointed. I too have have Room For Dessert & it has provided me with many great desserts. I put the ginger cake on my menu one year with poached pear,pumpkin seed brittle & riesling sabayon..it was spectacular.

sweetside..I'm with Neil on this one. Get some experience first. Maybe start at PT with a good bakery & maybe 2 or 3 hours of your own time just learning the ins & outs of the whole operation. Coming out of school & to be handed an opportunity like that makes you feel great I'm sure but you have to ask yourself..is this person hiring you to save $$ on hiring a more experienced baker. Does she have your interests at heart? Some owners will hire someone right out of school pay them crap money & work them to the bone. And as you said before..if things don't work out what's the worst that can happen? you quit. So what happens to the owner when you decide to do that? If your assistant decides to not show up for work one day will your boss help you out or will you be stuck on your own? Are you just doing the baking or are you expected to be the head of the kitchen which requires some management duties..purchasing,labor costs..etc. It's the owners first time too & a career change as well? Does she know what she's getting into? I would sit down with her & talk about what you expect from each other. When I was fresh out of culinary school I would never dream of taking on a job like that. Mostly because I had one great instructor who taught us the reality of the restaurant world. It doesn't matter how much confidence you have ..if the experience isn't there..then you're setting yourself up for disaster. This is all my opinion..I know some of you may feel otherwise... but in the almost 14 yrs I've been doing this I've worked for people who have no business calling themselves Pasty Chefs as well as people who should not be allowed to run a business.

I'd like to recommend The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle. Nothing like a bible or anything but a good all around cookie book. Almost every recipe I've tried has not let me down. If I need something quick I turn to this book because I know the recipe will turn out right. And she also has some savory recipes as well for breadsticks & crackers that are very good. Some tips & pointers on ingredients & the best cookies to package for shipping & giving..etc. Just a nice book to have around.

I found this interesting blog that has an international cookie swap. cookie swap recipes Some really interesting cookies to be found on here if anyone wants to find something new or different to make this year

Have you tried finding an all cornstarch recipe & maybe substituting 1/4 -1/2 of the cornstarch with light buckwheat flour? Maybe add some orange zest to it. Buckwheat & orange go so well together.

I strain it just to make sure there are no unmelted pieces of chocolate & also straining it appears to give it more shine. I use this as a cake glaze if I know the cake will be eaten that day. It generally will start to crack after the 2nd day. And I always put a thin layer of buttercream on the cake before glazing to give it a smooth finish. Another handy tip for using this as a cake glaze is that if you make a mistake while writing on the cake..you can chill it & the glaze will easily peel off so you can start all over by remelting & restraining it. I usually use bittersweet chocolate..Callebaut is my chocolate of choice. I use the milk & white chocolate in the same manner to make an incredibly stable mousse. I can find the ratio of liquid/choc/ cream if anyone is interested.

Try some chocolate water. It's very thin(depending on how much water you add) and has a smooth shine. Take x amount of warm melted chocolate, add boiling hot water a little at a time. Whisk it in. It will get stiff & appear broken. Just keep adding hot water until you get the consistency or thickness you want. Strain & let cool to just above room temp. there you have chocolate water. I use this recipe to cover cakes & molded mousses, brownies,bombes..etc. It lasts a long time too.

I used to make a really good pumpkin chsck with a fig newton base..I'll have to find that recipe again.

That recipe is very similar to a Mrs. Fields knock off recipe I found on the web. I think the one I found used 21/2c. flour & a bit more salt. I was actually going to make those today. So I made these & ended up using the 3c. flour recipe.Turned out great. 2 1/2 c. was not enough..too flat. I may make some more but with some chopped butter toffee peanuts thrown in. I used a 2tbsp scoop..nice average size cookie..high & chewy. 350 degree oven for 12-14 min.

The CIA book definitely says 7 eggs for 24 cookies. I won't make that recipe again. The Chocolate Deception cookie that Ling posted is the thickness I'm looking for.

After making the CIA mudslide recipe I concluded that they were still way too thin for my taste & added an additional 1 1/2 -2 cups all purpose flour. Next time I will use a.p. flour instead of pastry which the recipe calls for. It didn't have enough structure to hold up the choc chips. They turned out thicker & didn't spread as much.

I was thinking about making those Mudslide cookies & now that I take a close look at the recipe( I have the book) I realize that those are the cookies I used to make for a catering company in SF. The owner went to the CIA. I have been trying to find that damn recipe for 3 yrs & it was right under my nose. What I did with the batter was to chill it overnight & then scoop it. The result being a much thicker & much more decadent cookie. If you chill it let it stand for a few minutes before scooping & rinse your scoop in hot water after every scoop. The batter is somewhat runny if you use it the day you make it. The cookies will be thin but still chewy. I also used insatnt espresso powder instead of coffee. The espresso is more bitter so I substituted milk chocolate chips for the bittersweet chips.

I was going through my recipes & came across an apple bread recipe..I don't remember ever making it or where I copied it down from. This is a sweet yeasted bread with apple chunks in it & then rolled out & spread with a cinnamon sugar filling & rolled & baked in a loaf pan. Kind of a cinnamon swirl bread with apple chunks in the batter. I'll make a loaf today & see if it's any good. So that recipe I had was really ..bleh. Not worth making again

I use the cake pans as well. I put them in a hotel pan or a bigger cake pan & use that as a water bath. Let them cool to room temp & chill for a few hours. Run a hot knife around the edges,invert onto a plastic encased cake board, torch the bootom & side woth my propane torch & let it slide out. Remove parchment & invert back onto a clean board.