RuthWells

So, LCS, how did it go? Gotta pic?

I've had the same experience myself recently, Patrick. And I had to go to three stores before I even found that. I simply won't buy the Ghiradelli white from the grocery store anymore -- it's dreadful.

Two logs of korova dough from Paris Sweets are chilling in the fridge.... minus the large clump I et. Yum!

I would agree with the Cake Bible recommendation. Another good pick, though less -- encyclopedic -- is The Whimsical Bakehouse. Good basic decorating instructions (including basic piping) and good butter cake recipes.

I love the idea of colored sugar "glass" -- perhaps rectangular and round shards, rather than random shapes, to further tie in the design? I love the sketch and dearly hope you plan to post a picture of the finished work!!

Yes!! It's wonderful "hearing" your thought process. Now I have pantry envy...

Thanks for the info and good wishes -- I'll check it out!

Can you tell us what's in the mix, or where you got it? I'm always looking for ways to cut the carbs in my baked goods, for my diabetic father.

Oooh, what a great idea. I second the motion!

Wow, those are beautiful! Now I'm hungry....

Aha! I can imagine there are lots of ways to create patterns. So the obvious next question, of course, is -- what is cigarette paste? If it's pipeable, I assume it's fairly soft? (And yes, I always want to know more -- but I'll try not to be too greedy! )

I have both Gale's book and Flo's book and they are stylistically quite different -- I find Flo's minis to be more traditional than Gale's. Both are excellent, tho. One caution -- if you buy Flo's book, try to get it in hard cover (if it exists, and if you can) -- my soft cover was not well-bound and pages started falling out almost immediately. Your mileage may vary.

Hi Wendy, I've enjoyed reading this thread and seeing your tubes in action. One question -- how are you putting the patterns on the joconde? Are you simply free-handing with food coloring, or doing something much more complicated?

Good point, Wendy, and thanks for the reality check.

Interesting idea. I had a disc of dark chocolate at the bottom of the stack, and it was no help at all in holding everything together. If/when I solve the squish problem, I'll try chocolate discs between the layers.

Gracias!

Do you have access to pastry flour (another soft, low-protein flour) or Wondra? I'm guessing you could use either of these in conjuction with a/p flour to reduce the protein.

Thanks, Chianti. Can you give me an equivalent to the gelatin sheets using powdered gelatin?

When you have a moment, could I ask you to post your formula so I can compare it with what I used?

Hi Chantal -- I use the Whimsical Bakehouse butter cake recipes a lot, and I'm betting you're right about the protein in the Canadian flour. When I make the WB butter cakes I never have a texture problem like you describe. Just out of curiosity, what altitude are you at?

Well, now I just don't know what to think.......

The mango mousse recipe is not from "Bittersweet" -- I was borrowing a technique of "stacking" contrasting mousses from that book. I grabbed the mango mousse recipe off Recipezaar -- it was gelatin, mango puree, sugar, lemon juice, and heavy cream. As I noted above, I used fresh mangos for the puree. I'll be really interested in your results. Are you going to boil the puree as Chiantiglacee suggests?

This is good to know, thanks, Sarah. I will also go this route when I get the time to try your recipe.

I guess anything's possible. I'll try boiling the puree next time (couldn't hurt). Meanwhile, I tossed the remainder of the soft mousse in the freezer and we're eating frozen mango mousse this week.

I made Medrich's mint chocolate chip ice cream a few weeks ago, using fresh spearmint 'Kentucky Colonel' from the garden and Sharffen Bergen 70% bittersweet for the chips. Absolutely fantastic!