sugarbuzz

I didn't realize I typed hoe twice! But yeah..a putty knife is what I used to use.

You can also just go to the hardware store & get one of those things they use to spackle with. I can't think of what they're called..short handle with kind of a flat hoe hoe shaped blade..

I'd suggest getting your hands on Le Brea's croissant recipe. I can't remember which cookbook it's from but well worth the time & effort to track it down. It's very simple & fast. The dough is wonderful to work with and makes a great morning bun.

I can only repeat what everyone here has said. I should go back and find that thread from a few weeks ago when someone( jgarner I think) needed a little boost. Alot of people who go through the career change really have some idealized life of a pastry chef floating in their head thanks to the Food network for making it seen more glamorous than it is. The most I've made in this profession is a little more than $18 an hour and that was at a vineyard & was pretty long hours & was a multiple venue type deal. Outdoor concerts, restaurant service,weddings,catering...etc. Unless you're union at some fancy hotel I would never even think about making that much. Mel..I hear you about the recent students coming out of cooking schools. The CCA here in the bay area recently sent us 2 students who clearly were not taught the basics yet they came in with these padded resumes stating how much they knew and all the great places they worked. Never mind that most of the time spent at these places was only a few weeks to a couple of months. We had one girl make some peanut brittle because she said she had done it many times at her last job. We gave her the recipe which had a X2 written in parentheses next to the title because it was a double batch. She then doubled that & then forgot to add the peanuts. Ok..we try it again..this time the correct amount & then she burns it. garbage. Clearly can't follow directions & clearly she had never made the stuff before. What are they teaching these kids? If you don't know how to make something you have to say so. We've had one girl tell us she expects to be paid at least $16 an hour. We barely are making that ourselves and we run the damn kitchen. One guy who was so arrogant that when I told him he really should be taking notes he said he was & then pointed to his head. ok great..and then when the time came for him to do everything on his own one morning he pretty much screwed everything up. If you're really really serious about diving into this business then do a tryout somewhere..you learn more from on the job training than you do in some school. Everything I learned I learned from my first job. I was still in school & started out as the cashier in a bakery. I then spent 2 hours after my shift helping out any way I could in the kitchen & then after that I went to my evening cooking school classes. It took me a good yr & a half to get in the kitchen. And it took me that long because by that time I had become an invaluable head of cafe staff & they were reluctant to have me leave that position.

Since desserts are not a big part of their cuisine why not stick with exotic fruits..plantains,mango,coconut..etc. Play around with spices..I think cardamom is popular in east africa. As for the B&W theme..maybe something with a zebra pattern? Maybe a dark & white chocolate zebra patterned chocolate disc set atop a coconut custard in a chocolate shell? I found this site..it may help http://www.congocookbook.com/c0208.html

I was goofing around with the white velvet butter cake & substituted half of the milk with coconut milk & added 3/4 -1 cup of unsweetened coconut to the batter. With a nice cream cheese frosting with a hint of lemon it was really good.

Well ..I've got about 18 eggs in my fridge that are just about past the expiration date. So I figure with my oldest daughter being diabetic I would just make an angel food cake with Splenda..some strawberry topping with the frozen strawberries I have left over from making smoothies..and some freash whipped cream. Simple but good. But what to do with all those yolks? Some anglaise maybe? or make some brulee..scoop it on top of the cake & caramelize it & serve it with the strawberry sauce? hmm..

While looking for that vanilla malt recipe I stumbled upon a recipe for some pumpkin seed brittle. Maybe a nice orange mascarpone i.c with crushed brittle in it would be good. Or just use it as a garnish for whatever i.c. you like. Here's the recipe: Pumpkin Seed Brittle 20 oz pumpkin seeds 1tsp. cream of tartar 3/4 cup water 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice 5 1/2 oz butter Mix sugar,water & tartar. Heat to light golden amber color. Stir in seeds & pie spice. Keep stirring & add butter & continue to cook until creamy & dark reddish color. Pour onto heated, greased sheet pan . Spread into even flat shhet. Cool.

I've been trying to find that vanilla malt recipe but can't find it. I do have it because I just copied it for someone a few days ago. I'll keep looking. I guess you could just add some malted milk powder to your favorite vanilla ic base. I use the Carnation's brand malted milk powder. Chestnut Honey I.C. 1 vanilla bean 1/2 cup + 2Tbl. Chestnut Honey 1cup+ 1/2 cup 2% milk 1cup+1/2 cup half & half 1cup heavy cream 12 yolks pinch salt 1/4 cup sugar Bring all liquids & honey to a simmer for about 2 minutes. Do not boil. Whisk yolks,salt & sugar together. Whisk in 1/2 of cream mix & temper. Return to remaining cream & cook until just a bit thicker than anglaise. Pass through chinois. Scrape vanilla bean into mix. Stir & chill well before spinning in ice cream machine.

When making cream chz buttercream I usually run the cheese through the food processor to get all the lumps out. Then add it after the butter has been incorporated.

I made some coconut ice cream( I posted a recipe awhile ago..you could do a search) with some honey roasted pineapple & pomegranate syrup. You could do pear sorbet & I usually give it a nice kick by adding ginger & a tablespoon of wasabi. Pumpkin ice cream with a maple cranberry compote. If you can find some chestnut honey I have a great chestnut honey ice cream recipe..it goes great with chocolate. I also have a killer vanilla malt ice cream recipe. I could hardly keep up with the demand for that one. Maple pecan/walnut Chocolate cinnamon Kahlua Almond as for sauces: peppermint fudge butterscotch honey apple raisin experiment with wine reductions

Since you're going for a cream cheese type of dessert how about a ricotta mascarpone mousse? I'm sure there's a recipe floating around the 'net somewhere. I would do a 2:1 ratio of ricotta to mascarpone.Process the cheeses in a processor ..add with some orange,sugar,maybe some vanilla beans. Whip up some cream and fold it in. Maybe some Riesling poached pears would be nice with that instead of chocolate. You could still pair it with a caramel sauce. Didn't see that Badiane had also suggested pears I make a caramel marscapone filling that is just awesome..juat whip one tub of mascarpone with maybe a 1/2 cup of homemade caramel sauce(the sauce should be the same temp as the mascarpone. Or add more until you get the consistency & flavor you like. You could fold some whipped cream to it..but I usually just use the 2 ingredients.

Here's a pumpkin chiffon cake I found in my notes. I've never tried it so maybe do a test batch. 2-1/4 cups Sifted cake flour 1-1/2 cups Granulated sugar 2 tsp Baking powder 1/2 tsp Each salt and cinnamon 1/4 tsp Each nutmeg and allspice 1/2 cup Vegetable oil 5 Egg yolks 3/4 cup Canned pumpkin 1 tbsp Grated orange rind 1/3 cup Orange juice 7 Egg whites 1/2 tsp Cream of tartar In bowl, combine flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice; make well in center. Pour in oil, egg yolks, pumpkin, orange rind and juice; beat well. In separate bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form; gradually beat in remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter. Pour into ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Bake in 350 F (180 C) oven for 55 to 60 minutes or until top springs back when touched. Invert pan and let cake hang in pan until cool.

I've used figs for a cake filling before by using either dried mission figs & then cooking them in some Armagnac or Port with some simple syrup..reducing the syrup & pureeing the figs with the syrup. Or just puree the figs with some Port & then thickening it with some cornstarch or tapioca. Or..instead of figs you could use dates..not as much moisture as the figs and just as good.

As far as fresh or canned pumpkin..seeing as how you said you don't have alot of time just go with the canned. It's just as good. Libby's is a good brand. I just posted an idea for a pumpkin cake & filling in the fig cake thread ..but is this cake going to be sitting out at room temp for awhile as part of the ambience? If so I wouldn't use a mascarpone filling. For the actual pumpkin shape you could do the bundt cake thing but then you'ld have mostly cake & no filling. What I would do is this.. Make a pumpkin chiffon cake in sheet pans. Get 2 small stainless steel bowls, line them with plastic wrap & make a sort of bomb shaped cake. LIne the bowl with your chiffon, maybe an armagnac syrup to brush on the cake, if serving right away then use a mascarpone filling..maple or honey flavored. Put a layer of filling,cake,syrup,fig jam,filing..repeat. Make a batch of Brandy buttercream..color it with orange coloring..sandwich the 2 cakes together with the buttercream. chill a few hours. crumbcoat your cake. chill. Put on a thick layer of buttercream..smooth it out..chill it. Once it's completley chilled you can carve your ridges to get that pumpkin shape. Marzipan for the leaves & stem. For extra stability you can always use cake rods to hold the layers together ..just use some marzipan leaves to cover them & remove when ready to serve. Again I have no idea how big you want this cake to be so keep in mind that bomb type cakes are really heavy. If you don't want to use mascarpone I guess you could use a cream cheese filling..that would be one really heavy cake though. Anyone care to improve on this idea or any other suggestions on how to make it better? ok..so I just realized you said you don't too many flavors going on so you could always omit the figs & just have cake & a brandy mascarpone filling with a brandy buttercream.

Seeing as how Fall is here how about a pumpkin cake with a thin layer of fig jam & another layer of some flavored mascarpone..maybe orange or Armanagac(possibly reduce some armagnac with some simple syrup to get it nice & thick & add to mascarpone)..and for a frosting..a nice light buttercream..a good quality honey or maple.

I love buckwheat crepes..I served them last time with a caramel mascarpone & apple compote with an orange muscat sauce. killer dessert.

I completely forgot about that chocolate souffle roll. I usually fill it with some chantilly & fresh raspberries..so simple & really good. Also I use the coffecake recipe alot..I just incorporate some fruit into the middle streusel layer. Frozen wild blueberries or some sauteed apples or pears. I'm going to try some figs next week.

I would love some more info on your chocolate ginger brulee filling. I didn't see it in the book and it sounds very interesting. ← The brulee filling is something I came up with..I can try & find the recipe I used..I haven't used it in awhile. I just tweaked a brulee recipe I had & let the ginger steep in the cream for a bit & adjusted the recipe to add some bittersweet chocolate I had leftover. I baked the whole thing in a hotel pan with a water bath & let it cool. I added more chocolate than usual for a brulee so it could stiffen up a bit more.

Her mousseline buttercream is also my standard buttercream..very versatile & stable. It makes a great lemon buttercream when you add lemon curd to it. I've tried it with passionfruit curd as well. The honey buttercream is also nice when paired with something light. The Almond cake is awesome..I use it alot. I used that to make a friends wedding cake with a chocolate ginger brulee filling. My best cake ever. Pretty much all of the recipes I've tried have been great..I haven't tried all of them though. Her banana cake recipe is also very good..great banana flavor, light & moist.

My oldest daughter is diabetic & while I use Splenda a lot for her baking she finds it overly sweet. So I just use half sugar & half splenda..it works great. I know that splenda sells a half & half version of splenda but I just adjust the sugar according to her tastes & also depending on what I'm making.

Here's a website that might help http://vegweb.com/recipes/sweets/

While I think it's sad that they feel they have to sell to Hershey's I honestly don't think it will affect anything. I personally think SB is overated..I just never really got into their products..I've had better. The cafe is within walking distance from me & whileI enjoy the occasional pastry it's nothing better or worse than any other pastry shop around here.

I've found that no matter which recipe you use..omit the cinnamon altogether & use nutmeg instead. To me cinnamon kind of overwhelms the entire taste. It makes a huge difference.

I haven't used this in a cake although it is thick enough where you could use it..I make a caramel mascarpone as a filling for my apple crepes. Maybe pair it with an orange-cardamom flavored mousse or pastry cream? Or maybe infuse the cake with orange zest & cardamom with the mascarpone filling & very thin layers of passionfruit curd? I've seen passionfruit caramel so why not pair them together? Or forget the passionfruit & make some type of apple filling. I got knocked offline before I could tell how to make the caramel mascarpone. I beat about 1 lb. of mascarpone with a little cream with a paddle until it's smooth & then just add your favorite homemade caramel. I say homemade because that way you can make it as thick as you like. Thicker is better in this recipe.